About 60 Korean teenagers are receiving a Christian education in WELS’ area Lutheran high schools and preparatory schools through a program of the East Seoul Canaan Church, a mission congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) in Seoul, South Korea. The program, which prepares students for attending Lutheran high schools in the United States, is also providing opportunities for outreach.

“It’s a win-win situation . . .,” says Pastor Steven Petersen, ELS missions counselor. “Our mission is blessed, the kids get a good education, their parents become members of our church, and the [WELS] high schools that sometimes have empty seats and are in need of tuition support get the student population and the tuition that comes from that.”

The program began in 2005 as a Foreign Language school to offer Eng-lish language training to native Koreans. “Many of the original students were members of the congregation,” says Dennis Morrison, a teacher at the institute since 2006. “But Rev. Kim [the pastor at East Seoul Canaan Church] has used the school as an evangelism arm for the greater Seoul area.” Now the East Seoul Canaan Language Institute—the official name of the school—especially works to prepare teenagers to attend Lutheran high schools in the United States.

The institute is a draw because Korean parents want to have their children attend school in the United States. According to Morrison, parents believe that the education in the states will be better than that in Korea. Private edu-cation in the United States is also more reasonably priced.

When parents ask Kim about having their children attend the institute, Kim requests that parents take a Bible information class while their children attend classes. “Pastor Kim tells me that these people start the classes very grudgingly . . . but about halfway through, the light goes on and they begin to understand what grace is all about,” says Petersen.

In the institute, students receive training in secular subjects like English and American history but also learn the Word through Christian doctrine and catechism classes.

In August 2008, 12 students and 12 adults were baptized, and 22 students were confirmed. “A large portion of the congregation are members here because they were introduced to Christianity by sending their students to the institute,” says Morrison. East Seoul Canaan Church now has 250 members.