The New Year 2019 has come! Each moment in the history of Manmin has been walks of faith. The church growth has never stopped since its opening in 1982. We've given glory to God through our missionary works both within and outside the country. There have been difficult moments, too, but we know that they were also the times of blessing during which we stored up the measure of justice for winning the souls around the world and for which we've cultivated the faith of martyrdom, just as a grain of wheat that falls on the ground and dies to bear much fruit.

We are sure that the trials in the last year were our shortcut to receiving great and amazing blessings that God has prepared, as written in 2 Cor. 4:17, "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." For this reason, we Manmin are welcoming the New Year 2019 with more energy than ever.

During the Sunday Morning Service on Dec. 30, 2018, the message was delivered by Pastor Soojin Lee, the chairperson of the Pastors' Association, under the title "The Early Church" (Acts 2:42-47). She said, "The members of the early churches were persecuted and suffered hardships only because they believed in the Lord, and yet they could overwhelmingly overcome the hardships because many signs and wonders took place through the apostles; and they gathered together every day and prayed so that they were filled with the Spirit.

Furthermore, they shared all their possessions and spread the gospel with their assurance of salvation and resurrection while giving out the fragrance of Christ, so that the number of those who were saved was added day after day. Now, in order for us to become like the members of the early church we should also pray fervently to be full of the Spirit, we need to be united in love and focus on winning the souls." She concluded the message by urging the members to become glory of exultation of God by standing firm on the truth.

The 1st part of the New Year Service began at 11 PM on Dec. 31, 2018. Pastor Soojin Lee delivered a message about "Spiritual Warriors", which is the 2nd prayer title of the new year. She explained, "In order to completely fulfill God's providence at the end time, which is full of sins and evil, we are in need of numerous spiritual warriors. In order to become spiritual warriors, we first have to have faith. This means that our attitude does not change in any situation. We also have to become workers of goodness and we have to fulfill all our duties with all our strength."

In the 2nd part of the service, the members wrote down their new year's prayer points and submitted them, and Pastor Soojin Lee blessed them. The 3rd part of the service was the performances of singers and dancers that were prepared according to the 4 prayer titles for the new year, and the church members gave glory to God with their praise songs and prayers.

Pastor Soojin Lee will deliver the messages on the New Year's 3rd and 4th prayer titles on January 6 and 20, in Sunday Morning services. The titles are "Glorious Sanctuary" (Isaiah 60:1-3), and "Power of Re-creation" (Psalm 62:11).

In this year 2019, we hope that the ministry of our church will be unfolded greatly by the works of the Holy Spirit to preach God the Creator and Jesus Christ. We'd like all the church members to be on the alert and pray to participate in this blessed ministry.