Prayer Shawl Ministries brought to Korea

Team members wear some of the Prayer Shawls that were shared for our Journey. 

Hye-In, Hei, and Kelly where Hei is joyfully wearing her lovely pink shawl.

 Prayer Shawls were brought from team member churches.  Some came with information as to how they were prayerfully made, a date the shawl had been consecrated, and all had been given in love.  

We are thankful to the women who prayed over the shawls and gave them to team members to bring to women we met on our Ubuntu Journey.   We were very fortunate to get a photo of one that had been especially suggest for Hei, the woman who guided us through the Ewha High School history room and buildings.   She was an absolute delight and it was our entire teams choice to give her one.   She loves Ewha, she loves life, and she loves her prayer shawl.

 Hei will always be remembered for her singing of the school song with Helen.  Helen had graduated from Ewha so for all of us it was a wonderful moment to hear the school song. 

Another blessing from our journey.        

The women who made our journey possible...

Karen, Hae, and Helen

 We could not have managed without these three women. Our team was blessed by these Korean-American women who joined our team.   They provided us with 24/7 Korean language assistance.   Thank you!!!!

The leadership team from Scranton Women's Leadership Center:
Rev. Kim, Hye-In Lee, Bomi, Kelly, Julia, and Sarah

The Scranton Women's Leadership Center put together a wonderful experience for our Ubuntu team.   Words cannot express how much we appreciated all their hard work and pre-planning as well as all the time they spent with us  as we traveled around Seoul and the DMZ.   Our jam-packed schedule was perfect for these the United Methodist Women for it is exactly the schedule we have come to expect.  We learned so much about a mission success of our past can only pray that we will continue to make that kind of impact in the future.   Thanks team SWLC !  

Standing with the "Comfort Women"

Helen reads a statement from our UMW delegation in English.  Karen (in the green rain jacket)  will soon read
this same statement in Korean. 

The woman in the center (yellow rain coat) listens intently.
She is one of the remaining "Comfort Women" and attended the rally. 

Rain did not deter those who gathered on Wednesday noon to make a statement in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Korea.   There were speakers from the War and Women's Human Rights Museum, a drama group from Japan, and others who spoke in support of recognizing the aging women who were part of WWII.   All they are asking from the Japanese government is to recognize and apologize for what they did to these women who have endured much over their lifetime.  This Wednesday noon rally has taken place without fail every Wednesday for over 20 years.  
After the rally we walked to a shopping area and Bonnie was stopped on the street by a young Korean woman.   She had been at the rally and wanted to thank us for coming.   She'd decided that she should come to the rally this Wednesday and was moved by the statements that were made.   She thanked us for coming and lending one more voice to the call for justice for the "comfort women".  

  

Here are the words spoken on behalf of all United Methodist Women.

We are a delegation of women from many states in the United States representing the United Methodist Women. 

We are here today in solidarity with the grandmothers who have been protesting every Wednesday for the past 20 years in order to have their dignity and self respect restored. We are here to honor and support their struggle. 

Some of us present here (Karen and Helen) worked as members of a coalition in 2006 to help pass the House Resolution 121 in the United States Congress. This bill called for the government of Japan to make a formal apology to the women drafted to serve as "comfort women." This bill was passed unanimously in the house of the representatives and also in the U.S. Senate and a letter was sent to the government of Japan in 2007. As we all know, no action has been taken by Japan as of today. 

As members of an organization which endeavors to protect human rights of women and children, we demand the most speedy and complete apology from the government of Japan. We want to remind the citizens of Japan that the world is watching what they will do about this issue. 

We say to them that the memory of insufferable atrocities will not fade away in time. We also ask the government of the Republic of Korea to participate fully in removing the indignity and shame of its own citizens. 

We pray that the day will soon come when the aging Grandmothers no longer need to be on the streets protesting. We wish them health and the will to keep on fighting.

We promise you that we will continue to pray and stand by you until there is a resolution.

Thank you for your attention. 

 

Sunlit Sisters

What a day!  Writing time is short but here is a glimpse of our journey to visit the community of one of the US military bases.   We met the women who served men in response to expectations of the military men and the needs of hungry families.  I'll let our photos speak.  

We gathered around low table for a time of worship and song.  



The women at Sunlit Center gather every Tuesday for dance, singing, worship, lunch and conversation.   We joined them
for worship and lunch one day.   Most of these women had some English skills.  

As soon as lunch was over the tables were rearranged and the newsletter folding began.  



Our team plus Sunlit leaders joined us. The woman on the floor , right side, was saying "I'll remember you, and
you will remember me."  

Meeting the challenges of domestic violence

The existence of domestic violence seems to be universal. Culturally it may be dealt with differently however there are some basics for helping women to be restored.  Both shelters were started by a female UMC pastor. Both shelters provide a place to live within a Christian community.  An important component in the healing ministry  with the victims of domestic violence is the "family" life developed at the shelters within the context of Christian love.  Is this not a universal approach for dealing with moving through and developing a new life without abuse?   

The Nest of Love Shelter opened in 2000 for any woman who calls the hotline or is referred by community social service agencies.  The Korean WSCS owns the building and provides support for the program while the government provides some financial support for the social services offered to the residents.  Six months is the length of time women may live there...one of the government regulations.  WSCS members volunteer in the maintenance of the facility and community businesses are invited to help with major projects of keeping the older facility livable.

We gathered to hear about the beginning of Nest Of Love Shelter by Rev. Chung.   We were not allowed to take many
photos at this shelter.  When the worship service began, residents and children joined us. 

The Saenal Shelter opened in 1999 and  is solely a ministry of Rev. In Hae Kang. There is a main building for the shelter and it has been expanded by adding a room in the close proximity of the main facility.   The residents contribute a portion of their income to offset the costs of providing room and board.  They have no government support, thus the length of stay for the residents is not defined in terms of time. A woman and her children may leave the facility whenever she feels she is ready to live on her own.  Both shelters offer a full range of services from counseling to legal advise, art and music therapy in addition to the security of a loving family atmosphere.  

Just check out this wonderful table that had been prepared for us. 

New friends and Bonnie 

Here is the kitchen that produced the banquet!!!  It takes many dishes to serve any Korean meal.   They washed dishes
forever!!!   Thanks to all who give back.   

   

Several of the women at the Saenal Shelter wanted a photo taken with us. The young woman was using a cell phone and introduced herself in English so she is now an email pal with Bonnie. They were also thrilled we wanted a photo that shows the size of the kitchen is no indication of the quality of food. These two shelters prepared better food than any of the good restaurants. A create your own bibimbop was a great lunch...notice all those wonderful ingredients to choose from to be arranged on top of a bowl of rice. Add a little red pepper sauce and you are set for a nutritious meal. Our dinner at Saenal was great Korean fare with an "American" touch of wonderful bread from the generous bakery in addition to all the side dishes. Keep in mind this was just part of our day, we also participated in worship at ChungDong UMC at 2. More on ChungDong a bit later.

DMZ ... A hope for peace

We traveled to the DMZ (about a 3 hour drive from Seoul) on Friday.  Our 1st 40 minutes or more was getting out of Seoul city and then almost as though a line had been drawn, there were no more tall rows of apartment buildings.   City skyline was replaced by beautiful hills covered with lush green and valleys where organic farming was being done.  We passed lots of rice fields...now identified by its mustard green colored growth as well as fields and fields of pepper plants and other vegetables used in Korean cooking.  

The name Chosun is an old name for this peninsular country of Korean means "Morning Calm". As we traveled the hills/ mountains Chosun was seemed most fitting.  

Morning Calm ... A view from DMZ known as the punch bowl.

 

The only place we could take photos at DMZ was at this lookout but it was a perfect spot to see Morning Calm" and the green spaces is in the valley. Literally millions of trees were planted after their independence from Japan in 1946. Japan had stripped the mountains of all the trees to use for building for their own use. Observing Arbor Day was an important part of the reforestation of Korea as school children and families planted trees to gain back that important resource which had been taken. Even though we were at THE "fence" there was not the feel of tension as we were in this wonderful peace valley where efforts are being made to not only work toward political peace but peace with our earth. The trees (30 billion trees have been planted in Korea since Korean independence from Japan), the organic food, the attention to use of all natural resources...living green...were all part of the peace valley. As we looked across the DMZ into North Korea, it looked no different than the forest we had been seeing in South Korea. It is that view which gives hope that the Armistice Treaty will soon be replaced with a peace treaty and Korea will be one nation again.

Molly challenged the seminary students at MTU

Team member Molly was the preacher for the chapel service at the Methodist Theological University. Upon our arrival at the campus we were greeted by the President of the university, given a refreshing drink, verbal summary of the school's history, a cloth book bag and some lovely gold book marks,... And to top it off we had lunch at a wonderful Korean restaurant near the campus. We were able to eat and get back to the chapel for the Thursday service.  Molly's message received numerous "amen"s both in English and Korean.  The sermon was delivered in both languages with the translation being done by Dr.  Lee.  Molly is a retired pastor from South Carolina ... Our Ubuntu team was very glad to be on her team today.  

welcome Molly!.

Dr. Jong Chun Park, MTU President and Molly meet before services.

.

Our Team plus the Korean interpreter (far left) and Rev. Kim (far right) 
What a beautiful place of worship.   Check out those organ pipes!!! 

 

We "met" another woman today

We "met" Mrs. Josephine Peel Campbell today.  She's another one of the missionaries who fell in love with the Korean people...especially with the girls in one of the poorer sections of Seoul and knew that the country need strong women leaders.  Mrs. Campbell began a school for the education of girls in 1897 with help of The Southern Methodist church.  Funds were raised through a campaign in South Carolina to recognize birthdays but collecting an offering.  Paiwha has lifted many young girls out of poverty because of Mrs. Campbell's hard work.  This school continues to exist through the efforts of the Korean Methodist Church. Scholarship funds are needed to assists the internships and special educational opportunities necessary for a top notch education for the urban poor of Seoul.  

A view from the school's court yard

Our team stands with Mrs. Campbell in a little outdoor sitting area at the school.

There was even a "Sister Act" number for special music by the elected leadership of the school.   

Today there are 600 girls in middle school and 900 girls in high school and 3500 in college. Girls come form the area to attend school today on a beautiful campus area Paiwha ... which means nourishing flower.  

Prayer Shawls... Modeled and soon to be shared..

Thanks to Prayer Shawl ministries of United Methodist Women in the US, we are able to share beautiful shawls with the women at Sunlit Sisters Center and several women's shelters here in South Korea. Our Ubuntu team modeled them before identifying the destination.

Lunch time was a special Korean experience with all of us sitting on the floor. We all managed to get down and back up again without incident! Once again the food was delicious. Eating has not been a problem on this journey because the hosts have demonstrated radical hospitality. Every meeting we have we are greeted with special delights...rice cakes, bean paste candy, fresh fruit and some kind of drink.

Rice cakes and some bean paste sweets...beautifully presented.

Concord grapes, yellow kiwi, tomatoes, and date tea. 

A wonderful and very emotional day.

Rev. Kim

Our first day was wonderful and full!!!  We walked 12,500 steps and many of those were steps or a climb up one of the many hills on Ewah campus.  Today the steps were less ... Only about 4,800, however the content was heavy, enlightening, and spiritually lifting.  We began the day with some powerful and passionate history of Korean Methodist women from the late 1800's and on who paved the way for Korean women to be some of the most educated women in the world.  Rev. Heasun Kim has written and edited writings for a book for the KUMC on the subject of Korean women's role in the church.  

Our team with Dr. David Suh and Rev. Heasun Kim on the walkway for the new underground building on the campus. 

Another highlight for us on a subject that most of us were unaware of was the human rights issues relating to the comfort women of Korea during WWII.  It is very difficult to translate feelings and our experiences of the day.  Korean women have worked tirelessly to bring the human rights issues to the forefront for years.  They have held a protest in front of the Japanese embassy every Wednesday for 20 years.  We will be participating this protest on Wednesday, September 11.  

Two of our women have spent time working to get US legislation passed which asked our government to take the human rights issue of the treatment and use of comfort women to the Japanese government.  This has been passed but still no apologies from Japanese government for the crimes against women. 

Helen and Karen 

A Great Way To Begin Our Journey

President  elect Lallene Rector Of Garrett Theological
Seminary, Bridget Cabrera of UMW National
Rev. Haesun Kim of Scranton Women's
Leadership Center. 

We had a great day on Monday... Filled with radical hospitality shown by our hosts, wonderful people who greeted us our gave us a tour, a ton of walking up and down the hills of Ewah and Yonsei Universities, and to top it off deliciously prepared Korean food.  All good.  Here are a few photos to help you get a feel for our day.

We have arrived safely

It could be that I'm tired after the 13 1/2 hour flight from Chicago...it could be that Blogger and the Ipad don't get along but things have disappeared so I'm seem to be making slow progress for the posts.  Maybe things will improve over time!!

Little by little our fabulous group of 10 Ubuntu Sisters gathered in Seoul.  It's been a long day of travel for everyone.  We are thinking that to arrive early evening is probably the best as we have an opportunity to get cleaned up and the into bed before midnight.  If I hurry even I will be close to bed by midnight. 

This evening our devotions were centered around the early missionaries who came to Korea  to share the gospel and begin schools for the children who were not able to attend school. We look forward to our time here to gather more of those stories.  In our conversations with Koreans this history is very important for it defines a special relationship with the people of the US.  
Our Korean sisters who are part of our team have been extremely helpful.   We are blessed with that many translators.  

Front row: Mary, Paula, Kathryn, Molly, Bonnie, back row: Barbara, Hae

Just one picture to share tonight.  This is the "Chicago 7" waiting at O'Hare before going through security.