‘Seo Gyo Yeon” is a Korean abbreviation that stands for the Southwest Asian Education Association. Our name represents the central focus of our missions in Southwest Asia. However we are not exclusive and do not limit our mission to other regions.

We are also known as the Educational Connections in & for Asia. Our name illustrates that we will not limit our boundaries. We believe that with efficient resource allocations, we have the potential to expand and grow.

Our vision follows the concept of unity. Our guiding scripture is Psalm 133 (NIV) “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! “ Unity is a characteristic of schools that bring organizations together. This concept is the paradigm of our mission. We strongly believe that unity is necessary for missions out in the mission field. We strive to meet this vision and effectively open the second wave of missions in Korea.

We are a mission agency that employs professionals in different fields as missionaries.  In particular, our main goal is to identify and train professionals especially in the arts fields and send them on missionaries. Our first objective is to send professional musicians followed by Taekwondo and soccer experts as missionaries. We are also planning on creating a missions team of professionals in the arts and video fields. We also hope to send out missionaries that can teach languages such as German, French and Korean.

Southwest Asia consists of countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. This region is one of the poorest and corrupt countries in the world. There are still many places where the gospel has not yet reached. Still enslaved by Hindu superstition and Islamic beliefs, it makes it a poor environment for the gospel. Children, teenagers and young adults make up half of the population of about 2 billion people. It is a nation that has potential for a promising future.

An astounding fact is that there isn’t any sheet music to be found in this region. Among tens of thousands of schools in the area, there are no music courses offered; no music professors nor teachers, no properly published hymns. Thus without any sheet music, multi part choruses can’t be sung in beautiful harmony. This sad truth is the same for the subjects in the arts.

Dearly beloved brothers and sisters,

Through the power of culture, bridges can be built to unify communities. Promoting unification through the culture of music and arts, the Gospel can be delivered and call people to obey and accept the gospel. I believe the Gospel is where music is and without it, vulnerability remains.

It is very important to take into heart the fact that music teachers are greatly needed in the schools.  It is critical that we establish a school of music and hire Christian music teachers. There is a shortage of music teachers especially those in missionaries. If 0.1% of the population devote themselves as music professors or teachers, there would be at least 2 million. Who can we trust to run this tremendous mission? Shall this responsibility be given to strangers or non-believers?

There is a story about camels I once heard and want to share it with you. Camels are animals that can live the poor conditions of the desert. They can go on in the desert for a few days without drinking water. The unforgiving conditions of the desert lead to broken bonds between mother camels and their young. Camel mothers reject their own offspring and kick away the young calves with their hind legs. And thus the young won’t be able to survive. So the camel owner would come out and play music with a traditional instrument for the camel. After hours of hearing the music, it is said that the camel mother weeps and allows the young calf to nurse.  It is a powerful story that vividly shows the beauty of establishing relationships through music. Camels are symbolic animals of Southwest Asia and like the mother camel in this story, we can nurture and raise the next generation through the power of music.

There are so many musicians in Korea.  We need passionate and devoted musicians of the gospel to form choirs, teach musical instruments, and introduce children to music in Southwest Asia. The Good News must be spread through prayer alongside with music. We need to send Korean musicians to fulfill our mission convictions to schools in Southwest Asia. We also need teachers to reach out to the children in the southwestern cities. For example, there are 10 million children who are among the 40 million people living in the city of Mumbai in India. Ten percent of them are malnourished, malnourished of the gospel. We need music missionaries to be with them, sing with them, teach them how to play instruments, help them learn about music, and help raise them as disciples of the Gospel.

We would like to start a music school in the cities of Mumbai, Yangon, Lahore, and Kabul in India, Myanmar, Pakistan and Afghanistan respectively, to teach choral and musical instruments. Please join the Southwest Asian Education association (Music Mission) to spread the gospel.