Son Yang-won
1902-1950 20th century
Forgiveness carried as far as adoption, and thanksgiving wrested from the barest grief.
Who was Son Yang-won?
A Korean pastor, long imprisoned by the Japanese occupation for refusing shrine worship, he then served a leprosy colony in the south of the country. In 1948 his two sons were shot; he asked for the pardon of their killer and adopted him. Two years later he was himself shot during the war.
In their own words
I thank you for letting martyrs be born into a family of sinners such as mine.
I thank you for giving me a heart able to love the one who killed my sons, even to taking him as my son.
I thank you for giving me, in such a trial, a joyful heart and a faith wide enough to find your love in it.