Yes, I'm a complete delinquent here. But sometimes life in the real world takes precedence.
Here are a couple photos from Korea for anyone still tuned in. I leave tomorrow to spend a week leading orientation (in Cheyenne) for our four new volunteers. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be a complete disaster... beyond that, I don't want to jinx it! We do have a house, and a bunch of furniture, and I have a schedule and packets of materials for orientation, and we're going on retreat Thursday to Saturday, so really, I'm hoping anything else I forgot can be taken care of after this week.
The first two photos are Kumnan Methodist Church in Seoul, where the 19th World Methodist Conference was held. This church has 110,000 members. Seriously.
Every morning when we entered, we were greeted warmly by women in traditional dress. There were also people in every stairwell, smiling and bowing as we passed. Kumnan Methodist Church provided morning and afternoon refreshments, plus lunch, every day for over 2000 people attending the conference. Now that's what I call hospitality.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was visiting a guard post at the edge of the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) with North Korea. I don't think I can do the experience justice in this space, but ask me sometime and I'll be glad to tell you about it.We had to stand behind a yellow line 20 feet back from the wall of the viewing area to take
pictures. The DMZ itself is 4 km across, 2 km each side of the Line of Demarcation. There are two small villages within the DMZ, one of which is a ghost town put up for show as part of the peace agreement, plus an industrial zone where a small number of North Koreans and South Koreans are now permitted to work side by side. The valley is lush and green, except for a barren dirt area around the industrial zone. You can just make out the mountains of North Korea, which we learned are stripped completely bare of trees because of the people's poverty there.Someone from our group started to sing "Let There Be Peace on Earth," and gradually several others joined in. Two soldiers hurried over and told us, “No singing, no singing!” “No religious services are allowed here.” “Stop singing, please!”
Truly, a simple prayer sung from the heart is a powerful thing - it even makes soldiers nervous.
Don't tell me hate is ever right or God's will
These are the wheels we put in motion ourselves
The whole world weeps and is weeping still
Though shaken I still believe
the best of what we all can be
The only peace this world will know
can only come from love.
-- Carrie Newcomer, "I Heard an Owl," from Gathering of Spirits
These are balloons we released with prayers for peace and reconciliation during an outdoor worship service a few miles south of the DMZ.
On the left is Fabiola Grandon from Chile, a new member of the officers of the World Methodist Council, and a new friend of mine.
Finally, I did manage to do a little sightseeing while in Korea: N Seoul Tower (yes, we went up in it to the observation area) and Deoksugung Palace, first built in the 15th century.
I have more pictures, but not enough time to post them today. Hope you enjoy these!
