Korean churches are reaching out to grieving individuals with GriefShare, now in the Korean language. The results? Care, outreach and evangelism in Korean communities around the world.
WAKE FOREST, NC, July 20, 2011 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Korean churches worldwide now can effectively minister to individuals in bereavement through GriefShare. Church Initiative, the creator of DivorceCare and GriefShare in English, now offers GriefShare in Korean.
Pastor Byung Dal Kum, and his wife, Jung Jin, of California have been instrumental in the translation of the GriefShare materials from English into Korean. They have put their time and energy into the project, believing this curriculum can change the lives of Koreans experiencing grief.
"Koreans have a high suicide rate, which means there is a great need for this ministry," Jung Jin Kum said. "Korean churches have an enormous ministry to help out those people who are grieving. However, this type of ministry is not easy without proper ministry tools."
GriefShare is a 13-week, video-based curriculum hosted by churches and facilitated by trained lay leaders.
Won Jenny has participated in GriefShare, and sees how participating in a grief support group has helped her overcome the shame many Korean widows face.
"I experienced a long and difficult journey after my husband died around 15 years ago. It was not until attending GriefShare meetings that I could escape the guilty feelings most Korean widows feel," she said. "I deeply appreciate the people involved in producing this program."
The GriefShare curriculum is designed with three primary components: video, group discussion and between-session workbook exercises (to help group members apply the material in the days between sessions). The videos are produced in an interesting-to-watch television magazine format with dramatizations. They also feature more than 45 grief experts, including H. Norman Wright, Anne Graham Lotz, Dr. Paul David Tripp, Zig Ziglar, Dr. Jack Hayford, Elisabeth Elliot and Dr. Siang-Yang Tan.
Church Initiative launched GriefShare in 1999 and since has sold more than 8,000 curriculum sets to churches around the world. Nearly 300,000 people have participated in the group series.
For more information about GriefShare, visit www.GriefShare.org. GriefShare is offered by Church Initiative, the ministry that created DivorceCare and DivorceCare for Kids.
