Youth With A Mission Korea (Yesu Jeondodan)

Overview

Yesu Jeondodan is a Korean interdenominational mission organization that began as a university student Bible study group. "Interdenominational" means that it is not affiliated with any single denomination and that believers from many denominations take part together. In 1980 it united with the international mission organization YWAM, and since then it has used the Korean name "Yesu Jeondodan" and the English name "YWAM Korea." International YWAM is an interdenominational mission organization founded in 1960 by Loren and Darlene Cunningham of the United States. Its purpose is to train young people and send them into world missions. Loren Cunningham died in October 2023.

Founding and History

• 1961: David E. Ross, an American Southern Presbyterian missionary, arrived in Korea. Beginning in 1967 he worked with the Christian student fellowship at Seoul National University's College of Engineering.
• 1972: While on sabbatical in the United States, he reportedly experienced baptism in the Holy Spirit. After returning to Korea, he lived with students, worshiping and praying with them. In October of that year he began a Tuesday prayer meeting.
• 1973: The group adopted the name "Yesu Jeondodan." In 1977 it moved its meetings to the auditorium of the YWCA building in Myeongdong.
• 1979–1980: In 1979 the ministry was divided into university, workplace, and youth divisions. Ross initially declined YWAM's invitation to join because of his status as a Southern Presbyterian missionary. While receiving training in Kona, Hawaii, in 1979, however, he decided to unite with YWAM, and at the end of that year he resigned as a Southern Presbyterian missionary. The union took place in 1980, and Ross became the Korean director.
• 1983: The organization sent its first missionaries, to Kenya and the Philippines.
• 1986 and after: Ross returned to the United States in 1986. In 1994 he founded the Antioch International Mission Training Center in Seattle.
• 2010 and after: In 2010 the director's term was set at five years. According to reports, Kim Ji-tae (2010), Park Seok-geon (2014), and Kim Myeong-seon (2019) were subsequently appointed director.

Principal Activities

• Tuesday Meeting: An open worship gathering that Yesu Jeondodan has held since its beginning. Ross recalled that Tuesday was chosen to avoid conflicting with churches' Wednesday services and Friday all-night prayer meetings. Today the meeting holds weekly worship and also produces worship resources in the form of recordings and videos.
• Training: The organization operates the Discipleship Training School (DTS), the foundational course of international YWAM. International YWAM maintains its training institution, the University of the Nations, in Kona, Hawaii.
• Overseas Missions: In 1991, in line with international YWAM's mission strategy "Target 2000," the organization designated twelve people groups as mission targets. One introductory source states that it has more than 550 missionaries in about 50 countries.
• Publishing: The organization publishes Christian books and worship recordings, including Ross's The Meditating Christian. This publishing work is a form of literature ministry.

Organization

Yesu Jeondodan is a mission organization, not a denomination, and therefore has no member denominations. Church members and ministers from various denominations serve as staff. As the Korean branch of international YWAM, it maintains university, workplace, and youth ministry departments as well as a mission headquarters. Its founder came from a Presbyterian background; nevertheless, baptism in the Holy Spirit and healing ministry are both cited as factors in the organization's early growth.

Assessment

Ross recalled that many pastors and missionaries emerged from the Tuesday Meeting. One assessment of international YWAM holds that, in contrast to the mission methods that prevailed through the 1960s, it opened the way for young people to serve in unsalaried short-term missions, enabling a great many people to take part in mission work.