Illinois churches connect with South Korean church live on the Internet
Mansfield, Illinois
Friday, November 18, 2005
Saturday night, November 12, the New Day Community Church of the Nazarene praise team joined the Mansfield Community Church of the Nazarene for a potluck fellowship at 5:00 P.M. and worship service at 6:30 P.M. At 7:00 P.M., the group, made up of members from both Illinois District churches, connected live via MSN Messenger on the Internet to Pastor Kim and the Presbyterian Church in Gwang Yang, South Korea.

Mansfield Community Pastor Carlos A. Lonberger reports, "With live video and audio, we were able to see and hear their children perform in song and dance, praising the same Jesus, over 12,000 miles away, with only a one to two-second delay.

"We projected the image from their webcam onto our screen and connected the audio through our sound system. They did the same in Gwang Yang. We joined them in singing some familiar hymns and a regular chorus of ours, `Let's Talk About Jesus,' which had already taught them to sing in English.

"We sang with them, prayed with them, and then Pastor Kim shared a wonderful Thanksgiving season message, translated for us and delivered simultaneously by Pastor Shin, the Belleville, Illinois Korean Church of the Nazarene pastor.

"Kim had a wonderful message about being thankful to God for our salvation and the many blessings His grace provides for us."

For the past few months, Pastor Lonberger's family has hosted Pastor Kim's daughter, 16 year old Eun Ji Kim, who is a foreign exchange student. To help relieve Eun Ji's separation anxiety, they started connecting with her family in South Korea every Friday night via the Internet.

"We have really come to love and appreciate this wonderful Christian family, trying to communicate each week through Eun Ji's translation and our poor Korean," Lonberger stated.

"I had the idea to have this service on a Saturday night so that we would be able to connect with them in Gwang Yang, 15 hours later, for their morning service at 10:00 A.M.," said Lonberger. "Pastor Kim's church was very excited at the idea as well, and two months of testing and preparation provided a wonderful, inspiring evening with more than 130 wonderful people in the Presbyterian church in Gwang Yang, South Korea. It was such a blessing to think that this church halfway around the world from us was serving and praising the same Jesus! God is good, all the time, and everywhere in the world!"

Note: Pictures provided by Steve VanVleet are available to view on the ncnnews.com photo gallery.
--Mansfield Community Church of the Nazarenete: Pictures provided by Steve VanVleet are available to view on the ncnnews.com photo gallery.
--Mansfield Community Church of the Nazarene