Hostages' Pastor: 'Remorse Is the Face of the Church' | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Hostages' Pastor: 'Remorse Is the Face of the Church' | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: "Interview with Park Eun-jo: 'I don't want this to be a stumbling block for missions.' Sarah Pulliam | posted 9/04/2007 08:49AM The 19 South Koreans freed by the Taliban returned to Seoul Sunday as the church that sent the group fields critical remarks for sending members to such a volatile country. Related articles and links The return ends a 43-day ordeal in which two hostages were killed, including Bae Hyung-kyu, an associate pastor at Saemmul Church. Before they left Afghanistan, the hostages apologized at a press conference for the trouble they had caused South Korea. 'I've had sleepless nights, thinking of what we have caused the country. I am deeply sorry,' Yu Kyeong-sik said at a press conference. 'Remorse is the face of the church,' said Park Eun-jo, senior pastor of Saemmul Church. The Presbyterian congregation that sponsored the trip, in the Seoul suburb of Bundang, has a weekly attendance of about 5,000 people."