{"id":52032,"date":"2024-12-03T14:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=52032"},"modified":"2024-12-03T13:52:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T04:52:11","slug":"vomk-report-327","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2024\/12\/03\/vomk-report-327\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVE JOHN ROSS BIBLE MUSICAL DRAMA TELLS STORY OF BIBLE\u2019S ARRIVAL IN CHOSUN"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”52042″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”A cast of North Korean defector mission students and Voice of the Martyrs Korea staff recently performed an original musical drama at Samsung Church in Seoul, recounting the story of the translation and transmission of the Bible to Korea through Scottish missionary John Ross and his Korean co-workers. ” 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][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The <\/span>\u201c<\/span>John Ross Bible Historical Drama<\/span>\u201d<\/span>, written by Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley, was performed by North Korean defector students enrolled in the ministry<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s Underground University North Korean missionary training program, as well as by Representative Foley, V<\/span>o<\/span>ice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley, and North Korean Ministries Team Leader Pastor Trevor Foley.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”52038″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”A scene from the recent performance of the John Ross Bible Historical Drama. Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Foley as early Korean Christian Paik Hong Jun crosses the Amnok River to bring the Bible to Chosun.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley,<\/span> the stories from the play are drawn from <\/span>Professor Choi Seong-<\/span>il\u2019s<\/span> book, \u201cThe origin of the first Korean Bible and Korean Protestantism<\/span>\u201d<\/span>,<\/span> which is published by Voice of the Martyrs Korea publishing. Representative Foley says that <\/span>although the <\/span>book and <\/span>musical drama <\/span>recount events from <\/span>the 1880s, <\/span>nearly identical<\/span> events are continuing to happen in North Korea today<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The drama tells the true stories of the earliest Chosun Christians who <\/span>paid a great price for bringing the Bible into our country, but that same price is still being paid by North Korean Christians today,\u201d <\/span>says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>That\u2019s the real message of the drama: Today is the day for gospel ministry to North Korea, and we must join the faithful witnesses who for more than 140 years have paid the price of their lives to bring God\u2019s word to those he loves in North Korea.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”52039″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”North Korean defector students at Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s Underground University missionary training program perform a special version of the traditional Korean fan dance at the recent John Ross Bible Historical Drama performance. The students painted the fans with visual representations of their own current mission work.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em”][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that the biggest misconception among South Koreans is that gospel ministry to North Korea is <\/span>not <\/span>possible due to the <\/span>current <\/span>political <\/span>situation. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Every year Voice of the Martyrs Korea works with underground Christians in several countries to bring more than 40,000 Bibles inside North Korea,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> she says. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>The North Korean Human Rights Database organization notes that in the year 2000, <\/span>virtually<\/span> no one inside North Korea had seen a Bible with their own eyes. Now, in their latest data from 2020, the organization reports that <\/span>nearly 8%<\/span> of those inside North Korea have now seen a Bible. All that is needed is the same spirit that motivated the first Chosun C<\/span>h<\/span>ristians, whose true stories we recount in the performance.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea itself has had 38 martyrs who have laid down their lives for gospel ministry to North Korea in the organization\u2019s 20-year history. The North Korean defector performers in the John Ross Bible drama are students in the organization\u2019s missionary training program, which trains North Korean defectors to reach other North Koreans with the gospel, wherever North Koreans are found.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley sa<\/span>id<\/span> the students gained pride <\/span>and a sense <\/span>of<\/span> responsibility <\/span>as they learned about their ancestors<\/span> by <\/span>participating<\/span> in the drama<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>T<\/span>h<\/span>e Lord chose ordinary C<\/span>h<\/span>osun people from the northern part of the peninsula<\/span>\u2014<\/span>people exactly like them<\/span>\u2014<\/span>to bring his word to our country by laying <\/span>down their lives,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> says Representative Foley. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>T<\/span>h<\/span>is makes the students want to faithfully carry on that work, and to share the story of their ancestors with South Korean Christians.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”52040″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”A scene from the recent performance of the John Ross Bible Historical Drama. Voice of the Martyrs Korea North Korean Ministries Team Leader Pastor Trevor Foley portrays Missionary John Ross, shown here praying with two North Korean defector students from the organization\u2019s Underground University missionary training school as early Korean Christians praying to bring the Bible to Chosun.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em”][vc_column_text]Representative F<\/span>o<\/span>ley says people are surprised to learn that most of the North Korean defector missionary trainees at the <\/span>school<\/span> are older women<\/span>, whom Representative Foley says are particularly effective as missionaries because of the element of surprise.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I expected it to be a performance by North Korean youth because it was performed by students from <\/span>the Underground University m<\/span>issionary <\/span>s<\/span>chool, but it was even more heartwarming to see the passionate performance by North Korean grandmothers<\/span>,\u201d said Samsung Church Pastor<\/span> Yoo <\/span>Won-Yeo<\/span>l<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>I fervently pray that this John Ross Bible historical drama will be performed in churches in Pyongyang and <\/span>Uiju<\/span>, and also in churches in <\/span>Sorye<\/span>, <\/span>Hwanghae<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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

Popular North Korean defector spokesperson Kang Chul Hwan, the CEO of <\/span>the North Korea Strategy Center<\/span>, also attended the performance. \u201c<\/span>I remember well that the gospel began in North Korea, and that North Korea was once called the Jerusalem of the East. However, I did not know the historical roots of how God used John Ross and Koreans to spread the gospel during the dark Joseon Dynasty, translated the Bible into Korean, and smuggled the Bible into Joseon at the risk of their lives<\/span>,\u201d said Representative Kang<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>I was moved, amazed, and thrilled. <\/span>In particular, Korean<\/span> Christians think that the gospel just came to this land, but watching this historical drama made me realize that our country had a tremendous story.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Churches interested in hosting a performance of the <\/span>John Ross Bible Historical Drama<\/span> can <\/span>contact <\/span>Voice of the Martyrs Korea <\/span>at 02-2065-0703 for more information.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”52041″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley as early Korean Christian Paik Hong Jun, is interrogated by North Korean defector students at the ministry\u2019s Underground University as part of the recent performance of the John Ross Bible Historical Drama. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”52042″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”A cast of North Korean defector mission students and Voice of the Martyrs Korea staff recently performed an original musical drama at Samsung Church in Seoul, recounting …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":52044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","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":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52032","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=52032"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52047,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52032\/revisions\/52047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}