I have visited five countries—Japan, Thailand, Pakistan, Myanmar, and India—to introduce and develop Lay Pastors Ministry (LPM) and PACE.
One of our staff members knew a missionary in Japan, so he contacted them. As a result, four of us went to Japan for a week to conduct a PACE Seminar for Korean missionaries serving there. It was my first opportunity to introduce PACE in another country.
Later, I received an email from Pakistan from Rev. Chand, who wanted to learn more about Lay Pastors Ministry and PACE. He invited me to come to Pakistan to conduct an LPM/PACE Seminar for their people. After many emails back and forth over the course of a year, I finally visited Pakistan for eleven days. It was a fruitful and productive journey. Later, we invited Rev. Chand to teach at our conference in Korea. He came to Korea twice, and we continued our fellowship and ministry partnership afterward.
A friend also introduced me to a Korean missionary serving in Thailand. I went to Thailand for a week to conduct a seminar for Thai pastors. It was another good experience and gave me an opportunity to see how PACE could be understood and applied in a different Asian context.
Later, I went to Myanmar for a week to conduct PACE Seminars in local churches and theological schools. One of the foreign students who was studying in Korea invited me to come to Myanmar and introduce PACE there. I accepted his invitation. It was a valuable experience to meet the people, understand their situation, and learn more about another Asian country with significant economic challenges.
That experience was especially helpful as I began preparing to go to Nagaland, India, to start a PACE seminary. After returning to Korea from Myanmar, I began making preparations to visit Nagaland and establish the school.
Finally, I went to Nagaland, India, where I conducted seminars in churches and established PACE International Seminary (PIS) on July 22, 2015.
It was a historical moment for Lay Pastors Ministry and PACE. Since Dr. Melvin Steinbron began this ministry in Ohio, USA, in 1978, LPM/PACE had continued to reach beyond the United States and Korea into other countries.
I am deeply grateful to God for allowing me to open this school and to take another step in the worldwide development of Lay Pastors Ministry and PACE.