Our Story
In 1993, during a week-long stop in Sydney, Rev. Jaymes ‘Jim’ Jung caught vision of how God was using this international, multicultural city as a strategic nexus for the propagation of the gospel, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region; the world was coming to Sydney, and he perceived it was the Lord’s calling to participate in its work.
Commissioned out by Mission to the World (MTW), he landed in Sydney in 2006 with his family in tow. As he networked with local ministries in preparation to church plant, an opportunity arose to partner with a number of Korean-Australian pastors to effectively engage the second generation on university campuses, but with a wider vision for all people.
Student Outreach to the World Inc. (SOW) kicked off in the middle of 2007 with a vision rally held at a church in Sydney’s inner-west, followed by a prayer meeting on the lawns of the University of Sydney. Shortly after, regular weekly meetings began at the University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney on Tuesdays and the University of New South Wales on Wednesdays.
2008 kicked off with the first ever SOW Training Camp followed by a full calendar year of university ministry with steady growth over the ensuing years, eventuating in the establishment of SOW at Macquarie University in 2011. 2012 saw the commissioning of the first short-term international mission trip to a partner ministry in Khon Kaen, Thailand.
In 2019, due to Rev. Jung’s growing local church and MTW responsibilities, the board of SOW appointed Rev. Sijin Yang, associate pastor at Harbour City Church (HCC), as the interim-director of SOW, the 'interim' being dropped in 2022.
CURRENTLY, WE EXIST ACROSS 5 UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES IN SYDNEY.
Since our humble beginnings in 2007, SOW has established a regular presence at USYD, UNSW and UTS (2008), followed by MACQ (2011) and most recently ACU (2020).
Aside from our Weekly Meetings, each campus also organises their own small groups (REAP), socials and lunches together on-campus.