By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
Christian groups have joined the movement to reflect on aggressive overseas missionary work after the abduction case in Afghanistan.
Some 100 pastors of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church gathered on Tuesday at Youngdong Presbyterian Church in Jongno, downtown Seoul to hold a penitence prayer meeting.
They reflected on their missionary work and other activities that have been criticized and called for the repentance of pastors who are responsible for the recent hostage crisis.
``Local churches have been passionate only about quantity increase in the number of church-goers and missionary workers they send overseas and big events that they hold, neglecting their original mission,'' Kim Hyung-tae, head pastor of the Youngdong church, said.
He also criticized the tendency of pastors at many churches to believe that ``excessively passionate'' activities in dangerous places are an achievement.
Other pastors also agreed that local churches tend to be reckless about expanding religious influence without understanding foreign cultures and local situations in overseas volunteer work, which allowed to take place the recent kidnapping.
The church leaders' reflection on their missionary work came as the Taliban militia kidnapped 23 Korean volunteer workers in Afghanistan in July and released 19 early this month after killing two male hostages.
But even before the abduction crisis, many Korean volunteer workers dispatched by churches had been criticized for their aggressive missionary work.
The New York Times estimated the number of Korean missionaries overseas at 17,000, the second largest in the world following 46,000 from the U.S.
Six progressive church groups Tuesday also issued a statement calling for the changes in missionary work overseas by local churches. They also worried that mistakes made by some churches may hinder necessary volunteer work overseas.
``We regret that Christians did not follow the government's regulations and caused the nation a lot of trouble,'' the statement said. ``We now promise to comply with the guidelines of the government in the future.''
The six groups include Christians for Social Responsibility, the Christian Coalition for Upgrading Korea, Small Church Movement and God's Kingdom Mission Movement.
``The kidnapping case can give the wrong impression that Korean churches are all anti-social and anti-government,'' Kim Gyu-ho, director of Christians for Social Responsibility, said. ``We all should reflect on the aggressive missionary work overseas.''
The statement also suggested that all the expenses spent for the release of the hostages should be paid by local churches as part of efforts to reflect on the matter.
e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr
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