Christianity in South Korea
Since I arrived in Seoul, South Korea in February 2015, I was in awe of the many steeples that dotted the mountainous skyline throughout the city.
According to The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Korea sends out 1,014 missionaries per 1 million church members, putting them at number five on the list of missionary sending countries in the world.
How did this once predominantly Shamanistic (and later Buddhist) nation turn out to be one of the top missionary senders in the world in such a short amount of time? As a Christian history geek, I was eager to find out.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to tour Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery in Seoul with a local English ministry I serve alongside. We set up an English tour guide to take us through the cemetery and accompanying museum.
Overlooking the Han River, the cemetery is surrounded by large, modern buildings. The guide explained to us that when Catholic missionaries came to Korea in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, the king sentenced them to death along with thousands of newly converted Koreans. To sum it up, the main problem that Korea had with Christianity at the time was the fact that, under God, we are all equal. Traditional Korean society had (and still has) many cultural barriers due to age hierarchy, as well as economic status.
Over the next few decades, a handful of missionaries tried to enter Korea, but most were killed almost immediately upon arrival. One soldier was even later converted after he killed a missionary, when he later discovered and read the missionary’s bible.
In 1863, things began to look up for missionaries to enter the Hermit Kingdom. King Gojong, the final king of the Joseon Dynasty, came into power wanting to establish diplomatic relations with western civilizations. Finally, the door was opened for missionaries to freely come to Korea. These missionaries were able to minister to the physical needs of the people by providing medical care, opening schools, and caring for orphans.
I don’t have enough space to write about every single missionary buried in this cemetery, as there were so many, but I picked out a handful who caught my eye to give you a few highlights.
Henry Appenzeller came to Korea before it was legal to preach in public. He set up a missionary house and traveled on foot and bicycle around Korea preaching the Gospel. Even though he wasn’t a doctor, he was able to save many lives with only a little training in western medical care. At the time, all Bibles were written in Chinese, which was only studied by the royalty and upper-class citizens. Appenzeller opened a publishing company that provided the first Bibles to Koreans written in the common language.
Sooda Gaichi was a drunkard who collasped and almost died, when a Korean Christian man saved his life and shared the Gospel with him. After this, Sooda and his wife dedicated their lives to raising Korean orphans. Due to Korea’s relations with Japan at the time, it is quite remarkable that a Japanese person wanted to serve even the lowliest of Koreans. I think this is great evidence of his changed heart.
The last person I have to share with you is Horace Grant Underwood, who is oftentimes called the pioneer of missions in Korea. He helped found the first Presbyterian church in Korea, as well as establish Christian schools. Most importantly, he was able to assist in translating the Old and New Testaments into Hangul, the language of the Korean people. He passed away in 1916, but his family stayed in Korea until 2004!
As I visited the gravesite museum for these missionaries, one thing stood out to me: none of these missionaries became very famous.
There aren’t any famous biographies written about them, and even the museum in their honor didn’t contain much information to tell.
Many of them died when they were only in their thirties.
Many of them lost spouses and children.
They all gave up the comforts of the Western world to come to a place where they were unsure of their safety.
The power of the Gospel drives us to do amazing things for the fame of Jesus.