Pastor John Kim has worshipped with Christians who couldn’t sing out loud because of security concerns and seen believers face prison simply for following Jesus.
The Korean-American pastor, author and founder of Kairos Global is now challenging American Christians to rediscover the Great Commission and a deeper relationship with God.
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“We have an army,” Pastor John said on “The Good Report with Caleb Parke” podcast, “But they’re spectators.”
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Finding Peace in Christ
Pastor John was the first person in his immediate family to become a Christian.
Growing up with an alcoholic father who could be abusive, he remembers finding something at church that was missing from his home: peace.
“When I got saved I knew that Jesus was real because I had that peace,” he said.
That church also gave him his first exposure to global missions. Missionaries were celebrated, their pictures were displayed, and John began to see them as heroes.
Years later, John and his wife founded Kairos Global in 2019 with a mission to make Christ known among unreached people groups.
“We Couldn’t Sing Out Loud”
Pastor John has traveled to parts of the world where following Jesus looks very different from Christianity in America.
“I’ve preached overseas where a Sunday service was at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning,” he said.
Security was so intense that during worship, “we couldn’t sing out loud.”
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He also recalled an ordinary believer who was thrown in prison after being a Christian for only about six months.
Those experiences have shaped John’s message to Christians back home.
He cited research finding that only about one in six American Christians could correctly identify the Great Commission.
“It’s not that we need help,” he said. “We have an army. But they’re spectators.”
His message is simple: “We need the church to wake up.”
An Island of 5,000
One of the most incredible stories Pastor John shared involved a remote island where there were no known believers.
A humanitarian crisis opened the door for his team to bring desperately needed food.
Before that opportunity arose, several missionaries on the team independently felt God highlighting the biblical story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.
Then they learned the island’s population was about 5,000.
“We were able to feed the entire island with food,” John said.
They also offered prayer and shared the gospel with anyone willing to listen. Pastor John said several people came to Christ, though he withheld further details for security reasons.
It Starts With Intimacy
For all of Pastor John’s emphasis on missions and obedience, his message isn’t simply that Christians need to work harder.
He believes everything has to begin with intimacy with God.
“We are not employees of Christ,” he said.
Instead, John says Christians should live from the knowledge that they are already loved.
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“There’s nothing I can do to make God love me more, and there’s nothing I can do to make God love me even less.”
That changes the motivation behind prayer, ministry and missions from performance to love.
Pastor John also challenged Christians to look at the prayers recorded throughout Scripture as a blueprint for their own prayer lives, including Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17.
“What If Every Believer Woke Up?”
Pastor John ended our conversation with a challenge for every Christian, whether they ever become a missionary or not.
“What if every believer in America woke up and lived every day as a willing vessel to be used by God to shine His light?” he asked.
Maybe that’s where awakening starts.
Not with a platform.
Not with a plane ticket overseas.
But with a simple prayer:
“Here I am, Lord.”
📣 BONUS CONTENT
Facebook subscribers can watch my bonus conversation with Pastor John, where we get more personal about his calling, missions and what God is teaching him in this season.
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Learn more about Pastor John and the work of Kairos Global at KairosGlobal.co, and please join me in praying for his missionaries and ministry — please consider supporting them financially!
Caleb Parke is an award-winning independent journalist and host of “The Good Report” podcast. Follow him on X, Facebook, Instagram, and connect with him at calebparke.com.