My Journey with ECKCM: From Commitment to Letting Go
East Coast Korean Camp Meeting (ECKCM) is an annual week-long event held at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, where all the Korean Seventh-Day Adventist Churches in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States gather. After a 3-year hiatus due to Covid-19, ECKCM was back this year from July 30 – August 5. I did not attend the event itself this year, but I did attend the coordinators/leaders retreat held prior to the event from July 27 – July 30.
As the retreat drew to a close, so did my journey with ECKCM—a journey that I once believed would span a lifetime. It was a bittersweet farewell. While I had envisioned many more years with ECKCM, the evolution of the Administration Team for the English Division of ECKCM left me filled with hope. Their transformative influence assures me that with God’s guidance, they will elevate ECKCM to unparalleled heights.
The end of my time with ECKCM was very much like the start of my time with ECKCM. It wasn’t my decision and not something that was planned. Literally, it was God through
and through.
At the conclusion of closing ceremonies at ECKCM 2010, a small group of English Ministry pastors and lay leaders had an impromptu meeting at the Afterglow Café, and the Holy Spirit was moving and the idea of creating an Admin team to guide and grow the English Division of ECKCM, was birthed.
A decision had to be made whether to begin moving forward on this vision right away or to wait until ECKCM 2011 to get a contract from the campmeeting committee before beginning. After a short discussion, unanimously we decided to move forward in faith and trust that God would part the waters as we began working in earnest to make the vision a reality.
Along the way, there were many challenges to overcome and there were many times when I questioned whether the Admin Team could really enact any kind of meaningful change at ECKCM, as the challenges seemed insurmountable. But time and time again, God would part the waters and provide what was needed at just the right time.
Prayer was something that was a staple of the Admin team, as we found ourselves in impossible situations over and over again. But with each passing trial and tribulation, we witnessed the magnificent miracles of God again and again, and our faith and confidence in God continued to grow.
Over the years, we made it a point to change the culture of ECKCM and our greatest desire was to see ECKCM leaders and attendees experience God in a real and tangible way—to have a personal relationship with Jesus. We don’t need to learn more; we need to experience more. In Adventism, there is a very real danger in believing that our knowledge of “the truth” is what will save us. But “the truth” is found in the person of Jesus Christ and it is through a personal relationship with Him that we grow in our knowledge of Him.
Why do so many Adventists fall away from the church? Arguably, Adventists have more Bible knowledge than most Christian denominations. But this is an academic theoretical knowledge. What is lacking is an experiential knowledge of God which can only be had through a relationship with Him.
Psalms 34:8 tells us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good…” Not read and see; not hear and see; but taste and see. We must experience Jesus to truly know and understand who He is. The reason people fall away from the church is that they don’t know God. They don’t have a relationship with Him and they haven’t seen and experienced His grace and love first-hand. Many may have an extensive academic understanding of God, but that is no substitute for knowing God first-hand.
In the parable of the 10 Virgins, the 5 foolish virgins “took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.” (Matthew 25:3,4) When the bridegroom finally showed up, the wise virgins went in with him to the wedding banquet, but the foolish virgins were out scrambling to find oil. Later, when they tried to get into the wedding banquet, the doors were shut. “’Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’”
The oil represents our relationship with God. Everyone has the unique privilege and opportunity to engage with the Creator of the universe in a close and personal relationship. For those that take God up on this offer, it is their relationship with God that qualifies them for entrance into the wedding banquet. But for those who have not been in a relationship with Him, it’s too late to start a relationship with Him once He comes back. The time for that is now!
To the foolish virgins, the bridegroom said, “I don’t know you.” It is our relationship with Jesus that is the main thing. And just as the wise virgins couldn’t give their oil to the foolish virgins, you cannot use someone else’s relationship with Jesus to have a relationship with Him. You must have your own relationship with Him.
In 2020, God began calling me to a new chapter and phase of my life and ministry. I pushed back quite a bit initially because God was asking me to step away from Korean-American Adventist Ministry and I wasn’t ready to do that. At that time, I had invested over 19 years as a youth pastor, and over 10 years as a part of the Admin team for ECKCM. How could I walk away from all that having given so much of myself to them over the years? I wrestled and wrestled with God for almost 2 years and by the time I got to the middle of 2022, God made it clear to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was time for me to close this chapter of my life and move on to the next.
I was finally able to commit to what God wanted me to do, but I had a favor to ask of Him. I told God that if He truly wanted me to walk away from Korean-American Adventist Ministry, He would have to find a suitable replacement for me at Marietta Korean SDA Church as I did not want things to fall apart and go back to square one after I left. I also asked Him to find suitable replacements for me for ECKCM, and it had to be more than one person since I had been wearing so many hats.
At the time of my request, I couldn’t see how He would do this and so I thought that I would have a bit more time to prepare for my transition out of Korean-American Ministry. But once I made that request to God, amazingly within just a few brief months, He had found the absolute best candidate to take my place at Marietta Church and things just fell into place. And during that time period, God was also able to bring in the final two pieces of the Admin Team to allow me the peace and confidence of knowing that I was leaving ECKCM with an even better qualified Admin team than when I was still a part of it.
Who am I to give God conditions for my obedience? Who am I to ask God to address my concerns before I answer His call? And yet, that’s who our heavenly Father is. He is someone that knows well the deepest desires of our hearts and He does not dismiss them no matter how immature and childish they may be. Because it is important to me, it’s important to Him. It sounds so cliché, but God truly is good.
I gave my heart to Jesus in April 2002 and my life has been one glorious adventure since. As a prodigal son, I spent almost my entire 20’s exploring and pursing the things the world had to offer. There wasn’t much I didn’t try, see, or do. But at the end of the day, everything the world had to offer was merely a mirage. It left me empty and craving for more.
The water of the world does not satisfy. Jesus said that “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” (John 4:13,14) After 21+ years of walking with Jesus, I can absolutely confirm the truth of that statement. There is nothing that truly satisfies in this world except for Jesus. In Him, we find peace, joy, meaning and purpose. In Him, we find our identity. In Him, we find our worth.
Jesus loves you. Full stop. Let that statement sink in. As the old saying goes, there is nothing you can do to make God love you more and there is nothing you can do to make God love you less. Jesus wants to be in a relationship with You. He wants to spend eternity with You. And all that can begin now. He is standing at the door of your heart and is knocking. Will you let Him in?
Jimmy Kim currently resides in Marietta, GA and was the Youth Pastor at Atlanta Korean SDA Church from 2001 to 2011 and at Marietta Korean SDA Church from 2011 to 2022. He was the ECKCM English Division Coordinator in 2005 and 2006 and served as ECKCM English Division Media Coordinator in 2007 and 2010. And he served as Chair of Administration for ECKCM English Division from 2011 to 2022. Jimmy is currently on Sabbatical writing a book for non-Christians and former Christians on the Gospel within the context of the Great Controversy.