A door for missions has been opened at a public school located in the Southern Central region of Honduras. Young-Kap Kwon, a missionary sent by Bethany Presbyterian Church in Atlanta and the Atlantic Korean American Presbytery of the PCUSA three years ago, has been able to raise up and invest in Christian teenagers at a public middle and high school through Taekwondo and the Bible.
"It is impossible to do missions within a public school," shared Kwon. "But Taekwondo opened up a path for missions to be able to happen within the school. Typically, missions through education required tremendous amounts of finances and resources to purchase the land for the school, build the school building, recruit teachers and students, and maintain the school. But if only we can do missions within a public school, we don't need to build a school nor recruit teachers or students. We don't need finances to maintain the school. We can carry out a missional ministry by selecting the top students within the school, and through them, building up a church that has been renewed by the gospel and raising up leaders for the nation."
This kind of mission was also made possible because Bethany Presbyterian Church had donated the Taekwondo Mission Center to Perula Ulua Middle and High School, a public school located in El Progreso.
The rights to the property belong to the school, but Kwon has the right to use the center, and the two organizations have agreed that Kwon can use the center freely to carry out ministry. The church also contributed financially in building the center.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the center took place on June 20 of last year, with numerous reporters, the superintendant of education, the mayor, and even members of the military present. The students in Kwon's Taekwondo classes have also won first, second, and third place in national competitions over the past two years.
This article has been translated. For the original in Korean, visit kr.christianitydaily.com.
