“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 10:14
There is a documentary movie in theaters now called The Drop Box. It’s about a South Korean pastor who has constructed a specially made drop off receptacle at his home entrance in Seoul where unwanted babies born with special needs or to unwed mothers can be anonymously dropped off. Day or night, when a baby is dropped off a bell tone sounds and this pastor and his staff rush to gather the infant child in their arms to pray over and begin the long and arduous journey of providing a lifetime of care and love. It’s both beautiful yet heart-breaking to see.
A month ago I had seen a news clip on the internet of this extraordinary Christian and the saga of his amazing devotion to these children. I didn’t realize it was a documentary movie that would be released in the US until it was mentioned at church staff lunch last week that people had recently seen it. My wife and I had already talked about this story because it has somewhat of a connection to me personally. When I had visited Seoul for two months back in ’96 on a law school internship it was the first time I had returned there since being adopted when I was about 2 years old. My wife (whom I had met that Summer!) had accompanied me to the Red Cross facility there in Seoul where I was prior to adoption to the US. To my surprise they actually had a record of me in their archives from 1969 (wow, I’M OLD!). There wasn’t a lot of information but it did indicate that I had been dropped off at the Red Cross station by a grandmother.
Many of the unwanted Korean newborns aren’t afforded at least this consideration. They are often abandoned on the street by the birth parents or simply disposed of. So much so that this Korean pastor felt compelled to devise this doorway drop box to rescue these precious lives. By grace he did not seek to condemn others but to simply save lives. Every nation struggles with this challenge of providing for unwanted pregnancies, including the US (for example, laws in many jurisdictions allow unwanted babies to be dropped off at police/fire stations without threat of criminal prosecution). However, these Korean children have very little support domestically. Furthermore there have been more than 150,000 international adoptions of Korean babies over the years.
There is obviously something about the culture and social mores that makes it difficult if not impossible for these children to survive and be accepted in their own country, by their own people. The strict adherence to family honor and bloodlines no doubt contributes to this tragic dilemma where lives deemed unfit by the very society that produced them are rejected outright. But there is hope. God’s will cannot be denied. Could it be that the steadfast unyielding work of faithful servants of the Lord such as this pastor will witness to a nation? There is still work to be done. Slowly but surely in God’s own timing may there come a day when God’s unconditional love will prevail over every tribe and nation. Lord willing, hearts and minds will be transformed to transcend cultural identity to an identity in Christ Jesus. Amen to that.
From Pastor Mark’s Heart
March 22, 2015