This week, I attended an international Christian peace conference at the Korea Press Center in Seoul under the theme, “Churches Working for Healing, Reconciliation, and Peace.” The conference addressed the church’s calling in places of conflict around the world, including Palestine and Ukraine, as well as the church’s role in working for peace on the Korean Peninsula.
But something unexpected happened during my visit to Korea. A pastor in New York who heard that I was going to Korea contacted me. “My father is 93 years old. He firmly follows the teachings of Confucius and has lived his entire life with sincerity, diligence, and integrity. He has devoted himself to his family and loves his children deeply. Both my sister and I are pastors, but our father does not believe in Jesus. Would you please meet him and help him come to faith in Christ and receive salvation?”
At first, I told her that it would be difficult for me to find the time. But after I hung up the phone, I could not find peace in my heart. It felt as though God were asking me, “Are you really a pastor?” So, I told her I would go and meet him. Only then did I discover that he did not live in Seoul. He lived in Gangwon Province, at least 2 hours drive from Seoul. Thankfully, a friend of mine came with his car, and we made the trip together.
I spent nearly two hours talking with this elderly gentleman. As I listened to him, I was deeply impressed by the kind of man he was. He had lived a good and upright life, earning the respect of others. He had built a successful business and raised children of whom he was very proud. He told me that just as he respected his children’s Christian faith, he wanted them to respect his decision to follow the teachings of Confucius.
We talked for a long time, but I could find no opening. Finally, I said to him, “From my own experience, I have learned that a father is not only a father while he is alive. Even after he is gone, he remains a father—sometimes even more vividly in the hearts of his children. I don’t think you would want your daughters, who are both pastors, to live with a lifelong sorrow after you are gone, thinking, ‘We could not help our father come to faith in Jesus.’”
He looked at me and said, “I will take those words deeply to heart.” As we were saying goodbye, he said something else that stayed with me. “Just as you listened seriously to my story today, I have taken your words into my heart as well.”
On our way back, the pastor friend who had driven me said, “At first, I thought it was remarkable that you would take time away from the conference and travel all the way to Gangwon Province just to meet this one elderly man. But as I watched the two of you sit there for such a long time, speaking so seriously with each other, there was something mysterious—even sacred—about it.”
I pray that the Holy Spirit will move this gentleman’s heart.