Vision

The visions/prayers of Jerusalem Ministry

- To build effective, loving relationships with the children and to be a model of Christ for them… to be God’s hands and feet reaching out to the children

- To equip and train volunteers to be effective, to encourage them to be faithful in their commitment, and to encourage them to consistently seek the Lord in prayer

- To help bring greater unity to the English speaking churches in Seoul

- To eventually reach every orphanage in Seoul

To build effective, loving relationships with the children and to be a model of Christ for them… to be God’s hands and feet reaching out to the children

Psalm 68:5-6 says, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”

Isaiah 49:15 says, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

Throughout Scripture God makes it clear that He loves the orphan and longs for them to receive justice and care. We believe that it is our responsibility as sons and daughters of God to be His hands and feet for the broken.

Isaiah 61:1-3 says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

Our prayer is that through our relationships with the children they may experience God’s great love for them. Through our time with them we pray we may lead the children to their true, loving Father: our God.

To equip and train volunteers to be effective, to encourage them to be faithful in their commitment, and to encourage them to consistently seek the Lord in prayer

To equip and train volunteers to be effective
It pains me (John-Michael) to see volunteers come to my home and have no idea what they are doing. They come to love and try to bring joy to the children, but they don’t know the kids’ real needs and don’t know how to effectively show love to them. Through this ministry we want to equip and train every volunteer to know what to expect, know how to conduct themselves, and for them to have a purpose for their service.

To encourage them to be faithful in their commitment
As we have visited the different homes in Seoul, many of the staff we encounter emphasize the need for commitment by volunteers. Most orphanages request a 6 month to 1 year commitment. The reason for this is that the kids in these homes have had so many people come and go in their lifetime that many of them are scarred. The kids have a deep need for committed people in their lives. Orphanages have experienced interested foreigners come and go and actually do more damage than good to the kids by making promises like “I’ll see you next week” but not fulfilling them. One orphanage we visited was so fed up with unfaithful volunteers that they politely but firmly told us they would not receive any volunteers. Another orphanage, located in Kang Nam, would not even let us visit. We decided for our ministry that prospective volunteers would need to make a pledge of serving for 6 months in order to be placed in a home.

To encourage them to consistently seek the Lord in prayer
1John 4:19 says, “We love because God first loved us.” The Bible makes it clear that in order to know how to love, we need to know the author of love, our God. And in order for us to know His love and remain in it, we must be faithful in prayer, in reading His Word, in fellowship, and in doing His will. John 15:4 says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” John 15:9 says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” In our history of placing volunteers, we have clearly witnessed that the volunteers who are steadily growing in their relationship with God are the most effective. These volunteers, because they are growing in God’s love, find a passion increasing in them for these children that God also desperately wants to show His love to. On the other hand, we have had some volunteers gradually fade away from God and focus their time on other things like their job, their recreation time, or other matters. As they spent less time with God, their fire for the ministry quickly burned out. These children demand a lot of attention and will take as much love out of you as they can. The volunteers who were no longer consistently filling their cup with God’s love quickly became dry and burnt out. They soon quit their service because they no longer were seeing the kids through God’s eyes of love but were instead seeing the kids as a tough responsibility that they no longer wanted. Jerusalem Ministry has monthly prayer meetings that are meant to encourage volunteers and refocus them. We have often found that even the “stronger” volunteers need these prayer meetings to refresh them in their service. We feel these prayer meetings are critical and we have made attendance mandatory for volunteers.

To help bring greater unity to the English speaking churches in Seoul
Although the ministry was originally founded by three members of JSEM, we chose not to make this a JSEM ministry but rather an independent Christian ministry. We hoped to be able to reach out to other English speaking congregations. Within a few months of starting, we were working with volunteers from Yeoido Full Gospel and we were also growing a strong connection with Mercy Ministries at the Onnuri churches. In the fall of 2006 JSEM planted a church in Kang Nam called Jubilee. In March of 2007 Jerusalem Ministry led a training session for prospective volunteers from each of these churches and a few others churches as well. We pray God may use this ministry to help bring greater unity among the many English speaking churches in Seoul.

Since the ministry was founded, God has led both Ricky and later Jane to other places. Leadership continues to evolve. The current leadership is as follows…

Director – John-Michael Becker (full time volunteer at Geon Christian Children’s Home)
Vice President – John Lee (full time volunteer at Sang Rok Children’s Home)
Secretary – Mi Jung Song (part time volunteer at Zion Home)

Children’s Home Representatives:
Geon Christian Children’s Home – John-Michael Becker
Sang Rok Children’s Home – John Lee
Nam San Home – Mina Choi
Zion Home – Mi Jung Song
Song Jook Home – Birdie Yi
Young Rak Children’s Home – Jinny Park

To eventually reach every orphanage in Seoul
There are currently twenty-four orphanages in Seoul. (http://www.s-adong.com/). Jerusalem Ministry is currently serving at six of the homes. Our hope is that as we are faithful in seeking God and obeying His will, He will continue to bless this ministry and enable us to be His hands and feet to each home in Seoul, our Jerusalem.

The visions/prayers of Jerusalem Ministry