Mission life: THE KUKMIN DAILY

“No WMS Church of God in our neighborhood!”

2014-11-19 16:44

On November 16, on the outside wall of a multi-family residence at 461 Sunhwan-no in Seongnamshi, Gyeonggi-do, nine yellow banners flap their messages in the wind: “We, the residents of 24 tong and 35 tong, are strongly against WMS Church of God (formerly Ahn Sahng-hong Witness Society)! “House prices are dropping and tenants are avoiding our neighborhood. Is WMS Church of God going to take responsibility?” Just two months ago, the area was quiet and peaceful. The atmosphere turned intimidating, however, when a World Mission Society Church of God group moved into a two-story-plus-basement building owned by a Mr. Baek (36). On this day, as a Mr. Won (41), divorced as a result of problems caused by WMS Church of God, was doing solitary picketing near the residence (photo), someone related to WMS Church of God came out and began video-taping him with a camcorder. Two surveillance videos were installed outside the church facing the residential area.

The residents are very angry because WMS Church of God hid its identity while renovating the building, and moved in recently without getting their consent. A Mr. Lee (37) said with some exasperation, “It felt strange, so I asked them what the renovation was all about. But the workers and the site manager all just avoided me. Two weeks after the renovation began, I finally learned that a WMS Church of God was moving in.”

The church does not even have space for parking. A Mr. Kim (57), a taxi driver, said, “Many in our neighborhood drive taxis or trucks for a living. A church here will only increase the parking problem. The neighbors have become really cold-hearted. Another Mr. Kim (53) said angrily, “It was so noisy while they were doing the renovation. I couldn't sleep well, and now I’m completely stressed out.”

The residents initiated a signature drive when they learned that WMS Church of God believes in Ahn Sahng-hong as God the Father and Jang Gil-ja as God the Mother. So far more than 75 residents have added their signatures. There are approximately 100 households on 461 Sunhwan-no.

A Ms. Jeong (66), resident of this neighborhood for 15 years, said anxiously, “It was a bolt out of the blue to learn one day that this weird religious group called WMS Church of God was moving into our neighborhood. I don’t believe in any particular religion. But I do know that the members of WMS Church of God will target the residents here. There’s no guarantee that my family will be safe from their hooks.” A Ms. Park (43) said with a disgusted look, “Our neighborhood residents don’t think WMS Church is any good. Some young women are visiting here and there in the neighborhood, trying to entice us.”

As petitions submitted by the residents piled up, Jungwon-gu district office looked into the matter and found out that the permitted space usage of 284.79㎡ at the underground level had been illegally changed. The district office ordered that it be restored to its original state.

When our coverage team asked the camcorder operator’s opinion of the residents’ strong opposition, the answer was, “I have nothing to say. If you provide your phone number, the headquarters will contact you.” We have not heard from them after a full day.

Within a 70-meter radius of the WMS Church of God, there is an elementary school and a pre-school, and within a 120-meter radius there are three traditional churches. A Ms. Lee (11), who was passing by, said breezily, “How could a grandmother older than 70 years be God? All humans die…”

Article and photo by special coverage team from Seongnam


Click here for the original article in Korean

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