Corina and I are wrapping up a five-day sojourn in South Korea, where we are helping launch The Gospel Project in Korean, the first time the curriculum has been translated into another language.
Six years ago this month, I began my work at LifeWay. I was tasked with laying the foundation for a new curriculum, which would soon become The Gospel Project.
As I think about those early days at LifeWay and the first months of planning, I shake my head in disbelief. Never would I have imagined that this curriculum would be used by more than a million people across the English-speaking world. Nor would I have thought that in a few years’ time I would be in Asia training pastors and church leaders on how to launch the curriculum well in this context. The Lord had plans far bigger than mine, or anyone else at LifeWay. His plans are more marvelous than we often dare to dream.
The Gospel Project in Korean
When we arrived in Korea, we received printed materials of The Gospel Project for kids, students, and adults, all translated into Korean (see pictures below). All week, I kept going back to these books, flipping through them and looking at the design, and recognizing the supplemental material (Voices from Church History, 99 essential doctrines, etc.). Because I have taught for so many years from The Gospel Project, I could see the flow and layout of a session even when I was unable to read a single letter or character of the Korean language.
The experience of seeing the work of our Gospel Project teams, all the writers and editors over the years, fully transposed into another key, translated into a new language and contextualized for the Korean context, was emotionally moving. The excitement of Korean Christians to start this project has been inspiring, reminding me that the sometimes grueling work of enlisting writers and editing their writing has been worth it. God is using our team’s contribution to bring about fruit in places we never expected.
It is certainly a blessing to see The Gospel Project materials in Korean, but the bigger blessing has been getting to know multiple believers in Korea and learn about the ministry here. On Sunday, I preached two services at a church in Seoul, where we met people from all over the world. We spent time with pastors and translators and editors at a seminar for The Gospel Project on Monday, and I did several interviews with different magazines and the Korean international Christian television station on Tuesday.
Of course, we also enjoyed fellowship around tables where we delighted in Asian cuisine—after every meal, we had full hearts and full stomachs. Along the way, we were blessed to meet pastors, church leaders, and Christians serving the Lord in different ways.
Below are some pictures from our time in Korea this week. Please pray for the believers there and pray that the churches using The Gospel Project will be strengthened in their mission of reaching the lost, and coming to better know God and His Word.
