Sunday at Yoido Full Gospel Church

After leaving Kwanglim Methodist Church's Sunday morning worship service, and after a nice lunch at Kwanglim, we went across town to the Yoido Full Gospel Church. This church is famous for being the largest in the world. Pastor Cho used small groups to grow this church into a behemoth megachurch.

The service we attended is geared younger than the earlier services. The music, though, was reminiscent of 80s style.

This is a church that speaks in tongues. Interestingly (and I didn't get video of any of this), there are only certain times during the service when this is encouraged. When the leader signals it's okay, a wave of prayer rises up--like a wind. Then, when the time is over, the signal is given and everyone stops.

I offer this account with one caveat: I don't know for sure that they were speaking in tongues--they could have simply been praying out loud in their native tongue. I wouldn't have known the difference.

I enjoyed the experience of attending Yoido, although by the that time on Sunday afternoon I was about churched out.

Now . . . "I will give you a saaaaaaample."

Sunday Morning at Kwanglim

This video could be better but I'm trying to throw it together quickly. I know that if I don't get something together now I'm likely never to stitch together the odd pieces of video I took. This is just a sample of the things we saw on Sunday morning. The orchestra and choir were amazing. The preacher, Sung Juk Kim (son of Bishop Kim), is in a couple of the still photos in the middle of the video.

Also, a few of us witnessed 5th and 6th grade Sunday School--a real treat.

More on Prayer Mountain

This is a view of Seoul (a suburb of Seoul, anyway) from the mountainside.I have a little bit of time this morning before we take off for the day to post some pictures from Prayer Mountain last night. The mountains in this area, by the way, remind me of East Tennessee. Very nice. Pining for home.

Here is the crew walking up the path to the various stations.This is Samuel from Sierra Leone. He gave one of the talks by the statue of the woman touching the robe of Jesus.John (a PhD student at Asbury) gave an excellent devotion at the foot of the cross.Then, after 11 stations, we made our way to the empty tomb at the top of the mountain.Have a good day (Go Gators!)

More from Seoul

I'm getting my days mixed up now, so I don't know which report this is.

Today we left the Kwanglim Seminar house (pictured above) bound for Prayer Mountain. On the way, though, we stopped at a Korean Village/Living history kind of place. It was fantastic, though a bit chilly. We saw examples of life in Korea 150 years ago, along with celebrations of Korean arts and dance.You can't tell from this picture, but this young lady is flying so high as the result of a teeter-totter style board. There is a girl on the other end who will fly just as high when this girl lands.

After the Korean Village we completed our journey to Prayer Mountain, where we will stay for the next two nights.

We opened the evening with a prayer walk up (where else?) the mountain. There were 12 stations and 12 of us offered meditations on different. The different meditations were a blessing to hear. Some of them were from our International Beeson students, and it's always nice to hear their perspectives on scripture.

After supper we were offered prayer rooms for the night. These are little closets with a pillow on the floor (no chairs or kneeling benches). The good thing about that is that it's almost impossible to fall asleep while praying in there. The bad thing is that it's also hard to get comfortable enough to focus on prayer. I can see how it would take quality practice to be good at praying that way. My time in the prayer closet was helpful. Having a place to pray is important and taking the time is even more important.

It's now the next Tuesday here, and I need to get some sleep. Tuesday is a big day for us.

Peace!

A Short Digital From Our Korean Trip

Hey, this video doesn't move fast, but I made it in our SPARE time today while riding the bus, while sitting at Starbuck's (instead of shopping), and after we got home. I hope you enjoy the video, because we sure enjoyed getting to do all of this stuff. Thanks, R.W. Beeson!

I'm a Seoul Man!

The Beeson Pastors had a fascinating day in a fascinating place. I am enjoying watching Korea unfold before me as something more than the backdrop for the old television show M.A.S.H.

The plane trip was fine, though I discovered that a flight to England is brief compared to the one we had yesterday. I have never sat for so long in my life, not even on New Year’s Day when college football is in full bloom.

We flew over the polar ice caps; at least I think we did, it was frozen ocean all the way. I have never seen anything like it. I found myself marveling at the fact that we could see such things so quickly and in so much comfort. We were well fed and highly entertained. Each seat has its own screen and the passenger selects whatever movie, television show, music, or video game he or she is interested in absorbing. It’s a bit much, really, but its also nicer than having to sit through Uncle Buck as the only viewing option.

It was raining when we arrived and we went straight to Kwanglim Methodist Church’s seminar house, which is a retreat center a little over two hours from the airport (the airport is in Inchon). The retreat facility is nice. The heat in the rooms has two settings, BAKE and OFF. Trust me, if you come here, you want OFF. Bryan and I woke up this morning smelling like bacon.

After breakfast we all went to Seoul Girl’s Commercial High School. It is a high school that prepares young women for careers in business. It was begun in 1926 as a normal Seoul high school institution, but became a Christian school about 18 years ago when Kwanglim Methodist Church took it over.

It was a charming place. We were first whisked into their new technology lab, where we met the faculty and checked our email.

After that the students treated us to a display of Korean dress and customs, especially the custom of the deep bow. Some of our people put on local Korean clothing and became a part of the show.

The young women of the school then tried to teach us to do some Korean calligraphy. I am afraid my penmanship is not what it should be.

Then the choir treated us to some beautiful music in the chapel. They performed along with a creative movement/dance team that really seemed to enjoy being a part of the event. They all seemed very sweet.

Then we had lunch. It was, and I a bit embarrassed to say this, KFC. Not that I don’t appreciate the food, but it is a bit tragic to travel the globe to eat stuff you don’t want to eat at home.

Next the bus driver whisked us away to Kwanglim Methodist Church. This is the largest Methodist Church in the world, with an attendance of around 35,000. They sponsor and pay for this trip for us; probably because their pastor, Jung Suk Kim, is a Beeson Pastor graduate.

They gave us a caffeine pick-me-up and then sent us on home visitation with their associate pastors. These guys are amazing. Bryan and I were sent with Cho, who does about 10 of these visits, four days a week. Basically, every member gets a visit every year. They come to the house, receive a list of prayer concerns and an envelope with the offering in it. Then they chat a bit, sings two hymns together, and the pastor preaches a personal sermon for the person he is visiting. Once that is over there is a time of prayer for that person and her family. The member then gets up, brings in a tray of various kinds of rice cakes, fruit, and tea. After everyone has had their fill, they exchange gifts.

He does this about 40 times a week, every week. Amazing.

Our families were gracious and it was quite an honor to be allowed in to such a time, and then even asked to pray and to read scripture.

On the way back to the church we met Cho’s wife and daughter and Cho asked us to pray for their child who is due to arrive in a few months.

Once back at Kwanglim Methodist, Kim walked us through his vision for the church.

After that we were off to supper at … you guessed it … Bennigan’s. The food portion of our trip just could not be more tragic at this point. I haven’t had any Korean food yet. That will change tomorrow, I’m sure of it.

I’m just beginning to process what we’ve seen, though I have a few observations. The first is that I am amazed at the hours these ministers keep. Cho arrives at the church building before 5 am most days, to lead the prayer service. He usually does not get home until after 7 or 8 pm. And, yet, these are not haggard looking pastors. If they are not joyful, it is not obvious to the outsider.

Making any judgments, by the way, as a short time visitor would be foolish, but I can say a few things. The church in Korea has enjoyed something that looks like a golden age to me. It also looks like that golden age is being threatened by the same things that are threatening the church in America—the golden age of big city life and all of its trappings. Youth are not flocking to the church and now the church is having to experiment with non-traditional ways to speak the gospel to them.

Well, that’s enough for tonight. It’s late here and my internal clock is totally out of wack.

Korea Bound

I'm hoping to have time for one more post this evening, but just in case I don't, I thought I'd update the blog. We leave for Seoul, Korea bright and early on Wednesday morning. I was hoping to see Dirk DiSantis in Korea, but I talked to him yesterday and he's home (actually, we already knew we would just miss each other).I'm particularly looking forward to "Prayer Mountain." This is a retreat center where past classes have been given the opportunity to spend the night in prayer. I've tried to listen closely when previous Beeson students have talked to us and one thing I've picked up is that Prayer Mountain winds up being an important night. The Korean Church is well known for their emphasis on prayer--they have prayer services every morning at 5am.

I got to know one of the Korean students who attended Emmanuel. He told me that you can't be a pastor in Korea if you can't get up at 4:30am. I asked him what time he goes to bed. He said midnight. Amazing. Don't look for me to be interviewing for any positions while I'm over there.
I've never traveled to this area of the world, so I'm anxious to experience it. If you think of it, pray for our time there. This trip represents, in many ways, the end of the Beeson experience. Classmates will begin scattering to Houston, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Lexington pretty soon after we return.
Don't expect any posts over the coming week. We don't have internet access where we're staying. I will try to get to a computer at some point (need to find out how the Gators do!), but I'll try to take enough pictures to bore you out of your skulls.

Besides Seoul, we'll be going to the DMZ where we will get to experience the physical expression of the North-South tensions in Korea.

After we return to Kentucky Scott and I will travel to East Tennessee together to meet up with our families. I get to be at Grandview on Easter morning!

Have a great week.