If you traveled to Lord’s Grace in Suwon South Korea, you’d soon discover the only difference between your home church and Lord’s Grace Church is the language. Pastor Songhwan Kang and his wife Miran have given their lives to build a gospel-centered church in South Korea that models the values and virtues we in Sovereign Grace have come to love.

In fact, Yeon Jin Kim, a member of Lord’s Grace Church, recently translated the Sovereign Grace Journals on Our Shared Values and Our Shaping Virtues into Korean. Songhwan gave them away to the nine area pastors and their wives who joined us for our pastor’s seminar on gospel-centered sanctification and counseling.

The pastors gathered were amazed as they witnessed the partnership between Sovereign Grace Churches in sending me to support and partner with Songhwan and his wife and Lord’s Grace Church. Most church planters in Korea struggle all alone to build their churches. I am grateful for the support of the Northeast Region of Sovereign Grace for covering the expenses for my trip to South Korea and I am not surprised that this gesture of partnership had such a deep impact. By the end of the pastor’s seminar, the pastors who attended from other churches were asking if I would return again. Privately some of the men asked if I would extend my next trip to visit with their churches also. Some of these pastors have expressed a desire to join Sovereign Grace and are eager for their people to experience gospel-centered teaching and care.

Songhwan and his wife have modeled biblical fellowship in their church. Korean Christians struggle to share their lives with other believers as they work to break free of a strong history of shame culture where you do not share your weaknesses and family trials. By modeling humility and promoting CJ Mahaney’s book on the topic, Songhwan, and Miran have helped the couples in Lord’s Grace Church to begin sharing their struggles with one another.

---

Marty Machowski is a Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA and Emerging Nations Representative to South Korea.

The blog post “Strengthening Gospel Partnership in South Korea” originally appeared on the SGC Missions blog on Feb. 2, 2024.

I first read a review copy of Grandparenting With Grace about 18 months ago—a week after my wife and I learned my daughter Emma was pregnant with our first grandchild. Larry McCall’s new book gave me a vision for passing the gospel onto the next generation. Now, eighteen months later, I have two grandchildren with a third on the way. Life changes fast! And I am reading Grandparenting With Grace again. It’s that good.

If you are a grandparent, you need to read this book. Larry will inspire you and give you the tools you need to make an impact on your grandchildren’s lives. The book is organized into seven short, easy to read chapters followed by three to five questions for discussion. The chapter’s each end with ideas to help you apply what you’ve learned. For example, in Chapter Four, Intentional Grandparenting, Larry suggests writing out a “blessing” to speak over each of your grandchildren on a special occasion in the upcoming year. A great idea that is easy to do but one that could have a lasting impact on the life of a grandchild.

Larry shares ways to support parents in their job while giving grandparents a vision for the unique role God has for us to play. I especially appreciate Larry’s encouragement to become a praying grandparent. My wife’s grandfather Carl is credited with praying all of his grandchildren into the kingdom. Reading Grandparenting With Grace reminded me of that critical value.

Get a copy of this book, but don’t read it alone—go through it as a couple. Or better yet, invite a group of other grandparents from your church to join you in reading through this book together. Then spend time praying for each of your grandchildren. As grandparents, it is too easy to allow the “retirement years” to be all about taking it easy. It is important that we not miss the opportunity God has given us to pass gospel truth and godly example on to our grandchildren. Grandparenting with Grace will motivate you to want to make an impact and then give you the tools you need to make it happen.

Grandparenting with Grace is published by New Growth Press.

---

Marty Machowski currently serves as Executive Pastor of Covenant Fellowship in Glen Mills, PA. He is the author of Old Story New, Long Story Short, The Ology, Dragon Seed, and other books and curriculum for children and families and churches. Marty resides in West Chester with his wife, Lois. They have six children. You can find more about his books here.