ACCOMPANIED BY AN ANGEL
VEV gave us the sweetest sabbatical
sendoff a pastoral couple could ever want. There is no describing how
much the love, the hugs, the words, the financial gifts that came at
great cost from this remarkable little congregation that was already
stretching so much to make the sabbatical happen, meant to us.
Kirsten dropped by later with more gifts and words of wisdom. Scott
generously gave up his Monday morning to drive us to the airport. So
tender. We hugged Scott one more time, and we were off.
As I already
mentioned, there was a degree of anxiety I had been feeling about
choosing to start our badly needed sabbatical in a completely
different land and culture with no tour guide. Kirsten’s word about
“having fun” helped settle us, but still, we wondered, “Would
it be restful?” For starters, we weren’t sure how we would get to
our little guesthouse in Seoul’s Gangnam district, (made famous by
Psy’s satirical K-pop hit, “Gangnam Style”). It was a long ways
away and we had different transportation options at varying costs –
such as, bus, train, or taxi. Almost inexplicably, we received a note
a day or two before our departure from a young woman, KyungJin, who
had come to VEV for five months in 2013. We had practically lost
contact, but, I received a surprise email note from her stating she
had heard we were coming and that she wanted to meet us at the
airport. Sure enough, she was there!
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| Kathleen with our "Angel of Seoul," Kyung Jin. There is no describing the uncanny timing and practical assistance she provided us through our whole stay in Korea. Simply supernatural. |
I can’t describe the emotional and
spiritual “sigh of relief” I took when I saw her. She helped us
get our transit cards and loaded them both with enough of her own
money to cover our transit for much of the month in Korea. We hadn’t
asked her to meet us. We hadn’t asked anyone to meet us at the
airport – as it was a long ways away for our students, many of whom
lived in other cities, and it would have been too costly in time and
money to expect anyone to do so. Yet, there she was!
She helped us catch our much-preferred
mode of transport to the Gangnam Guesthouse – a bus, by which we
could see the sites and wonders of this new world we had entered. She
helped settle us into our Korean guesthouse and took us out to one of
the many classy Korean coffee shops. We soon began calling her, “the
Angel of Seoul.” For the rest of the journey we received texts in
the morning from her asking, “Did you sleep well?” How are you
today?” “Is everything ok?” She sent us reminders and made
countless detail arrangements for us like transport, hotels and car
insurance. She rescued us when we were lost. Almost intuitively she
would show up unannounced, but right on time in the busy markets of
Seoul. She provided translation help, even by phone sometimes, when
we were stuck. She leant us her cellphone, camera, selfie-stick, and was literally “on call” for us 24/7 for our whole time in
Korea. She bought our DMZ/North Korean border tour. Her remarkable
sacrifice for us served to make our trip, both a remarkable adventure
and a superb rest. Over and over again, we were humbled by the
generosity and thoughtfulness of this angel of God. And, to top it
all off, when we were about to depart from Korea, she gave us a love
package full of Korean tea and snacks for every member of VEV,
including the kids!
First Journal Entry – the Third
Day
Even though we had arrived in Seoul on
Tuesday evening, April 7, my first journal entry wasn’t until
Friday morning, the 10th. Here’s a paraphrase of what I
wrote:
“It’s been an unbelievable,
incredible, indescribable first few days. Seoul is such a remarkable
fusion of ancient and future, with gadgets so high tech, I am
constantly asking for instructions on how to do something as basic as
turn on the lights. Yet, to the backdrop of striking modern
skyscrapers with architecture and design I have never seen in North
America, there are temples, monasteries, and traditional “hanok”
villages that showcase a way of life that stretches back thousands of
years.
On our first day in Seoul, we toured
the Gyeongbokgung Palace – which, for millennia, have housed royal
families of the Choson dynasty. On the second day, we visited Namsan
Mountain and Seoul Tower – watching soldiers in traditional Choson
regalia put on a spectacular display of ribbon dancing, drama, and
sword play with lots of action, humor and interaction with the
audience. This included me being summoned out of the crowd to charge
a bamboo pool with an ancient spear. After four lame attempts from
previous volunteers, I was ready to show them how it was done! I took
the spear and with a loud war cry, charged the bamboo pole to the
great delight and roaring laughter of the huge crowd! Later that
night, we took in the spectacular Nanta
show, an Asian version of “Stomp,” complete with interactive
singing, drumming, dancing, remarkable acrobatics, all the while, the
actors were slicing and dicing food – yes, food was flying
everywhere! What an artistic treat!
We felt immersed in a different
world which provided a complete break for our minds, our spirits, and
even our bodies. It was like God provided us with a general
“spiritual anesthesia” through the sights, sounds, tastes, smells
and sensations of a completely different land and people. Not
surprisingly, as we had done with all our Korean homestay students
whom we had hosted back in Canada, we quickly fell completely in love
with this little country where they had come from – its land, its
culture, its food, and most of all, its people. So beautiful. As
Kirsten said, “Have fun,” and, oh, did we ever!
We Finally Meet Up With A Homestay
Daughter!
 |
| With Eunsoo and her parents in the historic MyungDong area of Seoul. An unforgettable evening together with friends for life |
Oh
the food, they kept bringing more and more! Oh the setting,
indescribable! Yet, the most moving moment for us was meeting
Eunsoo’s parents. Eunsoo’s mom became a follower of Jesus and
started attending church around the same time that Eunsoo joined us
here at VEV. Remarkable. She looked at us with tears in her eyes and
said, “Why did you love our daughter so much?” She cried and they
hugged us when it was time to say, “Goodbye,” and we have
continued to stay in touch. Friends for life, and eternity.
In all of this, I heard Jesus saying
to us, “Thank you for the seeds you have sown, for the love you
have poured out.” I felt him pouring back into us, washing our
feet, tending to our wounds incurred over years. He doesn’t forget.
Overwhelmed and at Rest
On our last day of our first week in
Seoul, we rested in the morning, and in the afternoon, visited
another famous market district called Insadong. We watched
lots of passionate protests and marches – against nuclear weapons,
and against North Korea’s oppression of religious and political
prisoners.
Again, KyungJin, our amazing Angel of
Seoul, was marvelous. What can we say? She again showed up in the
middle of Insadong Market. She took us for tea at a Korean
traditional teahouse five stories tall, where we looked out over the
busy market below, while we savoured the flavours of Korean tea. We
walked the Cheongyechong at night time – a human-made waterway
through the city centre of Seoul. She then treated us to another
delicious Korean dinner.
We had only been in Seoul for four days
and I felt like the “not yet” had become “the already” and
that time had mystically merged with eternity. KyungJin was such a
huge part of that. Of course, she again refused to let us pay for
anything that day. She accompanied us home in the cab and paid for
our cab ride. Beautiful Angel of Seoul, messenger from God. He sent
her to us as an instrument of his immeasurable grace, kindness, and
generosity. We had no words – and we still don’t. We were, and
are still, overwhelmed. We had entered deeply into the heart and
spirit of what it means to be on sabbatical. We were at rest.
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