When Korea Anabaptist Center leaders established KOPI (Korea Peacebuilding Institute) as a separate organization late last year and moved it from its shared office in downtown Seoul, they envisioned having a wider impact in its new South Korean community.
Just two months after moving to Deokso, a residential development of about 75,000 people in the city of Namyangju, a suburb east of Seoul, that vision began coming to pass. Word spread of the peace program and its partner school, Connexus, an English-language hagwon (a for-profit private institute) for children. Both organizations, which share staff and office space in Deokso, were birthed by the Korea Anabaptist Center, a Mennonite Mission Network partner that acts as a resource for individuals and churches.
Ji-yeon Jeong, director of the Namyangju Youth Counseling Center, read about restorative justice and discipline on the Korea Anabaptist Center website. When she realized the KOPI/Connexus office was just a two-minute walk from her home, “she saw this as a sign from God,” wrote Karen Spicher, a lead teacher at Connexus, whose husband, Jae Young Lee, is KOPI’s director. Both are mission associates with Mennonite Mission Network.
Jeong would not only enroll her 10-year-old son in Connexus, but would eventually meet with Lee and the KOPI staff about broader possibilities. They discussed how KOPI could help Jeong’s center do restorative discipline education throughout the community. The meeting led to Lee doing lectures and workshops at Jeong’s center for teachers, students and parents. Soon about 100 people had been trained. The plan is for them to get advanced training to become mediators who will spread the word of peace, restorative justice and restorative discipline and disciple others.
Through the efforts of this one well-connected Connexus parent, KOPI is now providing peace education for students and teachers in nearly 50 elementary, middle and high schools in the Namyangju educational system. Four schools have committed to becoming restorative justice model schools. One of the courts outside of Seoul has asked KOPI to consult on how to set up a restorative justice program in the criminal justice system. The mayor from the same city is seeking counsel on becoming a "restorative city." KOPI is also exploring creating a legal body that can issue mediation licenses.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” Lee wrote of the encounter with Jeong.
“The model of local capacity building for restorative justice work is spreading to neighboring cities, which are also requesting workshops from KOPI,” Spicher wrote.
Restorative justice is a systemic approach to peace that focuses on healing victims, offenders, and the communities in which they live. Restorative discipline is a step-by-step process aimed at increasing and sustaining mutual respect. The approach is applied to resolve a range of group and individual conflicts. Particularly it can work well with children and families, helping them to avoid and manage issues, such as bullying.
When restorative justice and discipline are applied, all parties involved in the conflict are brought together to discuss the issue. Together they sort through the problem with the goal of all coming to an understanding of how everyone has been affected by each person’s actions.
For example if a student hits another student while riding the Connexus van to school, the whole group is gathered in the library for a victim-offender dialogue to sort out the problem. Lee and other staff members, such as Yoonseo Park, Minji Park and Sunny Kim, lead such sessions. They discuss question such as, who was affected by your behavior? How did you feel? Which rules were broken? What can you do to ensure that this does not happen again? What should we do if this does happen again?
Lee told of six families from Seoul that resolved a conflict caused by five boys who were bullying one boy. The case was referred to KOPI for mediation by the Seoul Family Court. After meetings with both sides, and then a four-hour meeting all together, the victim felt that he was understood and safe again at school. He asked the court to pardon the boys of all charges and the court agreed. All of the parents developed a relationship of trust. A month later, KOPI followed up with the families and they were all still happy about the outcome as the boys were still getting along.
“As II Corinthians chapter 5 mentions, we believe reconciliation and peace work are a calling from God,” Lee wrote. “We do not see any of the KOPI work as separate from this calling. Though the words ‘Christian’ and ‘Anabaptist’ are not included in the KOPI name, when people ask why we do this uncommon work, we share about our faith.”
“It is such a blessing for me to work with KOPI,” wrote staff member Yoonseo Park. “I have met many broken-hearted people who are longing for reconciliation. I believe what KOPI is doing is telling them that they can be wounded healers even after relational difficulties and struggles. Working with KOPI keeps my calling clear as a follower of Jesus.”
Lee noted that Jeong, the youth center director, has not only helped KOPI expand its work to area schools, but has helped Anabaptism to spread among her family. Her husband, a chaplain, wants to learn more about Anabaptism.
“Their family has joined Jesus Village Church in Chuncheon where the Korea Anabaptist Center is located,” Lee wrote.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact news@mennonitemission.net.