User:Kang eun san

= Kim Sun-Tae (Reverend) =

Hyomyoung, Rev. Sun-Tae Kim
In Chinese characters, "Hyomyoung(曉明)" is the combinational meaning of "Dawn of the East" and "Lighting the Surroundings" which is the pen name of Rev. Sun-Tae Kim, who made those in despair live a life of hope by embracing the light. Rev. Sun-Tae Kim, dubbed Korean Helen Keller, is a spiritual leader for Christians and  people with disabilities in South Korea, and still, he is with many at the lowest today.

● Birth

Sun-Tae Kim was born on September 9th, 1941 as an only son of an ordinary family in Sindang-dong, Seoul, Korea. In a family of shamanistic religions mixed with Buddhism, he was attracted to God despite opposition from his parents and his grandmother and began believing Jesus in the second grade of elementary school.

● The tragedy of the 6.25 Korean War

Bombs poured incessantly, and the despair of death lay all over the country. Amid the ashes of bodies everywhere and the horrors of the Korean War, young Sun-Tae lost his home with his parents at once by bombing. The 10-year-old child, who was supposed to enjoy the love and comfort of his parents, became an orphan overnight, and the war came with indescribable misery and despair before he could hardly accept the fact that he was an orphan. As a result of the war, all of his life collapsed, and as he went back and forth between despair and death, he became a beggar to live and begged to start his life on the street.

● Loss of sight

Sun-Tae no longer had his parents and home, and he starved for several days. The only way to survive was to beg for food. So he knocked on the doors of every houses. On another starving day, he and his friends went to the farm to eat some fruits where the owner left due to war. So he started eating fruits quickly without hesitation. Meanwhile, his friends were curious about the unexploded bomb on the other side and suddenly he heard a loud explosion and then lost consciousness. It was the bomb explosion, and his seven friends were killed at the moment. Young Sun-Tae was left alone after disappearing from his friends and realized that he could not see his own eyes and despaired.

Everything in the world that had just been seen turned into darkness and the fact that he was not dead was foretelling him a more miserable existence. Such a young Sun-Tae lost both eyes and all the light in the world overnight. Since that day, whenever he encountered a severe ordeal, he resented the day he could not die and was forced to wander in fear and fear over his vulgarity that had been shunned by the world.

● Reunion with relatives and difficult childhood

In shattered hopelessness, all he had left was hunger and thirst. He shouted and begged for water to live in the darkness, but no one noticed the blind boy in the endless bombing from the sky. His frail body, which had to survive by groping on the floor or drinking muddy water from the rice paddies, was always full of wounds.

While wandering in such misery, Sun-Tae recalls his only blood relatives aunt in his memory and travels to Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, in search of her. He met his aunt after a grueling journey across the mountain and the river among the refugees, but she is very persecuted by the sightless Sun-Tae, and all the things that left to young Sun-Tae were curses, abuse, and beating by his relatives.

● Hearing the voice of every threshold of death

As the time of severe suffering continues, including the continued beatings and hunger of his aunt and his blood relatives, young Sun-Tae attempts suicide several times to die on his own, feeling insulted and saddened. The last moment always came in a slightly special way for him, who had been facing death every day, whether he would throw himself into a well to die or run into the mountains and rather become food for wild animals.

At that moment, God's voice, "Don't die, I will help you," always held him, and young Sun-Tae slowly became aware of the existence of a spiritual God and endured life there, enduring hard labor and beating with his invisible eyes every day.

● The escape of a 10-year-old blind boy

Sun-Tae, who overheard the plot of a terrible and cruel family that would put him to death in the cold winter of 1950, operates away from the place with all his might. The boy, who went on a refuge alone with his blood related abandoned by his only family, is driven to an unknown destination, running and running with his feet all over the place while pushing other people's oxcart. His experience in life, which was abandoned by the devastation of war, later gave him spiritual power to endure poverty and nonpossession as a priest.

● The orphanage, where there was a broken soul

Sun-Tae was admitted to an orphanage called, 'Cheonaewon' near Yongsan, Seoul with the help of a U.S. soldier. He lived in a nearly 200 members orphanage that would bring together epilepsy patients, physically disabled children, and war orphans. However, Sun-Tae witnessed the misfortune of life marred by poverty and violence here. Therefore, he realized that this was the place where God's great would be planned to throw it in the wildness and let it experience numerous things. Then, rather than falling into despair, he moved on to his path without complacency to carve out a new life that God had prepared.

● Sun-Tae Kim in the midst of death

The war puts the life of Sun-Tae Kim, who has no parents, into a more devastating and painful situation. Having neither seen nor asked for help, he becomes a street child again and continues his beggarly life. Then one day, he faced a painful situation in which lacquer poisoning flows through his body and eventually rotting his flesh, a crooked mouth, a face flowing with pus, and swollen immovable legs. At a time when people were treated as leprosy patients and in despair, an old lady who found Sun-Tae took him home to take off his smelly clothes and bathed him with devoted care. Thanks to an old lady, he takes care of himself and reflects on the words of the old lady to go into the world and become a servant of God who delivers the word of Jesus, and realizes that all these things cannot happen without God's grace. With the power of love, young Sun-Tae will gain the power to rise again, using the hand of love without the price of the Lord as evidence.

● As beggars to practice sharing life in the lives of leaders

Sun-Tae had been living begging with a small empty steal can for two years while wandering through Gyeonggi Province, Chungcheong Province and Jeolla Province to Busan in South Korea, got plenty of money, rice, cookies, and bread, and always shared them with sick friends regardless of day and night. He practiced a life that is constantly giving in painful and cruel situations, and he soon becomes the king of the beggar society. At this time, he firmly believes that sharing life is the best way to overcome any limitations.

● A fledgling evangelist in the beggar community

Sun-Tae became the king of the beggar and conducted evangelism and ministry to share the power of the faith he experienced personally. He led his companions to the church, fed more people a warm meal, practiced ministry, and taught them the power of faith. Sun-Tae grows up learning the virtues and wisdom of living together in a beggars community, based on the truth that when people live together, God would rejoice. Also, they are respected and recognized by the people around them.

● The school for the blind days

Sun-Tae Kim entered a child shelter in Busan by the arrest of the beggar as a social work new initiatives and moved to Lighthouse for the blind in Songdo, Busan. He met Rev. Lee Duk-heung, a principal of the Seoul National School for the Blind, and started studies. He has achieved excellent achievements in his studies. With his outstanding academic performance, he moved to sixth grade just a year after he transferred to the third grade of Busan Blind Elementary School. After that, he transferred to the middle school level at Seoul National School for the Blind.

● Admission to a general middle school

Sun-Tae Kim entered as middle school level at Seoul National School for the Blind, and later, he transferred to Soongsil Middle and High School under the auspices of Kwak An-Jun(Allen D. Clark), the son of Kwak An-ryeon(Charles A. Clarke), who served as the principal of Pyongyang Theological Seminary. At that time, it was very difficult for a blind student to study with non-disabled people due to the lack of various textbooks and learning tools. But Sun-Tae overcame this difficult situation and showed outstanding achievements in his studies. And that was a time of great achievement for Sun-Tae, who later earned his doctorate through university, graduate school, and study in the U. S. and then became a priest and leader.

●  College entrance exam and admission to Soongsil University

Sun-Tae Kim was preparing for the state exam to enter the university, but the Ministry of Education denied the test because blind people cannot take the college entrance exam due to the government policy. In response, Sun-Tae visited the Ministry of Education office every day and begged them to allow him to take the test, but the reality was not easy. Three days before the entrance exam, reporters who found Sun-Tae Kim, who was determined to do or die, impressed by his will to meet with the Minister of Education, where he was given the privilege of taking the exam and entered Soongsil University. Since then, his story has been widely reported in newspapers, giving blind students a chance to enter the university.

● A life of service and miracles

Sun-Tae Kim began his first ministry at a camp where 70 to 80 leprosy boys and girls were housed. He practiced love through big and small activities while dedicating all of his tuition fees to help the Shinkwang Church members who were refugees, to help the Shinkwang Church, which is facing demolition in poor conditions. He saved money by massage to raise tuition fees, fortunately, met a devout Christian, and received tuition support beyond tuition. After hard work, he completed four years of philosophy at Soongsil University and passed a difficult exam before entering the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary. Sun-Tae decided to walk the path of an unowned pastor and continued his studies during the day. Also, he did not stop his service and ministry in orphanages and churches at night while earning tuition through massage and was fascinated by Sun-Tae practiced a poor life during this time, creating countless people who walked the path of faith.

● The path of the reverend

Rev. Sun-Tae Kim became a pastor upon graduating from seminary and he founded the Korean Blind Union Church in 1972 and practiced his ministry in earnest. Rev. Sun-Tae Kim, who received ordination at the Seoul presbytery under the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea in 1973, formed a support group for the blind in 1976 to hold an "Asia Blind Mission" and hold a grand rally and a concert to help the blind at the Youngnak Church and Sejong Center in 1981.

● Social services and spread the Gospel

Since then, he has been supported blind churches all over the country and worked hard to open the Siloam Eye Hospital and Siloam Foundation for the Blind. He also practiced social work and evangelical transmission. It also trains leaders for next-generation by offering scholarships to more blind youths. On the other hand, Rev. Sun-Tae Kim experienced the Japanese welfare system for the blind in 1975 and he visits advanced welfare countries such as the United States and Canada to continue his ministry for the developed lives of the blind in Korea.

● The birth of sight-restoring surgery and Siloam Eye Hospital

The success of the sight-restoring surgery through sponsorship is the beginning of the miracle of Siloam(meaning sent), and full-fledged sight-restoring surgery for the blind has been expanded nationwide. As part of a project to mark the 100th anniversary of the Korean church in 1986, Rev. Sun-Tae Kim finally established the first specialized eye hospital for open-eye surgery. Since then, more than 1.5 million people had been able to prevent blindness and find their eyesight through complimentary eye medical treatment.

● Asia's Nobel Prize Winner of ‘Ramon Magsaysay Award'

During the dark and gloomy period, Rev. Sun-Tae Kim caused a change in the perception of the blind world and became a spiritual guide to deliver hope to frustrated neighbors with silence. In recognition of this achievement, he won the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Nobel Prize in Asia, in 2007, and is called, 'Helen Keller of Man', who holds three doctorate degrees and is respected as an Asian Saint. He still follows Jesus and sets a pattern of service with those who are not seen in the lowest places, and changes the lives of a number of people by walking on a path that no one has ever been.