Korean Baptist leader Billy Kim, former president of the Baptist World Alliance, received the Distinguished Baptist Statesman Award from the SBC Executive Committee for his lifelong service in global evangelism and leadership among Baptists.
Billy Kim, left, a former pastor in South Korea and the former president of the Baptist World Alliance who is now president of the Far East Broadcast Company, receives the distinguished Baptist Statesman Award from Morris Chapman.The award – presented by Morris Chapman, Executive Committee president and CEO – was accompanied by a resolution of appreciation listing Kim’s preaching and broadcasting accomplishments.
“Billy, you’re a dear friend to Southern Baptists, and we love you,” Chapman said. “On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, today I present to you the Distinguished Baptist Statesman Award for your powerful evangelistic preaching around the world, your global leadership among Baptists and your witness to corporate executives, presidents of nations and the common man on the street, whose names all shall appear in the Lamb’s Book of Life because you, Billy Kim, introduced them to Jesus.”
Kim, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., thanked Southern Baptists for their global witness and willingness to assist persecuted Baptists across the world.
“I want to say thank you for all the Baptists around the world who are struggling to survive in some of the most difficult countries in the world,” Kim said. “Because of the Southern Baptist Convention, because of your love and because of your concern, many of them survived and are growing in their numbers.”
Kim, who served as BWA president from 2000 to 2005, was leading the organization when the Southern Baptist Convention withdrew from it in 2004. Kim tried to persuade SBC leaders to remain in the BWA but always listened to their concerns and understood the obstacles they faced, Chapman said.