Deacon Je Jin-su Gave Life for Pilgrims He Guided
2014-02-21 13:28
Self-sacrifice by Two Saves Many Lives in Egypt Bus Bombing:
Three Koreans lost their lives in the terrorist bombing by an extremist Islamic group in Egypt. Rev. Kim Jin-gyu was a guide from Korea preparing to become a missionary; Deacon Je Jin-su was a local pilgrimage guide; and both were faithfully carrying out what they felt called to do. The following introduces the noble lives of these two persons, who with their own bodies protected the Jincheon Jungang Church members during the suicide bombing attack by the terrorist.
Deacon Je Jin-su (56), whose life was sacrificed during the terrorist bombing of a bus in Egypt, was an outstanding, expert guide on Holy Land pilgrimages. He became a hero when, during the incident, as the terrorist was trying to board the bus, he offered up his life to protect the believers of Jincheon Jungang Church. “If Deacon Je had not forced the terrorist back off the bus, all of us would have died,” the church members reported.
Je’s life of faith was centered in the Cairo Korean Church (Rev. Choi Yun-cheol). A faithful believer, he always sat in the very front of the church, as if that seat was designated for him. He served the church energetically as a deacon. A week before the incident, he had made rice cakes by hand and passed them around to the church members.
Deacon Je’s eyes were opened to the value of the Holy Land in 1989. He went to Cairo, Egypt, and began working as a guide for mission and tourism, eventually becoming a veteran with 24 years’ experience.
How he thought of the Holy Land is well revealed in his interview with Kukmin Daily in 2007. “If tourism is seeing and enjoying, then pilgrimage is a process of examining ourselves through the Holy Land. It is an opportunity to feel the Lord’s message for pilgrims, and to be reborn to new faith. It also becomes a chance to thoroughly compare ourselves as we are now, with Jesus’ disciples and the Israelites of the Exodus as depicted in the Bible.”
Je customarily advised pilgrims to concentrate not just on taking photos, but on understanding the meanings carried by the Holy Land. “If it’s an Exodus journey, it’s good to walk in the wilderness for at least a day, or to worship in a Coptic monastery with its 1,000 years of history, and feel their spirituality,” he recommended.
Israel missionary Lee Gang-geun (49), having observed Deacon Je closely for more than 15 years, said, “He was a ‘Holy Land man,’ eager to share with others each part of the Holy Land as he experienced it newly. This terror incident has robbed us of our top Holy Land expert.”
Reporter Paek Sang-hyun (100sh@kmib.co.kr), Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Click here for the original article in Korean
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