It's time to say goodbye. We had our final, emotional blessed goodbye fellowship last evening, after a long day on the road returning from the coastal community of Sok Cho on the east coast of Korea. The return trip was delayed for a couple of hours after our bus broke down, and a mechanic had to come from Sok Cho to replace the thermometer. The final day was marked by a tour to a Buddhist temple site on the coast with stunningly beautiful scenery. The previous day had been a day of preaching and worship at our host churches. I presented a special Peace Candle to the Songpa church on Sunday - a candle handcrafted by Mel Haug of Suquamish United Church of Christ and presented as a gift from Suquamish UCC and the Pacific NW Conference of the UCC. Sunday evening we gathered for an in-depth discussion about some of the future directions we would like to see our partnership head. A great deal of emotion was expressed by our partners in the Seoul East Presbytery concerning their desire to plant a new PROK congregation in the Seattle-Tacoma area. I promised to discuss the issue with the executive leadership of the Conference. We also began a process of mapping out plans to establish a young delegate exchange. Details are yet to come.
It has been an extraordinary week in the lives of all of us, from the United States as well as our hosts here in Korea. We travel home now, knowing that our time together has been rich and blessed by God.
A celebration of our life, ministry, and gatherings in the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ
If there is a young delegate exchange I would be honored to go. I know this might seem weird to volunteer myself like this but I would love to travel and I am very interested in people from different countries. My friends in college this year were all from different countries(Bangladesh, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and North Africa). I think this is a great opportunity to exchange ideas and to learn about what other people my age in Korea think about religion.
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