Gyoojun Lee hosted a three-day mission training for Open Door Church youths at the JARS Center for 3 days, March 24-26, 2024.
JAARS is a technical support center that was established after more than 15 years of prayer by Townsend, who realized the need for an air transportation ministry for Bible translation missionaries working in remote areas. As its name suggests, it started as an air transportation and radio communication service, and now provides air, land, and water transportation services for Bible translation missions around the world, IT-related computer program development and training, email server and database construction, satellite communications, and various supply purchasing and shipping services.
In honor of our 75th anniversary, JAARS has dropped the word "radio" in favor of "relay" to emphasize its ministry of connecting people and resources with God's Word, the Bible. In response to this, JAARS is working to develop and implement a new strategy that will allow them to retain their unique identity/roles while continuing to be committed to the ministry of Bible translation.
The youth mission training program focused on how each person's life and vocation should be dedicated to the best service of God as reflected in the characteristics of JAARS's ministry and how to live a life of all-giving to God for that purpose, while also sharing how this work is connected to the ministry of Bible translation so that the gospel of life can be shared in every language and culture, resulting in abundant life here on earth and eternal life for minority people groups.
We started with a skit to show why various ministries like JAARS's support ministries need to work together (Photo 1), followed by an activity to try their hand at Bible translation (Photo 2), training on why Bible translation is important for disciple-making, the life of a missionary, and the importance of cooperation, and finally, a fun activity to experience why the gospel must be shared in the language and culture of each people group. The final activity was to make their model airplane and write their life motto on it based on what they learned through this training, and then pray and bless each other (Photos 3 and 4).1
[Bethany, who has been sharing the gospel with her friend with a heavy heart, wrote "All for God" on her airplane and prayed with tears with her teacher for her friend who is still unable to accept the gospel].
After serving the ODPC youths, Gyoojun, Vice President Craig , and President Steve spoke together about the church mobilization partnership between JAARS and Wycliffe Canada. Steve Russell, the newest JAARS President, has the unique distinction of being a military chaplain, retired colonel, and former Oklahoma State Senator, making him the first non-Wickliffe/SIL/JAARS person to lead JAARS in its history. Along with the senior leadership team, he has made strategic changes for the JAARS ministry, including remodeling the lobby of the main building, the exhibitions of Mexico Museum, and updating the last three sections of Alphabet Museum. They are also installing an operation cockpit that will provide a bird's eye view and oversight of JAARS ministries worldwide.
[Pictured: From left, the newly renovated lobby of the main building, Gyoojun with the new JAARS President Steve Russell, youths and teachers of Open Door Presbyterian Church.
Gyoojun was also introduced to a new program called the LAST MILE CHALLENGE, which will be a new feature one of the JAARS hands-on training programs forward on, allowing us to share with participants how JAARS provides air, land, and water transportation services for Bible translation missions and continues to be creative and challenging in its commitment to Bible translation missions. We, Wycliffe Canada, pray that our continued collaboration with JAARS will be mutually beneficial and that many churches and individuals will learn valuable lessons of teamwork, understanding each one's profession as a God-given ministry, fully finishing the race of faith life, and living out all these by God's grace.
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