This week, America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding (1776–2026). The history of Korean immigration to America dates to 1903, when 102 Korean immigrants, many of them members of Naeri Methodist Church in Incheon, arrived in Hawaii to work on sugar plantations. Their 123-year history in America represents nearly half of the nation’s history. The church they established eventually became today’s Christ United Methodist Church in Hawaii.
The American Declaration of Independence proclaims that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Freedom, therefore, is not granted by the state but is a God-given dignity and right. America today is one of the freest societies in history. Yet it also faces the danger of freedom degenerating into selfish individualism, moral confusion, and license. Freedom remains healthy only when it is joined with the responsibility to serve God and our neighbors.
Deep within American culture lies a biblical worldview—human dignity, the rule of law, covenantal responsibility, community, education, and service. Yet while America remains a military and economic superpower, it is also experiencing deep spiritual division and confusion. A nation’s true greatness depends on what it regards as sacred.
Over the past 250 years, America has profoundly influenced the world through missions, education, medicine, human rights, and humanitarian service. The Korean church was built upon the sacrifices and dedication of American missionaries. Therefore, we must ask ourselves: Are we still fulfilling the mission God has entrusted to us? Greatness is determined not by power itself but by how that power is used, and for whom.
For the early Korean immigrants, America was a land of opportunity, but it was also a land of hard labor and discrimination. In that difficult and unfamiliar place, the first institution they established was the church. The Korean church became not only a place of worship but also the center of the independence movement, language preservation, education, mutual support, and the preservation of identity.
The calling given to us today is to pray for and love this nation so that America may truly be a country blessed by God.