Seminary School Mission Trip to South Korea!

In partnership with Osaka Theological Seminary, I had the unique opportunity to participate in a mission trip with my seminary school to South Korea! In Korea, in a small suburb of Seoul, we were able to conduct worship in both the Japanese and Korean language during an evening service, visited a Christian museum, toured a famous Korean Seminary school and library, all the while learning about the history of Christianity in Korea.

During this 3 day intensive trip, what blessed me the most was the opportunity to fellowship with my fellow Japanese classmates, to pray together, live together, to do life together, and to be used for the glory of the Lord together in South Korea! We were able to bless the churches that we attended with our songs of worship and had many conversations regarding just how Christianity was brought to South Korea and the current status of Christianity today.

Did you know Christianity was first established in South Korea during the 17th century, while in Japan it was established first during the 16th century? What I found fascinating was that although Japan received Christianity 200 years before South Korea, less than 2% of Japanese are Christian, compared to the 31% in South Korea!

Why then, are there 15 times more South Korean Christians than Japanese? Shouldn’t Japan have followed the same growth trend as South Korea? Shouldn’t there be more Christians in Japan in that case? It is not so. Actually, Christianity grew in South Korea exponentially after World War II, while Japan continued their same sentiments of rejecting an, “outsider’s religion.” Japanese people still strongly hold this “insiders” vs. “outsiders” mentality; disregarding thoughts, philosophies, and ideas that originate from outside of their sphere. Due to these factors, Japanese are still widely unfamiliar with Christianity. In South Korea however, due to political alignment (Korean elites and politicians often being educated in the U.S.), community development efforts (the Church providing schools, universities and orphanages) and spiritual compatibility (belief in one Creator, such as in their current-standing Shamanism), Christianity was much more accepted in Korea and these are just some of the factors that has led to the many Christians and Bible-believing churches exisiting there today! The presence of God was so strongly felt there, it was truly a blessing!

What made the biggest impact on me was how these Japanese missionaries were so willing to bring the gospel to Korea, and how the Korean pastors and people were just so incredibly welcoming to us from Japan. Truly the love of God was felt among these two countries, despite the long and complicated past history that they retain with each other. The love of Christ truly abounded. As the only American, I also had the unique position of representing Christ for America, and it was truly a blessed time overall!