To our praying friends

The Asia Trip Team

Below are a collection of reports, stories and photos from our recent 5-week trip to India, Singapore and Korea. During this time, we taught seminars among 4 vastly different cultures in 9 separate locations — to a total of 1,300 people who represent at least 40 distinct language groups. The stories speak for themselves what the Lord has done during this trip.

The believers in each of these countries have asked us to pass on a special “thank you” to the churches and individuals who have helped make this trip possible. Together with them, we also thank you for allowing us to serve this way. Without your support and partnership in prayer, this would not have been possible.

For His Kingdom,
Derek and Chantal

The ancient Egyptian scroll you see behind us was an important visual aid used in all of our seminars. Read about this in the entries below...or ask us for more details -- we'd love to share!

All photos courtesy of John K. and Derek.

P.S. The entries posted are in reverse order for reading...the last country we visited is posted most recently.

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.

Korea BWM seminars, Feb. 16-21

What is a Beginning with Moses (BWM) seminar? It is a condensed version of a TERM seminar. It covers the chronological Gospel approach -- why use it and how to teach it -- and the important doctrinal points from The Emmaus Road Message. In Korea, we taught BWM seminars in five different locations.

Seoul (Feb. 16-17)

Our first seminar was held at Seoul's Sarang Community Church ("sarang" means love). John taught in English and Peter translated. In these seminars, we also used the same visual aids as in TERM seminars, and the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (see Chennai recap for more details) to contrast a polytheistic belief system with what the Bible says.

John's PowerPoint presentations were all translated into Korean!

There were about 170 participants at this seminar, including pastors, Bible college students and those in ministry.

Participants checking out the visual aids.

Daejeong (Feb. 18)

This large church in Daejeong was a 2-hour drive from Seoul. There were about 140 participants at this seminar.

Even our visual aids were "Koreanized"!

Since there were Bible students from Mainland China at this seminar (and also at the Ansan seminar), Derek translated John's teaching into Mandarin through simultaneous translation equipment.

Korean Military - Special Forces chapel, Seoul (Feb. 19)

Through our friend Peter, who is currently in the Korean Special Forces, we were blessed to have dinner with a military general (more details in an entry below) and to have John preach at the special forces military chapel.

About 300 soldiers heard the message, which was about the Passover and Christ's work on the cross.

The soldiers, with Janice (John's wife) in the foreground.

Ansan (Feb. 20)

It was an opportunity that could not be passed up. A church in Ansan had prayed for 3 years (!) for someone from outside their country to come teach them the Word of truth. When they found out that a teaching team from GoodSeed was visiting Korea, they pulled together a Beginning with Moses seminar for a crowd of more than 400 in record time — one week. (We later learned that they had estimated boxed lunches for 420, and a total of 414 showed up!)

This was our biggest crowd yet! Since local universities were on break, there were quite a number of college-aged students attending.

Because visual aids are rarely used to teach adults in this culture (as in many other cultures!), the audience was especially fascinated by the many visual aids that John used. They sat rapt as the visuals helped explain difficult concepts in God’s word that had become clear for the very first time.

One lady started clapping spontaneously when John broke the chains around his wrists to illustrate the concept of redemption.


- No pictures for security purposes -

The special treat at this seminar was having 7 seminary students from Mainland China in the audience. Having come to Korea on an academic visa and studying under the banner of a secular university, these students hailed from 7 different provinces in northeast China. Although evangelism in China is still prohibited by law, these students hope to go back to their homeland equipped with the knowledge and tools they needed to reach the lost. Derek translated John’s message into Mandarin for the Chinese students and they listened through headphones.

After the seminar, the team was able to sit down with the students and a few of their academic deans and professors to garner their feedback, which would be crucial for developing future tools for large missions fields such as China. We had a special time of getting to know them and their situation. Although we only spent about an hour together, it was indeed precious fellowship in the Lord.

One of the students told us: “I was truly inspired by the chronological approach. China has many remote rural and mountainous regions, especially in the West, where people are uneducated, illiterate and considered ‘uncivilized.’ I always thought it would be impossible to teach these people the Gospel because they simply would not understand all the complex doctrines. But with this approach, even people with little or no education would be able to understand. Through stories, visual aids and drama, the whole story of the Bible unfolds in a very simple and clear way. I feel that this approach could be used mightily to teach such people.”

Cheongju (Feb. 22)

Our last seminar was in Cheongju, 2 hours south of Seoul. About 150 participants attended.

Mr. Yoon translated this time.

Testimonies from Korea seminar participants

“The seminar has been very helpful. In Korea, we teach a lot about the work of Jesus, but we don’t teach enough about the identity of Jesus. We always give a short Gospel message and we don’t explain the Old Testament stories in enough detail. Many who claim to believe in Jesus fall away and go back into the world.” – a Korean youth pastor

“It was excellent. It gave me a very clear picture about the Bible and what God’s plan and intentions are. This is the kind of approach we need most for evangelism today.” – a Sri Lankan Bible student studying in Korea

“At first I thought this seminar was going to be about things I was already familiar with, and that I wouldn’t learn anything new. But as it went on, I understood more and more about the Bible from God’s point of view. True, I had heard it all before, but my knowledge had only been in parts. Toward the end, everything was linked together. It felt exhilarating, refreshing.” – a Korean Bible student who intends to work with the Mainland Chinese

“For years, I had been looking around for the best way to teach the Bible to unbelievers. I’ve finally found the best way — it is exactly the same way God tells it to us in His Word, the same way Jesus told it to his disciples on the road to Emmaus. This is a unique way to teach, quite different from anything I had learned before in church and in Bible studies. But it’s definitely the best way.” – a youth pastor

“As a Christian for 14 years, the Gospel was not a new topic to me. Yet yesterday, when I saw the visual aid about justification — the colored cloaks — and heard that we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ that Satan could never take away, it filled my heart with the same happiness I felt 14 years ago when I first trusted in Christ. Last night, I could not sleep because of the joy in my heart. It renewed my heart and revived me to do God’s work again.” – a missionary who works with foreign migrant workers in Korea

(Read more about the "colored cloaks" visual aid in the entry "Velcro for the brain.")

“Before the seminar, I was never sure why God only accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. From the book of Hebrews, I knew that Abel offered a “better sacrifice” than Cain did. But I never understood that Abel’s sacrifice was “better” because he presented a blood sacrifice, whereas Cain’s didn’t shed blood. His sacrifice was accepted because the “life is in the blood” — this is exactly on the same line as Christ’s sacrifice in the New Testament! Now, I understand that the whole Bible is written in one continuous line.” – a missionary who works with foreign migrant workers in Korea

(Derek also preached on this topic in Chennai, India. See the bottom of the Chennai recap to read more about this.)

Introducing our dear friends...

One of the highlights of our time in Korea was being able to spend time with our dear friends Peter and Elaine Yoon, and Peter's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Yoon, who organized all the seminars. While the rest of the team stayed at a hotel, we were privileged to stay with the Yoons at their apartment. After the rest of the team head back to N. America, we were able to stay for four more days to "hang out" with the Yoons.

Mr. and Mrs. Yoon are NTM representatives in Korea. We've learned a lot from them in the past few years and continue to learn every time we spend time with them! We are thankful for all the hard work they put in to make these seminars possible, and their care, hospitality and godly example toward us.

Peter and Elaine ("PE") are our close college buddies. They were married in 2004 (Derek was the best man at their wedding in Korea), and now they are parents to baby Dayne! It was wonderful to finally meet our new "nephew," Dayne!

Peter was the one who introduced us to world missions, to the chronological Gospel approach and to GoodSeed's ministry. He is currently serving in the Korean Special Forces.

Mrs. Yoon and Elaine made us yummy homemade Korean meals. Elaine and Chantal went to the same high school in Hong Kong, both majored in journalism in college, and lived across the hall from each other in their dorm.

And now, the spotlight goes to...Dayne Yoon! He was adorable, good natured and not fussy at all for a 9-month-old. We had so much fun with him, we wanted to bring him home with us!

Dayne and Uncle Derek hit it off right away!

PE and DC...just like old times.

And for old time's sake, here's the PE and DC picture from way back in 2003...before any of us were married.

Bye! We'll miss you guys!

Sights, sounds and tastes of Korea

Sights

We had the special opportunity to visit the DMZ (demilitarized zone) between North and South Korea. The tour was educational, and we got to peer over the border at the North Korean guards (no hand motions, including waving or pointing, was allowed for fear of being mistaken as communication with the communist North). For more on the DMZ tour, see our pictures on Flickr. (You need to log in to see our "friends only" pictures. Ask us for log-in info.)

The building behind us is North Korea!

We also had the wonderful privilege of dining with General Lee of the Korean Special Forces 3rd Brigade. He is a godly Christian man and a friend of Peter's.

In front of the Special Forces 3rd Brigade (Flying Tiger) building.

Top: Julie (Peter's sister), Chantal, Derek, Peter, the chaplain of the special forces
Bottom: Mrs. Yoon, Mr. Yoon, General Lee, John C., Janice, Corrie, John K.

The general presented us with an autographed photo of the taekwondo demonstration by Special Forces soldiers during the Asian Games.

Sounds

Because Derek and I looked like everyone else here, whenever we traveled as a team, people would often single us out and speak to us in Korean... only to apologize after we shook our heads and said "Sorry, I don't speak Korean!" in our best American English. After a while, I even resorted to, "Me...Chinese!"

It was a little frustrating to look like everyone else, yet not be able to speak like everyone else (except simple phrases like "hello" and "thank you"). This reminded us of our need to be flexible in adapting to different cultures. Even though a culture may appear very similar on the surface, it could be totally different in reality.

Just take eating rice as an example. In Chinese culture, to be polite, you must lift up your bowl and shovel rice into your mouth with your chopsticks. Leaving your bowl on the table is considered impolite. In Japanese culture, you must not lift up your bowl, but pick up the rice with your chopsticks (of course, they have stickier rice, so it's easier to pick up). In Korean culture, you must not lift up your bowl, and you must eat rice with a spoon. To pick up rice with your chopsticks is ok, only in informal situations.

Did you know that the Korean word for "red bean" sounds like "Hong Kong"?

Tastes

Korean food is the best!

Don't forget the kim chi! We learned that Koreans are real serious about their kim chi. In Korean households, they have separate refridgerators where only the kim chi is stored.

Welcome to Singapore!

Singapore's national emblem, the "Merlion"

After departing India, we arrived in the city state of Singapore. This former British colony is modern, high-tech, orderly and clean (thanks to the strict rules and steep fines)!



Going to Singapore was like stepping into a lush tropical garden. It was green everywhere you went, and the trees and flowers were amazing.

Despite the high humidity and temperature, there were surprisingly few mosquitoes!










"Beware of falling coconuts"
















A bit of Singaporean humor for you...








Singapore has a real mix of cultures. Its population of 4 million is 78 percent Chinese, 13 percent Malay and 7 percent Indian. Singapore's four official languages reflect this mix: English, Chinese, Tamil (south Indian) and Malay.

We found that there is a real mix of religions in this small country too:

Right next to the Hindu temple, there was a Chinese Buddhist temple. And down the street there was a shop selling household idols. Not to mention the fortune tellers and the Feng Shui and New Age crystal shops that were everywhere.

Talk about polytheistic and pantheistic!