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BY JO CHESSON and DAE HWA PARK

Despite the fact that they are separated by a continent, the people of the Baltimore-Washington Conference have begun a new, disciple-focused ministry with South Korea.

A covenant between the Nambu Conference of the Korean Methodist Church and the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church was signed July 22 during the World Methodist Conference in Seoul, Korea. This covenant identified ministries that will bring together the two conferences and their leaders.

These two conferences have unique histories and a common story, unique ministries and a common calling to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

The people of the Baltimore-Washington Conference are being offered an opportunity to help make this covenant a reality. A task force has been assembled to work on the strategies set by the representatives from both of these conferences.

How can you be a part of this covenant?

First, with your prayers, as we discern our differences and commonalities with languages and cultures.

This covenant includes fostering youth, young adults, clergy, lay leadership and music exchanges to develop an understanding of, and an apprec-iation for, one another. We are already working on ways in which we can do this exchange with our clergy and youth.

We are also looking into ways we can participate in social service and outreach together. We are looking into ways to share our Discipleship Adventure with the Nambu Conference.

Each church is being encouraged to find a role it might play in this ministry.

Understanding is the first step. The Rev. Dae Hwa Park of Oakdale Emory UMC recently compiled several facts about the Korean South Conference:

The South Conference, called 'Nambu (n?m-boo),' means 'southern area.' It has 484 churches on 20 districts, with 696 pastors, and 105,365 members in the mid-western area of the Korean peninsula.

It was established in 1954 and is one of 10 annual conferences and two other mission conferences of the Korean Methodist Church,

Currently, the Korean Methodist Church has 5,619 churches, 8,306 pastors, and 1,495,887 members. The mission of the Korean Methodist Church is grounded in 1 Timothy 2:4, 'to want people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.'

The South Conference has represented primarily evangelical Methodists in Choongchung province area for several decades. It served people in the Baekje culture, which dates back to 18 B.C. It includes many young people ? business people, scientists and students, commuting to DaeJeon metropolitan area, known as a hub of science and technology.

Today, with other conferences, South Conference participates in the denominationwide 3 million membership evangelistic movement. It supports 685 missionaries sent to 70 countries in six continents. The South Conference also shares God?s vision to restore the West Conference, the conference lost in North Korea and Manchuria during the Cold War period.

To learn more about how you can become involved, e-mail

Jo Chesson is a project coordinator for the Baltimore-Washington Conference. The Rev. Dae Hwa Park is a pastor at Oakdale-Emory UMC in Olney.