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December 2007
PROK in Focus
1. Christmas greeting
Dear E-News readers:
As we enter the season of Advent, anticipating the joy of the timeless Christmas event, we remember those who cannot look even to the end of each day’s desperate struggle for survival, much less to a joyful moment a distant month ahead. In a world where too many know only the relentless reality of conflict, hunger, fear, environmental devastation, death and mourning, how can we share the joyous reality of “Jesus Christ, Sustainer of Life and Creation”? Challenged by this theme of the PROK 2007 General Assembly, we have heard the call of the theme’s scriptural basis, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,...”(Deuteronomy 30:19,20), and, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”(John 1:4). Under this year-long theme the PROK, in solidarity with partners around the world, will continue to work for reconciliation and healing, sustainable development, ecological justice -- a worldwide community of peace and life. Strengthened and inspired by the work of Christians and non-Christians around the world for peace and life in all its fullness, we thank the God of Peace that, even as some wage war, others ‘beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks.’”(Isaiah 2:4b). Let us in faith and hope look to the day when all people and all nature may sing with the angels, “Peace on earth!”
In expectant faith, Rev. Im Myoung-Kyu, Moderator; and E-News editorial staff: Rev. Yoon Kil-Soo, Rev. Shin Seung-Min, Rev. Bae Gwang-Jin, Rev. Frank Hernando, Mary Collins
2. Living our thanks
Leaders and members of the PROK National Church Women’s Association (PROK-NCWA) are passing on the gift. Some twenty years ago a three-year financial grant from and commissioning of an ecumenical co-worker by Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ USA empowered the women of the PROK-NCWA to open a centre in 1986 for women ‘serving’ American soldiers, in the village adjacent to an American military base north of Seoul. The opening of “Durebang” (“My Sister’s Place”), represented the first step toward raising public awareness and critical discussion about the issues ensuing from the American military presence in _?xml_:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Korea, and specifically about the situation of the Korean women involved with US soldiers. Deeply concerned, the PROK women until then had been unable to begin such a ministry due to lack of interest and concern on the part of the Korean people and government. The UCC-USA grant enabled the PROK women to launch a ministry that, from small practical beginnings, has expanded to include not only support programs for the women (now from neighboring Asian countries) but also political activism for just laws related to the issue, and networking with other related groups.
In their gratitude for the original gift of American Christians and later support from other partner churches, the PROK women are passing on the gift to sisters in the Philippines through the partnership between the PROK and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP). Originating in discussion between the women of the two churches during a PROK/UCCP partnership consultation in 2006, a joint project has resulted, through which the soon-to-be-built “Durebang Sinag Kababaihan Center” in Cubao, Quezon City, South Luzon, will offer counseling, health, educational and other programs for Filipino women struggling to attain human dignity and freedom from sexual exploitation. Ongoing discussion and joint meetings between the PROK-NCWA and the UCCP-NCWA, specifically through the PROK Gyoungbuk and Jeonbuk District Women’s Associations and the UCCP South-Luzon Jurisdiction respectively, culminated in a cornerstone-laying ceremony and worship on November 20th. The PROK NCWA and Durebang participants and the UCCP S.Luzon representatives held a business meeting the next day, finalizing the drafted Memorandum of Agreement and other details, and forming a joint executive committee to steer the future work of the new center. Under the MOA the PROK-NCWA will provide financial support for construction of the center and a three-year financial grant for program, as well as a mission co-worker to give guidance in developing the program. In turn, the UCCP S.Luzon Jurisdiction provides the land and oversees the construction process and financial accounting; the land was contributed specifically by Cubao Church in United Metropolis Conference, S.Luzon Jurisdiction. The PROK and UCCP expect to learn much from each other through this ministry.
This joint project is a visible expression of mutuality in mission and of our oneness in the “household of faith”. Today, twenty years and more after the establishment of Durebang, Korean society and church and government have become more critically aware and actively involved in the issues of sex trafficking and the dignity and rights of vulnerable women. That the ministry of Durebang Sinag Kababaihan Center will result in the same heightened awareness, concern and activism in the Philippines is the expectation and faith of the women of the UCCP and PROK.
4. PROK leaders visit Pyongyang
The executive officers of the PROK visited Pyongyang on November 21-24 of this year to engage in dialogue with the leaders of the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) of North Korea. The PROK visitors were Rev. Lim Myung-Kyu, Moderator; Rev. Seo Jae-Il, Ordained Vice-Moderator; Elder Hong Chung-Il, Lay Vice-Moderator; Rev. Kwon Young-Jong, Chairperson of the PROK Peace and Reunification Committee; Elder Hong Sun-Cheol, PROK Treasurer; and Rev. Chung Hae-Dong, Director of the Mission Department, PROK General Assembly Office. They were hosted by KCF leaders Rev. Kang Yeong-Sup, Chairperson of the Central Committee, and Rev. Oh Kyung-Uh, General Secretary.
The PROK leaders deeply appreciated this chance to meet fellow Christians in the North, particularly during their visit to Chilgol Church where, at a specially-arranged prayer gathering, they enjoyed conversation with and warm hospitality from the church members. They also visited Pyongyang Seminary where future pastors of the KCF are trained. About twenty students are presently enrolled at the seminary which offers a five-year theological education course. The PROK leaders also took this opportunity to personally hand-deliver to the KCF financial support for flood victims in the North. This was the final portion of the total support promised for flood victims, amounting to one hundred million won (100,000,000). The total support consisted of both cash and commodities such as milk and flour. This aid was extended to the North through the cooperative efforts of the PROK Peace and Reunification Committee, the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), and the Korean NGO the ‘Council for Cooperation with North Korea’. The latter is responsible for the delivery of milk and flour to the North.
The KCF and PROK leaders agreed that the annual prayer gathering between North and South Korean Christians, in May or June of next year, should be held either on Baekdu Mountain (straddling the border between China and North Korea, and of sacred meaning in Korean history) or in Pyongyong. The venue will be finally decided by the KCF and NCCK. The KCF officers assured the PROK leaders that they will send representatives to the February 2008 meeting of the Ecumenical Consortium for Peace-building and Social Development on the Korean Peninsula, to be held in Germany. They expressed their unqualified desire to cooperate with the Ecumenical Consortium in carrying out development projects in their country. The KCF and PROK leaders confirmed their support of the hope of the PROK National Church Women’s Association to build a Day Care Centre in the North in cooperation with the KCF. They also proposed cooperating in health and healing ministry. The PROK leaders agreed to make an annual visit to Pyongyang for greater cooperation and dialogue with the KCF.
There is much in this recent visit for which the PROK gives thanks. The benefits of this visit can be measured not in terms of what each party has gained or offered, but, rather, in the joy of fellowship between brothers and sisters of North and South, and the richness of dialogue. Through this visit the PROK looks forward to peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula with greater hope, confident that soon the Korean people will become one people with a common heritage of faith.
3. Praying for sisters and brothers in Bangladesh
Hearing the cries of the people of Bangladesh devastated by a catastrophic cyclone last month, and the appeal sent out by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), the PROK, not having partnership with any specific church there, sent a letter of prayerful solidarity to the General Secretary of the Bangladesh National Council of Churches, giving subsequent concrete expression to this concern through financial support hand-delivered by a team of PROK ministers. When words fail us in the face of such immensity of suffering, we trust that this personal visit and small contribution will, in God’s economy, bear life-giving fruit.
Ecumenical Movement in Focus
Religious leaders gather for conference on Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution
About 220 Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Christian religious leaders were called to Japan to hold an “Asia Inter-religious Conference on Article 9 and Peace in Asia”. The Conference was held November 29 to December 1, 2007 at the Korean YMCA in Tokyo. The PROK sent three representatives.
Through the three-day conference the participants became aware that Japan is accelerating a process of radical change in its involvement in war. The conference highlighted that “From being a country that collaborates and supports war, it is now pushing to become a country that can wage war through a revision of Article 9. The current transition is intimately connected to the global realignment of the US strategy. Japan’s cooperation in this objective consolidates the defense structure of what the Pentagon calls the Arc of Instability, which stretches from Eastern Europe over the Middle East and India to East Asia.”
Opposing this dangerous move of the Japanese government and expressing solidarity with all peace-loving people in Japan, the participants were reminded that “peace can never be achieved through military violence but only through promoting a culture open to patient dialogue and diversity that promote justice, equality, and respect.”
Based on religious teaching, the participants affirmed their belief that:
l War is always a crime.
l War brings death both to the body of the victim and the soul of the perpetrator.
Through the final statement adopted on the last day of the conference, the participants appealed to the Japanese government to make every effort to protect the current constitution, and to revise its treaties and commitments and rectify future treaties in accordance with Article 9. They further urged the Japanese government to stop the construction of the new military base in Okinawa and withdraw Japanese troops deployed abroad.
The participants also called on religious circles and persons around the world to deepen their prayerful concern and commitment to peace-building, caring for all lives. Particularly, they proposed establishing a ‘global Article 9 network’ to promote peace-building initiatives. Further information regarding the conference may be obtained through Rev. Toshi Yamamoto, General Secretary of the National Christian Council in Japan (NCCJ) (tynccj@aol.com).
PROK E-News is a publication of The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK).
Editor: Rev. Yoon Kil-Soo, General Secretary
