Page 171 - 영문 이성필성지순례여행

168 Jeolla-do Jeolla-do 169

153 Mokpo Yangdong Church 154 Mokpo Yangdong Jeil Church

15 Honam-ro, Mokpo-si 36 Samil-ro, Mokpo-si yangdong1st.net

The first time missionaries visited Mokpo was on Apr. 18, 1894. They were two
missionaries, W. D. Reynolds and Drew A. Damer M. D. Then, on Feb. 11, 1896, missionary
“This is the first place where the seeds of
Eugene Bell and William Davis Reynolds purchased the land for the mission. Yangdong Jeil
gospel were sown in Mokpo.”
Church started with the name ‘Mokpo Church’, and there are two arguments about the date
“Pastor Park Yeon-se, an independence
of its establishment. One is 1897 and the other is 1898. ‘The Story of Mokpo’ and ‘yearbook
activist, was martyred in Daegu prison for
of the Presbyterian Church of Korea’ say 1897 and ‘The history of The Presbyterian Church
resisting the Japanese colonial rule.”
of Joseon’ says 1898. Yangdong Jeil Church consider 1897 as the year of the foundation.
Yangdong Jeil Church has been fulfilling its mission as a mother church of Mokpo.

On March 5, 1897, the late
Mokpo Yangdong Church period of Joseon Dynasty,
Missionary Eugene Bell
Memorial of the 107th
Anniversary of the Mission and Byun Chang-yeon set
up a tent in Yangdong,
the southern part of
In the spring of 1897, Eugene Bell and Harrison, the missionaries from the Presbyterian
Mokpo, which was like a
Church in the United States, moved to Mokpo as they had difficulty to spread the gospel in
wasteland, and gave their
Naju. Arriving in Mokpo, Eugene Bell and Harrison established Mokpo Mission Department
first service, which became
and Mokpo Yangdong Church.
the beginning of Mokpo
When missionary Owen joined them, the Mokpo Medical Center was opened. In 1901,
Church.
missionary Lottie, the wife of Eugene Bell, died in Jeonju, leaving her children. The
members of Yangdong Church built a new stone chapel in 1903 to prove that the death of Mokpo Yangdong Jeil Church
the missionary Lottie was not in vain.
In early 1940, when Japan’s domination strengthened and forced Koreans to pray for
Japan's victory, Pastor Park Yeon-se, the pastor of Yangdong Church, preached under the
title of “the fist law” and this became a problem and he was arrested by the Japanese police.
At the court, the judge asked, “Who is higher? Japanese Emperor or God?”, “Will be the
Japanese Emperor judged when Jesus comes again?” He answered that “God is higher” and
“Even the emperor will be judged.” He died in February 1944 at Daegu Prison after passing
through Mokpo and Gwangju Prison for contempt of the emperor. Yangdong Church was
divided into Yangdong Church (Kijang) and Yangdong Jeil Church (Tong-hap) when Presbyterian
Church of Korea separated into Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (Kijang) and the centennial monument
The Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap) in 1953.