Man Rescues Abandoned Children Through “Baby Box”

Don’t watch this video if you’re not prepared to feel tears welling in your eyes, or love swelling in your heart.

This promotional video is for an upcoming documentary called “The Drop Box” about a South Korean pastor who decided to do something about the hundreds of unwanted babies left on the streets of South Korea every year. Lee Jong-rak created a structure on one side of his home, similar-looking to a postage drop-box, which he calls the “Baby Box.” A sign on the drop-box reads, “Place to leave babies.”

Carlos at RagamuffinSoul.com shares,

“The inside of the box contains a thick towel covering the bottom, and lights and heating to keep the baby comfortable. A bell rings when someone puts a baby in the box, then Jong-rak, his wife, or staff associates come to immediately move the baby inside. His aim was to provide a life-giving alternative for desperate mothers in his city of Seoul. He even admits that he didn’t really expect that babies would come in– He was mistaken. The babies came. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, some with notes, some without a word, and only a very few mothers actually spoke to him face-to-face.”

Now Lee Jong-rak has an ever-growing brood of beautiful children in the Baby Box Orphanage - precious tiny souls who narrowly escaped death by streetside abandonment, abortion, or infanticide. According to Lifesitenews.com:

“Pastor Jong-rak stated that one of the mothers said she ‘had poison to kill both herself and her baby.’ He responded, ‘Don’t do that. Come here with your baby.’ One single mother left this heart-wrenching note with her baby. The english translation follows.

‘My baby! Mom is so sorry.
I am so sorry to make this decision.
My son! I hope you to meet great parents, and I am very, very sorry.
I don’t deserve to say a word.
Sorry, sorry, and I love you my son.
Mom loves you more than anything else.
I leave you here because I don’t know who your father is.
I used to think about something bad, but I guess this box is safer for you.
That’s why I decided to leave you here. My son, Please forgive me.’”

The upcoming documentary “The Drop Box” is directed by Brian Ivie, who at just 22 years old has already won awards for the film at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. During his acceptance speech, Brian said of his life-changing journey to Seoul:

“These kids are not mistakes. They are important.

…I became a Christian while making this movie. When I started to make it and I saw all these kids come through the drop box – it was like a flash from heaven, just like these kids with disabilities had crooked bodies, I have a crooked soul. And God loves me still. When it comes to this sanctity of life issue, we must realize that that faith in God is the only refuge for people who are deemed unnecessary. This world is so much about self-reliance, self-worth, and self-esteem. It’s a total illusion that we can be self-sufficient. Christ is the only thing that enables us.”

South Korean children are not the only ones suffering the dangers and tragedies of abandonment. Girls are routinely aborted or unwanted in places like China and India, reports Eric Metaxas on Religion Today. World News Service reported this summer that Chinese families desiring to rescue abandoned babies are finding themselves under pressure from the government. An American couple on Crosswalk.com tells the story of adopting twins abandoned in Russia, and Dr. Jay L. Wile’s family is one of many foster-care-to-adoption stories that all started with a broken, abandoned little girl who needed loving parents.

Jesus is truly visible through people like these, and like Pastor Jong-rak, who adopt, provide foster care, and otherwise provide shelter and safety for children. The pro-life community in the United States is often under scrutiny for being merely “pro-birth” – fighting against abortion through legislation, seemingly without much care for what happens to mothers and children once the children are born. As we continue to champion for life, let us remember to be the hands and feet of Christ’s Kingdom, just as these brave souls are.

Let us remember to be pro-life not only from conception to birth, but pro-life for babies, for toddlers, for children with disabilities, for children “too old” to be wanted to adopted, for children who need temporary foster families. For mothers who need help. For families struggling to put food in the table. For the least of these.

Debbie Holloway is the Family Life Editor for Crosswalk.com

Publication date: November 13, 2013