This February, a special youth camp was hosted by the Northern Asia-Pacific Division(NSD) and Korea Union Conference(KUC) North Korea Mission Department on February 17-18, 2025. It was the first-ever nationwide gathering for youth, from middle school to young adults and AY members. It was designed to raise the awareness of future generations for the evangelization of the Korean Peninsula in the era of a unified Korea and to help the youth, who will grow up to be the leaders of our society, learn about the situation in South Korea, North Korea, and the Korean Peninsula, and to understand the need and importance of Unification.
The camp was held at Yeoncheon Unified Korea Future Center, a specialized reunification training center under the Ministry of Unification of the South Korean government. Opened in November 2014, it is located in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi-do, on the border between North and South Korea, where the 38th parallel symbolizes the division, passes, and the confluence of the Hantan and Imjin rivers. Participants came from all five Conferences, with age groups ranging from 1st-year middle school students to university students.
The Center provided small group sessions to introduce the need and importance of Unification through games and interactive lectures. The visit to the Unified Future Center also involved the VR experience of riding the Unified KTX train and driving through the Asian Highway that connects Korea from Busan to Paris.
Also present was Tim Ellis, an Adventist professor at a Korean university who had previously visited North Korea and joined the camp. A regular attendee of the weekly prayer meetings of the BukBukBuk (Buk meaning “North” in Korean), he shared his reflections on the program. “I was impressed with the creative and innovative ways the camp involved the students in the instruction using games and technology. The students had fun and learned much about Korean history and the advantages of reunifying the Korean peninsula.” He added, “It successfully stimulated their imaginations to think outside the box about possibilities for the future and to instill hope in their young minds about the potential of a better future for us all.”
On the second day, the campers were taken to the Odusan Unification Observatory, where they looked into the North Korean land over the Imjin River and also spent some time trying to find the Cross in the paintings the dislocated North Korean people drew of their hometowns. Surprisingly, There were quite a few church buildings in those paintings, and in the prayer meeting held outside later, the youth prayed for the re-establishment of the previous 108 Adventist churches in North Korea and that they would be ready when the doors to North Korea opens.
Janice Kim, Project Assistant, NSD North Korea Mission, shared, “Students who had come from all four corners of Korea have mentioned they have gained more knowledge about both North Korea and the need for the unification as well as the motivation to join in the prayer movement for the North Korean mission.”
This summer, a follow-up second camp is planned to see the North more closely, pray for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and learn about North Korean missions. Leading up to the summer program, a Golden Bell Quiz Contest will take place at each Conference to raise awareness of the need and importance of both the Unification and the North Korea mission, with the winner receiving financial support to join the camp.