Issue 29
June 14, 2020
Seoul, Korea
Greetings!
As Korea is again seeing a small but constant increase in positive COVID-19 cases, local churches are back on the alert and returning to online worship. Tracking has revealed that church-related small gatherings are much more vulnerable than large churches’ Sunday worship services. Also shared in this newsletter are the testimonies of two young men about their personal faith journeys. May God’s peace and grace be with you, and with all of our neighbors, as we fight in multiple ways against the pandemic.
Online again: New COVID-19 cases slow churches’ return to regular worship
With the recent increase of COVID-19 cases among participants in small church gatherings, churches that returned to regular-style worship are now moving back online.
The Christian Council of Bucheon (CCB), the city where many COVID-19-positive cases turned up at the Coupang Logistics distribution center, sent out an official letter requesting its member churches to return to online worship services. Churches’ worries have intensified with the discovery of COVID-19 cases at the nearby Ubase call center as well.
“Please return to online worship,” CCB said. “If a gathering is really necessary, then strictly follow the guidelines to prevent infection… When positive cases developed at Itaewon clubs, there was concern about a possible third-stage spread, but the 700 members of Palbock and Onsarang Churches in Incheon tested negative, so they are a good model to follow.”
Wonmidong Church in Bucheon went back to online worship on May 31. Rev. Kim Seung-min said, “Since the emergence of positive cases at the Coupang center on May 25, many workers and residents have been tested, and the number of positives is growing… We had hoped to normalize on the 31st, but instead we went back online that day. Things will probably continue like this for the time being.”
Suwon’s Haneulggum Yeondong Church made an unexpected, sudden return to online worship on May 31, when it found that one of its youth members had been exposed to a COVID-19-positive staff of a mission organization. Rev. Jang Dong-hak said, “Luckily, the youth who was exposed tested negative, and we plan to resume regular gatherings on the 7th, following thoroughgoing prevention measures… It’s a big worry, because even if there’s no immediate problem, we’re likely to see repetitions of such chaos for some time to come.”
Blood donation: Time of prayer, pillar of life
Mr. Park Jeong-gyu, who has donated blood once or twice a month for the past 23 years, ever since high school, gave blood for the 200th time on May 25. “Blood donation is prayer,” he said. “It’s an important pillar of my life and faith.”
“Doing work I want to do, work I have to do, and work to support my family, naturally I am more distanced from the work of mentally embracing my neighbors and extending a hand to them. At such times, I go to the blood donation center, roll up my sleeve and put my arm on the table. The thick needle pierces my skin and reaches my vein. While the blood fills the packet, I experience a gradual melting away of my mental obstacles and the tensions of everyday life. I offer a prayer of thanks that I can feel the painful prick, that I am healthy, and that I can convey this small gift from my heart to my neighbors. Also, when I am exhausted and my mind is confused, I give blood while praying for my life to be redirected toward God. It’s a time of intercession, praying for new strength to extend a hand of love to my neighbors.”
Park is an activist who works at Haja Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, helping young people find their dreams. He is also a bicycle traveler, travel writer and lecturer, as well as amateur triathlete. In his twenties he biked around the world, traveling to 16 countries over a three-year period and covering a distance of 27,000 kilometers. Since his experience back then, when he was welcomed warmly at Korean churches throughout the global village, he has continued his sharing project.
Park said he keeps in his heart the story of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke, and Jesus’ words in Luke 10:37, “Go and do likewise.” He suggested, “At this time of COVID-19, when blood collection is difficult, it will be good to inform people about blood donation sites in their areas and encourage them to join the campaign.”
Full story in Korean available at:
헌혈, 기도하는 시간… 인생의 버팀목: 25일 헌혈 200회 앞둔 예수향교회 박정규 성도
[Mission and People] Rev. Kushal Joseph Attreya of Cheongnyangni Rice Sharing Movement
From 7 o’clock in the morning, a Nepali pastor works together with Korean staff to wash and cook rice for lunchboxes serving 1,000 persons daily. Among the elderly people who stand in line, one occasionally remarks, “Oh, a foreigner,” to which he replies, “I’m not a foreigner, I’m a Christian.” Rev. Kushal Joseph Attreya, has been serving as section chief since last month at the Babfor (rice scooping) Sharing Movement headquarters, located near Cheongnyangni Station and operated by Dail Welfare Foundation. In 2015, after he studied theology and was ordained as a minister in Korea, Attreya was dispatched to Nepal for three years; there he carried out concurrent ministries at Pokhara Dail Church and the Babfor Sharing Movement in Kathmandu.
“Inside Babfor it’s a different world. I had thought Korea was a country where everyone lived well and no one suffered the kind of starvation we have in Nepal, but that was not true. Here, I never feel like a Nepali or a foreigner. That’s because every day, I experience Jesus’ miracle of the five loaves and two fishes. Doing this work, life itself seems like worship.”
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Babfor temporarily stopped serving meals, but now it makes and distributes lunchboxes. Different from the time when it provided 700 meals daily, now it makes more than 1,000 lunchboxes. Also different from the past is the presence of young people in the lunchbox line. They are short on food, having been fired suddenly in the economic downturn caused by COVID-19.
“As they receive the lunchboxes, it’s really beautiful to see them smile briefly, in spite of their difficulties,” Rev. Attreya said.
Full story in Korean at:
[미션&피플] 청량리역 밥퍼나눔운동본부에서 사역하는 꾸샬 조셉 아트레야: ‘밥퍼’주는 네팔 출신 목사 “전 외국인 아닌 그리스도인입니다”
박여라 영문에디터 yap@kmib.co.kr
GoodNews paper ⓒ 국민일보(www.kmib.co.kr), 무단전재, 수집, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지
