Three Cheers for Connecticut

June 23rd

This morning started off with one of the most hospitable gestures we've encountered. We took an early morning walk in the neighborhood, a gas station attendant approached us as we were waiting for the crosswalk. In simple English he asked where we were from, then went and got us a cold bottle of water. It reminded me of the text from Matthew "what you do to the least of these you will do to me." I have trouble imagining a gas station attendant in the U.S. approaching strangers, attempting to speak their language, and then offering them something from the store. The encounter was honest, touching and at its essence how Jesus teaches us to treat foreigners.

Today we went to Keyong gi Presbytery and visited the Chowol Church which has a partnership relationship with the Glastonbury UCC congregation in Connecticut. It was fun to see pictures of the UCC church in the pastor's office and in the coffee shop run by the church. The Presbytery has a 20 year partnership with the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ and it was clear that the partnership was important to each of the pastors who joined us for lunch. Rev. Hyun Suk Bae from the Chowel Church, Rev. Donjin Choi from the Hanmok Church and Rev. Sung Gwak from the Dongbusunim church.

After lunch we visited with the Wild Flower Youth Center. It is center specifically designed to assist street children. Korea has such a strong competitive spirit when it comes to academics that some youth simply cannot adjust to school and therefore drop out. Other youth come from broken homes, places of domestic violence, or are caught up in to the sex trade. This school offers an alternative to all of these youth. Classroom style is oriented towards conversation and real life application instead of strict memorization. The school also offers job training with a coffee shop they have which is open to the community. This is an excellent mission and worthy of support. 

From the Wild Flower School we went to one of the shelters that houses teens. We visited one of the woman's shelters. The average stay for a teen is three months, which they can extend up to nine months maximum. The girls arrive here through word of mouth of other street teens or through police taking them out of unhealthy situations within their homes. Each girls receives a full entrance interview with a professional counselor to address both their immediate needs and their long term goals. One girl we met at the center came from a family who was divorced, she moved from shelter to shelter because she is a lesbian and was not accepted, this shelter welcomed her in and is helping her to look towards her future with hope. The shelter does outreach on the streets from 8pm to 2pm every Thursday. This allows the shelter to provide some basic necessities (food, water, cloths) to youth on the street, it is a chance to play games with the youth and most importantly to listen to their stories. 

It would be blessing if volunteers would come to help work at the shelters, to make financial contributions to their ministry or to host students involved in the Wild Flower School for brief home stays in the U.S. for the teens to experience a different culture and imaging a better future for themselves. 

Dream Boards written by Wild Flower Youth

After leaving the shelter we went to the Sewol Ferry Memorial. The Sewol Ferry accident has permeated much of our visit so far, the yellow ribbon declaring that the tragedy will be remember can be seen daily. Over 400 students lost their lives when the ferry sank during a school trip. The children were from a very poor community, the same community where the shelter and youth center are located. Over and over again we have heard concerns that there was collusion between the Korean government and the ferry operator to reduce the ballast in the ferries in order to fit more passengers and cargo, thus receiving higher profits. The unstable ship then tipped over in the water, when the incident was occurring the captain told the students to remain in their interior cabins, thus with the ship falling onto its side their was no way for them to escape. The memorial was row after row after row of the students school pictures. There were also banners with cell phone pictures that the students sent their families in the final minutes. It was very powerful and clearly still a very open wound in the community and the country. The PROK pastor who runs the Wild Flower Youth center was recently asked to serve on an independent commission to investigate the accident because there continues to be silence from the South Korean government on the exact nature of the events leading up to the incident and the families of the victims want to ensure something like this never happens again. 

For further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol

Ribbons of remembrance for the Seweol Ferry tragedy

After a very long and emotionally full day we had our last night with our host family. It was their oldest son's birthday so we went out to celebrate at a fantastic restaurant in the woods shaped like mushrooms!

(Note this was just one day! Each day is so incredibly meaningful and FULL!) 

God, we thank you for partnerships that make a difference in the world. We give thanks for those who take the time to listen to those who have been discounted by society. We celebrate those who dedicate their lives to serving youth at risk and lament when lives are lost too young. God you are with us in conversations of hope, in the midst of tragedy and in moments of joy; we give you thanks for experiencing the fullness of life with us through your son Jesus Christ. Amen.