June 28, 2007

Everything is possible to one who believes.
Mark 9:23

Dear Friends,

As I write, Sue is on another visit to North Korea to visit schools for deaf and blind persons. Art and Korean church leaders prepare for the interdenominational celebration of the 100th anniversary of the great Korea revival next week. Last Sunday, we both spoke about North Korea in churches in Kwangju city on the Sunday closest to June 25, the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.

At the opening of the Potonggang Welfare Center for the disabled, the team of deaf, polio victims and normally enabled persons are ready to take orders for men’s, women’s and traditional Korean clothing in their sheltered dressmaking workshop.

How was faith answered? The Potonggang Welfare Center for the Disabled (PWCD) was opened May 10 with a moving celebration just a year after the project was agreed upon, although at the time no one knew where the funds would come from. Sue took nine persons with her from South Korea for the event: representatives of organizations that contributed—the Community Chest of Korea and the Kwangju Bethel Church and also those from an organization for the disabled, including a woman in a wheelchair.

The PWCD is the first welfare center for the disabled in North Korea, and it provides rehabilitation and job training for physically challenged people. Its sheltered workshops include a barbershop, a beauty shop, tailoring and shoe repair workshops in which other gifted disabled work alongside those ordinarily gifted. There are women’s and men’s sauna rooms and a dining facility in the center, which is already known for the good quality of their service to customers.

At the ribbon cutting for Yeonhee Beautician High School’s second building (left). Rev. Park stands between the two ladies. Art Kinsler, chair of the Bible Club, is on the right.

On April 30, Art was glad to visit and give the benediction at the dedication service for the Yeonhee Beautician High School’s new building. The principal, the Reverend Jae-Ok Park, is an old friend who started the Yeonhee Bible Club (an alternative school) in 1969. The first building was in Shinlim-dong, where poor families were resettled from unregistered houses in central Seoul. The children were hungry for education since their families didn’t have the money to afford regular schools. Rev. Park himself had had similar difficulties as a teenager in a difficult environment. Because he grew up in a family with faith in Christ, he studied for the ministry at the Sungkyeol denomination’s seminary and then at Chungang University in social education. At an early age he got together those who could teach and started a Bible Club, having faith that a small alternative school could grow if the regular school subjects were taught with a Christian school emphasis.

Using rented spaces, the school moved to a different Ku of Seoul three times, and in 1987 the final move was to Karibong-dong, next to the Kuro industrial area. Its girls high school program was that of a commercial high school. When bookkeeping and secretarial jobs started to require college training, then Rev. Park changed the curriculum so that graduates not only received a high school certificate but also beautician training. This was done in two instead of three years because of intensive study and the high quality Christian teachers.

The 38 years of trusting effort for God resulted in the second school-owned building being dedicated, a beautiful facility of seven floors. There are 1,300 girls studying at present, with about 8,000 graduates of whom it is estimated that 70 percent are Christian, mostly because of Rev. Park and the school’s influence.

Prayer requests

• Art and Sue will be in the United States from mid September through November 8 to participate in Mission Challenge ’07. Pray that many more Presbyterian churches will decide to support with prayer and financial giving missionaries and the mission program. By the way, in recent years Directed Mission Support through PC(USA) for Sue has been less than the goal and all mission workers have no assurance of support after the summer of 2008.
• The Lighthouse Foundation, which supports the work in North Korea, has a Web site with Korean and English. We pray that many will visit it to see pictures and monthly updates and pray for our work.

We are both grateful to God and you who support us that we can still be fruitful for the Lord in our older years. We hope that soon there will be closer relations between North Korea and the rest of the world. May God continue to renew the Lord’s people everywhere in this centennial year of the Pyongyang revival!

The grace and peace of Christ be with you always,

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 249