Where is Heaven?

A reporter for the Catholic Times gives us the mission plans of a Korean priest in Mongolia which attracted some of the citizens in a way that they found meaningful and attractive.  

Missionary work in Mongolia from Korea began in earnest in 1991. Several religious orders and the Daejeon Diocese dispatched priests and religious to lay the foundation for the mission, but the mission found it difficult to expand. Missionaries in Mongolia pointed out several causes. 

First of all, although there were six parishes in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, it was difficult to attend Mass every week due to serious traffic congestion and distance. Some of the Christian Religious groups that came to Mongolia broke up families and brought about economic difficulties to some of the Mongolians and a misunderstanding of Christianity.

For those who did not know Jesus the missionary work of "Come to the church because it is a good place" may increase the number of Catholics for a while, but it did not create a foundation for faith in the mind of the writer. The late Father Kim Sung-hyun, who loved Mongolians, chose another way, he lived with them.

A year after his death, Mongolians who did not know Jesus said: "They met Jesus through Father Kim." And added, " They felt that the priest always loved us." 

Father Kim loved people first and comforted their hearts, rather than putting the Mass, worship, Bible, and doctrinal work necessary for a life of faith as primary. His sincerity made the Mongolians come into Jesus' arms on their own. Jesus was already there in Mongolia where he thought he was not.

We sometimes experience despair as if misfortune only happens to us, a situation in which there is no hope in sight. Father Kim's situation in Mongolia more than 20 years ago would not have been optimistic. But he turned the place where he was into heaven. The power was in the practice of an evangelical life.