Faithful Under Oppression with Catherine Parks

In this week’s episode, we are talking with Catherine Parks about two extraordinary women who you might not be very familiar with: Esther Ahn Kim and Charlotte Forten Grimke. Catherine describes these women as going about their daily lives “with resolve to do all they could to honor God and serve their fellow man. And it was this daily obedience that God used to give them both the opportunity and the strength to stand for justice and serve other people faithfully.”

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Can you tell us about Esther Ahn Kim’s (Ei Sook’s) upbringing? What was her life like? Where did she grow up? 

2. How did she feel about the religion of her grandmother and some of her family members? 

3. What influence did her mother have on her faith?

4. What did the Japanese government do to try and ensure idol worship and adherence to the Shinto religion? What was Ei Sook’s response to this request?

5. What did she do to prepare herself for her arrest? 

6. What fears did she have and how did she overcome them to serve the Lord?

7. How had God prepared her for what he had prepared for her? How did she rely on his strength to accomplish this task?

8. Who was Charlotte Louise Bridges Forten? What did her family do before and during the American Civil War? What were they fighting for?

9. When did Charlotte’s convictions to fight against slavery begin to develop? 

10. How did she cling to Christ while seeing such injustice? How did she press into the gospel to find forgiveness for those who were committing such injustices? 

11. How did she fight her despair?

12. How did God use both ordinary women to accomplish extraordinary things for his glory?

    TWO QUESTIONS I ASK EVERY GUEST

1. What are your 3 simple joys when it comes to studying church history?

2. What figure from church history has had the greatest impact on your journey with Jesus?

NOTES & QUOTES

Esther Ahn Kim (Ei Sook)

• Esther Ahn Kim was born in Korea in 1908 and endured oppressive persecution at the hands of the Japanese government because of her faith in Christ. Because she did not bow down to the Japanese idols, she was imprisoned and suffered greatly for her faith. 

• She grew up in a religiously divided home. Her mother was a Christian and her father practiced idol worship. She studied in Japan and learned to love Japanese culture, but hated seeing her family members worship idols. As a child, she could see a difference between her mother’s Christian faith and her grandmother’s idol worship. As a result of watching her mom’s faith, she too trusted Christ.  

• Esther Ahn Kim trained for torture and imprisonment as we would prepare for running a marathon. She knew she would be willing to die for her faith, but didn’t know how long she would be able to stand being tortured and didn’t want to abandon her faith in torture.

• Daniel 3:18

• She was imprisoned for six years believing that God had placed her in that time for a reason. 

• “She leaned on the Lord’s strength to love the prisoners and the guards who many people would say were unlovable. But I think she truly believed that God had placed her in that place and that time for a reason. In the same way, she sought to be faithful as a teacher and as a student and being faithful to go to Japan, she was doing the same thing where she was in prison and just trying to do what she could for God’s glory in the time that she was given.” - Catherine Parks

• “It was an unbelievable privilege for a person like me—sinful, selfish, conceited, and with many faults—to receive an order from God who is the Lord of the heavens and earth. I was overwhelmed. In spite of my weakness and sinfulness, the Lord had given me the grace to walk and work with him.” - Esther Ahn Kim

• Her life challenges us to live lives of compassion, to walk in obedience, and to hide God’s Word in our hearts. 

• Her autobiography is called If I Perish. 

Charlotte Forten Grimke 

• Charlotte Forten Grimke was a highly educated African American woman growing up in the 1800s. She endured extreme prejudice but dedicated her life to serving and educating people freed from the yoke of slavery. She left multiple diaries behind, giving us a glimpse into a life devoted to God amidst opposition.

• The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimke

• “Oh I long to be good, to be able to meet death calmly and fearlessly, strong in faith and holiness. But this I know can only be through One who died for us, through the pure and perfect love of him who was all holiness and love. But how can I hope to be worthy of his love while I still cherish this feeling toward my enemies, this unforgiving spirit? This is a question which I ask myself often. Other things in comparison to this seem easy to overcome, but hatred of oppression seems to be so blended with hatred of the oppressor I cannot separate them. I feel that no other injury could be so hard to bear, so very hard to forgive, as that inflicted by cruel oppression and prejudice.” - Charlotte Forten Grimke

• She depended on the character of God and his justice in the midst of hardship.

• In Charlotte’s journal she wrestled with a desire to do something big & important as well as wrestled with the difference between what is sinful ambition and what is godly ambition.

“Their hearts were really drawn to the plights of the people around them” - Catherine Parks

“In the end, I think what you see from them both is that they went about their daily lives with the resolve to do all they could to honor God and to serve their fellow man. And it was this daily obedience that God used to give them both the opportunity and the strength to stand for justice and serve other people faithfully.” - Catherine Parks

These women probably would have chosen not to suffer or endure what they did to glorify God. They were just paying attention to the world around them … Looking for ways to shine the light of Christ and push back the darkness. - Catherine Parks

Going back to the basics of spiritual disciplines: memorizing Scripture and loving our fellow neighbor. 

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What encouragement did you find from these women’s lives to walk in faithfulness in your own life? 

2. What might daily faithfulness look like for you in this season?  

3. What are some ways the Lord has used circumstances in your life to humble you and reorient your heart to serve him?

4. What are some ways you could be faithful today to love your enemies amidst despair, injustice, and discouragement?

5. What are some ways you might be able to pay attention to the world around you and find opportunities to shine Christ’s light into a difficult and dark situation?

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IMPORTANT NOTE

Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.

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