Peace
Train takes a journey towards reunification of Koreas
Rev.
Dr Kim Young Ju (center) giving the benediction at the Peace Candlelight Prayer
Vigil in front of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. © Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Bavaria
A
Peace Train has recently started its journey from Berlin, Germany through
Russia and China to northeast Asia and the World Council of Churches (WCC) 10th
assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea.
The
train, which aims to raise awareness about the 60-year division of the Korean
Peninsula, will travel through Moscow, Irkutsk, Beijing, Pyongyang and Seoul,
and will finally arrive in Busan around the beginning of the assembly on 30
October.
The
Peace Train is a project of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK)
and the Korean Host Committee for the WCC assembly.
Some
130 people from around the world are travelling on the Peace Train and include
church and civil society representatives. They will arrive in Busan on 28
October and share their experiences at the WCC assembly. The theme of the
assembly is “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.
The
train will highlight the importance of achieving peace on the Korean peninsula,
cooperating with the churches of those countries which participated in the division
of the Korean peninsula in 1953.
As
part of this project, a seminar on “Religious Communities for Justice and
Peace” has been organized in Moscow, the second stop of the Peace Train. The
event was held in collaboration with the Russian Orthodox Church on 11 October.
WCC
staff including Dr Guillermo Kerber, the WCC programme executive for Care for
Creation and Climate Justice, and Dr Mathews George Chunakara, director of the
WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, addressed the seminar.
Kerber
expressed “heartfelt appreciation” on behalf of the WCC for the efforts of the
NCCK and the Korean Host Committee in coordinating the Peace Train project. He
said, “Being confronted by overwhelming crises, churches and religious
communities must overcome their divisions, speak out and react as an expression
of their commitment to life, peace, justice and love.”
“A
pilgrimage is always a transformative experience. May the Peace Train transform
your lives, our lives, the lives of all of those going to the assembly,” Kerber
added.
Catherine
Christie from the NCCK and the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea,
herself a traveller on the Peace Train, shared how Bible studies and
discussions during the journey are a transformative experience. She said that
many people in our world “suffer because of the corporate sin in our world –
suffer from militarism, national hostilities”.
“This
group, made up of people from some African nations, India, Korea, European
nations, Australia, New Zealand, North America and Brazil,” creates “a variety
of perspectives and wisdom,” added Christie.
In
Berlin, where the Peace Train commenced its journey, several programmes were
organized by the German churches. One of these was the Peace Candlelight Prayer
Vigil which took place in front of Brandenburg Gate on 7 October. Among the
speakers were Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser and Rev. Dr Kim Young Ju. Around 120 people
from 15 countries participated in the event.
Peace
Train official website
The
divided Korean peninsula is steeped in decades of pain and sadness (WCC news
release of 2 October)
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