On February 15, our middle and high school ministry will be holding a “Bring-a-Friend Celebration.” Coincidentally, it falls during Korea’s Lunar New Year holiday. These days, interest in Korean culture such as K-pop, K-dramas, and Korean food is growing. I believe this movement goes beyond a passing trend and can become a precious opportunity to share the gospel. With that hope, this celebration is designed not only to experience traditional Korean food and games, but also to share Jesus Christ, who is the gospel, through it all.

The students will play traditional games such as yutnori, jegichagi, and gonggi. We will also share simple Korean foods like tteokbokki, kimbap, and rice cakes. Still, I hope this gathering does not end as merely a cultural experience. I want to give these students, who are in adolescence, one of the brightest yet most sensitive seasons of life, a day that is truly worth remembering.

Even for me, who considers my teenage years happy, when I look back, what remains are only a few photographs or brief moments like one or two seconds of a short video. That is why I want to give our youth as many “good moments” as possible. I hope warm encounters, healthy influences, and meaningful challenges will stay in their hearts for a long time. I also hope this celebration becomes such a memory for the friends who are invited. I pray it will be a time when those weary from academic pressure, relationships, and concerns about their future can relax, laugh together, connect, and genuinely say, “I was happy.”

And I believe this: through our invitation and calling, God Himself is truly calling them. I see this confirmed every week through young adult newcomers. A simple memory of having gone to church once as a child later leads them, even in a foreign land for study or work, to seek out a church on their own. Perhaps that is possible because their memories of church were warm, joyful, and comforting. At the same time, I believe it is because the One who calls them is God, and His calling is effective and powerful.

Currently, about 35 students gather each week to worship in our GVC middle and high school ministry. If each student invites just one friend, nearly 70 teenagers will come together at church. Including teachers and volunteers, the number exceeds 80 people. To prepare for this, the teachers meet every Monday night to pray together, and some deacons have volunteered to make tteokbokki and kimbap. From designing invitations to preparing traditional games, this event is possible only because of these many hands of dedication.

This invitation celebration may seem like a small and quiet beginning. Yet I believe that God will delight in this first step taken in faith and will surely use it for good. The gospel often begins small, then grows in astonishing ways, like a seed.

“Lord, pour into us, who are preparing this celebration, Your heart that never ceases to seek the lost. May this be a time when the precious souls who are invited come to experience Your love.”