Okdan Mission Station

History & origins

The beginnings of Okdan Mission Station can be traced to around 1925, when Kim Bong-seok (Peter), who had lived in a Catholic village in the Hoemunsan area, moved to Okdan village in Yujeong-ri, Gamgok-myeon. He taught the Catholic faith to relatives and local residents and worked actively in evangelization, even inviting a catechist from Suryu Parish. Early Catholics walked about 14 kilometers to Suryu Catholic Church for Mass on major feasts and during the Easter and Christmas confession seasons, while on Sundays they gathered in Kim's home for the mission-station liturgy.

The Okdan community was formally established as a mission station in 1954 together with Jinheung Mission Station. The faithful continued their life of faith for many years in private homes, then agreed in 1985 to construct a dedicated mission-station building. Families contributed according to their means, including rice and building funds, and two houses were acquired for the site.

In April 1987, the existing houses were demolished and construction began on a building of about 53 pyeong on a site of roughly 400 pyeong. Donations of money and materials came from the parish and mission-station community, and construction was completed in November 1989. After completion, Bishop Michael Park Jeong-il, then Bishop of Jeonju, presided over the blessing.

This history shows how Okdan Mission Station grew from the evangelizing work of one lay Catholic into an organized rural community whose members, across generations, established a permanent place of worship through their own offerings. Its historical significance lies in the way the memory of faith carried down from the Hoemunsan Catholic villages took root in everyday life in Gamgok-myeon.