CBN News (Hat Tip DPRK Studies)
WITH VIDEO ***
2/23/2007
The Christian cross stands on a mountain high above the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
The Bongsoo Church – currently under renovation – is one of two official Protestant churches in North Korea. It has become a point of connection for North and South Korean Christians.
That’s because they’re working to rebuild it together.
Last fall, a delegation of 90 Christians from South Korea came to the church to celebrate completion of the first phase of renovation.
The Presbyterian Church of Korea in the South is partnering with the Christian Association in North Korea to rebuild Bongsoo Church. The church’s pastor says he hopes this partnership will help bring the two Koreas together after more than 50 years of separation.
“I surely believe the renovation and completion of Bongsoo Church is part of God’s will,” said Kang Young Seob of the Christian Association in North Korea. “I also believe that all the Christians who come to the church will have their hearts filled with love for their brothers, their neighbors, and for all Korean people.”
One South Korean church elder says the project is a gift from God.
“The construction of Bongsoo Church is a special privilege and a special mission that God granted the South Korean church and the North Korean church members,” Choi Ho Chul, a South Korean Christian leader.
South Korea’s Christians know that state-sanctioned churches in North Korea are mostly for show. They open only periodically, usually to show visiting dignitaries the regime’s religious tolerance. They know that North Korean church leaders – and even the congregants – are hand-picked by the government.
But as one South Korean Christian in the U.S. told Christian World News, they believe that working with North Korea’s state-sanctioned church is better than doing nothing at all.
They believe that raising a church – and the Cross – high above Pyongyang might have an impact beyond what natural eyes can see.
“We still have hope of the salvation as long as we have the cross that reflects it and the church of God,” said Kim Tae Beom, a South Korean pastor.
I’m not sure I agree with the South Korean Christian who told Christian World News that “working with North Korea’s state-sanctioned church is better doing nothing at all.” It seems to me that if the church is just for show then there is no belief, no power and no point in a building calling being called a church if there are no true believers meeting in it. Most researchers seem to believe that the state church is juse for show. (see Voice of the Martyr’s and Tom Belke author of “Juche, a Christian study of North Korea) It would be far more benificial for the Christians to pray and support true believers which exist in the underground North Korean Church.
Although I appreciate the significance of having a cross on a hill in North Korea as a prophetic declaration, I do hesitate to have any faith in a state sponsored church having any true impact, whether it be in North Korea, China or Cuba.