1️⃣ Our day began early (5:15 a.m.) with a 45-minute worship and prayer service. For two weeks, over one hundred people have been arriving early at the church every morning to pray for Forgiving Forward in Korea. We walked into the room where the people were quietly waiting to begin. The pastoral team prayed over us while the rest joined in, all praying aloud simultaneously. It was a humbling experience.

We met Pastor Moon, who leads the charge for Forgiving Forward here in Korea. What a man of faith and determination he is! He has already coached over 60 people. He has witnessed the freedom of the Gospel through the power of forgiveness and is passionate about it. Incredible! He showed us the Korean translation of the Second Edition of Forgiving Forward, which has just been released. This is our first glance at it.

​🌟 The day ended with our first Korean church service at the host church, Wonchon Baptist Church. The message was received well. Afterward, we had the privilege of praying over a couple of people. One lady was struggling with deep guilt. After leading her to forgive and with tears running down her face, she said, “I feel great peace. Thank you. God was clearly speaking to me tonight.” Praise God for His faithfulness.

2️⃣ What a blessing South Korea has been thus far. Day Two began with a three-hour seminar at Wonchon Church. It was well attended, and the message was well received. Bruce’s translator was Dr. Park, also one of the main translators of the Korean edition of Forgiving Forward Second Edition. He is a funny guy and brought refreshing humor to the seminar. At one point, when Bruce was explaining the table of reconciliation, sitting in the “wounded party’s” chair, Dr. Park refused to sit in the wounding party’s chair as part of the illustration and almost sat in Bruce’s lap. Much forgiveness took place at the end of the teaching.

💕 The lady we coached the previous evening also came to the seminar. She was radiant. It turns out that she buried her mother just hours before she attended the evening event. Her wounds were connected to her mother, but God gave her the privilege of leading her mother to Christ right before she passed away. Praise God!

We shared “Forgiveness in a Capsule” with young adults that evening. What a blessing to give this treasure of freedom through forgiveness to the next generation. They listened intently, taking notes, fully engaged. Delightful.

3️⃣ Day Three was a full day, beginning with the Sunday services at LifeSpring Church. Bruce spoke at the first Sunday service through a Korean translator, and the second service was in English. Later that afternoon, he completed the seminar, followed by an opportunity for the participants to forgive two-by-two. Once again, hearts were changed. We also experienced God’s hand in a significant way that we will have to share at another time.

4️⃣ Day Four was special to us because we spent the day with pastors and their wives from different areas of Korea. Our Mission at Forgiving Forward is “To coach pastors and ministry leaders on how to coach their people to forgive and coach others to forgive.” We were able to do just that. Eyes were opened, hearts challenged, and many experienced a release from wounds they had been carrying for a long time. Our last session was men with men and women with women. It is important to encourage these dear servants, in their roles, as they minister on the front lines. It was a beautiful day.

5️⃣ The last three days have filled our hearts with the goodness of God. First, we began with Bruce teaching at the ✝️ Torch Trinity Graduate Seminary. What an honor. The students were impacted by the message of Forgiving Forward, and we have already received word back that hearts have been changed. It blesses us so much to see graduate students embrace the message of forgiveness as they move forward in their ministries. The students represent many countries around the world.

We had the afternoon off, so we decided to stop at the War Museum, which is dedicated to the Korean War. Bruce’s father served on the front lines during the Korean War and was injured. Walking through the museum, witnessing the atrocities, and learning more about what he experienced was surreal. The Koreans have an intense gratitude toward Americans. “We wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for the United States.” 🇺🇸

6️⃣ We visited the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) on day six at the South/North Korean border. The DMZ is the buffer zone between North and South Korea, about 2.5 miles wide and 160 miles long. Viewing this border, peeking into North Korea, impacted our hearts. We had to follow protocol, including not taking pictures in certain areas—we were being watched. We managed to grab a few, legally, ☺ never to forget what oppression looks like. Looking into North Korea was like looking into a heart that doesn’t know Jesus. More on that to come…

The Freedom Bridge where prisoners of war returned back to Korea. North Korea is in the background.

Bombed out railroad bridge from Korean War. Just two weeks ago, North Korea bombed another railroad bridge very close to this site to make a statement that unification would never happen, a hope for S. Korea.

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7️⃣ On day seven, we spent with our hosts, Joseph and Enny Kim, touring their school facilities, which they founded in the 1990s, and learning about how they educate the children grades k-12, praising God together for all He has done and how He has revealed Himself to us, and planning for the future. What a dear, faithful couple Joseph and Enny are.

Good friends aren’t made, they are recognized.

In multiple places at the War Museum, these words were etched in stone:

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

How true! Jesus went to extreme measures to provide for our freedom. May we never dishonor His sacrifice by our unforgiveness, but may we always extend the forgiveness we have received to others.

Lim Seon-young, English name “Amy,” has been the Korean lady behind the scenes handling every detail of our speaking tour. What a delight she is! Her organizational skills, communication prowess, translating skills, and attention to detail have made our tour run smoothly. There is no way to know how many hours she has spent preparing for our arrival and fully supporting us while we have been here. Amy also translated our Second Edition, along with Dr. Park Kab-yong, a linguistics professor. We are so grateful for her joyful support of the message of Forgiving Forward.

8️⃣ On Day Eight, we were given some time off to explore Suwon. Visiting Korea wouldn’t be complete without seeing some of their ancient architecture. Su and her son Cho, members of our host church, offered to show us the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress built in 1794. We learned that the fortress was also used during the Korean War.

That evening, while Bruce was coaching a gentleman, I, Toni, met with the pastor’s wives of 14 congregations operating under one overarching church. This was our second gathering, where we discussed the message of forgiveness, answered questions, and encouraged them to trust the Holy Spirit as He leads them to help others apply the blood of Jesus as payment in full. We had a heart-to-heart conversation and ended our time praying together.

9️⃣ We headed to Daejeon, Korea, on Saturday (our Day Nine) to speak at an event held in the coffee shop of Riverside Church. The event was sponsored by FEBC (Far East Broadcasting Company). How grateful we are that they partnered with us to bring the message of forgiveness to these dear people. The message was received well. One couple said, “Our marriage is in trouble. I’m so grateful that God gave us this message to help us.”

🔟 The next day, we spoke at Christian International Church for the morning service, followed by a mini-seminar. This church meets in a Christian International School. Many of the members are also involved in the school. It was a nice break to speak in English. ☺ We ended the evening back in Suwon (about 2.5 hours away), having dinner with Min & Angela Hong, a key couple in shepherding the Forgiving Forward message in Korea. Angela’s family defected from North Korea. Hearing her story was riveting. We enjoyed exchanging stories of God’s leading that brought us to this place—at this time. All praise to Him!

⓫ Today, Day Eleven, we packed up and headed to Seoul, where we will minister over the next three days. Today, we held a Forgiving Forward Seminar for local pastors, Christian school teachers, and missionaries at the FEBC headquarters. It was a wonderful day watching these dear leaders forgive and experience freedom. “My heart is at peace.” “I feel a weight has been lifted.” “The heaviness is gone.” We pray the message will spread even more as these people share their personal testimonies with their churches and schools.

Dr. Billy Kim greets Bruce and Toni

It’s impossible to put into words all we see God doing here in Korea. There have been so many connections, so many conversations. Today, we received an email that said, “We are very gracious and excited to be a part of this great mission!”

⓬ Day Twelve was an exciting day for us. We had the privilege of teaching approximately 170 pastors from three churches in Seoul. These pastors are from the largest Baptist church in S. Korea, the largest Methodist church in S. Korea, and the largest Presbyterian church in the world! (The event was held at Myungsung Presbyterian Church, which was built on the site of the Billy Graham crusade held in 1973, where over 3.2 million people attended.) It is estimated that these pastors represent over 100,000 parishioners.

The pastors, including the senior pastors, embraced the message of Forgiving Forward. God led us in specific ways that were more than we could have ever asked or imagined. It was God that gave us a platform for His purposes. The more that pastors embrace the message of forgiveness = the more the body of Christ will experience the freedom of the Gospel.

It was beautiful to witness believers worshipping together across denominational lines. They even paired off to forgive and experience the freedom of the Gospel together.

A connection was made, giving us great hope for the future of S. Korea. Our hearts are endeared to the church of S. Korea.

⓭ We began Day Thirteen by speaking at an early staff devotional gathering at the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC.) It was convenient that our lodging was “in” the FEBC building. The staff of FEBC serves the Kingdom by broadcasting the Gospel over high-powered transistors to not only S. Korea but also countries where neither pastors nor missionaries can travel. “Even though it may seem like there are no listeners, there are people secretly tuning in from various hidden corners.” FEBC

After the devotional, we had the privilege to record the message of forgiveness via this radio ministry. We are praying that the reach will be far!

As soon as the recording was completed, we were taken to a lovely Baptist church in the area for their Wednesday morning service. There was a 75-voice women’s choir that performed before the message. They were angelic.

It is truly remarkable to see the commitment of believers in S. Korea…early morning daily prayer services with thousands of participants, midweek church services that are well-attended, pastors with hearts eager to grow and learn, and, of course, incredible hospitality that draws the unbeliever in. We experienced their loving hospitality in more ways than we can count. In fact, on our last day, ⓮ Day Fourteen, in S. Korea, we snuck down to the coffee shop (Joe’s Table – more about that later) to read our Bibles over coffee and tea. We were packed and ready for the airport but had extra time to kill. We thought we were hidden at a back table—with no agendas or meetings, but before we finished reading the second Bible verse in our daily devotion, people came to our table to chat—one right after another. Everyone was encouraging, uplifting, and grateful that we came to S. Korea. Dr. Billy Kim and his son, John Kim, stopped by and shared with us how God had blessed them that morning with a financial gift for FEBC. We rejoiced with them. The manager of Joe’s table kept serving us and refused to let us pay—“Your money is no good here.”

Then, a gentleman Bruce had just said “hello” to in an elevator stopped by and told us he was one of Dr. Billy Kim’s first converts. Jesus had so changed his life that he, too, became a missionary to Korea. One of his supporting churches was my parent’s church in Ohio—Canton Baptist Temple! What a small world. He gave us his autobiography, grabbed our hands, and prayed over us. He said, “I want to give you a verse to take on your way…Genesis 28:15. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. One day, I will bring you back to this land.” What a God connection that moment was!

Our trip blog would not be complete without giving a huge thank you to Joseph and Enny Kim, who God used to make this trip happen. They deeply love the people of S. Korea and want their country to experience the freedom of the Gospel through the power of forgiveness. Their love is witnessed through their actions and their words. Both of them were vulnerable, sharing their own story of freedom in a culture where people keep everything close to their chest. Their vulnerability opened the hearts of the listeners, which, in turn, produced great fruit. They translated for us, provided for our every need, helped translate Forgiving Forward, bridged us to Timothy Publishing House, hosted us in their home, and on and on and on. We cannot say enough about them—they made us part of their family. Thank you, Joe and Enny.

As the elevator missionary man quoted to us, “One day, I will bring you back to this land.” That is what we fully expect.