October 31, 2004
INTO THE LION'S DEN:
Koreans Quietly Introducing Jesus to Muslims in Mideast (NORIMITSU ONISHI, 11/01/04, NY Times)
A South Korean missionary here speaks of introducing Jesus in a "low voice and with wisdom" to Muslims, the most difficult group to convert. In Baghdad, South Koreans plan to open a seminary even after Iraqi churches have been bombed in two recent coordinated attacks. In Beijing, they defy the Chinese government to smuggle North Koreans to Seoul while turning them into Christians.Posted by Orrin Judd at October 31, 2004 08:56 PMSouth Korea has rapidly become the world's second largest source of Christian missionaries, only a couple of decades after it started deploying them. With more than 12,000 abroad, it is second only to the United States and ahead of Britain.
The Koreans have joined their Western counterparts in more than 160 countries, from the Middle East to Africa, from Central to East Asia. Imbued with the fervor of the born again, they have become known for aggressively going to - and sometimes being expelled from - the hardest-to-evangelize corners of the world. Their actions are at odds with the foreign policy of South Korea's government, which is trying to rein them in here and elsewhere.
It is the first time that large numbers of Christian missionaries have been deployed by a non-Western nation, one whose roots are Confucian and Buddhist, and whose population remains two-thirds non-Christian. Unlike Western missionaries, whose work dovetailed with the spread of colonialism, South Koreans come from a country with little history of sending people abroad until recently. They proselytize, not in their own language, but in the local one or English.
"There is a saying that when Koreans now arrive in a new place, they establish a church; the Chinese establish a restaurant; the Japanese, a factory," said a South Korean missionary in his 40's, who has worked here for several years and, like many others, asked not to be identified because of the dangers of proselytizing in Muslim countries.
Two advantages Koreans have as missionaries:
1) They are fresh at this, without the years or centuries of doing it to breed boredom & cynicism.
2) They are not associated with any of the old Colonial Powers or recent superpowers; they come from a country that was "out of the loop" in regards to the Middle East.
There's a third advantage: Koreans are tough as nails.
Posted by: H.D. Miller at November 1, 2004 01:04 AMHope they've got their life insurance policies sorted out.
Prosleytising in a Muslim country is not good for your health.
Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at November 1, 2004 03:45 AMIt would seem that Korean Christians are braver, or perhaps just more reckless, than their Mormon counterparts. A friend of mine who's Mormon told me once that they have a list of countries which are considered off-limits, mostly muslim ones, due to being too dangerous for their missionaries. BTW, my friend was sent "save" Canada.
Posted by: MB at November 1, 2004 09:51 AMGod give us more Koreans.
Posted by: Roy Jacobsen at November 1, 2004 10:46 AMOne wonders what the Korean reaction would be if the Saudis decided to execute a few of their Christians as they have done with Eritrean and Filipino Christians.
Posted by: Bart at November 1, 2004 11:37 AMIf Orrin can be a Christian, I suppose Rev. Moon can be, too, but I'm surprised that, say, Roy is for more of that.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at November 1, 2004 02:52 PMHarry, did you even bother to read the article? Quote:
Today, an equal number of missionaries are born again or members of Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptists denominations, said Steve S. C. Moon, executive director of the Korea Research Institute for Missions. These missionaries, like their Western counterparts, tend to focus on activities that are evangelical, educational and medical, and their beliefs are far more traditional than those of newer sects like the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, the Korean-rooted movement.
It's not talking about Moonies! Posted by: Kirk Parker at November 2, 2004 05:26 PM
No, but they haven't gone away.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at November 2, 2004 10:06 PMAli:
>Hope they've got their life insurance policies
>sorted out.
>
>Prosleytising in a Muslim country is not good
>for your health.
Missionaries have always taken casualties in the field. They say of the Twelve Apostles + Paul, only John died of natural causes. My home parish of St Boniface has a large mosaic of "The Martyrdom of St Boniface" above the choir loft. Apparently when Boni was a missionary to the Germans (who were savages at the time), he rubbed one of the chieftans the wrong way and the chieftan had him ambushed and assassinated.
Bart:
>One wonders what the Korean reaction would be
>if the Saudis decided to execute a few of their
>Christians as they have done with Eritrean and
>Filipino Christians.
As has happened before in that situation. Some would bail out from the danger, some would be strengthened, and others would throw themselves into harm's way for what they believe.
And Koreans are tough; I don't think you'd get many bugouts.
Posted by: Ken at November 3, 2004 03:20 PM