아직도 많은 사람들이 일본을 복음의 불모지로 인식하지만, 울산 씨비에스와 함께 시작된 나가사키(Nagasaki, ながさき) 순교지 탐방은 벌써 내년이면 20주년을 맞이합니다. 어떻게 보면 울산과 일본은 무슨 관계가 있으랴 생각이 들지만 거리상 가장 가까운 곳이기도 합니다. 지난여름 동경 한 달 살기를 하는 동안 일본에서 지진이 났을 때 울산에 사는 여러 성도들이 동경에서 지내는 나의 안부를 물었습니다. 그러나 지진의 진원지에서 동경은, 거리상으로 울산보다 훨씬 멀리 떨어져 있는 곳입니다. 하지만 뉴스에서 일본지진이라고 하니 당신들보다는 일본 동경에 있는 제 안부를 물어온 것입니다. 참으로 가깝고도 먼 나라가 우리에게는 일본입니다.
저는 개인적으로 아니면 심리적으로 일본이 그렇게 멀지는 않습니다. 아버님께서 18세 때 할아버지 돈궤짝을 깨뜨려서 밀항선을 타고 일본에서 자수성가를 하신 땅이기도 합니다. 공장에 급사로 취직해서 낮으로는 청소를 하며 밥을 짓고 밤으로는 일본인 직공들로부터 ‘난데스까(ナンデスカ, 무엇입니까?)’를 통해 일본말을 익혔던 곳입니다. 그 일본말을 전수받은 적이 없지만 아버지가 우물가에서 밥을 안칠 때 얼마만큼 물을 잡아야 하는지를 동네 처녀로부터 배웠고 먼 훗날 아들이 다른 친구들처럼 자취하겠다고 요청했을 때 손마디 어디까지 물을 부어야 한다고 일러 주셔서 밥 짓는 기술전수를 받았습니다. 아버지는 피혁공장에서 일하다가 후에는 사장이 되었고, 광복이 되자마자 귀국할 수 있었던 몇 안 되는 한국인 가운데 하나였습니다.
그뿐 아닙니다. 나가사키의 원폭으로 인해서 제게 유일한 고모님이 폭사하신 곳이기도 합니다. 그래서 제게는 어머니 외에는 고모도 이모도 계시지 않았습니다. 이모는 그 가난한 시절 아기 낳고 굶어서 돌아가셨다고 들었습니다. 여러분도 아시다시피 어머니 다음으로는 이모, 고모가 우리가 자라는 데는 귀한 바람막이가 되어주시고 따뜻한 눈길과 손길을 내밀어 주시는 분들입니다.
20년 전 나가사키에 갔을 때 <나가사키 평화공원>에 가서 둘러보면서 피해자 코스프레로 공원을 만들어 놓은 일본의 위선을 보면서 언제쯤 일본이 자신들이 피해자가 아니라 가해자였고 당신의 속국인인 한국 사람들, 아니 나의 소중한 고모의 생명까지 앗아간 전범인 것을 깨달을 날이 올 것인지 아쉬웠습니다. 복음이 그들의 눈을 밝히기까지는 어려울 것입니다.
나가사키 순교지 탐방이라고 하면 “무슨 기독교 순교지냐 천주교 순교지이지”라고 말하는 것을 듣고 있습니다. 한 때는 천주교 신앙을 위해서 목숨을 버린 곳이지만 그 터전에서 앞으로 피어날 꽃은 새로운 복음의 부흥을 꿈꿀 수 있습니다. 거듭되는 방문을 통해 일본의 지방정부와 협력하는 선교의 새로운 지평이 열렸기 때문입니다.
한국교회 성도들의 방문이 늘어나고, 일본 사회에 복음의 가치를 자연스럽게 알리게 된 결실로 나가사키 기독교 박해 유산이 2018년 세계문화유산으로 등재되었고, 일본 지방정부는 한일연합선교회(WGN)의 공로를 공식적으로 인정하였습니다. 하나님께서 열어주신 문들을 보며 일본 땅에 하나님 나라의 부흥이 일어나는 날, 우리 울산 성도들은 그 기쁨을 먼저 그리고 함께 누릴 것입니다.
WGN은 순교지 탐방 20주년을 기념하며, 2025년 나가사키 순교지 탐방을 계획하고 있습니다. 이 탐방은 3박 4일 일정으로 진행되며, 출발일은 5월 19일(월) 또는 5월 20일(화) 중 선택하실 수 있습니다.
[문의 : WGN 사무국 010-5484-1189]
Many people still view Japan as a barren land for the gospel, yet the pilgrimage to the martyrdom sites of Nagasaki (ながさき), begun in partnership with Ulsan CBS, will mark its 20th anniversary next year. In some ways, one might wonder what Ulsan could possibly have to do with Japan, but geographically speaking, it is our closest neighbor. When an earthquake struck Japan while I was living in Tokyo for a month last summer, many members of Ulsan Church reached out to ask about my safety. Yet, geographically, Tokyo was far more distant from the epicenter than Ulsan was. Still, hearing on the news that an earthquake had hit Japan, they were more concerned about my well-being in Tokyo than their own. Indeed, to us, Japan is a country so close and yet so far.
For me, either personally or emotionally, Japan has never felt all that distant. It is the very land where my father, at the tender age of eighteen, broke open my grandfather's money chest, boarded a stowaway boat, and built his life from scratch through sheer grit. He started out as a factory errand boy, cleaning and cooking meals during the day, and learning Japanese at night by asking Japanese workers 'Nandesuka?' (ナンデスカ, What is this?). Although he never formally passed that language down to me, he did pass along the art of cooking rice—learned originally from a local village maiden who showed him by the well just how much water to gauge. Years later, when I asked to live independently like my friends, my father showed me up to which knuckle the water should reach. Starting as a humble laborer in a leather factory, my father eventually became its president, and was among the few Koreans fortunate enough to return home right after national liberation.
Nor is that all. Nagasaki is also the tragic ground where my only paternal aunt was killed by the atomic bomb. As a result, beside my mother, I grew up without any paternal or maternal aunts. I was told that my maternal aunt passed away from starvation during those impoverished years after giving birth. As you well know, next to a mother, aunts are the precious shelter in our upbringing, extending their warm gazes and loving hands.
When I visited Nagasaki twenty years ago and walked through the Nagasaki Peace Park, I felt a deep ache witnessing Japan’s hypocrisy—crafting a memorial that cast themselves solely as victims. I wondered when the day would come for Japan to realize that they were not the victims, but the perpetrators, and war criminals who took the lives of colonial subjects like the Korean people—including my beloved aunt. Until the light of the gospel opens their eyes, such an awakening will remain difficult.
Whenever we speak of visiting the martyrdom sites in Nagasaki, some remark, "How can that be a Christian martyrdom site? It’s a Catholic one." While it is true that lives were laid down there for the Catholic faith in centuries past, on that very soil we can dream of new flowers blooming for a fresh revival of the gospel. Through our recurring visits, a new horizon for mission has opened in cooperation with local Japanese authorities.
As visits by Korean church members increased and naturally introduced the values of the gospel into Japanese society, the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region were registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2018. The local Japanese government officially recognized the contributions of the Korea-Japan United Mission (WGN). Witnessing the doors that God has thrown wide open, when the day comes that revival of God's Kingdom breaks forth across Japan, our congregation in Ulsan will be among the very first to share in that profound joy.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of this pilgrimage, WGN is planning the 2025 Nagasaki Martyrdom Site Tour. This 4-day, 3-night journey offers a choice of departure on either Monday, May 19, or Tuesday, May 20.
[Inquiries: WGN Secretariat 010-5484-1189]
Baie mense beskou Japan steeds as 'n onvrugbare woestyn vir die evangelie, maar die pelgrimstog na die martelaarsplekke van Nagasaki (ながさき), wat saam met Ulsan CBS begin is, vier aanstaande jaar reeds sy 20ste herdenking. Mens sou kon dink: wat het Ulsan nou eintlik met Japan te make? Tog is dit geografies gesproke ons naaste buurman. Toe daar verlede somer 'n aardbewing in Japan plaasgevind het terwyl ek 'n maand lank in Tokio gewoon het, het talle lidmate van Ulsan Gemeente besorg navraag gedoen oor my welsyn. Vanaf die episentrum van die aardbewing was Tokio egter geografies veel verder verwyder as Ulsan. Maar omdat die nuusberigte van 'n 'aardbewing in Japan' gepraat het, was hulle meer besorg oor my in Tokio as oor hulself. Waarlik, vir ons is Japan 'n land wat tegelyk so naby en tog so ver is.
Persoonlik en emosioneel voel Japan vir my glad nie so ver nie. Dit is immers die land waar my pa op agttienjarige ouderdom my oupa se geldkis oopgebreek het, op 'n smokkelskip geklim het, en met eie hande 'n suksesvolle lewe opgebou het. Hy het as 'n loopseun in 'n fabriek begin werk, bedags skoongemaak en rys gekook, en snags by die Japannese werkers die taal aangeleer deur gedurig te vra: 'Nandesuka?' (ナンデスカ, Wat is dit?). Hoewel ek self nooit die taal geleer het nie, het my pa by die dorpsput van 'n plaaslike meisie geleer hoeveel water nodig is om rys te kook. Jare later, toe ek soos my vriende op my eie wou gaan woon en kosmaak, het hy my geleer tot by watter vingerlit die water moet kom—en so het ek die kuns van rys kook by hom geërf. My pa het in 'n leerfabriek begin, later die direkteur geword, en was een van die min Koreane wat dadelik ná die nasionale bevryding na sy vaderland kon terugkeer.
En dit is nie al nie. Nagasaki is ook die plek waar my enigste tante aan vaderskant in die atoombomaanval omgekom het. Gevolglik het ek buiten my moeder geen tantes aan vaders- of moederskant gehad nie. Ek het verneem dat my tante aan moederskant in daardie jare van bitter armoede van die honger gesterf het kort nadat sy 'n kind in die wêreld gebring het. Soos u weet, is 'n mens se tantes, naas jou eie ma, 'n kosbare beskutting teen die winde van die lewe; hulle bied 'n warm blik en 'n liefdevolle hand terwyl 'n mens grootword.
Toe ek twintig jaar gelede Nagasaki besoek en deur die Vredespark van Nagasaki gestap het, het my hart swaar geword oor Japan se skynheiligheid. Hulle het 'n park ingerig waarin hulle hulleself as slagoffers voordoen. Ek het gewonder wanneer die dag sal aanbreek dat Japan sal besef dat hulle nie die slagoffers was nie, maar die oortreders—oorlogsmisdadigers wat die lewens van hul onderdane, die Koreaanse volk, en selfs my kosbare tante, geëis het. Voordat die evangelie hul oë verlig, sal so 'n besef egter moeilik wees.
Wanneer mense van 'n pelgrimstog na die martelaarsplekke in Nagasaki hoor, sê sommige dikwels: "Watse Christelike martelaarsplek is dit dan? Dit is immers Katoliek." Alhoewel mense daar destyds hul lewens vir die Katolieke geloof afgelê het, kan ons op daardie einste fondament droom van blomme wat sal oopgaan in 'n nuwe herlewing van die evangelie. Deur herhaalde besoeke is daar immers 'n nuwe horison vir sending geopen in samewerking met die plaaslike owerhede in Japan.
Namate besoeke deur lede van die Koreaanse kerk toegeneem het en die waardes van die evangelie op natuurlike wyse in die Japannese samelewing bekend geword het, is die terreine van die Christelike vervolging in Nagasaki in 2018 as Wêrelderfenisgebied gelys. Die plaaslike regering van Japan het die bydrae van die Korea-Japan Verenigde Sending (WGN) amptelik erken. Wanneer die dag aanbreek dat 'n herlewing van God se koninkryk oor Japan uitbreek terwyl ons sien hoe Hy deure oopgemaak het, sal ons lidmate van Ulsan daardie vreugde eerste en ten volle saam kan smaak.
Ter viering van die 20ste herdenking van hierdie pelgrimstog, beplan WGN 'n besoek aan die martelaarsplekke van Nagasaki in 2025. Die reis duur 4 dae en 3 nagte, met 'n keuse van vertrek op Maandag 19 Mei of Dinsdag 20 Mei.
[Navrae: WGN-sekretariaat 010-5484-1189]