Blind reverend saves the blind of Korea

Reverend Kim Sun Tae is blind but his disability did not stop him from doing something positive for his fellow Koreans.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity and resignation, Kim persevered and decided to beat the odds.

“My life, from the worldly point of view, is a life of accumulated resentment. But had I not a chance to throw off my resentment, I could have never become friends with those who have many resentments as I did. I cannot deny that I would have devoted (myself) to the cause of opening people’s eyes if I did not endure through my resentful childhood experiences,” Kim said in the preface of his autobiography “The River of Hope.”

In 1981, Kim established the Siloam Eye Hospital, a place where the blind are treated. Since February 1986, Kim has been actively ministering to the blind through eyesight recovery surgery.

Kim Sun Tae is this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service for “his inspiring ministry of hope and practical assistance to his fellow blind and visually impaired citizens in South Korea.”

Not born blind

Kim was born into affluence but was suddenly orphaned in June 1950 during the Korean War. When he was 10 years old, he was hit by a mortar shell while scavenging for food. The explosion left him blind.

His Calvary began when even his own relatives treated him like a pariah and a slave. He ran away and learned to survive as a beggar. Through the compassion of Korean and American soldiers and from Christian teachings he learned during Sunday school, he survived.

Kim persevered and developed an iron will, enduring the hard life in the streets and orphanages and struggled to go to school, learning Korean Braille.

He was also determined to become a Christian pastor.  His hard work paid off when he became the first blind graduate of Seoul’s Soongsil High School in 1962. He got a doctorate degree in 1993.

In 1972, Kim formed Korea’s first church for the blind. Its seven members worshipped in a borrowed room and a dilapidated apartment.

The following year, the Korean Presbyterian Church named Kim director of Blind Evangelical Missions, a new department with a staff of one. Kim took the opportunity to build a ministry for blind Christians, making the rounds of churches, publishing Braille Bibles and hymns, and founding a scholarship program for deserving students.

Deep in his heart, Kim harbored the dream of putting up a hospital dedicated to treating blind people. After he got support from Korea’s business community in 1986, he founded the Siloam Eye Hospital, with state-of-the-art facilities.

In 1996, Kim added a mobile clinic to deliver eye treatment to the rural poor, prison inmates and other underserved communities.

The next year, he opened Korea’s largest rehabilitation and learning center to help blind and low-vision people cope with day-to-day living, learn new job skills and become computer literate using new Braille and voice friendly software.

As he began to be an influential voice in society, Kim pushed through, lobbied and advanced laws requiring public spaces and employment for the disabled.

Today, more than 20,000 people have received free eye surgery and two hundred thousand more have been treated at Siloam Eye Hospital and its mobile unit. His team has also conducted medical missions to Bangladesh, Kenya, China and the Philippines.

At least a thousand students have received scholarships through programs that Kim initiated. The church for the blind that he founded 35 years ago now has its own place, with four hundred members.

In his role in all of this, Kim follows the teachings of St. Paul: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

“Blessed are those who never give up,” Kim said.