During the end of 2023 and the start of 2024, we have been working on a special project with some of our UU students. This project is called the John Ross Bible Musical.

In previous reports, we have shared how we’ve been using Bible Dance Therapy as a way to teach North Koreans the history of the Bible on the Korean peninsula, develop a sense of belonging in community, and help them to recover from various trauma. Our NK students feel that the history of the Bible in Korea is something that all South Koreans and North Koreans need to learn. The John Ross Bible Musical is a response to that felt need.

Many people trace the beginning of Christianity in Korea to around the year 1885, the year when the first missionaries arrived in Korea after the end of a long period of isolationalist foreign policy in Korea. These missionaries and those who followed in their footsteps were responsible for the building of many important social institutions such as hospitals, universities, and large churches, many of which are still in operation today. These institutions have long since been turned over to be run by Koreans who monolithically emphasize the importance of the role of their founders in the history of Christianity in Korea. As a result, the history of Christianity in Korea pre-1885 is not emphasized.

What is tragic is modern-day South Korean Christianity looks very different from Christianity before 1885. Before 1885, it was characterized by native missionaries, Bible smuggling, and underground churches—much the same as that of Christianity in North Korea in modern times. In fact, the difference between Christianity in North Korea and South Korea is so great that some South Korean Christians doubt whether there are real Christians in North Korea today.

The John Ross Bible Musical is a historical drama which re-enacts the main events which contributed to the spread of Christianity in Korea before 1885. Through the historical drama, North Koreans and South Koreans alike are exposed to and confronted with historical evidence that the underground brand of Christianity has pre-eminence on the Korean peninsula and serves to help them to come to terms with the legitimacy  of underground Christians who suffer for their witness today in North Korea.

The premiere of the John Ross Bible Musical is for April 17th this year, touring for different audiences at churches around the country. While we hope that the impact on audiences will be great, perhaps the greatest impact the musical has had has been on the students themselves as they prepare for the musical.

The UU students realize that the circumstances that they find themselves in as they do Bible translation and evangelize other North Koreans are analogous to the the circumstances which John Ross and the first Korean Christians faced when they first translated the Bible and evangelized other Koreans.

Perhaps the participant who has been the most impacted is Mrs. Kim. When Mrs. Kim lived in North Korea, she experienced horrific trauma. Through Bible Dance Therapy, she found a way to express her pain redemptively as a sacrifice of thanks to the Lord. It has been especially difficult for Mrs. Kim to learn things which may come more naturally to other Christians, such as reading the Bible or praying. But now, through the John Ross Bible Musical, she has had no choice but to practice praying and preaching the gospel just to learn her lines!

Also, on a recently Luke 10 mission trip conducted on Jeju Island, Mrs. Kim was part of a team that wasn’t able to successfully meet any North Koreans despite working and praying hard to do so. At the end of the trip as the team started to head back home unsuccessfully, Mrs. Kim quoted a line from the John Ross Bible Musical script to a VOMK staff member, asking, “If it is God’s will, shouldn’t we be successful?” The staff member caught on and quoted back, “Success and failure and not for us to decide. We are just supposed to do our best for the ministry that God has given us. Then God will take what we do and fulfill His will in the end. Isn’t that what it says in Romans 8:28”

Mrs. Kim said, “I have learned a lot about Christianity through memorizing the historical drama.” Mrs. Kim said that she suspects that the drama script was written (at least in part) for the UU student’s growth as Christians.

• Pray for UU Students Facing Spiritual Warfare – Our UU students face spiritual attacks on their health and relationships in order to deter them from their ministry of discipleship and evangelism. Please pray for their victory in Christ, which was already won through His work on the cross (Colossians 2:15).
• Pray for the Recruitment of New UU Students – We are focusing our efforts to recruit new students in the Daejeon area. Please pray that the Lord of the harvest will send workers into the harvest (Luke 10:2).