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!
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!
This was the welcome we received
from KyungJin, our “Angel of Seoul.”
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
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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!
On our third day, we finally met one of our delightful homestay daughters, Eunsoo, of whom I wrote on
my last blog. We had a joyous reunion at Insa Station in Gangnam. We had so much fun together in
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Gangnam. She took us
for lunch. She filmed us
in our infamous
impression of “Gangnam
Style” street dancing,
laughing hysterically
while she did so. We
visited the spectacular
Gothic Catholic
Cathedral in the Myong
Dong district, and later,
we finally had the joy of
meeting her beautiful
parents, who hosted us
to an exotic meal in the
heart of the Myong Dong market district. 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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