[CBS 뉴스] [믿음, 최고의 유산] ① 순교로 무너진 교회 다시 세운 '영암 매월교회'

[CBS News] [Faith, The Greatest Legacy] ① 'Yeongam Maewol Church,' Rebuilt After Being Devastated by Martyrdom [Anchor] In commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the Korean War, CBS presents stories of churches that have preserved their faith amidst the pain of martyrdom. The Korean church must pass on to the next generation the faith that our ancestors defended with their lives. For the first installment of our special report series 'Faith, The Greatest Legacy,' we visited Maewol Church in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province. Reporter Jang Se-in reports. [Reporter] Maewol-ri, a small rural village in Haksan-myeon, Yeongam-gun, South Jeolla Province. The scars of the Korean War still remain at Maewol Church, which was established here in 1934 during the Japanese colonial period. In the autumn of 1950, retreating North Korean troops and leftist forces set fire to churches in the Yeongam region and brutally murdered Christians. [Interview] Elder Kim Ki-cheon (90) / Witness at the time "When we were retreating, the police were lying in ambush only in Yeongam-eup and Maewol-ri in South Jeolla Province, while the rest was entirely occupied by the North Korean People's Army." Deacons Im Ja-im and Lee Tae-il, members of Maewol Church, and a 15-year-old girl named Lee Yang-sim lost their lives for upholding their faith. Elder Kim Ki-cheon, a classmate of Lee Yang-sim, still cannot forget the horrific scenes he witnessed firsthand that day. [Interview] Elder Kim Ki-cheon (90) / Witness at the time "There were a lot of people gathered, and since she was a woman, wouldn't she have been powerless? They just grabbed her by the collar and pulled her hard, kicked her, and stabbed her with a spear, and she just met her fate. Another person, who was in the second year of middle school and went around with me, died there..." At the time, over 80 Christians alone were killed in Yeongam, and the church building was also engulfed in flames. Elder Kim Ki-cheon began rebuilding the church without a single penny, driven solely by the thought that the village needed one. [Interview] Elder Kim Ki-cheon (90) / Maewol Church, Yeongam "I told God, 'I am going to build a house, so you take responsibility,' and I just did what a foolish thing to do and built it. So people thought, 'That guy is crazy.' I had absolutely no money. After building it, I ended up with a debt of 305 sacks of rice—back then, they weighed 55kg each." In a situation where there was no pastor, Elder Kim kept the flame of worship alive for three years by preaching personally. [Interview] Elder Kim Ki-cheon (90) / Maewol Church, Yeongam "How could I have preached? I was someone who didn't even know where a seminary was. But the parishioners were truly obedient; they would attend whenever I said we were going to worship... I couldn't exactly ask a pastor to come when there was no church. In the end, I just built it." [Reporter Standing] Reporter Jang Se-in / Yeongam, Jeonnam A church built 60 years ago by personally mixing the earth. Elder Kim Ki-cheon continues to uphold his faith here to this day. The war destroyed the church, but the blood of martyrdom left behind another faith. Elder Park Chan-sul, who identified himself as a descendant of a family of martyrs, says that since that day, he has never left his place of faith throughout his life after setting foot in the church. [Interview] Elder Park Chan-sul (80) / Maewol Church, Yeongam "Elder Kim's youngest brother is the same age as me. He led me to the church. I tell you, since I came in then, I have never once done anything foolish. I haven't even looked at the world..." For them, martyrdom remains not as a memory of perpetrator and victim, but solely as a decision of faith in which they chose faith over their lives. [Interview] Elder Park Chan-sul (80) / Maewol Church, Yeongam "At that very spot, I could have even said I didn't believe in God... 'Even if you kill me, I will believe in Jesus even if I die.' They must have killed me because I stuck it out to the very end, right? That spirit is noble." Although 76 years have passed and the story of martyrdom is fading into history, that faith remains a living challenge for the believers today. [Interview] Elder Kim Seong-do (68) / Maewol Church, Yeongam "Their tearful prayers and seeds have become an example for us. When we waver, we think, 'Ah, because they were here, we too will not waver and will continue to protect this church...'" A church rebuilt amidst the ruins of war. Today, Maewol Church stands guard over that place, remembering the faith of the martyrs. This is Jang Se-in from CBS News. #GangneungCityChristianAssociation #CheongjuJungangChurch #80thAnniversary #MountCarmelUnitedGrandAssembly