Title: The Blessing of a Peacemaker
It was from Cairo. Palestine and Israel have been at war for thousands of years. Even if we do not recall the lesson between David and Goliath, a fierce battle ensued between these two entities. It was in Cairo that a banquet was held in which a peace treaty was signed between the two. Only when this goes well can Israel be at peace with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. On May 3, I met President Mubarak, who personally presided over this peace arbitration. Since the next day was the president's birthday, I congratulated him on this coincidence and lauded his peace diplomacy, strengthening friendship between Korea and Egypt.
On the very day after the inauguration ceremony, I was able to meet unexpectedly at the request of former President Du Clarke and now Vice President. And two hours later, I met President Mandela. And the next day, I met Archbishop Tutu at his official residence, and we had a very informal conversation for a long time. First of all, I was surprised to see that the Lord uses de Klerk as an instrument of peace. This man was a defender of that vicious racist politics. As Saul converted to Paul, de Klerk said that such a decision was possible thanks to Gorbachev's dissolution of the Cold War. But de Klerk has done a bigger job than Gorby. Gorby lost power, but de Klerk came to power. In our country, too, we must learn the truth that reconciliation and peace will come quickly and steadily only when the old forces make a clean apology before history and the people and withdraw from the hwanggol.
I have been from Kenya and Tanzania. Kenya's President Moi is said to be a very authoritarian president. After many twists and turns, I met him on a Sunday afternoon. He said he was a Presbyterian and an elder. He had just launched domestic political and economic reforms and was making diplomatic efforts to end the Somali conflict with neighboring Sudan. During the conversation, I asked straight-forward. Did the efforts for domestic reform and regional peace come from the Christian faith? He answered firmly. Even so, he believed in the blessings of Matthew 5:9, so he went to Mount Kenya, which is associated with the valley of Israel, and said that he gives courage to the people of Kenya, just as the Lord blessed him on the mountain.
Friends, on the way back, I stopped by Russia to see the chaos and potential of that place at the same time. As I watched the mafia flourish and the morale paralysis caused by inflation, I prayed that God's shalom would settle in Russia as soon as possible.
I was grateful to indirectly confirm through this trip that Korea is definitely a powerful country, a stable country, and a country of prosperous democracy in the world. But I also confirmed that it is the unfortunate country where the world's rare species are still struggling the most.
It made me realize that the Korean Peninsula is the place where people who are betting their vested interests in the already broken Cold War system and the anti-Shalom system are still active in the world. It is really time for the Korean churches to unite and actively participate in the mission of Shalom.
We need believers who are determined to become children of God. It doesn't seem like there are actually many believers who want to put shalom right under the cross of those many institutional churches. I said this when I met Archbishop Tutu. "There are so many servants of the Lord's Shalom in South Africa and there are so many leaders, but I can't help but feel jealous that God loves South Africa so much."
That's right. Why can't the Korean church produce tools for shalom such as Mandela, The Klerk, and Tutu? What is the believer's greatest hope? Isn't that the greatest blessing? What is your greatest blessing? Isn't that what it means to be a child of God? Then, we must become individuals who strive to establish peace, churches that strive to establish peace, and nations and societies that strive to establish peace. You must put all your heart into making God's shalom flow like that of the Han River.