University Bible Friendship

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University Bible Fellowship (UBF) is a global evangelical mission organization with the goal of Bible- oriented university evangelism . The organization's headquarters are in Chicago , United States.

Origin and history

UBF was founded on April 22 and 23, 1961, respectively, when Sara Barry (* 1930), a missionary of the US Southern Presbyterian Church , began studying the Bible among students in Gwangju , South Korea . Her first name was CSC (Christian Student Center). In Daejeon , a student mission of seven students from Daejeon College began in June 1962 and a student mission began in November 1962 through Melicent Huneycutt, also an American missionary from the Southern Presbyterian Church. The two groups from Daejeon and the group in Kwangju joined forces. This combined group was subsequently renamed UBF and expanded its activities to other Korean university cities.

In 1969 three Korean nurses named Inkyung Seo, Hwaja Lee and Dongran Sul went to Germany as UBF missionaries. Since then, UBF Korea has continuously sent lay missionaries, first to Germany and the USA, and later to other countries. Up to 2006 1,463 missionaries were sent out, the missionaries of the Campus Mission International (CMI), which has since emerged from the UBF, were counted separately. This means that UBF has sent out the most missionaries among the non-denominational churches in Korea. For its 50th anniversary, UBF organized a world mission report in Seoul on May 29, 2011 , in which about 5,000 people took part.

Organization and dissemination

According to its own information, UBF has sent around 1,500 missionaries and is represented by independent congregations in around 88 countries worldwide. The congregations each hold their own services . The size of the non-Korean churches varies from a single family to as many as 200 churchgoers in the larger churches. There are around 400 missionaries working in Europe .

Germany

In Germany five associations are active under the name "University Bible Friendship". There is currently no external information about the number of members or the number of German municipalities; according to its own information, the organization has 15 municipalities in Germany.

The municipalities of the UBF work financially independently. The missionaries have close ties to the sending home center (primarily in Korea). There are also coordinating functions of the General Director , the International Advisory Board and the Continental Coordinators. Previous general managers were the founders Samuel Lee (until 2002) and Sarah Barry (until 2005) as well as John Jun (until 2011) and Abraham Kim (since 2011).

The UBF communities hold regular local, regional and national conferences. The UBF is not a corporation under public law in Germany and is financed by donations. Most UBF missionaries finance themselves independently. Wonsuk Ma, the director of OCMS, referred to this in his "UBF Case Study" as "UBF Professional Self-supporting Lay Missionaries". In Germany, the communities in Cologne , Bonn , Munich , Heidelberg and Mannheim are registered associations (eV).

Teaching

The teaching of the UBF is based on the Bible . She professes to the triune God (Christianity) , to the Bible as the inspired word of God , to atonement through the vicarious sacrificial death of Jesus Christ , to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the second coming of Christ and to the body of Christ, which consists of all believers . The organization describes itself on its website as evangelical . The UBF congregations in Germany primarily use the Luther Bible in worship and Bible study . The UBF issues questionnaires for Bible study , as well as a booklet for daily Bible reading, the “Daily Bread”.

Mission model

UBF's mission model is to train and send out lay missionaries . Lay missionaries have duties both as professionals and as missionaries.

activities

The main activities of the UBF are Bible study for two (English: one-to-one Bible study), writing and exchanging opinions, living communities, leadership training and early morning prayer. UBF holds regular regional, national and international Bible conferences. UBF offers students and young people the opportunity to take part in the theater , orchestra , sport and singalong . UBF supports medical missions. Bethesda Mission Hospital was founded in Uganda .

Ecumenism / Memberships

In the US, UBF is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and Cross Global Link.

In Korea, UBF is a member of The Korea World Missions Association (KWMA) and Korean Inter-Missions Network (KIMNET).

In Germany, some UBF congregations work locally with the German Evangelical Alliance . Throughout Germany, the UBF has increasingly opened up to interdenominational cooperation in recent years. At a youth conference in summer 2011, speakers from Bibelseminar Bonn , the Oxford Center for Mission Studies and Mission-Net took part.

The UBF was an exhibitor at the MissionNet Congress from December 28, 2011 to January 2, 2012 in Erfurt . UBF works with Open Doors Germany and took part in Shockwave 2011 and 2012.

criticism

After 2002 there were internal disputes around the world about the further direction of the UBF. When efforts to reform failed, some groups separated from the UBF and founded the Campus Mission International (CMI).

While UBF is recognized as a Christian community in its country of origin, South Korea, it is controversial in other countries, such as Germany, Canada or the USA, and is even banned at some universities . UBF is still active despite internal criticism and splits, especially in Bonn . UBF was prohibited by the German Rectors' Conference from doing missionary work at German universities. Pastor Andrew Schäfer from the sect issues department of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland refers to the UBF's practice of faith through an excerpt from the lexicon of new religious groups, scenes and world views .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Knut Backhaus : University Bible Fellowship . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 10 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2001, Sp. 428 .
  2. ↑ Sara Barry's April 23, 1961 letter to Presbyterian Mission.
  3. ↑ ubf.org - The forming of the UBF movement
  4. ↑ ubf.org - Pioneering History ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ubf.org
  5. ↑ Korea Research Institute for Missions 2006 ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 36 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / krim.org
  6. ↑ UBF World Mission Report 2011 - Christian Today press release (Korean)
  7. ^ UBF Europe: The 40-Years History of UBF European Campus Mission . Ji-Seong Press Ltd, 2009, pp. 388-391
  8. ↑ Query via handelsregister.de from June 10, 2014
  9. ↑ germanyubf.org - municipalities in Germany ( memento of the original from August 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.germanyubf.org
  10. ↑ ubf.org ( Memento of the original from January 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ubf.org
  11. ↑ Wonsuk Ma: Korean Diaspora and Christian mission . Regnum Books, Oxford 2011, ISBN 978-1870345897 , pp. 234-238
  12. ↑ UBF website About UBF ( Memento of the original from May 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ubf.org
  13. ↑ taeglichesbrot.org - Daily bread
  14. ↑ Lay Missionaries: Christian Today Press Release (Korean)
  15. ↑ Lee, Hyun-Jung; Lay missionaries; Kumran Press 2010; ISBN 9788959229505 (Korean)
  16. ↑ Wonsuk Ma: Korean Diaspora and Christian mission . Regnum Books, Oxford 2011, ISBN 978-1870345897 , pp. 238-240
  17. ^ Christmas theaters in Bonn and Mainz UBF
  18. ↑ UBF Orchestra at the European UBF Bible Conference 2009 ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / vimeo.com
  19. ↑ ubf.org about Medical Mission ( Memento of the original from December 31, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ubf.org
  20. ^ Uganda Medical Missions
  21. ↑ ubf.org - Memberships
  22. ↑ - Members of The Korea World Missions Association
  23. ↑ KIMNET Networked Organizations
  24. ↑ ubf.org - Young Leaders' Conference ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bonnubf.org
  25. ↑ a b University Bible Fellowship (UBF) In: Harald Baer et al. (Ed.): Lexicon of new religious groups, scenes and world views. Orientations in religious pluralism. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 2005, Sp. 1338-1342. Here reproduced as an excerpt on www.ekir.de
  26. ↑ Information on Sekten-Sachsen.de
  27. ^ The Manitoban, A student newspaper from the University of Manitoba, Canada
  28. ↑ "To be like a dumb sheep" -sectarian at the university . FAZ , April 11, 2007, archived from the original on March 27, 2015 .;