Hmong children from Fresno came to Los Angeles on Sunday to celebrate Christmas together with the Korean Christian community at Hope Presbyterian Church's Sunday service.
Most of the service was carried out in English, with the exception of a special performance by the Hmong children, who sang "Arirang,' and "Until Jesus Returns' in Korean. The church congregation showed their appreciation for the performance with a loud applause. The Hmong children also performed a traditional Hmong dance.
The Hmong are a people group that have lived in mountainous regions the lie along the borders of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand for at least 2,000 years. Many of the Hmong people fought with the U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, but when the U.S. evacuated its soldiers, the Hmong people were persecuted in their homeland and many fled to the U.S. Some 260,000 Hmong people currently live in the U.S., and among those, 60,000 live in Fresno.
Many of the Hmong are known to follow its traditional shaman religion, and also face financial difficulties in the U.S. For many years, four Korean churches -- LA Sarang Community Church, LA Onnuri Church, Hope Presbyterian Church, and San Jose New Vision Church -- have been participating in rotations once per week to visit the Hmong people in Fresno and to share the gospel with them.
From those visits, relationships among the Hmong community and Korean American churches were developed, and 30 Hmong children traveled down to Los Angeles to worship with the Korean congregation on Sunday.
After the service, the Hmong children also stayed for three nights at the homes of many of the Korean Christian families in the Los Angeles region.
"These four Korean churches have been coming together to serve the Hmong people once per week," shared Kisup Kim, the senior pastor of LA Sarang Community Church. "Every time we visit, we meet about 50 to 80 Hmong children, and 30 of them were able to come visit us this time in Los Angeles. It's a great opportunity for Korean families to share the gospel to these children through their lives."
This article was translated by Rachael Lee. For the original in Korean, visit kr.christianitydaily.com.
