Saemmul Church Recalls All Volunteers
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
The Saemmul Community Church, whose parishioners include 23 Koreans who were abducted by Taliban militants, said Thursday that all of its volunteer aid workers in Afghanistan have been withdrawn from the region.
``The volunteer groups from the church ended all their educational and medical activities, and the last volunteer returned home Friday,'' Kwon Hyun-soo, a senior elder of the church, said.
Since the kidnapping took place, the church decided to stop aid work there and withdrew the volunteers gradually, he said. ``All of them except three who had joined the group who were kidnapped, have left the country,'' Kwon said.
He said the church had planned to finish the pullout earlier, but it took longer than expected for those who have stayed there a number of years to conclude their long-term activities.
Kwon said the church would suspend missionary and aid programs in dangerous regions such as Afghanistan for a while.
``We learned that volunteers from other Korean groups and churches have stopped their work and would return home by Friday, following the agreement between the Korean government and the kidnappers. We are sorry for having caused so much anxiety to the people and the government,'' he said.
The volunteers from the Saemmul Church who have left Afghanistan number four, including a doctor couple from Hilla Hospital, and a teacher at Eunhyesaem Preschool in Kandahar established by the Korean Foundation for World Aid. The captives planned to visit the places to do aid work there.
Those volunteers are currently staying at a residence in Korea, and preparing to resume medical aid work here, according to Kwon. The church said it would provide them with all the support they need so that they will not have difficulty in living here.
The Saemmul Church has been engaged in medical and educational activities in Afghanistan since 2004. Im Hyun-ju, Park Hye-young and Lee Ji-young, who were kidnapped while accompanying the church members as guides and interpreters, have worked there from one to three years.