THE KUKMIN DAILY

“My child is now deeply involved with Shincheonji. What can I do?” “Our church is not yet independent… but because of Shincheonji we’re about to collapse completely. Could you send us the prevention materials as soon as possible?” “Kukmin Daily is doing important work. I’d like to make a small contribution.”

For the past year, Kukmin Daily has been receiving dozens of phone calls daily from persons inquiring about its Shincheonji Prevention Campaign. Since the publication of “How to Handle Shincheonji” by Kukmin Daily Christianity Institute on September 15 last year, the campaign has spread rapidly throughout the Korean churches. Publications of posters, pamphlets, an app for smart phones, and standing signboards followed, and they also were quickly distributed. Carried out together with the World Holy City Movement, this campaign has become a model for heresy prevention through the high public interest, its transparency, and the participation of a majority of local churches.

The not-for-sale, 256-page “How to Handle Shincheonji” has been printed 6 times so far, and 45,000 copies produced. Its contents include information on how Shincheonji communicates, what it teaches, how to act against it, Shincheonji’s confidential documents, and so on. 110,000 copies of a supplementary 117-page guide and prayer book also have been distributed.

Kukmin Daily has maintained the public character of the campaign by having large churches in the Seoul metropolitan area support small- to medium-sized churches that are being severely damaged by Shincheonji. Yoido Full Gospel Church (Rev. Lee Young-hoon), Myungsung Church (Rev. Kim Sam-hwan), Sarang Community Church (Rev. Oh Jeong-hyeon), Saeronam Community Church (Rev. Oh Jeong-ho), Kwangsung Presbyterian Church (Rev. Jeong Seong-jin), SaeEden Church (Rev. So Gang-seok), and Anyang Global Methodist Church (Rev. Im Yong-taek) have distributed the books to local churches in Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Cheongju, Gongju, Anyang, and other places, as well as to 10 member mission organizations of the Campus Evangelization Network.

The booklet was distributed through the general assemblies of major denominations such as Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK Hapdong, Tonghap, Goshin, and Hapshin), Korea Evangelical Holiness Church (KEHC), Jesus Korea Holiness Church, Korea Baptist Convention, and Assembly of God of Korea, as well as local churches. It was also provided to Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Chongshin University, Hapdong Theological Seminary, Ewha Womans University, and Kosta, a mission conference for overseas Korean students.

As of September 10, 229 local churches and 255 individual supporters have participated in the Kukmin Daily campaign. Organizations including the Communion of Churches in Korea (CCIK), the Christian Council of Daegu (CCD), YWCA Korea, and Gwacheon Citizens’ Solidarity against Shincheonji have sent donations to Kukmin Daily. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wonju and Yukkok 2-dong Catholic Church in Bucheon, Gyeonggido, also made contributions. This support has made it possible for Kukmin Daily to produce and distribute 20,000 posters, 320,000 pamphlets, and 160 standing signboards. In addition, 10,000 pamphlets in Chinese were produced and distributed among Korean students and members of local churches in Taiwan and China to God (CTG).

Mr. Kim X in Gimpo, Gyeonggido, said, “Only when I saw the prevention material called “If they teach you with these graphics, they are Shincheonji” last March, did I realize that my Bible study group was Shincheonji, and thus I escaped from them… Please unmask and expose every detail of Shincheonji’s bare face. They are an antisocial religious group that denounces the Korean church and pastors as Biblical legalists and Pharisees.”

Rev. Jang Dong-eop, staff member of Uljin Church Council, said, “We distributed Kukmin Daily’s prevention campaign materials to our member churches and received a great response… Some believers left their Bible study groups upon realizing they were being instructed about Shincheonji by the cult’s members… It has been about two years since Shincheonji seeped into our region, but now they are weakened thanks to strong preventive activities such as the distribution of Kukmin Daily’s materials.”

Reporter Paek Sang-hyun (100sh@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)


Click here for the original article in Korean

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