It’s not all exotic food, beautiful temples, and glitzy K-Pop in the ROK. South Korea is no different than any other nation in the world in this way. It’s made up of people. The broad spectrum of personalities, desires, views on life, and morality is as wide as you’ll find anywhere else.

Most of us are aware of the myriad of volunteering opportunities out there from homeless shelters to orphanages. In Busan, foreigners can look to the Facebook group, Busan Volunteer, for many volunteering opportunities in the city.

This documentary, the Baby Box, is of a different and shocking nature though. At least it was shocking to me.

From the video description by Journeyman Pictures:

In this heart-breaking report, we follow a man who’s dedicated his life to saving South Korea’s unwanted babies. With hundreds of them being abandoned every year, why has the government ordered him to stop?Up to 18 babies a month end up in Pastor Lee’s Baby Box, a box attached to his house for women to leave their unwanted children in. “The babies that come here are the ones who’d otherwise die,” he says. The shame of having a baby out of wedlock leaves many women feeling desperate. But some say the Baby Box encourages mothers to abandon babies without registration, slowing down the adoption process. Pastor Lee’s been ordered to shut down his facility, but remains defiant: “There is nothing illegal about saving someone’s life.”

No matter where you are in this world, you’ll never be far from home. That is, the things that make home a home. You may be traveling abroad to see the bright colors, flashing lights, and to experience a story or two of your survival of Korean’ness. However, keep in mind that the world will still be happening.

There are aspects of life here in Korea that are dark and disconcerting and this video sheds light on one of those aspects. Regardless of where you fall on topics such as spirituality, eternity, morality, Heaven and Hell, it’s clear that this story is about one of the many unfortunate and disheartening aspects of life – the willful surrendering of children by parents. In the case of this short film – disabled children.

I think we can all agree that we could use a lot more people like the man featured in this short documentary. Unfortunately, they look to shut him down. I comment on this documentary and some of the surrounding issues and topics related to orphans and adoption.

Keep these things in mind as you travel to South Korea or other nations around the world. Keep it in mind back home too. See if there is an opportunity to support efforts like the Baby Box in Korea.