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What immediately caught our attention, however, were the panels
depicting the early educational and medical work carried out by
Presbyterian missionaries. Missionaries and their work were given
a prominent place, and one missionary, Mattie Ingold Tate, who
founded the Presbyterian Medical Center (known to Koreans as the
Jesus Hospital) and served as the first president(from 1923–24)
of the women’s Bible school that later developed into Hanil
University, is specifically mentioned by name. It is a ringing
testimony to the importance of Christian missionaries and their
contributions to Korea that the city of Jeonju included them in
the history they presented to the world. In a brochure distributed
to World Cup visitors about significant sites to see in Jeonju,
the mural on the wall at the Shinheung Boys’ School is specifically
mentioned.
In time, of course, the mural on the wall will fade and the World
Cup of 2002 will be only a memory. But the contributions of the
scores of missionaries who have served in Jeonju for over a century
will continue to live on, in, and through the institutions which
they founded: Hanil University, the Jesus Hospital, Shinheung
Boys’ Middle and High School, Kijun Girls’ Middle and
High School, Kijun Women’s College, and the Margaret Pritchard
College of Nursing. Across the river is the West Gate Presbyterian
Church, founded in 1893 as the first Protestant church in Jeonju,
and throughout North Jeolla province are numerous churches founded
by itinerating missionaries and Bible women. This legacy will
never die nor will it ever be forgotten, for it lives on in each
new generation of students, each new patient who finds healing,
and in each person who meets Christ for the first time.
There are some people today who suggest that the time of Christian
mission is over, especially in developed countries such as Korea.
There are others who suggest that the time of Presbyterian mission
is over, and that mission funds should be given to non-Presbyterian
and parachurch mission organizations. Each time, however, when
we walk along the street and see the mural depicting Korean history,
we note that Presbyterian missionaries were present at precisely
those junctures in Korean history when the country was in a crisis.
Our church was there with the gospel of Jesus Christ when Koreans
needed it most, and it is our hope and prayer that we will still
be here for many more years to come. We would ask that you give
generously to the work of the Worldwide Ministries Division of
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Although Korea is no longer a land of pioneer mission work, and
the Korean church now owns and operates all of the educational
and medical institutions founded by American missionaries, Presbyterian
missionaries in Korea are still playing a vital role in the preparing
of Koreans who are engaged in pioneer mission work around the
world. Together with our Korean colleagues we are also providing
graduate education for church leaders from other countries in
Asia and Africa. Perhaps at some point in the future there will
be paintings on a wall in Bangladesh or Kenya depicting the work
of Korean missionaries, missionaries who received their training
right here in Jeonju.
The city of Jeonju has appreciated Presbyterian mission work
so much that they wanted the world to see it in this special World
Cup artistic display. We have a godly heritage. May we be faithful
to this heritage and to the God in whose name we serve as we pray
for God’s grace and blessing in the years to come.
Faithfully in mission,
Carol Chou Adams / Daniel J. Adams
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 181
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