This research projects focuses on the effective role for the evangelical mission of education institutes, especially through the example of Kwandong university whose founding spirit is the main ideas of Christianity, which are faith, hope, and love. S...
This research projects focuses on the effective role for the evangelical mission of education institutes, especially through the example of Kwandong university whose founding spirit is the main ideas of Christianity, which are faith, hope, and love. Since the nineteenth century when Protestant Christianity came over to the land of Korea, the Korean Christianity has been so rapidly grown up that many other Christian nations cannot disregard the historical significance of its rocket-like growth. Interestingly enough, its amazing growth has not been limited to the realm of churches, but also importantly has given some strong impacts upon the secular world of education in such a way of establishing many schools on the basis of the Christian spirit. Most of Christian mission schools have made attempts to evangelize their students with the Christian messages grounded on the Scripture. They have posed their major goals to bring up lots of good Christian workers for the Korean society, which would be fully Christianized through the gospels of Jesus Christ. They have been founded to be a crucial means of Christian evangelization.
However, it also true that most of Christian mission schools in Korea did not completely achieve what they had planned and expected for the evangelization of Korean society. In general, they put their mission aims in the perspective of Christian education, and tried to come true them simply in terms of teachings and practices. This made a mistake to overlook the concrete living situations of their students as well as what they thought, what they felt, and what they wanted. To edify students with the Christian teaching and practice is not just to imbue them with the Christian concepts. It required, before that, the proper understanding of their specific way of thinking and living in actual contexts. In my idea, most of Christian mission schools have failed to meet such fundamental requirements for the effective evangelical education of Korean students. They should change their past teaching strategies and methods for the appropriate reconstruction of their teaching mission in the light of revolutionary socio-cultural and techno-scientific change today. Without the deep consideration of this changing development, the evangelical goal of Christian mission schools will be hardly attained. This is the starting point of this research project searching for the fruitful roles of Christian mission schools.
This projects begins with the theoretical reflection on the historical identity of Christian mission schools in Korea, and deal with the evangelical education history of Kwandong university as a significant example of Korean Christian mission schools. Then it discusses about the current problems of Christian mission schools today on the basis of a specific question-and-answer card research, and suggests an alternative way for the renewal of Christian mission schools, which emphasizes the need to reform some education strategies and actual teaching courses, such as mandatory courses of chapel worship and the understanding of Scriptures. Of course, this work does not completely cover all issues of Christian mission schools. But I do hope that it be a meaningful foundation to develop them in such a way that all Korean Christian mission schools are complimented to glorify God.