As long as we know, Paul was one of the greatest missionaries throughout the whole Christian history. In the short period of around 10 years he planted a lot of independent churches in major cities of Eastern part of Rome, and challenged the churches to continue to spread the gospels to their neighbors. As a result of this, when he wrote the letter to the Romans, he was able to write ‘But now that there is no more place for me to work in these region, (Rom. 15:23). Through this saying, we can easily guess that his ministry was so effective and fruitfu l. However, this does not mean that his ministry was always smooth and mild. Rather, as we all know well, there were numerous difficulties and hardships in his ministry. The tria1s were so tough that he could not but confess that “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life"(2 Co 1:8). Yet he was not subdued by a11 the pressures. Rather he overcame all these difficulties and fulfilled his ministry successfully, saying “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed"(2 Co. 4:8- 9). He carried out his ministry with full of hope in that worst situation. What were then the roots of the hope he had which were the major motivation of his fruitful ministry? 1 looked for six major roots of the hope he had in this paper. The first one was the strong affirmation that he was called to become the apostle for the gentiles. Since he strongly believed that he was called by the Lord of the universe, he was sure that the Lord would fulfill his ministry through him under any situation. The second factor was the conviction about the reward that would be given to him, a faithful missionary, in the coming world. The third one was the belief in the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit in his ministry. The forth one was his strong love for the souls. His love for souls was so strong that nothing could subdue his zea1 for winning souls. Fifthly, he was well aware that he got too great grace to pay back to Jesus. This awareness of the limitless grace always caused him to dedicate his whole life for mission. Finally, the eschatological faith also was a major source of his endless hope. To his belief the last time would be the time of perfect victory of Lord Jesus and his people. Believing the final triumph, he was not in low spirits in spite of all the present failures and difficulties. Also in expecting the great time, spreading the gospel was the best way to shorten the time of Jesus' coming back. As Paul' s ministry situation was not easy at all, so are the circumstances of today’s mission fields. In this situation, one the most urgent matters all God’s workers need to consider is the way of being empowered. Since the roots of hope that empowered Paul are still valid for today’ s missionaries, 1 hope, this paper would cause us to check the roots of our hope whether they are right and strong enough.

• 안승오(영남신대) | Seung-Oh An