
Portrait of Daniel Moon. IMB Photo
Daniel Moon, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Uzbekistan, Hong Kong and South Korea, died Nov. 18, 2024. He was 83.
Daniel was born July 10, 1941, in Heuksando, Korea, to the late Ok Keun Moon and Yoon Keum Moon. He graduated from First Junior and Commerce High School in Mokpo City and received the Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Korea Christian College in Kang Neung and the Master of Divinity from Washington Baptist Theological Seminary, Falls Church, Virginia. He later attended Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
While seeking missionary appointment Daniel recalled his childhood, “Until the age of 18, there had been no church in my native village; therefore, I never had the opportunity to attend a church or meet anyone that shared the gospel. Thus, I lived without the presence of God for 18 years.” But in 1959 he heard the gospel preached and came to faith in Christ.
After graduation from high school, Daniel joined the Korean Air Force to complete his three years of obligatory military service. After being discharged, he attended a college established by missionaries, where his faith in Christ grew and matured. While seeking missionary appointment he wrote, “In my sophomore year in college, I was sure that I was a debtor to the gospel and vowed to repay the debt to the whole world. And impressed by the missionaries’ services and effort for the Korean people, I clearly saw the tremendous glory in their lives. So, I decided to become a foreign missionary, and I prayed for this vision.”
On Dec. 27, 1968, Daniel married Gloria Christine Noh. After graduation from college, he worked for his alma mater for several years as an assistant teacher for missionary professors. He then became the sales department manager of Word of Life Publishing Company, which distributed Christian devotional books throughout Korea, and then the manager of the translation department, which translated the English Living Bible into Korean.
In 1979, he moved to the U.S. to become pastor of a Korean Baptist church in Texas. While seeking appointment he wrote, “God called me to this country to serve my people in Texas. But now I wish not only to seek lost Koreans here, but the people of other races in other countries.”
In 1991, the International Mission Board appointed Daniel and Gloria missionaries to Uzbekistan. They also later served in Hong Kong and South Korea.
No information about survivors is available at this time.
A funeral service was held on Dec. 16.