2 of 3

"[The missionaries] were purely motivated," said Moon, "but were not realistic."

But in the Korean missions movement, some leaders are questioning the motives and purpose of churches with larger-scale missions. South Korean pastor Kim Hyung-tae told The Korea Times: "Local churches have been passionate only about the quantity increase in the number of churchgoers and missionary workers they send overseas, and big events that they hold, neglecting their original mission" of simply reaching people for Christ.

More than 100 pastors held a penitence prayer meeting after the hostages' release, and more than a dozen Christian leaders from the Korea Evangelical Fellowship, the Christian Council of Korea, and the Korean National Council of Churches issued a repentance statement, outlining mistakes the Korean church had made.

"Out of the over-enthusiasm for mission, we did put up big slogans of mission and often took up 'superior,' 'conquering,' 'exclusive,' 'one-sided,' 'displaying,' 'competitive,' attitudes of teaching and governing instead of understanding, embracing, and serving the field people," the statement said. "We deeply regret such wrongdoings and will do our best to take more humble, quiet, and both-sided attitudes and will try to deeply consider and respect the lifestyle and sentiments of the field people."

Before they left Afghanistan, the hostages apologized for something else at a press conference.

"I've had sleepless nights, thinking of what we have caused the country. I am deeply sorry," Yu Kyeong-sik said.

The kidnapping didn't affect Christians only. The South Korean government's decision to negotiate directly with the Taliban became an international controversy, drawing muted criticism from Afghan and U.S. officials.

"The U.S. government certainly abides by the separation of church and state," said Scott Moreau, missions and intercultural studies professor at Wheaton College in Illinois. "To negotiate on behalf of an agency would raise all kinds of thorny issues."

Most U.S.-based missions agencies have longstanding policies on kidnappings and other security issues, Moreau said. The possibility of lawsuits is another major concern for American agencies. "That weighs on the decision of where they send people, and it's another twist on the whole thing," he said.

In the meantime, South Korea has banned its citizens from going to Afghanistan as aid workers or missionaries. Several long-term South Korean missionaries and aid workers have been forced to leave.

The Koreans had been filling much-needed vocations and their presence will be sorely missed, said Rob Werner, a Christian worker in Afghanistan.

Still, the Korean missionaries are not the only ones who have faced danger in the area, Werner said. All foreigners are re-evaluating their presence and lifestyle, he said, especially as Afghans have been kidnapped or murdered for their association with foreigners.

And it may get worse. After the hostages' release, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told the Associated Press that the group plans to abduct more foreigners. "We will do the same thing with the other allies in Afghanistan, because we found this way to be successful," he said. In late September, four Red Cross personnel were kidnapped by bandits on their way to secure the release of two Western hostages.

next page... |  2 of 3

share this page

November 2007, Vol. 51, No. 11