{"id":46201,"date":"2023-03-28T14:00:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T05:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=46201"},"modified":"2023-03-31T10:30:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T01:30:30","slug":"vomk-report-247","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/03\/28\/vomk-report-247\/","title":{"rendered":"KOREAN MINISTRY PREPARES CHRISTIANS FOR UNDERGROUND CHURCH THROUGH CAMPSITE SEMINARS"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46188″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Every Tuesday night, Pastor Eric Foley and Dr. Hyun Sook Foley sleep in a camping car in a different campground in the Korean countryside. Their goal is not to take a rest from the hustle and bustle of their daily life in Seoul but instead to help Christians remember what they once knew about the Christian faith but which the Foleys say they have forgotten as Christianity has become wealthier and more socially acceptable over several generations. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]\u201cWe call it our \u2018Preparing for the Underground Church\u2019 campground seminar,\u201d says Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley, who along with her husband founded Voice of the Martyrs Korea twenty years ago in order to learn from and support persecuted Christians in North Korea.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Today the organization partners with persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries, and the couple regularly travels to share what they have learned from persecuted Christians in speaking events around the world and at churches across Korea, including Korea\u2019s famous megachurches.<\/span> But according to the Foleys, <\/span>they are happiest speaking at the weekly campsite events for the small number of Christians who come out to see them in the Korean countryside.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in 2017 my husband wrote a series of three books called the \u2018Preparing for the Underground Church\u2019 series, to help Christians in so-called \u2018free\u2019 countries prepare for the coming persecution of Christians by remembering what all Christians once knew but which today only Christians in persecuted countries seem to remember,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cAt the time they were published, Korean Christians said, \u2018Why do we need to know these things? Our country is different.\u2019 <\/span>So,<\/span> few copies were sold. But then COVID hit, and the Sexual Revolution spread across Korea. Today, the books have become best-sellers in Korea and have been translated into several different languages. We receive so many offers from the Korean megachurches who say, \u2018Come here, and we\u2019ll gather a thousand pastors for a seminar on preparing for the underground church.\u2019 But Pastor Foley and I realized that<\/span> a big part of preparing for underground church is going to places where you normally don\u2019t go, and meeting in ways you normally don\u2019t meet. <\/span>So,<\/span> we declined the offers from the megachurches, purchased a used camping car, and started booking spots at campsites.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46195″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea co-founders Pastor Eric Foley and Dr. Hyun Sook Foley leading a \u201cPreparing for the Underground Church\u201d campsite seminar in a tent at a Korean campsite.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cEach Tuesday night we gather together at the campsite for dinner with the attendees, and we each bring a side dish,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cThen after dinner I do a presentation on the history and ministry philosophy of Voice of the Martyrs Korea. The informal setting enables us to continue talking into the evening.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The main event is on Wednesday, when the Foleys present their one-day \u201cPreparing for the Underground Church\u201d seminar. \u201cIt\u2019s not about presenting any special or unique teaching,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cIn fact, it\u2019s more about setting aside all the special or unique teachings that Korean churches tend to focus on these days and instead getting back to the basic message of the sufficiency of Christ and his word. We remind attendees that the church comes into existence when the word of God is received in faith, and the church goes out of existence when the word of God is no longer received as sufficient. We remind attendees that faithful witness to the sufficiency of Christ is what produces persecution, so persecution should not be feared but rather seen as the world\u2019s act of self-defense against the trust of the gospel. We encourage attendees not to be worried as the Lord removes some of the externals from our churches and our lives that we wrongly assume are necessary to live as faithful believers. It\u2019s really about a return to the basics of the Christian life, which is what persecuted Christians remind us not to forget.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that the couple began doing the seminars in the wintertime when temperatures were well below zero. Even then, she said, <\/span>Christians came.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46198″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley at the ministry\u2019s camping car. The ministry does weekly \u201cPreparing for the Underground Church\u201d seminars at campsites across Korea. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe huddled together around the kerosene heater and ate ramyun,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt was a really precious time.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Now in the warmer weather, Representative Foley says that doing a seminar at a campsite offers distinct advantages. \u201cIt\u2019s really a pleasant time,\u201d she says. \u201cWe sit outside the camping car and talk on Tuesday evening. We eat outside in the sunshine during the lunch break on Wednesday. Everyone brings food to share. There is time for good conversation and interaction. People always leave feeling like the Lord reminded them of what they once knew but have forgotten amidst the focus on the external, non-essential things of the Christian life.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Typically,<\/span> 10 to 15 people are in attendance, says Representative Foley.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t charge for the events, and attendees are surprised how freely they are able to interact with us,\u201d she says. \u201cOne attendee last week said, \u2018Pastor Foley is so famous. I am shocked that I could come and meet and talk with him like this!\u2019 But people who know Pastor Foley will understand that even though he speaks all over the world, it is in small groups like this that he feels the important work of the ministry is done.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46192″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea uses their tent to host groups of 10 to 15 Christians each week for \u201cPreparing for the Underground Church\u201d campsite seminars led by the organization\u2019s co-founders, Pastor Eric Foley and Dr. Hyun Sook Foley.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that the seminar attendees represent a broad range of Korean Christians. \u201cWe had a pastor from Gangnam last week, sitting next to a pastor couple from a small Baptist church nearby,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are seminary students, seminary dropouts, deacons, elders, Christians who have no position in their churches, and even foreigners.\u201d Attendance requires prior registration through Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s volunteer department and is open to evangelical Protestant Christians.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Foleys follow a circuit of eight cities, going to a different campsite near each city each week and then beginning the circuit again once they complete their visits. Representative Foley says they plan to continue the seminars well into the future. \u201cPastor Foley likes to quote the early Korean Christian Kim Gyo Shin. The Lord told him, \u2018Go to the countryside to comfort a woodcutter.\u2019 Kim Gyo Shin died before he could follow the Lord\u2019s instruction. <\/span>So<\/span> we are taking up that instruction and plan to continue going into the countryside to <\/span>\u2018comfort the<\/span> woodcutters\u2019 each week as long as the Lord permits us.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46203″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”The \u2018Preparing for the Underground Church\u2019 series of books was written by Pastor Eric Foley in 2017. The books are available in Korean, Chinese, Russian, and English through Voice of the Martyrs Korea. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in attending an upcoming \u201cPreparing for the Underground Church\u201d campsite seminar can call Voice of the Martyrs Korea volunteer department at <\/span>+82-2-2065-0703<\/span> for more information.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor Foley\u2019s <\/span><\/span>P<\/span>reparin<\/span>g <\/span>for <\/span>the Underground Church <\/span><\/span>series <\/span>is available <\/span>in <\/span>Korean, <\/span>English, <\/span>Russian<\/span>, and Chinese <\/span>through the <\/span>Voice of the Martyrs Korea.<\/span> The <\/span>first book, <\/span><\/span>Preparing<\/span> for the Underground Church, <\/span><\/span>defines \u201cunderground church\u201d and helps Christians in so-called \u201cfree\u201d countries understand and respond to the growing social hostility toward Christians in these countries<\/span>. The <\/span>second<\/span> book, <\/span><\/span>P<\/span>lanting<\/span> the Underground Church<\/span><\/span>, <\/span>offers 12 recommendations to churches on how to <\/span>operate<\/span> in a future of heightened government surveillance and control.<\/span> The third book, <\/span><\/span>Living<\/span> in the Underground Church<\/span><\/span>, shows how <\/span>Christians <\/span>can <\/span>restore family <\/span>worship <\/span>to the <\/span>central place<\/span> in church life. <\/span>Further information on a<\/span>ll three books <\/span>is <\/span>available at <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/<\/span>en\/<\/span>s<\/span>tore<\/span><\/span>\/<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> or by calling <\/span>+82-<\/span>2-2065-0703.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46188″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Every Tuesday night, Pastor Eric Foley and Dr. Hyun Sook Foley sleep in a camping car in a different campground in the Korean countryside. Their goal is …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":46190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46201"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46255,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46201\/revisions\/46255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}