Mark Ennis
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

Clinton Avenue Reformed Church
www.clintonave.org
2017 Blog Number 207
July 27, 2017
Korea and Me

No, I have never been to Korea but on this, the anniversary of the armistice that ended the conflict in Korea in 1953, I feel the need to comment on it. In a strange way, I feel like I have had a relationship with the people of Korea. My father was drafted in the Army during the Korean War. Fortunately for him the armistice was signed while he was still in Basic Training and he was never deployed there. My uncle-in-law was not so lucky. He was deployed to Korea and reports that there certainly was still fighting going on after the peace treaty. Decades later my brother-in-law was sent to Korea for a year, compliments of the United States Air Force. My family seems to have a strange relationship with Korea through the military.

That is not my only Korean connection. My seminary, New Brunswick Theological, has as an alumnus, Horace Underwood, who planted some of the early Presbyterian Church in Korea. Our congregation hosts a Korean congregation affiliated with the Korean Presbyterian Church (KPC). Our classis is now composed of almost one third Korean congregations. Both by family and theologically I am somehow tied to the Korean peninsula.

My heart breaks when I see tensions rise there. I get saddened when I hear of the intense poverty of North Korea. I get outraged when I see North Korea launching missiles instead of feeding its people. And now I read in the news that China seems to be preparing its military for potential action along the Korean border. I wonder what the armistice that was signed really meant or means today.

On this anniversary, I pray for peace in Korea. I now know many Koreans whose families would be in potential danger by an outbreak of hostilities. May a lasting peace come there and come quickly.

#clintonavenuereformedchurch #churchesbergenfieldNJ

#revmarkwilliamennis #LGBTfriendly

#Korea #Korean War