레바논의 한인 선교사 시리아 난민 사역 현황과 선교적 전망

Abstract

<Abstract> The Status and Missiological Prospect of Korean Missionaries’ Syrian Refugee Ministry in Lebanon So Youn Jung(Asia United Theological University, Missiology)*, Jung Byung Hoon(Asia Graduate School of Theology Pacific, Ph.D. Student)**** Corresponding Author ** First Author The Syrian civil war that broke out in 2011 and still continues has brought about the displacement of more than 5 million refugees. Nobody anticipated that the Syrian crisis would last so long. While preparing to begin Syrian refugee ministry in 2012, the author was even advised by acquaintances that there might be no need for a special missiological ministry for the refugees because the war seemed to end soon. At that time there was not even a Korean missionary who had experience in refugee ministry. Moreover, there were many obstacles to refugee ministry, such as unstable situation, frequent movements and tough requests for help. According to unofficial statistics, about 1.5 million Syrian refugees are currently residing in Lebanon, a neighboring country of Syria. As of the year 2017, most (18 units) of the Korean missionaries Lebanon (20 units in total) are taking part in Syrian refugee ministry. Nevertheless, they are having many difficulties not only because of the lack of experience in refugee ministry, but also because of insufficient strategic preparation for rapid situation changes. They are facing problems in the directionality and quality of ministry because they came to be unexpectedly involved in refugee ministry, without a solid biblical, theological and mission strategic base for refugee ministry. Accordingly this research concerns the status, prospect and potential of the Syrian refugee ministry of Korean missionaries, as well as their ministry’s limitation and need. In consideration of the current situation of the refugee ministry, a focus was also placed on effective mission strategic measure for achieving successful outcome. The Google survey system was used as a qualitative research tool, involving 16 units of Korean missionaries in Lebanon, and data was collected over a 1-month period in July 2017. An analysis was carried out on the result of the survey about the status of the Syrian refugee ministry of the Korean missionaries residing in Lebanon, and also about their expectation, prospect and need. Then, in an effort to establish a foundation for missiological refugee ministry, a review was made concerning the biblical, mission theological and mission strategic aspects of refugee ministry. Especially, this research is based on the documents of Lausanne Congress, an evangelical missionary movement, in order to apply them to the current status of Syrian refugee ministry in Lebanon. This qualitative research through questionnaire survey allowed an examination of the Syrian refugee ministry of Korean missionaries in Lebanon. There was a limitation to their openly expressing various difficulties and distresses and detailed qualitative aspects of such a type of ministry. Yet the survey provided them with a precious opportunity of summarizing their thoughts and missionary activities about Syrian refugee ministry in Lebanon and the achievement of their ministry, which revealed the current progress of the Korean church in missiological refugee ministry. In addition, the consideration of the biblical, theological and mission strategic aspects of refugee ministry, as well as the illumination of current refugee ministry based on Lausanne documents, gave an insight into the necessity of more sound, biblical mission theology for all the missionaries, and also of further research and strategy development. It was shown that, according to the clear biblical truth, God’s sovereignty has to be emphasized and a solid biblical system needs to be established. From the viewpoint of ‘God’s Mission,’ it was also shown that ministers for refugees need to overcome the obstacle of ecumenical theology of the past with the truth of evangelicalism emphasizing the existential value of churches, broadening their understanding about the more comprehensive and general missiological approach of God’s Church and applying it to their actual ministry. Especially, as a mission strategy, it is necessary to persue cooperation by utilizing diverse networks. That is, the fellow worker model has to be implemented in refugee ministry through communication and the sharing of mission strategy among missionaries. Particularly Lebanon, compared to other Middle Eastern nations, is showing a brighter perspective for ministry because of its missiological diversity and potential. Now, therefore, it is essentially demanded for ministers to be prepared beforehand through systematic training. With a long-term perspective, ministers need to examine their current refugee ministry and develop a ministry that is centered at the ultimate evangelical vision, rather than a ministry that focuses simply on the area of an individual minister’s concern or tries to meet only the needs of refugees.