Greetings of General Secretary to Ecumenical Breakfast
I am Bae Tae Jin, PROK General Secretary. I add my greetings to those of Moderator Park Dong Il in welcoming you to our 98th General Assembly marking our 60th anniversary and also the year of the 10th General Assembly of WCC being held in Korea. We will be welcoming you or representatives of many of your churches again to fellowship time in Busan.
It is my pleasure to share a small glimpse of our history with you. The Christian faith is quite new to Korea; it was not until 1884 that the Gospel was first preached here in Korea by Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries. The faith was eagerly welcomed and has been strongly planted in this land. We found strength in Jesus Christ for the issues that faced us during the 20th Century – the occupation by Japan, the Great Pacific War and its aftermath, the Korean War and the division of our country, then the struggle for democracy against the military dictatorships, during all this, we held firm to the promises of the Bible and as well received much support from our foreign partners.
60 years ago, the PROK began with a firm commitment to integrity and scholarly freedom. We left behind other Presbyterians who wanted to cling to outmoded ways of thinking. In the PROK we are strongly committed to justice in Korean society and around the world, to peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula, and to maintaining the integrity of creation. So we try to keep our government accountable to its responsibilities for the weakest and most vulnerable in our society, and we pray for them without ceasing.
One of our main desires is for this Korean Peninsula, divided after the Korean War by the great powers. We started a campaign for a Peace Treaty in 2010, the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, to gather signatures to urge the 6-Parties, the governments who signed the Armistice in 1953, (which was supposed to be temporary) to come together for working on a Peace Treaty, which will give our home peace and reconciliation instead of the constant upheaval of war rhetoric. We invited the NCCK to take this on, and it is a hope that with the WCC in Korea, and the world’s attention focused here, the governments will be encouraged to take a step in this direction. I ask that each of you here today sign this copy of the petition. At Busan later in the fall at the WCC Assembly, PROK will take a leading role in an Ecumenical Conversation on Reunification.
There are many other issues of today that concern us – healthy church growth and support of our rural churches, encouraging our youth in the faith and bringing up the new generation of church leaders, the plight of migrant workers and marriage migrants who come to Korea to live and work and who often find prejudice and discrimination, vital issues of the environment and stewardship, globalization and the widening gap between rich and poor. These are global issues. It is our desire to work with all of you, our partners, in finding solutions to these issues, and acting on the Missio Dei, God’s mission in the world, with the eyes and the wisdom of God.
As we approach Busan and look at going beyond it, let us pray as one, “God of Life, Lead us to Justice and Peace”
[이 게시물은 관리자님에 의해 2016-11-03 21:36:25 총무 칼럼에서 이동 됨]
