Medical Missionary Online Course Celebrates Third Graduation in Korea

By: Asia Pacific Division News & Adventist Review

The third graduation ceremony for the HisHands Medical Missionary (HHMM) online course in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) church region took place at the Seoul Seventh-day Adventist Language Institute on May 7, 2018.

In a speech, HisHands Medical Mission leader Joanna Kim encouraged graduates to spread the mission movement to the world. Quoting Ellen G. White’s “Counsels on Diet and Foods” (p. 455), she reminded them, “We have come to a time when every member of the church should take hold of medical missionary work.”

Sahmyook Medical Center director Myung Sup Choi gave congratulatory remarks, reminding graduates that Jesus is at the center of the church’s health message. “As Jesus Christ is at the center of the Adventist health message, Jesus Christ is at the center of all of the work we do at Sahmyook Medical Centers in Seoul and Busan,” he said, in reference to the two main Adventist health-care institutions in Korea. “Both Sahmyook Medical Center and HisHands Medical Mission share the same belief: ‘I am the Lord, who heals you, [Exodus 15:26].’ ”

Choi also said he is hopeful about the possibilities for coordinated mission. By keeping this course, he said, “we will make a win-win relationship for mission.”

“Mission First,” the slogan of the NSD, was also emphasized by NSD assistant to the president Min Ho Joo. He expressed his gratitude for Kim’s enthusiastic mission service.

The highlight of the ceremony was mission reports by thirty-eight HHMM mission groups. They introduced their members, reported on the mission work in the past year, shared testimonies, and presented plans. Some of the groups have been invited to help with local evangelistic meetings, which are scheduled not only for Korea but also for Mongolia and Taiwan.

Korean Union Conference (KUC) HHMM director Ki Ho Lee introduced AM missionaries to the attendees. AM missionaries are organized by the Korean alumni of the 1000 Missionary Movement (1000MM) missionaries. “KUC will encourage AM missionaries to take the HisHands Medical Missionary online course so that they become God’s workers armed by righteousness and self-control like Daniel,” Lee said.

Applicants to the 1000MM program receive medical mission training from Joanna Kim before they are dispatched to their mission fields.

NSD HHMM coordinator Suk Hee Han said he has high hopes for these missionaries. “I hope these 38 HHMM mission groups will take strong root within their local churches, grow healthy, and yield much fruit of soul-salvation,” he said.

Han also shared the goal of organizing 100 mission groups and having 1,000 HisHands medical missionaries in the future.

The next graduation ceremony of HHMM medical missionaries is scheduled for the second NSD International Mission Congress, August 8-11, 2018, in Ilsan, Korea. Organizers of the conference are expecting missionaries from Japan, China, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Korea to attend.