Who is Peter Bae?
Introduction to Peter Ahnho Bae
[이 글의 한글 버전은 다음 웹사이트에 있습니다]
Introduction: ‘The God of missions who continues to prepare us as missionaries’
As I readjust to my second homeland, UK, I am currently writing this ‘autobiography’ as I look back on my life and ministry during the first half of my missionary career. I often used to say, ‘Life starts at 60,’ but now I think, ‘Actually, life starts at 70.’ Now, starting in the new year of 2023, I am filled with anticipation for the amazing work that the Lord will personally unfold in the second half of my missionary life. After hearing the gospel and being born again at the age of 20, my outlook on life and worldview completely changed. ‘Every time and in every thing,’ the living God personally guided me and provided for me. Looking back on my high school years, when I was coughing up blood due to a recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis, and at times walking through the shadow of valley of death, I now realise that even that was a period of ‘wonderful missionary training.’ Just as David confessed while going through his many hardships, I want to shout out with the same voice, ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good!’ (Psalm 34:8)
1. My early years: Raised in a thoroughly pagan family, ‘Christianity is just a symbol of Western imperialism’.
I was born in a rural area in Donam-dong, Daega-myeon, Seongju-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, during the Korean War (1952), as the eldest son. Although my family was poor, I had a truly happy childhood. I grew up in a heavily confucian and pagan household, always looking forward to the next festival day pagan ancestral worship, as it was a feast day when I could eat foods that I could not normally come across. Every year, on the full moon of the first month according to the lunar calendar, a ‘moon fire’ is lit with a pine tree on the top of Halmisanseong Fortress, on the mountain behind my hometown village, and the first person to bow three times while looking at the full moon is said to be greatly blessed that year. I was so naive and superstitious to believed it. When I studied away from home in the city of Daegu during secondary school, I first came across a Christian church. I could never understand people who went to church regularly; it seemed like such a waste of time. I enjoyed arguing with them and considered it my mission to ridicule the Christians with my atheistic arguments. I would tease them, “Why do you believe in a Western religion? Do you have no sense of national pride?” and “How can a Creator or a supernatural Saviour exist in this scientific age Moon landing (1969)?” During my first year in high school, I even parodied the first paragraph of the National Education Charter and declared to all that I would live to persecute the Jesus-followers in Korea, claiming, “I was born to drive out the church, the symbol of Western imperialism, from this land.”
2. Confession of faith of a thorough agnostic: ‘My Lord and my God’
In Seoul, where I started my first job at Korea Telecom, I came across “Joy Mission” (an evangelical Christian mission organisation founded in Korea), and this became a decisive moment in my life. I first realised that the Bible is 100% the word of God. Beginning in 1972 (at the age of 20), after experiencing rebirth through the reading and studying of the Bible, I received systematic Bible study and discipleship training every week at Joy Mission, and continued to grow in my faith amongst the young college student members of the missionary community. At that time, as I listened to the English sermons of outstanding English-speaking missionaries invited to speak at the Joy Mission gatherings, my eyes were gradually opened to world missions and the concept of the Kingdom of God.
3. God prepared me to study theology and become a ‘light to the Gentiles’:
During my 15 years in full time employment (10 years at Korea Telecom and 5 years at Far East Construction Co., Ltd.), I applied myself fully to workplace evangelism and to ministry. This was also when I married and became a father of twin sons. At both workplaces, I helped found Christian Networks and led worship services every week. In particular, when I was sent by work to Saudi Arabia for two years, I preached and led Bible studies every Friday (public holiday) at the underground church, ‘Far East Church.’ It was truly an amazing experience. At that time, ten of my sermon tapes were sent to Korea every week. Working as a lay (deacon) pastor in the Middle East, I used to say to myself that “When I turn 50, I will work full time as a Christian missionary.” As you will see below, our living God heard and answered my prayer with frightening accuracy.
I can never forget my 50th birthday. After completing my master’s and doctoral degrees in the UK, my wife and I went to Tanzania as a full time missionary (sent by GMS). It was our first Sunday in Tanzania, and a native preacher from a nearby church who was attending the service suddenly turned to me and asked me, “Pastor, when is your birthday?” I was thrown aback a little and only then realised that it was my 50th birthday that day. When I told him so, the preacher quickly climbed a nearby coconut tree, picked a fresh coconut, prepared it on the spot and presented it to me as a birthday present. The moment I first drank of the clear and transparent ‘heavenly drink’ of coconut water, I could sense the clear voice of God: “I am well pleased with you, my dear child. Today is the day you have been praying for so long!” That day, I vividly experienced the living God who works in us and ‘gives us the desires of our hearts’ (Philippians 2:13).
After fifteen years in the industry, I received God’s strong calling to full time ministry, and completed my seminary education at Chongshin Presbyterian Seminary. During my seminary years, I became the planning director of Chongshin University Mission Research Center, working part time five days a week together with about 20 members of the research centre, helping the publication of ‘World Mission’, a quarterly magazine. I conducted research into all aspects of Korean church missions, across all denominations, writing it up as a special feature in the magazine. Through this experience, I witnessed the reality of the Korean church’s world missions and dreamed of world missions.
Prayer of Holy Discontent: “Lord! Is the Korean church missionary work good as it is?”
In 1992, I attended the 2nd Korean World Mission Conference (KWMC) held at the Billy Graham Center in Chicago as a representative of the Mission Research Centre. I saw that I had been a frog in the well, and my eyes were opened to the reality of global missions. I realised also that I must first be upgraded for God’s world missions. My graduation dissertation at Chongshin seminary was titled “The current status of missions in the Korean church and the ideal mission structure” (M.Th, 1995). After graduation and ordination as Presbyterian minister, God sent our family to the UK for further studies in September 1994. The God of missions led me to study for my master’s and doctorate degrees at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, the birthplace of Presbyterianism. While studying for a Master of Divinity (MDiv), I received an clear sign from God to continue my studies and began the doctoral program.
Essay Topic submitted in the last semester: ‘Missionary Training’.
The subject of my doctoral studies was the mission method of a Scottish missionary who translated the New Testament into the Korean language for the first time, by the name of John Ross. During my third year at Chongshin seminary, I asked the professor during class, “Professor, What motivated John Ross to translate the New Testament into the Korean language?” Professor Lee Man-yeol, who was a professor of church history at the time, replied, “I don’t know,” and suggested, “Why don’t you try researching this topic?” Years later, this question became the subject of my doctoral thesis at the University of Aberdeen. The central thesis of the dissertation is that “John Ross’s focus on mission methods meant that from its inception, the Korean church began with the self-sustaining principles: financially, evangelistically, and in church governance.”
My takeaway from the historical research was that likewise, the Korean church must carry out global missions with the same emphasis on the self-sustaining ability of the local churches.” The original title of the final submitted doctoral thesis is:
“The Three-Self Principle and the Mission Method of John Ross: A Study on the Formation of the Early Korean Presbyterian Church (1874-1893)”
This dissertation was translated into Korean in 2008 and edited into a text book, and has been selected in 2017 as required reading for all master’s and doctoral degree research students majoring in Korean church history at the Chongshin University Graduate School.
4. Mission in Tanzania: serving as Principal and Professor at Calvin Theological Seminary (2002-2007):
As mentioned above, my wife and I headed to the mission field in East Africa and I served as a professor at Calvin Theological Seminary (CTC) near Dar Es Salaam, which was founded by a colleague at Chongshin University’s Mission Research Centre. CTC is the only non-denominational seminary that trains all Presbyterian missionaries for the Tanzanian church. My ministry at the seminary included daily morning prayers with the students, followed by McCheyne Bible reading, physical training with Taekwondo, and following a discipleship training program for all students. However, during the first sabbatical year, I had to leave the mission field due to many factors such as being unable to withstand the harsh natural environment surrounding the seminary, including snakes and scorpions in the wild. As a result, my wife, Esther’s health had deteriorated too much and we had to withdraw.
Chongshin University Graduate School of Theology, Graduate School of Missions, lectures and military church ministry (2008-2014):
After 12 years of living abroad, I experienced first-hand that the Korean church had changed so much, and I had the joy of teaching various subjects such as missiology, cultural anthropology, introduction to the Bible, Korean church and self-reliance missions, etc. at Chongshin University Theological Seminary, Graduate School of Mission, Calvin University, and Myongji University. Every weekend, I served as the senior pastor of the active-duty battalion-level ‘Banseok Soldiers Church’ in Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. Teaching during the week and ministry-ing during the weekend, there was some pain and suffering of not being able to wisely balance my busy teaching and pastoral ministries.
5. Ministry of Paraguay Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Calvary Church (2015-2022)
In our second mission field, Paraguay, the heart of South America, we served the Paraguayan Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Calvary Church and invited many mixed-race youth (15 young people) to our rented house every weekend to focus on the study of the Word and for discipleship training. In order to further enhance our ministry, we went out to tell the gospel to the local youth, efforts including outreach through taekwondo demonstration and Korean language education, but all activities were halted due to the pandemic.
During the COVID-19 period, I am grateful that I was able to write my second book, “Bible: My Love, My Life” (Kookmin Books, 2020), being published in Korean and also being translated into Spanish and used as a textbook in five Central and South American countries, including Paraguay. Plans are underway to have this Spanish translation be published in more Spanish-speaking countries in Central and South America in the future and to be used as a ‘Canonical History of the Bible’ textbook in various seminaries.
In addition, while working in the mission field for the past 10 years, I regularly sent out emails to my two sons and two daughters-in-law, always beginning the emails with “My dear sons, and daughters-in-law”, and sharing my thoughts and musings on life and the Christian upbringing of children. These emails were compiled into a book focussing on children’s education, and published as “My Son, Live Like This” (Kookmin Books, 2022) in July 2022.
Conclusion: Future tasks and prayer request
God was long-suffering with me even when I mocked the Christians and persecuted the church in my youth. All in His time, God finally called, saved, and led me this far by His sovereign grace. Now, in the second half of my missionary life, I am truly grateful to God for His providence and guidance for leading me to back to the UK, this time as a missionary. According to the words of Psalm 139:14, “Truly wonderful are Your works!” Hallelujah!
I am realising that Christian Mission is ‘when I myself become a disciple of Jesus first and then making other disciples’, which is to say that it is in ‘the business of raising up men and women of God.’ For the benefit of the Korean church mission worldwide, I am prayerfully starting the following three movements:
First: An undivided focus on daily morning prayer, knowing that there is no mission activity more excellent than prayer. To lead by example “Three hours of daily prayer and street evangelism” until the day we see a new Revival in the UK just like the Welsh Revival.
Second: Commit to “write one Christian book review a week” for the benefit of fellow Korean missionaries in mission fields around the world. Become a good model for a life that grows brighter and brighter in old age through lifelong study and research and spiritual maturity (Proverbs 4:18).
Third: Continue the daily reading of the Scriptures according to the MacCheyne Bible Reading Plan and to introduce it to all churches worldwide. I am writing a book on this topic.
I sincerely thank you for reading up to this point about Missionary Peter Ahnho Bae’s call to missions and the story of how God preparared him for His work.