It's been a while since I last posted on my blog.
I finally went to Yanghwajin (I've been wanting to go visit this place for a long time)!
This is the cemetery where all the missionaries (foreigners) are buried in Korea.
While visiting, I learned of all the missionaries and their sacrifice and...
I was humbled to the core.
Here are some of the photos that I would like to share with everyone.
Missionary Hardie, he was the forerunner who repented his sin before Koreans and
this was the beginning of the Great Revival in Korea.
"I would rather be buried in Korea than in the Westminster Abbey" - Hulbert...
This really pierced my heart.
"If I had a thousand lives to give, Korea should have them all" - Ruby Kendrick
This made me cry...literally.
There is no greater love than this...
On the wall of the museum...
Yes, God's love was shown through people who said yes to the calling;
Calling to love people who were mere strangers.
When I entered the museum, I came across this on the floor.
The missionaries had to cross the sea to get to Korea.
And this meant more than a physical body of water...
Can I ever understand the fear that they might have faced coming
to the land of total strangers of completely different culture?
But I knew, it was the uttermost fear and love for God that
enabled them to obey.
Yes, they loved God.
That's why they were able to love others.
Tombstone of Soda Gaichi and his wife - The only Japanese missionaries who are buried in Korea and they spent their life watching over orphans in Korea.
When Soda Gaichi was drunk and lay dying on the street, a stranger came to save his life.
That stranger happened to be Korean.
After this incident, his heart started to open up towards Korea and in 1905, he decided to step on the Korean peninsula. He had a heart for children and started to watch over orphans with his wife. Later, he was involved in fighting for freedom for Korea from Japanese colonial rule. Even after Korea was freed from the colonial rule, the couple stayed behind to take care of the orphans. After his wife passed away, he went back to Japan to call out for repentance. In 1961, he moved back to Korea and watched over orphans until he passed away.
This story has a great significance to the relationship between Korea and Japan.
There is hope for reconciliation only in God.
There's no other way.
I translated this story only because this story is not told much (and there's nothing written in English translation.) I wanted to make this touching story known to public.
Missionary Horace Grant Underwood and his family (4 generations) buried in Korean soil.
