English Compass - bringing christian fellowship to korean americans

A Renewed Direction for the Online Compass

Arrrgh. I grunted as I lifted another box labeled “Jinha’s things” in my parents’ basement. It is inevitable that at some point after you leave for college, your bedroom gets converted to a guest room or study, and your middle school art projects, your Suzuki violin books, and your high school yearbooks get stored away in boxes. When you finally finish your studies and move into a home with storage of your own, you have the taxing but rewarding task of reclaiming your past.

Having graduated from seminary in May, I came home and started rummaging through my boxes to see what I could salvage. With anticipation, I cut through the layered dust and opened a time capsule of treasures: my fifth-grade diary, letters from friends, and sermon notes from 1994. While I gasped at seeing old pictures, laughed at preserved school projects, and cuddled neglected stuffed animals, something caught my eye. It was a yellowed newsletter, just sixteen pages long. The heading read, “Korean American Church Compass: English Edition. January 1996 Vol 8. No 1.” There was an editorial by Pastor David Kim, a report introducing YMAC (Youth Ministry Advisory Committee) for the first time, and an announcement that the Andrews Youth Church elected their first Youth board members. Leafing through the pages, I remembered how much I had enjoyed reading the English Compass and mused over the fact that now, on the other side of the Digital Decade, we are launching an Online Compass.

Compass.  A compass is an instrument to guide travelers towards a destination. It orients you so that you know which direction to follow. So where is the Online Compass taking us? To answer this question, we cannot forget where we have come from. Just like the items in my boxes, the past may be forgotten, but it has indelibly molded us into the individuals we are today. Therefore, the Online Compass will build on the foundation of previous years. Like the print version, the website will feature devotional thoughts from the Bible, articles about germane issues, interviews with various individuals, as well as creative contributions from Christian artists. In addition, the Online Compass will be a portal for up-to-date networking, allowing churches to post announcements, share resources, and develop joint ministries. A calendar of main events will facilitate communication and improve attendance. Multimedia blogs will enable personal accountability. The possibilities are truly exciting!

So as I take my old treasures into my new home, as we move from the printed page to the electronic screen, I am reminded of God’s promise to Israel, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19, NIV). Today, we need the Holy Spirit to renew a way for future generations to follow – a compass for a closer walk with Jesus. “For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end” (Psalm 48:14, NIV). Trusting in His Word and remembering His Providence, we pray for the future of Online Compass – that every aspect may point us to the cross, and that heaven may be our final destination.

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