.bmp)
.bmp)
SEOUL,South Korea-A large sign outside the multi-story Shinsegae department store in downtown Seoul reads,"Pray for the safe return of the hostages in Afghanistan." It is written in Korean, Arabic and English.But as Korean Christians pray, church and mission agency leaders are struggling with how best to adapt to environments and cultures where a Christian presence is unwelcome and often dangerous. They are discussing how best to complete the task of taking the Gospel to "the ends of the earth," while protecting those under their watch who have been called to difficult places.And, at the request of the Korean government, plans are underway to remove all Korean Christian workers Afghanistan."We hope that this is only temporary," said Jae Kyeong Lee, president of the Korean Foreign Mission Board of the Korea Baptist Convention, "and that we will have opportunity to send workers back soon. But we want to be sensitive to the safety of the hostages and to the request of our government."The Korean government currently is negotiating with Taliban militants over the fate of 19 hostages remaining in Afghanistan. A group of 23 Korean aid workers, mostly women, from Saemmul Presbyterian Church was kidnapped by the Taliban on July 19 while riding aboard a bus in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan. Two of the male hostages, 42-year-old church staff member Hyung Kyu Bae and 29-year-old Sung Min Shim, were executed by the Taliban. Two of the women volunteers, Ji Na Kim, 32, and Kyung Ja Kim, 37, were released and returned to Seoul on Aug. 17.According to the JoongAng Daily News, both women expressed their thanks to the government and the people of Korea and apologized for causing "all this worry" during a news conference that lasted less than five minutes. The two women answered no questions and were whisked away by security guards and government officials. They will remain under government protection for an unspecified period.JoongAng News has reported that the Korean government is concerned that extensive news coverage could jeopardize ongoing negotiations with the Taliban for the release of the remaining hostages.It is this same concern that is prompting calls from the government for all Korean Christian workers to withdraw from Afghanistan and for churches in Korea to avoid public prayer services or other public expressions of support for the hostages.While other Christian workers in Afghanistan understand the government's concerns, they are struggling over the departure of their Korean friends. One worker who asked not to be identified said, "We are grieving the loss of our Korean brothers and sisters. These people were doing amazing work here and amazing work for the Kingdom. I know that there is a lot of criticism of the Korean hostages that are being held, but they are such sweet, gentle people who came here with pure hearts to truly help."Lee is praying that church and agency leaders will grow through this crisis in spite of criticism from some quarters against missions efforts. "We recognize that our work cannot be stopped in spite of martyrdom and that we must continue to send out those who are called," Lee said. "However, as leaders, we need to be wiser and more mature in our sending policies. We need to do more research into the areas where workers are called and we need to be more prepared to deal with crises such as this one."To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
