{"id":59576,"date":"2015-02-10T12:55:02","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T17:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=59576"},"modified":"2015-02-16T05:08:21","modified_gmt":"2015-02-16T10:08:21","slug":"south-korean-pastors-drop-box-saves-hundreds-of-unwanted-but-perfect-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/south-korean-pastors-drop-box-saves-hundreds-of-unwanted-but-perfect-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korean pastor\u2019s \u2018drop box\u2019 saves hundreds of unwanted, but \u2018perfect\u2019 lives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Most people associate the words \u201cdrop box,\u201d with the online file-sharing tool that allows users to share data across computers and smartphones from anywhere, instantly. But for Jong-rak Lee, a pastor from Seoul, South Korea, the term has a very different meaning. For Lee, a drop box is a way to save hundreds of unwanted infants from being abandoned on the crowded streets of Seoul each year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

A\u00a0depository\u2014literally, an oversized metal mail box\u2014sits outside Lee\u2019s Presbyterian church in\u00a0South Korea\u2019s\u00a0capital. It is lined with a blanket and equipped with heating to keep abandoned babies safe from the cold. The idea is to allow mothers to deposit their children without being seen.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

So far, Lee has collected 652 children in his drop box. Lee and his wife are guardians of 19 children. Two of them\u00a0are their biological children. For the others, a small staff helps Lee find the children homes with loving parents.<\/p>\n

Every month, more infants arrive in the drop box \u2014 about 25 babies every month.<\/p>\n

Some children suffer from various disabilities. But in most cases, the only thing wrong with the infants is that they are unwanted.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

In Lee\u2019s eyes, they\u2019re all \u201cperfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

Building the Drop Box<\/b><\/p>\n

Lee created the drop box in 2009 after a third baby was left on his doorstep.<\/p>\n

Because he was caring for his own severely disabled son at the time\u2014and also helping others in the hospital\u2014single mothers felt their unwanted children would be safer with Lee than they would be on the streets.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the ultimate or ideal solution but it\u2019s something that we have to be doing at this moment to rescue those lives,\u201d Lee told The Daily Signal<\/a> through a translator in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

But in a country where adoption is stigmatized and single mothers are ostracized, Lee\u2019s drop box serves as an irreplaceable service.<\/p>\n

\u2018Golden Ticket\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s story has inspired action. It is being re-told in ways that can reach larger audiences, and ignite more change.<\/p>\n

After reading Lee\u2019s story in the Los Angeles Times<\/a>, Brian Ivie, a 22-year-old film student at the University of Southern California<\/span>, set off to document Lee\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

Last week, Ivie was in Washington D.C. promoting the film.<\/p>\n

He spoke to The Daily Signal about the film\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to figure out where all the love came from,\u201d Ivie said.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

Admittedly, the aspiring filmmaker also saw Lee\u2019s story as his \u201cgolden ticket\u201d to Hollywood.<\/p>\n

With a group of 10 friends, Ivie packed up his bags and traveled some 5,000 miles across the world to live with Lee and his orphanage.<\/p>\n

It was an ambitious mission\u2014making a film in a foreign country.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything was so stacked against this movie working out,\u201d said Ivie of the challenges they faced.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

For one, Ivie and Lee couldn\u2019t even communicate without a translator present.<\/p>\n

Although they \u201clived like a family,\u201d dinners were often silent.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

When Ivie would interview Lee, a translator used visual cues to signal Ivie whether he was asking the right questions and triggering the emotional hot spots.<\/p>\n

Ivie, who wasn\u2019t\u00a0religious\u00a0at the time he began the journey, said that somewhere along the way, he found God.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all blind, making this film,\u201d Ivie said, adding:<\/p>\n

[Originally] I wanted to be famous. God obviously changed that. I came back to the states and I had become a Christian, and I see this spirit of that in this man and how he sacrificed everything for these kids.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

From there, Ivie forgot about becoming famous and let Lee\u2019s story speak for itself. When he traveled back to Seoul to finish the film, Ivie said:<\/p>\n

I was way less interested in forcing him to be who I wanted him to be, and just let him be him. And the movie got a lot better. That\u2019s how we made the film\u2014we focused on the people rather than the project.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Kim<\/em><\/p>\n

The end result is a powerful 72-minute documentary that\u2019s set to play in theaters March 3-5<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fittingly, Ivie named it, \u201cThe Drop Box<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n