“23-member Bundang Saemmul Church Service Team Kidnapped in Afghanistan.” The news reached Korea on the very next summer day of July 20, 2007, causing a huge shock to the whole country. While the precious blood of two martyrs was being spilled in the world’s poorest land, the world shot arrows of misunderstanding, bias and criticism toward the Korean church and its ministers. 10 years later, what legacy has this incident left us?
“I think it was God’s will for us to serve Afghanistan together with the Korean church.”
This was the sincere opinion expressed by Rev. Park Eun-jo (65, photo, Eunhye Saemmul Church), at a meeting with Kukmin Daily in the office of Eunhye Saemmul Church in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, on July 17. He evinced no doubt as to the special reason why worldwide attention was focused for more than 40 days on 23 “children of God” in the very center of the world’s poorest nation.
He had stood at the place of the kidnapping incident 10 years ago, as the pastor in charge of Saemmul Church in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, and for a long time he would grind his teeth at the very mention of the word “Taliban.” But already before that year had ended, he was struggling with the question, “In what way can we serve Afghanistan?” Today the Saemmul Church community is serving Afghanistan and Afghanistan refugees in broad and diverse ways.
Saemmul Church and Eunhye Church have prepared various memorial events for the 10th anniversary of the Afghanistan kidnapping and martyrdom incident. On July 22, Saemmul Church will hold a gathering for the kidnap victims, a ceremony to unveil a martyrs’ memorial sculpture, a mission forum and other events. A joint martyrs’ memorial worship service is also planned for the 23rd, to pay tribute to the spirit of martyrdom of the late Rev. Bae Hyeong-gyu and the late Shim Seong-min.
Article and photo by reporters Jaechan Park & Jang Chang-Il (jeep@kmib.co.kr), from Yongin, with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Full Story in Korean:
[한국 선교팀 아프간 피랍 순교 10주기] “한국 선교사의 피 뿌려진 땅 섬겨야” 믿음 더 굳건: (上) 당시 샘물교회 담임 박은조 목사의 소회
Related Article:
A conversation with Rev. Park Eun-jo, author of 'Even So, the Church Is Our Hope'
“We must serve the land where Korean missionaries’ blood was shed”: Ever Firmer Faith
2017-07-20 13:29
