Russia (MNN/VOM) – A missionary’s retirement plans have been derailed by a prison sentence.

On Wednesday, a Russian court sentenced 70-year-old South Korean Missionary Park Tae-Yeon to five years and eight months in a correctional colony on immigration-related charges.

Park was arrested in January, just one week before she was scheduled to return home to Korea after more than 30 years of children’s evangelism in Russia.

Missionary Park Tae-Yeon (Photo courtesy VOMK)

Pastor Eric Foley with The Voice of the Martyrs Korea says the punishment is extraordinary.

“If there was an immigration violation, it would be the kind of thing that normally the person would simply be kicked out of the country, especially if they had a plane ticket in their hand and were 70 years old.”

Pastor Foley says the factors the court used in determining the sentence are not yet known. “The judge announced only the sentence itself and did not state the reasons or the legal grounds for the decision when pronouncing the verdict,” he says. “The written judgment will not be available until next Wednesday.”

But Pastor Foley suspects there’s more behind the motives for the case.

“In a court purportedly focused on immigration charges, she had to answer questions like, ‘What is the Great Commission? What does your organization teach? Do you think your religion is better than other people’s religion?’”

Park was transferred to a stricter detention facility immediately following Wednesday’s verdict. Her attorney plans to appeal, but that process could take months.

(Photo courtesy of Ehsan Habashi/Unsplash)

Pastor Foley says the sentence was especially difficult for Park, who hoped to be released. Yet her time behind bars hasn’t stopped her ministry.

“During the time she was detained in the immigration center, she painted the floor, she painted the walls, and she shared about the Lord Jesus and the Bible with other prisoners,” says Pastor Foley. “I have no doubt that the Lord is going to continue to use her in this way.”

For now, pray for Park’s courage, her family, and wisdom for her legal team.

“Pray for the attorney who will be appealing the case for Missionary Park, and also let’s pray for Missionary Park’s family.”

An online petition posted by VOM Korea from February to April garnered more than 4,000 signatures in Korea and over 1,000 from other countries worldwide.

In April, VOM Korea Representatives Dr Hyun Sook Foley and Pastor Foley delivered the petition to the Russian Embassy in Seoul, calling for the missionary’s immediate release. Copies of the petition were also sent to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Pastor Foley offers this reminder amid the uncertainty: “I think at this moment, what we have to remember is the Lord is at work despite what we can see with our eyes.”

 

Header photo courtesy of Sora Shimazaki/Pexels.