The directors and staff of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries are in fervent prayer for the safety and quick release of the group of Korean Christian volunteers being held by the Taliban in the Ghazni Province of Afghanistan. We are also remembering the family and the congregation of the Rev. Bae Hyung-kyu, a young Presbyterian pastor from Bundang, who has already been shot by the captors, and of any others who have been shot.

We join with Bishop Kyung Ha Shin, the head of the Korean Methodist Church, in urging all Christians to join in this work of prayer as negotiations for the release of the group continues. The Taliban on July 31 claimed to have killed a second Korean, Sung Min Shim, but details were sketchy. There were originally 23 people, many of them women, in the group seized on July 19.

We pray also for the captors, that they will come to understand the futility of their actions in seizing and hold the Koreans. We pray for reconciliation and a solution that respects justice and fosters peace.

Reports in the press indicate the deep level of distress in South Korea over the kidnapping of the group on a volunteer medical mission in an area between Kabul and Kandahar, an area where the central government has little control.

The Koreans are being held as ransom for the release by Afghan government of rebel prisoners. We remember the Korean people in our prayers. We are thankful for all volunteers in mission and for their well-being.

"But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
                                                           (Amos 5:24)

	See Also... Topic: Advocacy |  Christian love |  Communities |  Ecumenical |  Emergencies |  Human rights |  International affairs |  Prayers |  United Methodist Church |  Violence |  Geographic Region: Korea |  Afghanistan |  Source: GBGM Press Releases
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Date posted: Aug 01, 2007