디아스포라 교회의 성장과 선교

Mission and the Growth of Diaspora Church

From the very beginning, God’s chosen people have always been diaspora: humanity banished from paradise and Israeli offspring since Abraham. The early Christian community started off in Jerusalem, and Antioch church founded by believers also scattered around. So were the Christians who proceeded to Rome through minor Asia, Europe, and around the world later on. Greek verb ‘diaspeiro’(διασπεἰρω) appears three times in the Book of Acts 11:9, 8:1, and 8:4. The English word ‘diaspora’, however, is equivalent to Greek gerund ‘διασποραν’ that have been used in John7:35, James1:1, and 1Peters1:1 respectively. The RSV translated it into “dispersion” and “dispersed.” This word is taken from the image of farmer scattering around seeds. Thus the word itself implies the meaning of spreading the gospel. Among Jesus’ Parables, the parable of the sower is impressive. It reminds of Psalm 126:5-6. There is another word similar to diaspora, drifter. The Hebrew verb “רוג” means to ‘reside as an alien’, and the noun “רג” refers to drifter, guest, noble, ward and so forth. It does not simply mean ‘alien’ or ‘foreign’ but mean ‘stranger who resides in the local area.’Given that it depicts slavery as Israelites were in Egypt, the word seems to be the same as ‘diaspora’. ‘parepidemos’(παρεπίδημος) is found in the new testament though it rarely appears. As a verb it has meanings like ‘staying’, ‘sojourning’ etc, and as a noun ‘stranger’, ‘exile’, and ‘sojourner’. History of Christianity is the history of missions, and that of diaspora missions. By keeping their own religion Jews were able to unveil their YHWH to other nations, and they have done the same thing not only in the early church history but in the years since the Reformation. Just as the apostle Paul tried to concentrate on urban missions using the roads the Romans built to rule over their colonies, the Reformers and Puritans made use of the trade routes built by the East India Company to set up mission headquarters. And these headquarters and the routes cannot be overemphasized when it comes to the history of mission done by puritan leaders, Anglicans, American Congregational Church, German Moravian and by their cooperation. Hernhut movement by Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760), who set off Moravian movement, was a diaspora mission movement for the Moravians scattered around. ‘Gateway city’ or ‘Base city’ is an important strategic word in diaspora mission. The history of mission in the Korean church also began by diaspora missions. The original goal of the missions was not to evangelize local people. Rather, the target was Korean diaspora. In 1909, a missionary was sent to Korean diaspora in the Far East, another missionary to Korean students studying in Tokyo, Japan. The Korean diaspora movement can be dealt with from different point of views, but many agree that it was livened up around Seoul Olympic Games held in 1988. Thanks to the event, Korean nation status rose up and Koreans living abroad become proud of their country. Korean diaspora began to receive wide attention, and Korean diaspora mission movement sprung up. Korean World Mission Council was held in 1988 as well. Diaspora churches are on other than the churches in mission fields. Korean diaspora churches are the churches founded by Korean laity and missionaries scattered around, and local churches in mission fields. Antioch church was founded by diaspora Jews and gentile converts, and they took an important role in mission. Korean diaspora church today should keep doing that. Additionally, Korean diaspora are those who have gone through emotionally severe struggle between the norm of Korean tradition and local culture. They are aware not only of the people in the mission fields but also the needs of the Korean church. They are a great source for missions, and be a critical route through whic