A letter from Art and Sue Kinsler in Korea
December 2010
“... the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith ...” (2 Timothy 4:6b-7)
Dear Friends around the world,
NORTH KOREA WORK ENDORSED BY FORMER PC(USA) MODERATOR
Syngman Rhee with his four sisters in the front row, other relatives behind.
Sue Kinsler met her friend and supporter of the work, Meenah Won, in China for last minute shopping. Together, Sue and Meenah took seven very large travel bags filled with winter underwear for orphans and deaf school students, as well as medicine and needed supplies, on the flight to Pyongyang. Dr. Syngman Rhee, former PC(USA) moderator and longtime Presbyterian World Mission leader, joined the team at Shenyang Airport for the flight to North Korea for a visit during October. Upon seeing in detail a large part of the work done by Sue in Pyongyang, Sariwon and Wonsan — including three orphanages, two bakery/soymilk plants and a school for the visually impaired — Syngman sent his positive evaluation of the work’s importance to the moderator and general secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) as well as to Hunter Farrell, PC(USA) World Mission Director.
“Through Sue’s unconditional devotion to these disadvantaged ... the love of Christ touched many people ...” wrote Dr. Rhee. A highlight of the trip was when Syngman’s four sisters aged 61 to 78 came from Hamheung and were reunited with him amidst tears and sharing of memories. Dr. Insik Kim, retired from World Mission, met the team in Pyongyang and all witnessed Syngman’s reunion with family.
Sue met Ri Bun Hee who coaches table tennis candidates for Paralympics.
When Meenah, Syngman and Sue visited the Daedonggang Sports and Art Center for the Disabled, built with Sue’s help, Ms. Ri Bun Hee introduced herself to Sue. As a former star table tennis player she had met South Korean athletes. She shared how she was coaching her mentally challenged son at the Center and was glad to coach all ping pong players training for the 2012 London Paralympics. Sue shared experiences of her daughter Elaine who is mentally and physically challenged.
IN HIS LAST MONTH, ART LOOKS BACK ON MISSION SERVICE
Several events during the past month reminded Art of different stages in his 40 years’ service under PC(USA) World Mission, which ends this month. In mid-November Art and Sue visited the First Presbyterian Church in Yeochon, Chonnam Province, where Pastor Park Byung-Shik remembered Art’s work for church planting and evangelism in factory areas from 1979 to 1993, and especially when we lived in Sooncheon from 1979 to 1981. Pastor Park had invited us back to tell his church about mission to North Korea as they had made a sizable contribution. We remembered the small group meeting at the housing compound for the staff of chemical factories and now, in addition to the church building for their 2,000 member congregation, they have just built a 30th Anniversary Building for classes and activities. Meeting recently with area pastors concerned for World Mission, we were glad to see Pastor Bae Yong-Joo. We knew him as a Bible School student and visited the newly planted country church he was pastoring; now he is moderator of Yeosu Presbytery with its 200 churches and meeting places.
At the December meeting of the committee for Shalom House Ministry to U.S. military persons and the surrounding community, Art remembered how Sue and he had shared in this ministry from 1972 to 1978. This fall Art visited the PCK World Mission offices twice to help the staff and was reminded of his days as mission co-worker staff person working from 1981 to 1993 at the Evangelism Department that originally included the world mission element. This fall, Art resigned as chair of two PC(USA) Korea Mission legal holding bodies and thought back on being mission treasurer and in charge of the office where acting as legal holding chairperson was an extra duty from 1994 to 2008.
Art will continue to help Sue with the North Korean work until and after they return to the United States late in 2011 when Sue finishes her term as mission co-worker. The need for our ministry to North Korea, with its aspect of bringing together both sides for peace, is more urgent than ever, especially when lack of food and flooding continues to devastate the North and both sides are caught up in tensions created by artillery shelling from North and South against each other. Please, as the Lord leads you and your church, continue to support us through the Extra Commitment Program (ECO# E200372), under Sue’s name. You can send checks with this ECO number in the memo field, to
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
(You can also give online. Look for the link in the Give box in the left column of the page. —Ed).
We praise and thank God for your prayers, support and encouragement without which we would not be in Korea still, as an old chaplain motto says, “Working to Beat Hell!”
Serving Christ for you in Korea,
Art and Sue Kinsler
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 145
