When I met him at a restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul, on September 6, Mr. Gwon Sun-hyeong (66, taking photo of a family at his studio in Cambodia), publisher of the “Christian Review” of Australia, said that he needs photographer missionaries. An increasing number of missionaries are professionals who utilize their expertise in the mission field. Still, photographer seemed a strange kind of job for spreading the Gospel, until I heard his explanation.
This past May, Gwon set up a photography studio on the third floor of Hebron Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Established 10 years ago by a Korean Christian medical team in one of the city’s poorest districts, the hospital provides free medical services. Gwon brought necessary equipment for the studio from Australia, including lights, reflecting plates, and cameras, and he put up a sign, “Hebron Studio.”
Every day the hospital bustles with around 300 patients, and the studio is equally busy. Gwon explained, “In Cambodia, it is uncommon to see a camera, let alone have the opportunity to have a photo taken. Getting a printed photograph is almost impossible.”
At Hebron Studio, the whole process is free, from taking the photo to printing it. The studio communicates the Gospel by inserting a Bible verse in Khmer at the bottom of each A4-size print: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). It is a prayer of blessing for “patient customers.”
The studio, however, never has enough staff. “From customer reception to taking photographs, correcting the digital image, and printing, I’ve been doing it all by myself. That is why I’m recruiting photographer missionaries.”
Gwon’s plan is to recruit some 100 tentmaker missionaries, so that a team of two volunteers can work for one week each at the studio, during one full year.
At the end of the interview, Gwon added, “Room and board is provided. You can use the guesthouse and cafeteria at the hospital. It does not cost much at all. What I can offer to the missionaries in return is indescribable joy. When you see the bright, smiling faces of the ‘customers’ holding their photos, words cannot express the feeling. Every moment, you’ll reconfirm your faith that Jesus Christ is working with you. Why don’t you join me, and communicate the Gospel through this photography mission?”
Reporter Jang Chang-Il (jangci@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok
Original Article in Korean:
복음 전하는 헤브론병원 스튜디오 “캄보디아로 사진 선교 오세요”: 불교국 선교 어렵지 않아요
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“Come to Hebron Hospital in Phnom Penh as a volunteer photographer missionary!”
2017-09-13 14:44
