Welcome to Korea!

On Feb. 14, 2006, our team of six arrived in Seoul, Korea. After a hot and humid 10 days in Singapore, we were glad to be back in chilly weather again!

Being in Korea was different from being in India and Singapore because we could not speak the language. While English was one of the official langauges in the two former countries, it is hardly spoken and written here. We could not even read the billboards and shop names (except for a few Chinese characters here and there). We needed a translator for most situations.

Upon arrival, we were delighted to see copies of the Korean Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, hot off the presses! This new translation, which has taken years to complete, had come from the printer a days before we arrived -- just in time for the upcoming seminars.

Protestors? On strike?

Our host, Mr. Yoon, informed us that the signs these young people on the streets of Seoul are carrying actually say: "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life."

Some estimate that 20-30 percent of South Koreans call themselves Christians. Korea also sends out more overseas missionaries than any other country in the world after the United States.

South Korea is a largely Christianized country. There seems to be no shortage of churches here. But just as in North America, many churchgoers are nominal, cultural Christians who simply go through the motions, but do not understand the meaning or the power of the Gospel.

Just as in any other culture, there is a danger of the Gospel being syncretized (mixed) with other religious or cultural ideas. In Korea, many Buddhist, Taoist and animistic/pantheistic ways of thinking are ingrained in the culture. Many "practice" Christianity alongside frequenting a Buddhist temple to ask for blessings or going to a medium to contact a dead relative. Many churches have also resolved to the "prosperity gospel" approach to attract people to their congregations.

For Christians and missionaries to communicate the Gospel clearly today, they need to be clear about what God's word teaches and realize that Christianity and any other belief system that contradicts the Bible are mutually exclusive. Our purpose in Korea was to help people gain a clear, "unmuddled" understanding of the Gospel and teach them how to teach it.

The day right after arriving in Korea, John was interviewed by a reporter of a local daily newspaper. We were able to sit in on the interview. Our host, Mr. Yoon, translated. The reporter asked John about the upcoming seminars and the new Korean Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. What a privilege to have this written about in a secular newspaper!

Extract from the interview: Fast-food Gospel
John: "You have fast food restaurants here -- McDonald's, Burger King -- that have created their business around people getting their food quickly. There's a small menu and people can order quickly. When we teach the Bible, sometimes we want to do the same thing. We want to give them their diet quickly. But there is probably very little nutrition and very little understanding..."

Later that afternoon, John was interviewed by a group of six reporters (from one secular paper and several Christian weekly papers and TV stations). They were curious about TERM teaching and how it was different. By writing about this, they also helped publicize the upcoming seminars.