It is well-known that the Rev. Kyung-Chik Han was very active in world mission. Interestingly, however, there has been few, if not any, studies on his ministry of world mission. This study reviews his ministry of world mission, summarizing it into several patterns, clarifying its main issues, and evaluating its historical legacy. His ministry of world mission can be divided into several patterns, which is closely related to the development of his pastoral ministry. The patterns are as follows: first, the period of pasturing a migrant church (1945-1950); second, that of representing the Korean Church to the world churches (1950-1955); third, that of participating in ecumenical mission (1955-1966); and last, that of participating in evangelical mission (1966-2000). We may recapitulate the Rev. Han’s ministry of world mission as follows. To begin with, let us examine his strong points: first, with the idea of evangelism being the core, he expanded his ministry, starting from national evangelization to world mission; second, he carried out both gospel ministry and relief ministry; third, he greatly contributed to the mobilization of the Youngrak Presbyterian Church and its daughter churches for world mission; fourth, he enhanced the church’s awareness about the world churches, and thus let it naturally accept the challenge of world mission. However, it is necessary to point out his weaknesses: first, his framework of the two-faced ministry, gospel and relief, gradually became behind the times, as he failed to respond to the new ideas of world mission; second, his role in introducing the ideas of ecumenical mission to the Korean Church was limited; third, thus the Korean Church in general, including him, remained under the influence of the viewpoint of traditional mission; fourth, owing to his close relationship with the evangelicals, his leadership was gradually confined to the evangelical camp. In conclusion, it can be safely said that he was a missionary activist rather than missionary thinker, and that he contributed to the mobilization for mission rather than the vitalization of missiology.

It is appatent that Kyung-Chik Han was an eunormously influential person in the history of Korean Christianity, especially in the era since 1945. Nevertheless, historical studies on his life and thoughts hame not been as vigorous as those of Park Hyeongryong, Kim Jaejun and Han Sangdong who lived contemporaneously as Han. Historians have paid a little attention to Han in a sense that he preferred a life as pastor rather than as a professor, school founder, or a social reformer. Han lived through the turbulent times of the Greater Korean Empire, the Japanese colonization, the United States Military Governance in Korea, and the Korean Government thereafter. Encountering the national turmoil of Korea, he lived to fulfill the calling given by God. Although Han was not born into a Christian home, he attended Sunday school and grew up learning theology taught by the church. He was truly a pioneer in leading the first generation of Christian education in Korea. Through the teachings of the Christian patriots, Han was able to learn not only theology but patriotism; the love for his country. Passion for evangelism was also instilled in him by the missionaries in Korea. The warm welcome and the sharing of Jesus’ love by Christians in the U.S. lead a young foreign student, who had lost a country, to encounter the saving love of God during the most devastating time in his life to devoting his life to God. Upon his return to Korea, he did not stop proclaiming the love for Jesus, the love neighbors, and the love for one’s nation even though he was under severe surveillance of the Japanese government. Moreover, he lived his live an he proclaimed. He believed that transformation of the mind could pave a way to a solid nation and this transformation can only be achieved by the Christian belief. Hence, he poured all his energy into evangelism. During his ministry at Youngnak Presbyterian Church, Han triggered movements for the national evangelism and the spiritual transformation. He also participated in various evangelization movements in Asia and in the world as a representative of Korea. Although he kept his distance from the communists’ government of North Korea, he continued to send rice of love to aid the North Koreans from malnutrition. His ministry drew the attention of religious societies in the world and he was awarded the Templeton Prize. Kyung-Chik Han indeed is the only Korean religious leader whom the world respectively acknowledged.

Kyung-Chik Han, indeed and not just in name, was the sole pastor who gained the whole Korean churches’ admiration, a patriot who was recognized from not only the Korean government but also the widely acknowledged Korean religious leader. This is confirmed by the fact that Kyung-Chik Han received much recognition from every denomination in Korea and his winning of the Mugunghwa Medal and the National Foundation Medal bestowed by the Korean government. It also is proved by him being the only Korean recipient of the Templeton Prize, reputed as the Novel Prize in the religious field. As Rev. Ji-Il Bang once said, Kyung-Chik Han was the standard of Korean churches’ ministry work. In this study, we will examine his spirituality as an internal conversion which made Kyung-Chik Han’s personalities, and external changes which was resulted into a transformation of the Korean Church through his ministry. Primary sources such as his sermons, autobiography, and lectures were used to analyze his internal conversion. In addition, for the research of the results of his ministry, we will briefly review the church historians’ evaluations. The spirituality of Rev. Kyung-Chik Han is, all things considered, the spirituality of a steward. It comes from his experience under the japanese colonial regime, the experience of the Korean War, and the experience of facing death and deciding to devote himself entirely to God. His spirituality of a steward has several elements: the spirituality of the Word, spirituality of prayer, spirituality of gratitude, and spirituality of love of country. All of these elements formed a unique system of triangular pyramid putting the spirituality of love of the country at the top of the pyramid; individually independent, but also connected with each other. Kyung-Chik Han’s spirituality reached out to the external world, which made evangelical faith and piety more stable in Korean church history. Rev. Han’s spirituality and works affected Korean churches significantly, especially in ecumenical movement and social service, which led Korean churches to be one of the most influential churches in the world.