Hello Again!
A Letter from Unzu Lee, mission co-worker serving in East Asia
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Dear companions on the journey,
Greetings from Seoul, Korea! I regret that so much time has elapsed since I wrote my last Mission Connections letter. My long silence came about because I had to undergo double knee surgery on December 20 last year unexpectedly, and many health challenges followed. Hence, my plan to do my interpretation assignment in the Spring of this year did not come to fruition. Still, I am very happy to write this letter to you. Thank you for accompanying me on my journey on this mission with prayers and monetary contributions. I hope what I am about to share will give you glimpses of my work.
A significant part of what I do with partners in East Asia is peacebuilding, and one of my partners is the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) which has its Asia office in South Korea. As a historic peace church, Mennonites do not take arms to fight in wars. Instead, they go where conflicts are to build peace. According to the MCC website, MCC came to South Korea soon after the Korean War broke out in 1950, left in 1971, and then returned in 2014 because the Korean War still has not ended. One might say that North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is the most isolated country in the world, but this has not stopped MCC from engaging DPRK. It supports the people of North Korea through agricultural training and food and health programs. It advocates for reducing sanctions that only hurt the quality of life of ordinary people and works to build relationships and pursue peace.
Stacy Nam, a Chinese American who serves as MCC’s DPRK Program Director, has been working with me and Kurt Esslinger to explore the possibility of working together for peacebuilding. When Canadian Mennonites come to Korea for a learning tour this October, Kurt and I will accompany them as resource persons for certain segments of the trip. Part of their learning will involve getting to know the DPRK. Jesus of Nazareth, whom we call the Christ, called us even to love the enemy. I believe this call summons us to cultivate ways to get to know North Korea. Otherwise, it will always remain the “Other.” That is why PC(USA) has a partnership with the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) of the DPRK.
One of MCC’s peacebuilding initiatives has involved hosting and organizing the Christian Forum for Reconciliation in Northeast Asia (the NARI Forum), jointly with the Duke Divinity School Center for Reconciliation and colleagues and institutions in Northeast Asia. At MCC’s invitation, I attended its 11th forum held in Taiwan on March 11-16, 2024. I flew business class for the first time to protect my knees, which was well worth the extra cost I paid. Central to my experience of the forum was the actual encounters with individuals from Asian countries whose histories have often been fraught with conflicts. The fact that we were meeting in Taiwan when the region’s tensions were rising made our encounters even more meaningful and urgent.
We met at the Presbyterian Bible College in Hsinchu, Taiwan, under the theme “Healing the Divides: A Decade of Pursuing Reconciliation in Northeast Asia.” The most notable thing about this forum was that young people under 35 constituted more than half of the total attendance. We came from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.S. and Canada. One surprising fact that I learned at the forum was that the late Rev. Syngman Rhee, a respected leader in the PC(USA) who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly in 2000-2001 was instrumental in getting the NARI Forum started.
The theological journey of the NARI forum started with a vision in answer to the question, “Reconciliation toward what end?” On each day that followed, we engaged in the practices of lament, pilgrimage, and hope and ended with a call that we all become reconcilers. We were summoned to hear the call that comes from the scripture, which says, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19-20, NRSV). We are in this for the long haul.
What else did I do? Kurt and I invested many hours during the first few months of this year updating the lists of resources for making peace on the Korean peninsula. I am thrilled to report that the updated lists have been uploaded to the Korea Resources Page at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/korea-peace/. Please use them and share the information widely with your family and friends.
South Korea has yet to pass its Anti-Discrimination Law, and its most vocal opponent is the Protestant faith sector. Therefore, when I was asked to preach at the worship service on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), I said, “Yes.” Any Korean preaching in such worship service would have faced many challenges. The organizers did a fantastic job creating a safe space and a beautiful and moving liturgy, and my preaching was very well received. The title of my sermon was “I Will Pour Out My Spirit on All Flesh.”
I serve on the Confronting Militarism working group. With the help of Women Making Peace in Korea, I organized a webinar titled “Korean Women’s Struggle against the U.S. Military Bases on the Korean Peninsula” for the International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament on May 17, 2024. It was a Korean language webinar led by women, and they did an excellent job. We offered English translation, but unfortunately, a lot was lost in translation. Check out presbyterianmission.org/ministries/ peacemaking/connecting-the-dots-webinar-series/.
I plan to come to the U.S. and itinerate in March and April 2025 to share my experiences in mission with Presbyterians. I would love to be invited to your church. Please discuss it with your mission committee and let me know. I can be reached at unzu.lee@pcusa.org. Also, I pray and hope that more churches will support the work I do. One way of support can happen if churches sign up for my Mission Connections letters. Would you please share my Mission Connections letters with your congregations and invite them to consider supporting my work in mission in East Asia?
With thanksgiving and wishing you peace,
Unzu