Start of week five in Korea and I’m finally gaining a sense of normalcy in my life here. I no longer get lost every time I try to go to the bank or the grocery store, I have found a church that I like and plan to continue attending, and I am going on my second week in the classroom. It’s starting to feel like I actually live here or something … ;)
A few of you requested after my last post that I share a little about the church I started attending a couple weeks ago. The name of the church is Ansan Dongsan Church, and the aesthetic environment has a feel that is very similar to the Summit (for those of you who may not know, the Summit Church is my home church in Durham). I think Dongsan Church may be Presbyterian, but I am not entirely sure on that. I attend the English service, which is held on the building’s 10th floor(!), so I have no idea how many members or attendees they have in the main services on a typical Sunday, but there seem to be plenty of people around.
The English service itself has a decently full crowd. The pastor who leads is a personable Korean guy who studied in California. I think that he and I do have some pretty significant theological differences, but based on interactions we have had he strikes me as a genuine person who desires to interpret the Word of God faithfully, and that is what really counts with me. After each service, attendees are invited to stay and join in small group discussion about the sermon. I think this format is a really great idea, not only to help individuals process and digest the message, but also to help build a feeling of community and fellowship among worshipers—essential in any ministry, but of particularly great concern for one serving such a transient population as English speakers in Korea. The past couple of weeks I have attended the “newcomer” group, which is geared at getting to know one another in a non-threatening and unimposing way, but today I made the transition into a more permanent cell group. Others in the group were a little quiet and reserved in discussion, but I am hoping that as we all get to know one another better, people will open up a bit more.
Before coming to Korea, I was honestly not thrilled that I would have to attend an English service at a local church, simply because I was worried that it would be nothing more than that—sitting and listening to a sermon, with no opportunities to plug in and become more deeply involved with the church; I feared that, due to the language barrier between myself and the church at large, I would be viewed more as a spectator than as a full participant in the local community. But, from what I can tell so far, that will not be my experience at Dongsan church, so I am definitely feeling a little more optimistic.
In case any of you who asked were wondering a little more generally about Christianity in Korea, it is the second largest religion in the country, following just behind Buddhism. According to the limited research I’ve done, Christians make up about a third of Korea’s population, with about one third identifying themselves as Catholic and the other two-thirds as Protestant. Catholicism was introduced in the 1700s, but growth was slow until the arrival of Protestant missionaries in the late 1800s.
For those of you who are sociologically inclined, Andrew Kim, in A History of Christianity in Korea: from its troubled beginning to its contemporary success offers the following explanation for why Christianity was able to experience such a flourishing in more recent years:
“…traditional Korean folk culture provided several important "contact points" with Christianity, allowing for the ready translation and adaptation of Christian beliefs and principles in Korean form. It can be also noted that certain peculiar circumstances of Korean history--i.e., Korea's vulnerability to Chinese and Japanese control, colonialism, the Korean War, etc.--allowed Christianity to strike deep roots in the spiritual sphere of the South Korean society…. And finally, the profound social structural developments that marked the modernization process in Korea following WWII provided a cultural opening for the ‘selling’ and ‘reception’ of a Christian worldview that harmonized with the industrial transformation of the society. “
I realize that this short passage touches on a lot of factors without expanding much on any of them, but I think it is all very interesting and I definitely plan on probing further into both the history and social impact of Christianity here in Korea. In many ways, protestant Christian culture that I have encountered in Korea so far seems very similar to the missional, evangelical Christian culture that can be found in some regions of the United States. However, I am very interested to delve deeper and, in particular, to learn more about Shamanism and its impact on both the theology and growth of Korean churches.
I may not post much more about this topic on this blog (and I can hear some of you breathing a sigh of relief!) but for the two of you out there who are interested in checking out more ;) , I will probably touch on it on my other blog (tofightforlove.blogspot.com). This other blog is something I started up a few months ago—mainly just for myself to practice and improve my writing. It is a good forum for me to work through and structure my thoughts on what it means to live in response to the transformative power of God’s love. I haven’t written much since starting it, due to the chaos of graduating as well as to my all-around general flakiness, but have decided to pick it up again since being in Korea.
Which leads me to yet another great thing about my being in Korea—I’ve actually been able to get quite a bit of creative writing done here, which is really nice because it’s something I really love but that I had kind of let fall by the wayside while I was still in school. It is a great outlet for me, a way to process my experiences, and just to have fun and be creative… definitely good for my soul :)
And now on a completely unrelated note, I’m including with this post a couple photos taken at a soccer game at the World Cup stadium, just for those of you who need visual proof that I am actually in Korea and have not simply fallen off the face of the earth. I had a really good time at the game, met some great people and learned a fun Korean cheer. I’ve also included a picture of myself at Lotte World, a kind of Disney style theme park in Seoul. I rode my first roller coaster ever there, so I will always remember it :) And if you are wondering where all the other photos are, I still have not purchased a camera—these were taken by cell phone... hence the terrible quality.
I will post again soon and let you all know how the teaching is going! Love and miss you—keep sending updates my way, I love to hear from you!
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