I recently put together a picture book to celebrate 50 years of our ministry. It has been 50 years since Rev. Melvin began his ministry in 1974, and 2024 marks that important milestone.
The ministry began as an institute in Korea, developed into a Korean ministry, expanded into overseas ministry, and eventually led to the establishment of PACE International Seminary in Nagaland, India, which opened in 2015. In 2025, the seminary will celebrate its tenth anniversary.
The 50-year picture book contains many memories from those years. It shows Pastor Melvin’s first vision 50 years ago, the new direction of his theology, the church in Ohio where he began his ministry, his first book, his first newsletter, and the first members who joined the ministry in the United States.
Many of those people were in their late fifties when I first met them. Now, looking at their pictures, I realize that many of them are over eighty. It was deeply moving to see those old photographs again—visiting Pastor Melvin’s home, taking pictures with his wife, attending conferences in the United States, and remembering the people who shared those early years of ministry.
The pictures also brought back memories of Nagaland Theological Seminary. I remember renting a school building, purchasing land, opening the school in July 2015, and teaching a semester with only three students.
There are also pictures of the churches we helped through the Korean Institute, training centers, seminars in different countries, the seminary in Nagaland, India, and Melvin University in Kenya. The more I looked at the pictures of the churches, pastors, and members I had worked with throughout my ministry in Korea, the more nostalgic I became. The photographs brought back not only the events but also the emotions of those years.
Especially meaningful were the pictures of our overseas ministry. Each photograph carried memories of a particular time and place. I realized again that our overseas ministry was a natural outgrowth of what had already been happening in Korea. I had met foreign students in Korea and had begun teaching English PACE to foreigners at our training center. Those relationships eventually opened doors to ministry in other countries.
English was an essential tool for going overseas. Yet I felt relatively comfortable with English materials and English lectures because, from the beginning of my ministry in Korea, I had studied, learned, and used Pastor Melvin’s English materials. What I had learned years earlier became a foundation for ministry in other countries.
The pictures brought back memories of meeting pastors in Thailand, Korean missionaries in Japan, visiting seminaries and churches in Myanmar, holding seminars in Toronto and Vancouver, attending conventions in the United States, conducting seminars in Pakistan, and meeting pastors and church members in Romania.
As I looked through those photographs, I realized how much I had grown and how passionate I had been about the work. Sometimes I still wonder how I was able to work so hard in those days.
But if someone asked me, “If you could go back to the beginning, would you do it all over again?” I would probably say, “No, of course not!” Not because I regret the ministry, but because I now realize how difficult and demanding those years were. At the time, I simply kept moving forward without fully understanding how much work was involved.
The pictures helped me see something important: the present is an extension of the past.What we are doing today has been built on the foundation of many years of ministry, many people, many churches, and many experiences.
Therefore, looking back should not simply make us nostalgic. It should make us grateful.
I want to thank once again all the churches, pastors, leaders, and members who walked with me during those years. Every person and every church became part of the foundation on which the present ministry stands.
At the same time, looking back gives me an opportunity to recognize my shortcomings. Not everything was perfect. There were mistakes, weaknesses, and things that could have been done better. Remembering the past should therefore lead not only to gratitude but also to reflection and correction.
After 50 years, I look at these pictures and realize that ministry is never built in a single day. It is built one relationship, one church, one student, one seminar, and one faithful step at a time.
The photographs are more than pictures of the past. They are witnesses to God’s faithfulness.
And as I look at them, my heart says, “Thank you for the past, learn from the past, and faithfully continue into the future.”