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A report of Rev. Steve Pearce about Pyungyang visit 2014 Oct
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A short report on a visit to the
Korean Christian Federation in North Korea
by Steve Pearce, Partnership Coordinator Asia/Pacific
When I tell people we have a partnership with the church in North Korea, the usual reply is, ‘I didn’t know there were any Christians in North Korea!’ There are. According to our partner church, the Korean Christian Federation, there are 13,000.
Christians are spread across the country in about 500 congregations – all meeting in people’s homes as there are only two church buildings in the country, both in the capital, Pyongyang. Very few buildings survived the Korean war. The Christians are fully integrated into the well-organised North Korean socialist society, joining members of other voluntary organisations in standing for election to the district, provincial and national councils.
One of our Saturday visits was to the bakery run by one of those churches, Bongsoo. The church runs a bakery, a noodle factory and an agricultural enterprise each of which has been supported over recent years by grants from the World Mission Fund so it was good to see these things for real and to see bread being produced and given away to the vulnerable groups in a society where malnutrition is really troubling.
The bakery is located in one of the suburbs of Pyongyang, a city of about 2 million people. It was developed by the Korean Christian Federation in a period when external crises, including floods and sanctions imposed by trading partners, made it impossible for the state infrastructure to provide for all social needs. The bread baked is distributed to orphanages and homes for the elderly. While KCF pays the workers and provides premises the flour is given by members of the Ecumenical Form on Korea (EFK) of which the Methodist Church in Britain is a member, this is done through China with the help of the Amity Foundation (another of our partners). Mrs Park Young Sill, the manager, explained that the bakery, an efficient enterprise with ovens provided by Methodist and Presbyterian partners in South Korea, is running at only 10% capacity due to the inadequate and erratic supply of flour. I am sure this can and should be remedied and hope that this visit has developed relationships to the extent that we can find a way.
I was further delighted to be able to worship at the Bongsoo Church on Sunday morning. There is a mixed-age congregation of around two hundred worshipping in a new building opened in the 1980s. The robed choir was of an impressive standard and many of the hymns were familiar. I presented the greetings of the Methodist people in Britain, as did my two travelling companions from the World Council of Churches. It was clearly of great significance to the church members that they were constantly in the prayers of so many people around the world. I am determined that having finally made a visit to North Korea, we should build the partnership and get to know and support each other better, such things change the world.
Steve Pearce, October 2014(From whom a more detailed report is also available)
