Korean night

Early in 2022, the government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) held a special ceremony in Seoul to honour three of our early missionaries to their country. Isabella (Belle) Menzies, Margaret Davies and Daisy Hocking had all travelled to South Korea to spread the Gospel particularly amongst women and children. Belle Menzies established the first girls’ school in the country, Margaret was appointed the principal and Daisy was a teacher.

These three women were supportive of the Koreans during the 1919 endeavours to gain their independence from the Japanese, who had taken over the country in 1901.

PWMU was approached by the South Korean Embassy asking if we could arrange a ceremony in Melbourne to present the family members of these women with medals of honour. PWMU and PCV worked together for several months and held a special service in The Scots’ Church, Melbourne, in May 2022. It was a delight to meet the family members, some of whom had travelled a long way to be there.

The medals were to honour the women’s support for the Korean Independence Movement but the Ambassador acknowledged that the women were primarily in the country as Christian missionaries.

Heritage of PWMU Missionaries celebrated in Busanjin Church, Korea in April 2023

호주선교회세미나 웹포스터 영문. The PWMU (Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union), Victoria, Australia, rejoices with you, the Busanjin Church, and the Presbyterian Church of Korea, that the church and some of the artifacts have been designated 'Historical Site and Heritage'. As the sending body for many of the Australian missionaries to Korea, and in particular to the Busan region, PWMU shares the memories to which those artifacts point. We are so grateful that God Almighty, through His Holy Spirit, prompted so many Australians to serve in Korea, bringing spiritual well-being - the good news of Jesus Christ's love, sacrifice and victory over sin and death, to the people of Korea. Those women, and men, accompanied this good news with works of mercy, especially in the medical and educational fields. The nearby Australian Missionary Cemetery, established in 2009, reflects the esteem in which the people of Korea hold those servants of God. It is fitting that evidence of God's work at Busanjin be celebrated.

Opening ceremony in Busan in 2009.

Above top row: Left (with red writing): Monument to Miss Belle Menzies (the first Australian woman missionary to Korea and Sir Robert Menzies' aunt) and Miss B Moore. Right: Grave of Joseph Henry Davies (the first Australian missionary to Korea - died 1890).
Above bottom row: Monuments to Catherine Margaret Mackenzie (1915-2005), Helen Pearl Mackenzie (1913-2009), Mary J Mackenzie (1881-1964) and James Noble Mackenzie (1867-1956). 

Opening of Australian Missionary Graveyard in Busan 2023.