More Than a Day Trip

Today I joined Mrs. Do and Hyun Suk for another Saturday-day trip. They have been lavish with their time and a joy to share life with. After 4 years I feel like I finally have significant relationships with Korean people. I’m humbled that they have carved a space in their life and heart for me. The three of us went to Asan today; Asan is a sister city to my own city of Cheonan. We visited a Folk Village and a Catholic Church.

I’ve seen other folk villages in Korea but the others were “Disneyland-ish”. This folk village, however, has inhabitants. Korean families live in the old style homes retrofitted with the latest technology. Walking the streets next to stone walls and thatched roofs made us all feel like we had stepped out from a time machine. For one thing it was so quiet! As we walked the streets of the village the ladies expressed a sense of home-sickness for the Korea of old. They remember when Korea looked like this village. Korean life is largely urban and fast paced and so different from the old rural farming life of less than 50 years ago. As Hyun Suk stood admiring one of the homes with a garden the woman of the house invited us into her courtyard so we could admire her garden up close. I could tell she was proud of her home and enjoyed sharing her space with us. She had a beautiful flower and herb garden and in her back yard she had many kimchi pots. They were more than show. We ended our visit to the folk village with a picnic lunch. "Fist" rice Mrs. Do called it. She prepared rice balls made of rice, vegetables, fish and seaseme oil. They were delicious.


After the folk village we drove to a Gothic styled Catholic church. The church was built around 1920. We thought about sitting in for mass. However, it was a children's mass and my "foreiner" presence was so distracting. So we walked on to visit the rest of the grounds. We found a cavernous prayer chapel. It was cool inside, quiet, and beautiful. The rounded ceiling was done with white and pink stone. There was a mosaic in the shape of a star. The side walls had pictures of some Korean martyrs.


The above picture was like what we found on the prayer chapel walls. This photo, however, was taken outside and was the memorial for a group of Catholic martyrs who died in Suwon, South Korea. Christianity has faced great trial in Korea. I take Korea's freedom of religion for granted.


Today was a "sight-seeing" day. However, it ended up being quite a spiritual day for all three of us. After we sat in silence in the prayer chapel--it was Hyun Suk's idea, not mine!--we found a very beautiful path with the stations of the cross. I will remember this walk with Mrs. Do and Hyun Suk and the conversation that followed for a long time. Hyun Suk wasn't even a Christian 6 months ago. Our Bible study group served as a safe place for her to consider faith in Jesus. It has been exciting for me to watch her faith grow and to watch the other women come around her and support her. As we walked the stations of the cross Hyun Suk seemed very touched. At many of the stations we would stop and tell each other about the part of the passion story being depicted there. Hyun Suk reached out on several occasions to touch Jesus' hand. As I watched her touch Jesus it reminded me of the loving touch of a wife to a husband or mother to a child. This woman who found faith has also found a love that runs deep. Mrs. Do helped me see the story of Simon the Cyrene--pictured above. She reminded me that our story is one of carrying the cross and she talked about how difficult it can be. She reminded me that we live to share this journey with Jesus. Jesus didn't do it alone and nor shall we. These women have shared some of their cross carrying with me over the past year.

When we finished our cross-walk we sat and talked for a long time. We talked about some deep issues and tough questions. For me, this kind of conversation is the best that life has to offer. What a terrific day! It was so much more than a day trip!

For more pictures click the blog title.