Church in Asan

Yesterday, Bermet and I went to church in town. Bermet is a student from Kyrgyzstan and she is so sweet. She is the youngest person in our program at the age of 17, but she carries herself better than some of the older people in our program. She has only studied Korean for a year and she is close to fluent. Xian-Chen joined us because she was curious about church. She told me that in China, there is no religion, but a belief in Marxism. I thought that was interesting that even with her little knowledge of English, she knew the English word for a political movement that has changed her nation forever.

We walked to the church from school. It is called the Methodist Church of Asan. When we arrived, the dozen or so members welcomed us and shared their hymnals and Bibles with us. I brought my English Bible so I could read along (since my Korean still needs progress). The entire service was in Korean, so I could only pick out a few words here and there. Bermet sat next to me and helped me understand the basic message of the sermon. It was nice though to sit and hear Korean being spoken for a long period of time. It was beautiful to see that even though I could not understand what was being said, the words that were being said were for the praise and glory of our God. Even though we come from many different cultures, we can come and worship together. The message of Christ's redeeming love is universal and breaks all language and cultural barriers.

In the service we also sang a few hymns, which was an interesting experience. I have learned how to read all of the sounds represented in the alphabet, but I do not know the meaning of the words. It was very weird to be able to sing a song, but being unable to understand the words I was singing. At least I am making some progress being able to read the sounds; vocabulary will come with time.

After church, the congregation invited us to their lunch. In Korea, every church has lunch together after the service. It was great to try new Korean food and to get to know the members and the pastor. I was overwhelmed by their hospitality and friendliness. Pastor Oh-Se-Hoon spoke English very well and invited us to their Wednesday night service. I am very excited because I have missed the fellowship that I have from church at home and now I have found a church home here in Asan. I am also excited because I think reading familiar hymns in Korean and listening to the pastor's sermons will help my Korean. My hope is to be exposed to the language as much as possible. Pastor Hoon also suggested that he could help Bermet and I with our Korean if we would help him perfect his English. I think this would really help me with my Korean. I am so glad that I have found a wonderful group of believers to join for worship. I am very excited to see what the Wednesday service will be like.