Lock Up the Strong and Seize the Enemy’s Gate
In 2020, Over 1,000 Churches and Mission Organizations Engaged in Migrant Missions
Migrant missions focus on serving foreigners who have moved to and settled in Korea. The primary groups include foreign workers, marriage migrants, multicultural families, and international students. Additionally, refugees and North Korean defectors are often included as mission targets. In 1990, there were approximately 50,000 immigrants in Korea, making up only 0.1% of the total population. However, during the 2000s, the number surged rapidly, reaching around 2.5 million in 2019, accounting for 4.9% of the total population. If this growth trend continues, it is projected that by 2040, the immigrant population will exceed 5 million. While Western societies have gradually evolved into multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities over long periods, Korea is experiencing this transformation at an exceptionally rapid pace—over 100 times faster within just 50 years. As immigration increased sharply, Korean churches and missionary organizations also became actively involved in missions for immigrants. In 2003, 96 churches were engaged in migrant ministries. By 2008, this number had grown to 199, and by 2012, more than 270 churches and missionary organizations were involved in such efforts. By 2020, it is estimated that over 1,000 ministries and churches were actively engaged in missions targeting immigrants and multicultural communities.
The Focus of Missions Must Shift from Region to Ethnicity
“In 2022, more than 280 million diasporas (migrants) from all over the world are moving from place to place. We need to find a way to share the gospel through the immigrant church, which is one of the fastest-growing churches.“ Missionary Moon Chang-sun, the Secretary General of the Asian Evangelical Alliance (AEA), emphasized this point at a 2022 mission forum. He stressed the need to “shift the paradigm from overseas missions to cross-cultural missions.“ According to the “2021 Status of Korean Missions” published by the Korea Research Institute for Mission (KRIM), the Korean Church has sent out 22,210 missionaries to 167 countries worldwide. However, only 2.8% of these efforts were directed toward domestic migrant ministries, whereas 82.5% focused on overseas missions. Moon highlighted that migrant missions offer returning missionaries an effective and meaningful way to continue their work within Korea. He urged denominational mission departments, mission organizations, and local churches to build structured systems for sustainable migrant ministry. Jeon Chul-young, Secretary General of the Global Mission Society (GMS), focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted missionary work. He added, “As the geographical boundaries of the world collapse and information and communication technology advances, the Korean Church must shift its mission strategy from a regional focus to an ethnic-based approach.”
Making Disciples out of 35,000 North Korean Defectors to Advance Unification in the Gospel and Missions to North Korea
According to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), as of 2019, 51.2% of North Korean defectors identified as Protestant Christians, a significantly higher percentage than the 23% among the general South Korean population.
Song Hanna, Director of International Cooperation at NKDB, explained, “Many of those working in organizations assisting North Korean defectors are Protestant Christians. Historically, Protestant missionaries have been active along the China-North Korea border, helping defectors escape.”
In reality, many North Korean defectors escape with the help of missionaries and continue to receive support from churches while settling in South Korea. Since the 1990s, major Korean church denominations and organizations have consistently provided aid to North Koreans. Shim Yang-seop, a director at the South-North Love Network, emphasized, “One of the most pressing missions for Christianity today is unification in the gospel. The Korean Church must wholeheartedly embrace and nurture the 35,000 North Korean defectors in the South, seeing them as the ‘first wave of unification.’”
The Rise of North Korean Defector Churches
Until 2004, ministry efforts for North Korean defectors were primarily managed by the North Korean mission departments of South Korean churches. However, in 2004, the establishment of three churches by defectors-turned-pastors marked the official beginning of what is now known as “North Korean Defector Churches.“ A “North Korean Defector Church” refers to a church where the pastor is a North Korean defector, a South Korean pastor has established the church specifically for defectors, or the majority of the congregation consists of North Korean defectors. At the 2022 Christian Unification Forum, Pastor Jeong Hyeong-shin (New Korea Church) stated, “One of the key visions of North Korean defector churches is to serve as a model for future churches in North Korea. These churches must ultimately be linked to missions in the North.” Pastor Jeong further elaborated, “Most defector churches envision not only missions to North Korea but also national evangelization, unification in the gospel, and global missions. They have concrete plans regarding where and how churches should be established in North Korea.”
The Impact of North Korean Defector Churches on the Korean Church
According to Jeong, between the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Korean Church successfully evangelized 40% of the 30,000 North Korean defectors in the South. Additionally, nearly 200 defectors were trained as seminary students and pastors, and over 80 North Korean defector churches were established across the country. Today, 68 churches remain, spread across South Korea from Yeoncheon in the north to Jeju Island in the south. Pastor Ma Yo-han (New Hope Naru Church) outlined several ways in which North Korean defector churches have influenced the Korean Church’s mission to North Korea: They have helped Korean churches refine their strategies for North Korean missions. They have deepened South Korean Christians’ understanding of the trauma and struggles faced by defectors. They have reinforced the belief that true unification can only be achieved through the power of the gospel. They have brought about a shift in how defectors are perceived within the South Korean church community. Additionally, he stressed, “North Korean defectors should be seen as individuals sent to help the Korean Church, co-workers in the missions to North Korea, and key figures in rebuilding Christianity in the North.”
》Scripture Prayer
Genesis 27:42-44(NIV)
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.
43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran.
44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.
Genesis 28:10-15(NIV)
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.
11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. The domestic migrant population currently stands at 2.5 million, making up about 5% of the total population. The Korean Church’s mission to immigrants has a history of 30 years. Though it started small, let us give thanks to the Lord for His guidance in sustaining this mission to this day. Immigrants came to Korea seeking financial stability and a better quality of life, but let us confess with faith that God had already prepared salvation for them.
2. Just as Jacob encountered the living God in Beersheba while fleeing from his brother Esau, let us pray that God will meet the weary North Korean defectors and grant them salvation. May they live by God’s promise: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go; I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Let us also pray that they become devoted witnesses, committed to bringing the gospel to North Korea.
3. At the appointed time, God sent immigrants and North Korean defectors to the South, enabling Korean churches to engage in mission work within their own country. Let us pray that, as people from various nations arrive in Korea, they will serve to awaken the Korean Church to its missionary calling. May the Korean Church respond by faithfully preaching the gospel of the cross, raising up disciples of Christ, and experiencing a revival.
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