A Witness to the Birth of a Rumor

Pastor Joshua Jung (Jung Myung Seok) had scheduled a trip to our region a month prior to visiting and he arrived right on schedule. Surprisingly, that was exactly the same time when SBS (Korean National Television) aired a program they call, “That’s What I Want to Know.” (It’s a documentary/tabloid program similar to Hard Copy in the U.S.) The show featured Pastor Joshua and the accusations of a couple of girls who I knew to be spiritually inclined.

We had planned an event where he was to give a message, counsel with some people, and do some sightseeing. The Providence members were all very polite and perhaps even timid. Though everyone had a lot on their mind, they were afraid to burden Pastor Joshua with all their problems.  Then, as though Pastor Joshua had read everyone’s mind, he said, “I’ll stay and counsel with every single person.” Everyone was so relieved and thrilled at the same time. 
And so, one by one, he talked with them all. Some had problems at school, others had family concerns, and many had personal life issues to resolve. At one point a group of three 13-year-old girls went into the room to counsel with him. They were so nervous that not one of them could speak. So Pastor Joshua coaxed them into a conversation by suggesting, “Is there anything you want to ask me?” The first girl finally spoke, “I have a problem with my grades at school. I don’t understanding the lessons.” The next said, “I feel pressure from my parents because they expect me to constantly get straight A’s. They make me attend tutoring classes outside of school times.” The last said, “I have a hard time making any friends at school. Everyone acts so mean towards me.” One by one Pastor Joshua took the time to speak to each of their concerns.. His words lifted their burdened shoulders.

At one point, one of the girls started to cry and said, “I’ll miss you. When are you going to come back? When are we going to see you again?”  Her sincerity and tears moved Pastor Joshua’s heart. So, he promised to speak with her again before he left the area. 
 
On the day of his departure I was frantically helping him pack his suitcase, as we had only an hour before we had to leave for the airport. Suddenly, he remembered his promise to the young girl. He quickly had an aide go find her  and as we packed his bags he gave her advice on how to handle school, parents, peers and the like. He also told her that she should make it a point to always attend church. If her parents scolded her for attending church, he told her to always communicate clearly with them and strive to achieve a balance between church, family, and school.

I guess she was suddenly struck with the realization that he really was leaving. In any case, she began to cry again. She left the room and went into another room where the driver and others were waiting to take Pastor Joshua to the airport. I exited the room with her and tried to comfort her while in the hallway.  She even came along with us to the airport and cried to Pastor Joshua, “I’m going to miss you.”

It was about two days later when I got a call from one of Providence’s senior members. Out of the blue he said, “How could you do this?” I was flabbergasted, not knowing what he was talking about. He continued to say, “I saw everything. I saw him having sex with that 13-year-old girl and you were right there with the both of them.” I was stunned. “What? Nothing at all like that happened—how can you say this?” He went on, “Just admit it. I saw everything that happened before we left for the airport.” I calmed down and thought clearly. “Ok, you mean, when we were almost late to the airport because we were frantically trying to pack?” He said, “Yes, and then afterwards, when she came out of the room crying because she’d been raped.”  At that point I was speechless. It hit me then and there that this was exactly how the rumors began.

He kept on repeating, “Admit it that he had sex with her while you were in the room. Admit it because I saw you!” I tried to reason with him. “If you saw it,” I said, “why do you need me to admit it? Could it be because you actually never saw anything? Could it be that you need me to say something in order to back up your stories? Well, nothing happened—you are terribly mistaken.” I went on. “If she was crying because he raped her, would she have asked him if she could come to the airport and say farewell? Why would she shout to him that she’d miss him?”  I never got my answers because he hung up on me. I never did see him again. 

It was about a month later that someone told me I had been written about on an anti-Providence website. I went home, looked it up, and sure enough there it was, the entire fabricated story, exactly the way the caller had perceived it.
A final thought to leave you with: I cannot imagine what drives people to jump to those sorts of conclusions, nor stand by them when no one else’s testimony agrees. But, perhaps it has something to do with them wanting to assume they saw what they actually did not, for reasons only they know. In the end, I’m not sure they really understand, or care, that they are causing such pain and damage to another person’s life. Maybe by that point they cease to see anyone else but themself. Perhaps the drive to be right overrides the desire to do what is right. I don’t know the answers to all of these questions, but what I do know is that I myself was a witness to the birth of a rumor.