Madison Association expands Asian language ministry

When Chun (John) Yi came to Madison Baptist Association in 2003, his goal was to expand the Asian special language ministry, and that is exactly what he is doing.
   
Korean by birth, Yi has extensively studied other languages, including Japanese and Chinese, and is reaching out to the international population in the Huntsville area through collegiate ministries and programs targeted for military personnel and those drawn to the area by high-tech jobs.
   
“I have a burden to reach out to internationals,” said Yi, who works as special language ministry director for Madison Association and also as a church-planting missionary for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. The North American Mission Board also recently appointed him as a missionary. “I have a heart for immigrants. I know their agony. I know the needs they have. I was there, too.”
   
He tries, whenever possible, to reach out to internationals in their language, to build personal relationships and then share the gospel. Yi is organizing small group Bible studies on campuses and in local churches. Because there already are international churches in the area, he isn’t trying to plant new ones as much as strengthen the existing ones. 
   
Many of the Asian people who come to the Huntsville area, especially for military training, often return to their home countries, where he hopes they will tell others about Jesus.
   
Yi was raised as a Buddhist and remembers his mother putting him to sleep each night with Buddhist chants. He credits American missionaries who came to Korea with changing his life.
   
“Through that missionary ministry I recognized Jesus as the Son of God,” he said. “At age 13, I was born again, clearly repented of my sin and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I cannot forget that moment, with tears and joy and freedom.”
   
At home, it wasn’t easy being a Christian. His mother, still a devout Buddhist, would punish him for praying to God. She accused him of bringing “western demons” into the home. “The family persecution was very painful,” Yi said. “But, the Holy Spirit encouraged me.”
   
At age 16, he dedicated his life to serving the Lord and becoming a minister. His mother, now deceased, was the first target of his personal evangelism. “I prayed and eventually my mother said yes to Jesus and became Christian,” he recalled. “Every morning she prayed to Buddha, but after she became a Christian, she prayed to the almighty God in the name of Jesus.” 
   
One by one, family members, including his sisters and his father, made the decision to follow Christ as well.
   
“That’s my unforgettable joy to share the gospel with my own family first,” said Yi, who went on to teach Sunday School.
   
Then he attended Bible college in Korea, while working with American missionaries to learn English. He came to the United States to attend the Denver Seminary in Denver, Colo., and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
   
After graduation, he worked in campus ministry at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., where he was involved in the building of a new church. 
   
A student group of 20 grew to more than 200 within three years. He then worked as a Korean church consultant with the Georgia Baptist State Convention and served as a church planter and pastor of an international Baptist church in the state.
   
“The Asian population is experiencing the second largest population growth in the state,” said Richard Alford, an associate in the office of associational/cooperative missions for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “John has the ability to work cross-culturally with other Asian groups, and he has a lot of experience. He is doing a good job.”
   
Yi said he is excited to be working with the people in Alabama. “People are so nice,” he said. “The Christians — I can see Christ in their hearts.”
   
While Yi doesn’t know exactly what the Lord has in store for him, he believes his current call is to work on ethnic leadership development, equipping Asians in the Huntsville area to become lay leaders. They can then share the gospel at work or in social situations and bring more people to Christ. He hopes lay leaders will grow into Bible study leaders and maybe even ministers, who can reach out to their own people.
   
“It’s really urgent,” he said. “Through evangelism types of study, they can become effective, powerful lay evangelists.”