University Bible Fellowship

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The University Bible Fellowship is an Evangelical non-denominational Christian organization that originated in South Korea in 1961. It was founded through a partnership between a Korean, the late Dr. Samuel Chang-Woo Lee, and an American Presbyterian missionary who was sent to South Korea, Sarah Barry. UBF has headquarters in Chicago and Seoul and members around the world. UBF is present at many campuses from American Ivy league schools to small community colleges. The organization's stated goal is student evangelism. ^[1]

1 History
2 Beliefs
3 Characteristics
4 Initiatives
5 Memberships
6 Publications
7 Controversies
8 References
9 External links
- 9.1 Official Websites

[edit] History

1955-1960 The Korean war ended in 1953. During the war, Sarah Barry was a college student. She became a Christian. She thought that sending missionaries with the gospel of peace to Korea was better than sending soldiers. After graduation from the Biblical Seminary in New York she went to South Korea as a missionary with the Presbyterian Church, US. During her first term she studied language and engaged in missionary activities around Kwangju, visiting rural churches, visiting prisons, teaching in the Bible school. After the student revolution of April 19, 1960, she decided to reach out to students with English Bible study. She met Samuel Chang Woo Lee, a graduate of a Presbyterian Seminary in Seoul, a man who also saw the need for teaching the Bible to college students and training young people to be spiritual leaders.

1961-1964 The UBF movement began in 1961. Students from Chun Nam and Chosun Universities gathered to study English Bible in the Christian Student Center, 176-1 Daein-dong, Kwangju Korea. A medical student, John Chang Sun Jun, became Christian and began small group Bible study on his campus. By the end of the year there were 80 small groups studying the Bible on the two university campuses. In this way, UBF began. (The Way, IFES magazine, 1965)

1964-1975 In 1964, Kwangju UBF students sent a graduate as a missionary to pioneer Cheju University in Cheju Island. They found that by offering "five loaves and two fish" (offering what they had, even though it was small), they could support staff to pioneer other campuses. They sent workers to Taejun, Taegu, Chunju and in 1966, established a headquarters in Seoul. In 1966, Samuel Lee attended an IFES conference in Europe. He met a Korean nurse in Germany and learned the need for missionaries there. He found that nurses could go as self-supporting missionaries. In 1968, the first missionaries were sent to Germany: Inkyung Seo, Hwaja Lee, Dongran Sul. In 1970, Samuel Lee attended the first Lausanne Convention sponsored by Billy Graham. The first missionaries to America were sent in 1970 to New York. They were also nurses: Sarah Koh Kim, Chung Sook Park and Myung Soon Huh. On a hot day in 1971, UBF students prayed to have a conference at Niagara Falls in 10 years. The first Niagara Falls conference was held in the summer of 1975. After this, 9 more Niagara Falls conferences were held in Brock University. From 1970 to 1991, UBF established chapters in 8 African Countries, 18 European Countries, 3 South American Countries, 11 Asian countries, 2 countries of Oceania, 3 North American countries. By 1975, UBF sent more that 700 self-supporting lay missionaries to 50 countries, including 22 immigrant sewing machine workers who pioneered Canada in 1983.

1976-2001 In 1976, 4 senior staff members in Korea raised issues about the authoritarian nature of Samuel Lee’s leadership. They separated from UBF and several of them founded the Evangelical Student Fellowship. In 1977, Samuel Lee’s family moved to Chicago and established the international headquarters there. Dr. John Jun became the director of the Korea UBF. In 1985, Samuel and Grace Lee visited Russia. UBF members in Korea and America prayed for Russia, ate Russian bread, sang Russian songs and went as tourists to pray for Russia. In 1990 James Hwang was able to enter Moscow State University as a physics student. He was followed by others. The second CIS international conference was held in Moscow in 1992 with 328 attendants. In 1989, the leaders of Toledo and Columbus, Ohio chapters raised issues regarding the leadership style of Samuel Lee. The Toledo director was dismissed, and the directors in Columbus and New York resigned. The Columbus chapter eventually left UBF and renamed itself "Loving Hope Fellowship." Dr. Paul Hong became the director of the Toledo chapter and David Baik the director of the New York chapter. In 2000-2001, several Korean UBF chapters again raised issues regarding the leadership of Samuel Lee and the overall authoritarian nature of the ministry. They were joined by several UBF members in the United States and Germany. The result was a schism within UBF, with the objecting chapters and members calling themselves "Reformed UBF" and then, later becoming Campus Mission International.

2002-present In 2002, Dr Samuel Lee, who had been in ill health, died of smoke inhalation in a fire that broke out in his house. Sarah Barry was appointed General Director. She served until 2006. She resigned and Dr. John Jun, Korean director, assumed the duties of international general director. Dr. John Jun had been, and continues to be, active in the missionary activities of Korean evangelical churches and mission movements both in Korea and in the USA. The unique aspect of UBF missionary work is that since 1970, UBF's missionary work has been done by self-supporting lay missionaries.

[edit] Beliefs

UBF is conservative evangelical in doctrine and conservative in Korean values of leadership and mentorship.^[2] The statement of belief from the ministry is in line with mainline evangelical Christian ministries.^[3] UBF believes that God is the Creator of Heaven and earth and all things. They affirm the Apostles' Creed and believe that the Bible is the word of God and that everyone needs to be saved. UBF believes that salvation is found in no other name than that of Jesus who died and rose again. They invite students and others to study the Bible "inductively from the point of view of the Bible writers." They seek to lead those who study the Bible with them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and help them to grow as disciples of Jesus. ^[4]

[edit] Characteristics

UBF members are encouraged to live according to the teachings of the Bible and to obey the world mission command of Jesus Christ. One of the main goals of UBF is to evangelize college students. One characteristic of UBF ministry that continues to stand out is the sense of mission and commitment to the Great Commission.

Culture: influenced by numerous cultures from around the world, including Korean, Russian, German, British, Mexican, and American cultures.
Bible Study: primarily a “one-to-one” or individual study. The ministry also has small group Bible studies and weekly fellowship meetings. The format is generally: questions, teaching, written testimony, and sharing. UBF focuses on the inductive method.
Sunday Worship Services: began as a parachurch organization, then UBF began having Sunday worship services. In time, UBF organized into a church. Worship services typically involve prayer, preaching and singing.
House Churches: with the formation of families who are committed to Christian principles and servicing the ministry, some House Churches will hold regular worship services.
Structure: A General Director oversees the UBF work around the world and meets with the Board of Elders. Every chapter has its own Director which meets with the chapter elders. Fellowship leaders are appointed to lead a small to medium sized group of the UBF community in a college campus or division of a campus.

[edit] Initiatives

To fulfill their student evangelism mission, University Bible Fellowship missionaries went out to many parts of the world, and saw the need for new kinds of ministry, including:

Medical Missions - Bethesda Mission Hospital in Uganda
Media Missions - internet publishing of various media
Staff Education - training ordinary people who have a desire to study and teach the Bible and do mission work

[edit] Memberships

University Bible Fellowship is a member of several Christian organizations.

[edit] Publications

The ministry publishes a daily devotions booklet in print and online called Daily Bread. The headquarters chapter in Chicago publishes sermons in the form of text messages, video messages and audio messages. A world mission newsletter is published online and in print. Various reports are published online, such as the Spiritual Leaders reports. Each chapter in the ministry prepares an annual work report. These reports are compiled and published in print.

[edit] Controversies

Controversy has been been part of UBF's history, both in Korea and abroad. In the United States and Germany, in particular, UBF has had a reputation at times as a "cult" or abusive, "high demand" or "high pressure" group among various cult awareness organizations.^[7] Some former members allege that interpersonal relationships are used solely for the purpose of the mission. They report that there is often pressure to put family, university studies and one’s circle of friends in second place behind the mission of UBF.^[8] Some former members report that members who do not agree with UBF are still tolerated in the group but openly criticized. A common response of Europeans and Americans who leave UBF is to point out the closed-mindedness of the group as the major factor in their decision to leave.

It is also thought by some former members that authoritarian Korean Confucianism traditions and the conservative Christian values of UBF make some people consider it a cult. It is alleged that UBF members are pressured through the regular practice of "sogam" (testimony) sharing to commit their lives more and more to UBF. In UBF's marriage practice (usually called "marriage by faith"), it is reported that UBF members are expected to marry exclusively other members of the group and only those indicated by the leaders of UBF. Some people do not like the "no dating" policy that seems to exist. It is alleged by some critics that UBF's teaching on the nature of the relationship between "shepherd" and "sheep" is unclear. While the ultimate authority of the Bible is preached in UBF, some members report that this is misused.