Flourishing Life

This morning we visited the Yanghwajin Foreign Foreign Missionary Cemetery that sits almost on the edge of the Han River, the largest river in Korea, that runs through Seoul. It was a major trade route and where Christian missionaries first entered the country in the nineteenth century. At the beginning of the missionary activity evangelism was illegal, so missionaries set up hospitals and schools as a way of offering the grace of Jesus Christ to this nation.

The most striking thing about the cemetery is the honor that is paid to these pioneers of the faith in Korea. Korean Christians hold these people in the highest esteem.

It was a cold morning and we were ushered from our bus into a warm chapel adjacent to the cemetery where we were shown a film explaining the history of the cemetery. The first person to be buried there was John W. Heron, a missionary doctor who died of dysentery while treating ailing Koreans. Also buried there is H.G. Appenzeller, the first Methodist missionary to Korea, who arrived in 1885, establishing the first Methodist worship. He died in 1902 on his way to a Bible translation team meeting, his boat capsizing in the river.

There were so many stories that I can't remember them all, but each story represents a unique life that was given as a gift to the Korean people and to God, in order to fulfill the Great Commission. The 143 missionaries buried in this place serve as a reminder to all of us that there is no cost that is too high to pay in order to share the love of Jesus Christ with people who have yet to receive it.

The reverence for this place is palpable and I truly felt like I was walking on holy ground. I was moved both by the stories of courage and sacrifice, and by the sense of honor our hosts bestow on these messengers of God's grace.