S. Korean Taxi Drivers Use Radio to Evangelize
A unique club of Christian taxi drivers in South Korea plays Christian radio from sunrise to sunset in hopes of leading passengers to Christ.
Drivers part of the Missionary Taxi Club in Busan, South Korea, play programs from international Christian broadcasting station Far East Broadcasting Company in hopes of inspiring passenger interest in the faith-filled music or message.
The president of the FEBC Missionary Taxi Club, Mr. Ban (name provided as such by FEBC), recalled a recent encounter he had with a passenger. After the woman passenger heard a song on the Christian radio about God's unconditional love, she repeatedly noted that the song was "amazing."
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Ban used that opportunity to talk to the woman about her faith and tell her about his church.
"I once attended church," the woman shared, "but it's been a long time."
"Why not visit my church?" Ban asked her, according to the letter he sent to FEBC. "We often sing songs like the one you just heard. I know you'd like it."
The woman then replied, "That song really made me think. Maybe I need to find out more."
Before the ride concluded, the woman gave her name and number to Ban and promised to visit his church.
"We're thrilled to hear about the FEBC Missionary Taxi Club, and we're equally grateful to add another spokesman to FEBC's list of supporters," FEBC responded to the story.
There are 450 members in the Missionary Taxi Club who have been meeting monthly for 25 years to worship and discuss opportunities to share the Good News with their passengers, Ban said.
South Korea, although only about the size of the U.S. state of Indiana, is the world's second most missionary-sending country in history - behind the United States.
Koreans are well known for their enthusiasm for mission, especially in difficult or hard-to-reach areas. Many churches in South Korea as well as Korean congregations in the United States feature a huge map of the world displaying where missionaries have gone and where missionaries still need to go in their church.
Mission giving is also incredibly important to Koreans, with some congregations using half their budget to support missions.
But the recent catastrophe in Afghanistan involving South Korean Christian workers forced Korean churches and mission-sending agencies to reconsider their methods and strategies in high-risk areas.
In the summer of 2007, a team of 23 Christians from South Korea were kidnapped by Taliban militants who accused them of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. It was the largest abduction of foreigners in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Following nearly six weeks of captivity, two male captives were killed and the 21 remaining captives were slowly handed over to the government.
In the aftermath of the hostage crisis, Korean churches experienced a sense of humility, realizing their mission tactics have cause significant problems for Korean Christians and for the Korean government, according to an evangelical leader who attended the high-profile Christian leader meeting to discuss new strategies.
Korean churches are in the process of setting up best practice guidelines to improve the safety of South Korean missions overseas.
