“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
In 1960, Mother Sarah Barry and Pastor Dr. Samuel Lee opened up a student center in Kwangju, Korea, as part of a venture with the First Presbyterian Church, to evangelize students through a campus ministry. By the fall of 1961, a core group of students met together to pray for the campus. They learned that God hears and answers prayer, as he promised (Mk 11:24), and this small prayer council became the beginning of UBF. One of the prayer council members, Dr. John Jun, began a group Bible study on campus. Others followed, and within a year their were more than 80 group Bible studies on the two university campuses in Kwangju.
The early members had prayed for world mission from the beginning, and in 1964, through the sacrifices of many, they sent out their first missionary to Cheju Island in Southeast Asia. The next country was Germany in 1968 and then New York City in 1970, the goal being to bring the Bible to students around the world. In 1977, Dr. Samuel Lee and Mother Sarah Barry moved to Chicago to establish the U.S. headquarters for UBF. Today there are UBF chapters at 25 U.S. campuses, as well as in more than 80 countries around the world.
Mother Sarah Barry gave a prayer topic that God may make America a kingdom of priests, a city on a hill (Mt 5:14), and raise up 10,000 Bible teachers for America, and send out American missionaries to the ends of the earth — to 187 countries of the world.
“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:8
We study the Bible so we may know who God is, who we are and why this world was created; then we can know the purpose and meaning of our lives. The Bible is the original source of this information. Bible study leads us to God, so it leads to Truth. Jesus said in John’s gospel that if we hold to his teachings, then we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free. [John 8:31,32]
There are many different ways to study the Bible, such as through personal reading and meditation, listening to sermons and lectures, discussion groups or on a “one-to-one” basis. All are good. The Wits University campus ministry offers group Bible studies, and each week we gather for Sunday worship services. But our ministry is uniquely committed to one-to-one Bible study. God saved the ancient world through one man, Noah. God gave his covenant to one man, Abraham; Jesus taught Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman one at a time. Through one-to-one Bible study, each person is a student, and each person is a teacher. This gives the opportunity for each person to study at his or her own pace, ask questions freely and seek answers with the prayer support of a friend.
1 We believe that there is one God in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
2 We believe that God created the heavens and the earth and all other things in the universe: that He is the Sovereign Ruler of all things; that the Sovereign God reveals Himself; we believe in his redemptive work and in his final judgment.
3 We believe that the Bible is inspired by God; that it is the truth; that it is the final authority in faith and practice.
4 We believe that since the fall of Adam, all people have been under the bondage and power of sin and are deserving of the judgment and wrath of God.
5 We believe that Jesus Christ, who is God and man, through his atoning, sacrificial death on the cross for our sins and his resurrection, is the only way of salvation; he alone saves us from sin and judgment and purifies us from the contamination of the world caused by sin.
6 We believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father.
7 We believe that regeneration is by the work of the Holy Spirit, and that it is necessary if one is to enter the kingdom of God.
8 We believe that God sent his Holy Spirit to empower his church to witness to Jesus to the ends of the earth.
9 We believe that we are made righteous by grace alone, through faith alone.
10 We believe that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of every believer to lead him.
11 We believe that the church is the body of Christ and that all Christians are members of it.
12 We believe that Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
