THE KUKMIN DAILY

“Are your children blessed if they get high scores, and cursed if they are trouble-makers? No, they should all meet Jesus. To help them believe in Jesus is to save the next generation.”

Rev. Kim Yang-jae (65, photo) of Wooridle Church will be one of the main lecturers at the Kukmin Daily’s 27th Anniversary Conference on the theme “Next Generation: Our Hope, Our Worry,” to be held on October 9 at Wooridle Church in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do. She will speak about the history of redemption of individuals whose lives have changed through their encounter with God, and will emphasize the importance of ministry for the next generation.

I met with Rev. Kim on September 24 at her church. She talked about the example of Park Seong-chun. He was a butcher, regarded as the lowliest job during the late Joseon period, but later became an elder at Seungdong Church. He had been stricken with cholera in 1894 and was literally waiting to die, when he met U.S. Northern Presbyterian missionary Moore and Jejungwon’s medical missionary Dr. Avison. The missionaries came to the butchers’ village and cured him. Avison was Emperor Gojong’s family doctor, and the Park family was so shocked to see the king’s doctor treating their son Seong-chun, that the entire family began going to Gondanggol Church. The following year, Park was baptized. His son later graduated from Severance medical school and became Korea’s first Western medical doctor.

Rev. Kim explained, “Elder Park’s life changed as he was gradually healed by the missionary whose hands also touched Emperor Gojong… All generations including the next one need such an experience of encountering Jesus, like Elder Park.” According to her, in the Bible there are many figures who are weak or of low social status. Jacob’s wife Leah, who gave birth to six sons and one daughter, is one of them.

“Leah was not loved by her husband. Her first son Reuben had an affair with his father’s concubine. When her daughter Dinah was sexually assaulted, Simeon and Levi committed revenge on their sister’s behalf. Judah slept with his daughter-in-law. Leah’s children were more than troublemakers. This was quite a contrast with Jacob’s other wife Rachel, the mother of Joseph. But at the end, Leah was buried in the Promised Land. Judah became the ancestor of David and Jesus, and Levi’s clan was exemplary in the Old Testament and the law. What a change for troublemakers!”

Rev. Kim quoted from the book of Kings in the Old Testament. “A good king is born of bad parents, and even good parents have a son who is a bad king. God’s action is separate from our environment. What’s important is that all of us including the next generation meet God.”

Rev. Kim planted and established a church in 2003. Her ministry focus is meditation on the Word and restoration of family values. Her church does not hold revivals or special events, but all generations endeavor to read and contemplate on the Bible, and to meet Jesus. She said, “From little children to older believers, we all live in the Word. Getting the Word transmitted from one generation to the next is the genuine ministry for the next generation.” In addition to the main speakers, the upcoming Kukmin Daily conference also will introduce families who have met Jesus and transmitted the Word to the younger generation. (02-781-9809·9822)

Reporter Sangmok Shin (smshin@kmib.co.kr), from Seongnam, with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok, from Seongnam


Click here for the original article in Korean
Related Article