Mission life: THE KUKMIN DAILY

“I expect Korea to be a hub for mutual exchange between Christians and Jews”

2015-05-15 13:48

“Christians and Jews are all descendants of Abraham. Despite the theological gap, they are inclined by nature toward mutual cooperation and understanding. I hope Korea and Israel can cooperate closely in a variety of fields.”

Yechiel Eckstein (64, photo), founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), paid a visit on May 12 to the offices of Kukmin Daily, on Yeoeuigongwon-ro in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and expressed his wish for mutually cooperative relations between Christians and Jews. President Eckstein established IFCJ in 1983, and has worked since then to promote understanding between Christians and Jews, and to help the world Jewish diaspora. IFCJ is headquartered in Chicago, USA, and has branches in Canada, Brazil and Korea. The Korean branch was registered as a foundation three years ago.

“IFCJ raises 125 million dollars in funding per year, of which 100 million dollars comes from evangelical Christians,” Eckstein said. “We provide clothing, food and medical services to Jews living in poverty in Russia, the Ukraine and elsewhere.”

Those who hold key positions at the IFCJ Korea branch include advisors Kwak Sun-hee (pastor emeritus of Somang Church) and Kim Sun-do (pastor emeritus of Kwanglim Church), and board chair Min Young-jin (former general secretary of Korean Bible Society). Park Chun-hwa (pastor emeritus of Changcheon Church) is standing board member, while Park Jong-wha (pastor of Kyungdong Church) and others serve as board members.

President Eckstein predicted, “The Korean branch will develop mutual exchanges between Christians and Jews, and can play a cooperative role in the areas of economy, technology, tourism and academia…I would like to establish a research organ with Korea as the hub, and build a network with China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines and other countries.”

Eckstein, a Jewish rabbi, is also active as a “goodwill” ambassador commissioned by the Israeli government. In the process of his movement for mutual understanding between Jews and Christians, he has been criticized and attacked by extremist Jews. “3~4% of the Israeli population are Jewish religious extremists who are opposed to Christian missions. But the majority of Jews welcome Christians,” he said. “For this reason, at least, we need to try to break down the wall between Christianity and Judaism.”

He told the story of meeting an 85-year-old Black Baptist pastor in 1935. “The Black pastor was so deeply moved upon arriving in the land of the Bible, that he wept. Seeing this, I thought that Christians and Jews could become friends. As written in Genesis 12:3, Christians have been blessed as the descendants of Abraham.”

With regard to the theological gap, “We are advocating that Christians and Jews replace mutual antagonism with empathy and cooperation…I believe that God’s will can be realized through Christian-Jewish interchange.”

Reporter Sangmok Shin (smshin@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok


Click here for the original article in Korean

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