Harvard Bible Conference

“Hallowed Be Thy Name”(Mt 6:9)

Thank God for the Harvard Bible Conference, which was held on January 25-28, 2007, at Andover Hall, the chapel of HarvardDivinitySchool. The title for the conference was “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” More than 90 people including two Harvard students (Justin and Peter) and one MIT student (Hudson) attended. I’d like to share what I’ve seen and learned.

1. God answered eight years of prayer byBaebongcoworkers.In 1999, God gave Missionary Cephas Kye a vision to pioneer HarvardUniversity with the words from Matthew 6:9, “Hallowed be thy name.” Since then, coworkers in Baebong, Hansung, Yeongun, Gongreung, and Sangji and missionaries who were sent from those chapters began to pray for the pioneering ofHarvardUniversity. In particular, coworkers in Korea prayed faithfully and fervently for the last eight years. God, according to his absolute sovereignty, built HarvardHillChurchon November 19th, 2007with seven members: Cephas Kye, Esther Kye, Peter Kye, John Kye, Holy Fear Joo, Caleb Song, and Joshua Yang. Now the church is joined by (Peter)Myung Hee Ahn and their children (Jin Hong and Jin Hyuk). The conference was to celebrate the birth of HarvardHillChurch and to support the pioneering work of Harvard campus.

2. It was a Magi’s conference. Many Magi came from many places including Korea, Guatemala, Mexico, Kolon, Denver, Granada Hills, Washington D.C., San Diego, Houston, Chicago, and Milwaukee and served the conference with messages, group Bible studies, sing along, special songs, duet dramas, Korean drumming, worship dance, and Taekwonmoo. In spite of many obstacles, HarvardHillChurchcoworkers worked hard to prepare the best spiritual environment for the conference. Shepherd Joonkyu Lee and HarvardHillChurch coworkers worked from 6 a.m. to 12 midnight, sometimes 1 or 2 a.m. to remodel the church to accommodate the guests. Missionary Esther Kye literally lived on the road driving back and forth to serve the guests. Missionary Cephas Kye, in spite of his asthma, orchestrated the conference well so that God’s name might be hallowed in and through the conference. I thank God for all the Magi, especially the Magi who came all the way from Korea, to worship Jesus, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords of HarvardHillChurch.

3.It was a miracle to have a Bible Conference at the chapel of HarvardDivinitySchool.HarvardUniversity was founded by Reverend John Harvard in 1636 with the vision of establishing many Christian leaders. HarvardDivinitySchool was founded to raise up many gospel-centered leaders. And the chapel was built to worship Jesus, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. But the chapel has become a place for multi-religious groups. For example, Wednesday Noon service was scheduled by Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Bahai, Sikh, LGBT (lesbian and gay bisexual transgender) and other religious groups. In a nutshell, the chapel has become a den of satanic worship. How much God must have been grieved! How much God’s heart must have been broken! But we proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ, the only way to heaven, and the Son of the living God. We sang hymns and songs proclaiming that Jesus is Kings of kings and Lord of lords, the only way to heaven. We shouted again and again, “Hallowed be thy name” as our prayer for Harvard students. I believe that God was comforted andpleased even for a moment with our faith and prayer. I believe that God heard our broken-hearted prayer in spite of our broken English. How much and how long God wanted to hear from the mouths of his people, “Hallowed be thy name. Jesus, you are the Christ. You are the only way for us to heaven.” May God’s name be hallowed in and through Harvard students and professors.

4.It was an intenseBible conference. More than 90 people stayed at the Harvard Hill Bible house. There were only three bathrooms and plus a shower room. Five or six or more people stayed in a room. Before attending the conference I was concerned about how we can take a shower and use the bathrooms. But we did not have time to think about such inconveniences. We spent our time at HarvardDivinitySchool in our group Bible studies, lectures, prayer, and fellowship from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. We were soaked with God’s words and anointed with the Holy Spirit. The sing along, the Korean drumming, worship dance, and Taekwonmoo led by the Vision Tour Team was full of spirit, grace, and power. From first to last, the conference was intense.

5.The HBTN prayer movement. HBTN stands for “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” Through the conference, each of us accepted a new prayer direction, HBTN prayer movement, and began to pray that God’s name may be hallowed in HarvardUniversity as well as in all the campuses we serve.I pray that God’s name be hallowed at all the campuses of U.S.A. and of the world.

6. I thank God for giving us his words through messages and group Bible studies. Through MissionaryHarvardSufferingPark who served Matthew 6:9, God gave us a vision to start the HBTN prayer movement. Through Missionary Jeremiah Jung on John 3:1-21, we were reminded again of God’s amazing love. Through Shepherd Gideon Klijian’s message on Mark 11:20-26, we were challenged to have faith in God Almighty especially for the Harvard pioneering work. Through Missionary Josue Ham’s message on Genesis 17:1-27, we renewed our vision that God wants to make us a father and mother of many nations. Through Missionary Moses Jung’s message on Mark 16:1-20, we learned to have resurrection faith. Missionary Moses Jung’s visa situation is hopeless like a dead man in a tomb, but the Almighty God who raised Jesus from the dead will surely make a way for him to continue to serve the work of God at RiceUniversity in Houston, Texas. Through Shepherd Peter Ahn’s message on Luke 2:30, we could see the faithfulness of God who built the church on Harvard Hill for the revelation of God to Harvard students. Through Justin Murray’s special lecture on Christianity in Harvard, we learned spiritual conditions of Harvard students. We also learned how to approach young intellectuals. Through Dr. David Noebel’s lecture on comparing worldviews, we learned that secular humanism is a religion, not just a science or philosophy. We need to have God’s wisdom to fight against secular humanism and to plant gospel faith. Through the life testimony of Dr. Seung Bok Lee, I could see the supernatural power and grace of Christ in his life. At the same time, I could see how important and crucial it is for us to witness Jesus and his grace through personal evangelism to many lost souls around us. I thank God for Mike Engler (Denver), Minkyung Kim (Yeongun), and Amanda Wang (Guatemala) who received baptism and made a decision to dedicate their life to Christ. I thank God for Missionary Joseph Ahn who came to the conference and blessed us with his inspiring prayer and encouraged us with great vision. Through his prayer and words, we could see the vision of raising up many powerful witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection from among Harvard students.

7.Thank God for the privilege to serve the conference as a messenger on Matthew 16:13-20. The title of my message was “You are the Christ.” Jesus is the only One who was appointed by God to come to this world to die for our sins. Jesus is the only One who was anointed to save his people from their sins. Jesus is the only One who was approved by God as the Christ and the Son of the living God through his resurrection. He is the only One who fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah-king, the Messiah-priest and the Messiah-prophet. He is the only One who can save us from our sins, deliver us from Satan, and give us eternal life in the kingdom of God. There is no one but Jesus who can give us the forgiveness of our sins and the restoration of our relationship with God. He is the only One who enables us to serve God as a holy nation people and a kingdom of priests. Jesus is the Christ. I thank God who helped Abraham Janssen to serve Matthew 16:21-29 as a messenger with the title “If anyone would come after me.” I thank God for helping Dr. Timothy Chun to serve the conference as a group Bible leader. I thank God for helping John Dang and Abraham Janssen to serve the conference as presiders. I thank God for enabling our Milwaukee coworkers to offer a special song “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” for the conference.

In conclusion, I believe that God’s name was hallowed through the Bible conference. The word of God was proclaimed with power and authority through messages and group Bible studies, hymns, sing along, special songs, duet dramas, and all other activities. I pray that the HBTN prayer movement may spread to all the campuses in America like a wildfire. May God give Missionary Cephas and Esther Kye and their coworkers grace and power enough to serve the work of God at Harvard. May God bless the HarvardHillChurch with an ancestor of faith, 12 disciples, and numerous Christian leaders and use HarvardUniversity as a Christian capital of the world. May God give the same grace to all UBF chapters in America and double each chapter’s ministry by 2010 through discipleship ministry. May God continue to use Dr. John Jun, Shepherd Samuel H. Lee, and Mother Sarah Barry as his servants for raising up Christian leaders for this generation. May God’s kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

One word: Hallowed be thy name.