As the season of prayer for peace on the Korean Peninsula continues, the Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study Web page for July 20, 2013 focuses on ministry in South Korea:
One of the three major programs of the National Church Women’s Association (NCWA) of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) has encouraged us to mission movement. NCWA seeks to share its blessings with other Asian women just as the Durebang Center in Korea, also supported by the United Church of Christ in the U.S., has blessed them. The Durebang Center (My Sister’s Place) helps prostitutes, former prostitutes, and women living with U.S. soldiers to find new hope, self-respect, and a new sense of life, by spreading and living the gospel through charity and humanity.
As part of our 80th anniversary, the NCWA forged a partnership with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines to support the establishment of the Durebang-Sinag Kababaihan Women’s Centre to reach out to sex-trade women in the Philippines and to support the women missionaries and their mission work.
This partnership is about sharing not only resources but experiences and ideas about women’s issues, particularly prostitution and sex trafficking. The sex trade is not only a local issue but a global one. Many Asian women from Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and other countries were enticed to come to Korea to work in the entertainment industry only to realize they were working as prostituted women.
NCWA, Durebang, and Sinag are working together to advocate for the plight of women in prostitution and to help them make choices and find alternative livelihoods, jobs, and opportunities. The two centers also provide counseling, Bible study, art therapy, and outreach. These programs enable women to affirm and restore their sense of worth as persons created in the image of God.
—Rev. Sookjin Lee, director, Church Women’s Association Lay Training Institute, PROK
Pray for our Partners/Partnerships including:
Presbyterian Church of Korea: Rev. Dr. Seong Gi Cho, general secretary, Rev. Kyung In Kim, executive secretary, planning and ecumenical relations
National Organization of Korean Presbyterian Women: Elder Bok Joo Kwon, moderator, Rev. Yoon Hee Lee, general secretary
Women Ministers Association: Rev. Jeum Im Park, moderator, Ae Shin Koh, general secretary
Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK): Rev. Tae Jin Bae, general secretary, Rev. Seung Min Shin, executive secretary, ecumenical relations
Christian Literature Society: Rev. Ji Kang Chung, president
Hanil University and Presbyterian Theological Seminary: Rev. Dr. Jang Bok Chung, president
Hannam University: Dr. Hyung Tae Kim, president
Hanshin University: Dr. Eung Jin Yun, president
Honam Theological University: Rev. Dr. Jong Soon Cha, president