Contextualised mission : the South Korean evangelical response to the humanitarian crisis in North Korea (1995-2012)

The task of this research is to examine how South Korean evangelicals construct their mission strategy to North Korea. In order to respond to the humanitarian concerns in North Korea, South Korean evangelicals have established or used already existing humanitarian organisations (also known as faith-...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Verdier-Shin, Marie-Laure
Published: SOAS, University of London 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.605704
Description
Summary:The task of this research is to examine how South Korean evangelicals construct their mission strategy to North Korea. In order to respond to the humanitarian concerns in North Korea, South Korean evangelicals have established or used already existing humanitarian organisations (also known as faith-based organisations in the secular field) and carried out holistic mission in North Korea. This research seeks to demonstrate how they have responded to the perceived needs of the mission field while respecting the socio-political conditions imposed both by the South and North Korean governments. However, it is also argued that they are ready to challenge South Korean governments when necessary through advocacy and that they desire to transform North Korean society and challenge the state of division. Their aim is to work for the reconstruction and reunification of an imagined Christian nation. By comparing the Korean peninsula to biblical Israel, their goal is to restore God's glory in Pyongyang which was once called the Jerusalem of the East. However, some evangelicals reflect on mission strategies to North Korea and seek to understand the North Korean worldview better, this research suggests that they are considering implementing cross-cultural missiological principles to pursue their mission successfully. This research argues that evangelicals have been shaped by and have engaged with their context: evangelicals have never been apolitical, as they have always been driven by a strong sense of Christian nationalism. Equally, this research argues that in spite of the rhetoric, they have also been concerned to a certain extent with issues of poverty and injustices.