Robert J. Thomas and his wife left to be the first missionaries to Korea in July 1863. His wife died soon after their arrival. In 1866, having evangelized for a few months in Korea and having learned the language, Thomas rode the American ship, the General Sherman, along the Taedong River to the location of the present-day capital of North Korea. The Sherman became grounded on a sandbar. Korean soldiers on shore were suspicious and scared, and they boarded the ship, waving long, flashing knives.
When Thomas saw that he was going to be killed,
he held out the Korean Bible to them saying,
“Jesus,
Jesus.” His head was cut off.
Twenty-five years after Thomas’s death,
someone discovered a little guest house in this area with some strange
wallpaper. The paper had Korean characters printed on it. The owner of
the house explained that he had pasted the pages of this book on the
wall to preserve the writing. The owner and many of the guests would
come in and stay to “read the walls.” This was the Bible that Thomas had
given to his murderers.
Even though Communists rule that area today, the church lives. The work of Robert J. Thomas—called the “temporary missionary”—continues in North Korea, where now God’s Word is not only pasted on their walls, but also hidden in their hearts.
Imagine planting a garden in the spring,
only to move in the summer. All the time and effort spent planting and
weeding and watering the seeds for the tomatoes,
peppers,
and melons seems wasted. The same can be said of our witness for Christ.
Here,
the stakes are higher than a basket of tomatoes. Without the benefit of
seeing the fruit of our labors,
it can be painful to trust that our hard work will be appreciated and
respected. Remember,
God is the one who makes all things grow. We can trust that God will
continue the work we have begun—even when he moves us on. What gardens
do you need to leave for someone else to grow?
