Korean Reflections

We are on a vacation in Korea and enjoying the trip. We are noticing some differences in the culture that are not so obvious living in the US. Over time, they may or may not prove to be correct.

We noticed a lot of churches with crosses on top of the buildings in Seoul. There seem to be 2 or 3 per block in many areas. Also, the largest church in the world is in Seoul. It has several services and people rush in to get the best seats.

We see street evangelistic teams at the train and subway stations. They have PA systems and sing and speak to the crowds as they pass by. They also give out literature sometimes. These are Christian teams and the music is familiar even though the words are Korean rather than English, they are standard familiar hymns. The evangelists talk to a lot of people but they do not draw crowds that we saw.

Afternoon

Zach is on his way to Japan.I hope he has a wonderful time!

I'm drinking Japanese Cherry Sencha green tea from an antique china teacup with Mt Fuji scene painted on the side. The tea is very fragrant.

For lunch we went to Jin's. I ordered a bento box with beef, sushi, eggroll, shrimp and vegetable tempura and orange slices with a side of miso soup. My allergies got in the way so I took the food home to enjoy later. John ordered bibeanbop.

John and I reviewed a bit of Korean today. We are watching shows with subtitles to get a better feel for the language and be exposed to more of it. Learning a new language is not as easy as I would like it to be.

We are studying 2 languages now, Korean and Hebrew. Both have very strange looking alphabets but we know most of the sounds pretty well. Korean reads left to right like English but also down in units. Hebrew reads from right to left, the opposite of English, and also has letter sounds above and below the line. The intonation patterns of the languages are different. Korean is more fluid and softer sounding than Hebrew. Hebrew is more appropriate in a chant style than in a song. Of course both languages can do anything.

The Korean language has built into it respect and politeness. People are addressed certain ways depending on age and occupation and such. We are just beginning to learn it. On Sundays we have Korean lessons in the afternoon at church.

We have been studying biblical Hebrew for over 5 years, 1 hour a week. I doubt if I will ever master it but we are reading the old testament with helps now. The tones of the language are such that you can hear the swishing of the water and the sounds of the wind or leaves when you read it. It adds a dimension to the scriptures not possible in a translation.

It was nice to see Amanda and Willard today. They live near Rolla but are here for a class reunion. Amanda went to school with Zach and dated him briefly. I am fascinated with the fact that Amanda has 6 grandchildren. She has 2 little girls, 4 and 8 plus I think she said 4 step children. Her husband is only in his early 40's. She seems to be very happy. I was glad to see them.

A little while after they left, Mom, Dad and Dan came over for a visit. It's been a while since I saw him and it was nice to visit for a while. Mom and Dad brought some fresh produce from Aldi's, Food for Less and their garden. Cherries, strawberries, fresh peaches, lemons, cauliflower, red grapes and cucumbers. Beautiful!

I gave Dan an MSU t shirt and a gift for his new grandson, Jase, who joins big brother Derek.. He is going to KC to meet him tomorrow. I'm sure he's beautiful The baby is the son of Andy and Jill. Dan is also going to see his daughter Julie's new lab puppy.

John is over at the church working and getting ready for Sunday. Rossanna called me a few minutes ago. And I got a text message. I need to go over my own sermon shortly. Life is busy and full of celebrations.

Quiet

Our day started before 6 am. Zach called from Korea. We had a good conversation, found his location on google maps while talking and found out some of his plans. He is going to Japan tomorrow for his week long summer break. We saw him on a video camera and he showed us some of the food he was eating, sushi.

One of the things some of the teachers do during short breaks is called airport roulette. They go to the airport, find the cheapest fare and travel there for the short break (usually 3 day weekends). That sounds like so much fun!

Later we went to Starbucks and talked to several people, including a young man who is moving away. He has traveled to several countries and lived in some. We will miss visiting with him. Starbucks is a place where we visit with other ministers, missionaries, students and many others from all over. We also read and study there.

We spent a few hours at Starbucks working on our sermons for Sunday, writing, revising, sharing ideas. Sermons take a lot of time, thought and study. We had already been working on them this week and had things mostly written. The rule of thumb taught in seminaries is one hour of study and preparation for every minute preached. Sometimes that's about right.

My brother is driving down from St Louis to visit this weekend. It will be good to see him later in the day, possibly eat together.

We can't spend the whole time together because of the needs in getting ready for church tomorrow. In addition to the morning sermon, John will make sure Jean was able to get the bulletin, he will check the technology and make sure it is ready, he will go through the building and make sure all is set up, he will check the temperature, he will have calls from people and will answer anything that is needed, often people will call to talk about personal issues so he will take time, he will prepare his Sunday school lesson, he will practice his sermon, he will get calls about who is riding the van and will check to make sure there is a driver in the morning, he will do many, many little things until into the late evening.

The church has an attendance now similar to that of a full time pastorate so he spends far more hours than are apparent. I take care of many practical things. I also take care of things quietly and make sure some things are happening. I appreciate people who are dependable and take care of things they promise without being reminded. Everything runs so much more smoothly with responsible and mature adults. God bless them!!

The Quiet Life

On Sunday, Rick got up and said he thought of a minister's life and the life of the minister's family as quiet and boring. I found that really amusing.

I like quiet and peaceful. But life is full of adventures (sometimes known as problems, like in action flicks where cars blow up and people shoot at people only not quite that deadly most of the time, just problems) and challenges and new experiences.

On one hand, I find it odd to think that anyone would think our life boring. On the other hand, I find it odd that some people have been very jealous of the things we have had and done. There are always people who have more and people who have less.

We live a life of contrasts. It's very colorful but I don't know if it is more so than the average person if they so choose. So maybe I'll write about it. Some of the biggest adventures turn out to be confidential and cannot be posted out of respect for others. But plenty of non private things happen too.

The Joys of Reality

Seize the moment. Life is a gift. Look for the beauty around you. List the good things in your life. Unless you are clinically depressed, you will see many. (If you are clinically depressed, there is medicine and that is good.) Live in the moment. Live mindfully.

Use your five senses to see, hear, touch, taste and smell the things of life. Savor the moment. Ordinary things become extraordinary if we take the time to experience them. The media gives us illusions of the imaginations of others. What is real is so much better. Look for it. You'll find it. Someone has said, we find what we look for if we look hard enough. Is the glass half full or half empty? If you were trying to convince others of the value of something, what words would you use to describe it?

Matt's Blog

Matt, a seminary graduate and our nephew, has a blog called The Church of No People. His newest blog is entitled "The Pastor is a Phony" He, and those who comment, make some interesting observations about pastors and churches.

http://www.thechurchofnopeople.com

Matt writes, after being in a house church, he would never want to go back to the institutional church. From the point of view of a PK and then a minister, I can see where he is coming from. No sane person would ever want to be a part of what he has seen. Very few people know the meanness that went on behind the scenes.

Does the church, as we "do church" in this country, really glorify God? Is this what the Lord intended as his church or have we distorted it to be something different using the same language?

Jesus says, 'by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another'. Do we really? Do church people make excuses about being imperfect, or worse, as a justification to keep on sinning instead of doing what is right?

The people in the pews show up but the majority do not believe the basic doctrines or the things of scripture such as the virgin birth or the resurrection according to poles and surveys. They come to be entertained, to be "fed" and to consume far too often instead of to serve. That's fine for babies but .....when do they start to grow up?

What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Is this what Christ wants us to do or is it just cultural tradition?

We used to joke that the structure of the Methodist denomination was so good and strong that the church would continue to exist 100 years even if they discovered god really was dead (a popular thing in the 70's but pure nonsense).

Matt and his followers have lots of interesting thoughts.

Children's Ministry

There was a time when, if we had one or two children, that was good. Well, times have changed for the better at the Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church. We now have a children's ministry with about 15 children.

On Sunday morning, we have Children's Sunday school. That is followed by Children's church during the worship service. The children come into the sanctuary for the children's sermon, then they go into classes for lessons for their age and stage. They learn to sing songs, how to pray, why they give, what the various things are that go on and what they mean, crafts and Bible lessons on their level of understanding.

About every other month, there is a special program for the children. The children go to a place such as the zoo or to see a potter after hearing a story and recieving instruction on how that realtes to a Bible lesson. It is hands on Bible and the kids love it. The zoo related to Noah's ark. The potter told them the Bible story and let them make their own pots. After the lessons, crafts and activity, they get something to eat such as pizza, which is also made into a lesson. The kids have a wonderful time. Lots of adults accompany them on the outings, including their church school teachers and some parents.

Van Ministry

Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church has a van that is in use each week for minstry. We have several members of all ages who cannot drive, so our driver, either Grady or Mike or Mark, goes each Sunday morning to pick them up.

After the first group is delivered to church for Sunday School, Pastor Ang drives the van to MSU to pick up international university students for the worship service.

Our van is used for going to denominational meetings, trips for international students around Missouri, outreach such as special events at the Ronald McDonald House, youth events and transportation during their week at camp, third age outings to various places, children's ministry outings to various places and special events like Christmas caroling. It has been a very good investment for the church. We almost need two vans the way things are going. In the near future, we may be thinking in that direction.

Women's Ministry

Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church has expanded their Women's Ministries. In 5 years, it has grown from one circle of 4 women plus a group of 8 quilters.

The Quilters circle still meets once a week as it has for years. Half of the ladies go to our church and half are from other churches who just like to quilt.

The original circle is now called the Helping Hands Circle. They meet on the second Saturday and have about 10 or so if all come. The majority of these ladies are retired, over 65, and many, but not all, are single.

The next circle added is called the Mary and Martha Circle. This circle meets on the 2nd Monday afternoon each month. They have 6 ladies. The majority of these ladies are married with husbands who are working but are all over 50.

The newest circle is called the Women of Faith and Joy circle and it meets on the second Monday night of the month. Several of our working ladies with families and our Korean ladies attend this circle. There are about 8 members in it. All of the women in this circle are working and range in age from their late 30's up. Almost all are married and some have children in the home.

To pull everyone together, we have a CPWM (Cumberland Presbyterian Women's Ministry) meeting once a quarter with all the circles. It is held on Sunday afternoons after church.

There are women who do not attend any circle but will come to a special ladies event off site as guests. The last time we had such an event, about 35 women attended.

We hope to start a group of younger women in the future with child care for them so they can meet unencumbered. Not all young women with children have a husband to take care of the kids.

Bible Study

The Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church has several options for adult Bible study on Sunday morning. Each teacher has their own style and area of expertise.

George is a scholar in the area of prophecy. He is writing a book and has spent years studying prophecy in the Old and New Testaments. George is a retired minister from another denomination but is now a treasured part of our church. He is a Bible college graduate.

Jim is focusing on a single book in the New Testament. His style is modeled after BSF classes he took. Jim is an elder in our church.

Gordon is a seminary graduate and a retired ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His study focuses on the quarterly which he adds to from his extensive background.

John is the senior pastor in the church and a seminary graduate. His Bible study class takes a passage of scripture, in sequence each week, and he lectures about it. He uses commentaries and other resources to get more background. People in the class ask questions and challenge him. They do a lot of current understanding and application and discuss current issues and circumstances.

Peggy is an associate pastor in the church, a seminary graduate and the only female leading a class at this time. Her class is a direct Bible study with no other texts other than the study notes in the Bibles themselves. It is for people who do not know the Bible well and want to know what it says. While there is some application and discussion, the point is to familiarize the class with the scripture itself. Everyone participates in a question and answer format.

Pastor Park, the Korean speaking associate, is a seminary graduate and has a doctorate as well. He does not lead a Bible study on Sunday morning before preaching. His Bible study is held on Wednesday evening in Korean. He also gives a short message in Korean every morning, along with a prayer service, at 6 am, except Saturday it's at 7am.

Pastor Ang is hoping to start a Bible study in Chinese soon.

Chinese Campus Ministry

The Springfield Missouri Cumberland Presbyterian Church campus ministry team at Missouri State University (MSU) and Ozarks Technical College (OTC) is growing! The Lord is blessing our outreach. There were 17 college and university students in church Sunday morning! (and some regulars were missing!)

From MSU we had 8 visitng Chinese students, 4 regularly attending Korean and Korean American students and one non asian American. We also had 3 American (or Asian American) students from OTC, and one student from Mizzou. Our campus ministry and international student outreach is growing.

The members of our campus ministry team are
Rev Peggy Appling- CP Campus Ministry leader and Associate Pastor
Rev John Ang- Chinese speaking CP pastor ministering to Chinese and international students
Rev Gordon Campbell- CP pastor on ministry team
Rev John Appling- ministry team member and CP Senior Pastor
Elder Ed Fare- ministry team support
John Barnhardt- ministry team support, Chinese speaking and van driver
Our campus ministry team members are reimbursed for any expenses they submit and given use of the building, van and any other things the church has but are not paid a salary for their campus ministry work. We are missionaries of a sort. Our church has a campus ministry fund that anyone can contribute to that pays for things like dues and ministry expenses.

Of the 17 students at church Sunday, I believe 9 will be going back to their countries (maybe 10) and the rest are immigrants or born in the US to immigrant parents. The visiting Chinese students were a little older than a traditional university student and some have families with them. There were other Chinese, American and Korean people at church who are not students but are college age.

Soon, we hope to be expanding our Cumberland Presbyterian ministry on campus even more to all groups both international and domestic. There is a lot of need for community and for a sense of belonging on campus. We believe we can serve this community and share our faith at the same time.

Pastor Ang takes the CP church van to MSU to pick up the students on Sunday morning (on it's second run of the morning, after picking up those people who cannot drive, for Sunday school. It's a busy van). The students are provided a meal after the service, usually eating with our Korean members who have a custom of eating at church after church every Sunday pot luck style. (Several of our Korean members drive a distance to get there each Sunday). The food is primarily Korean and it is fun to try new things. Koreans and Chinese people both eat rice and soup at every meal, in addition to other foods. Sometimes, Pastor Ang, John Barnhart and Ed Fare take the students out to eat.

Pastor Ang ministers to the Chinese speaking students during the week, helping them with the practical needs and conversing with them in their language. Our Chinese ministry is around 8 currently, plus visitors.

Pastor Park, our Korean speaking associate pastor from Korea, ministers to some of the Korean speaking students during the week. He is not part of the campus ministry at this time. Pastor Park and his family are in the country for a few years and his English is still in progress. Due to language barriers, his most effective ministry is to Korean speakers at this time. (The Korean CP ministry in our church numbers in the 40's, including children, and is growing).

Korean Language and Dance Classes

At Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church, some of our Korean members are offering classes and teaching us to speak Korean after church on Sundays. The class starts at 12:30pm and lasts about an hour.

There is a class for adults and several classes for children. The adult class teacher is Gee. If you are interested in learning to speak and read Korean, join us.

Becky is one of our Korean members and is a dance instructor. She is teaching any children who want to learn Korean Dance every Saturday afternoon at Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The Korean Dance classes will begin again in February. In the fall, she had about a dozen students aged preschool through 5th grade. Becky will teach teens and older children if they care too enroll. The children danced for us at the bazaar in December in their beautiful Korean outfits with fans and swords (fake props) and other cultural items that are part of the performance.

Haiti Earthquake Relief

Last Sunday, our church took up a special collection for the Haiti earthquake relief. The money collected was sent to the denominational headquarters, that is collecting it to forward on to CWS (Church World Service) to send to Haiti. Our denomination is small, and we have no denominational presence in Haiti at this time, so it is necessary to rely on other agencies.

Some of our local church people support other agencies privately that also do excellent relief work. We have some who support two excellent Christian groups, Samaritan's Purse and Convoy of Hope, both of which have a continuous presence in Haiti. Convoy of Hope is based out of Springfield and fights poverty worldwide. I think some among us also support Compassion, Red Cross and World Vision. We are a mission minded people.

The people of Haiti are in our prayers.

Alcoholic's Anonymous- AA

One of Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church's very successful ministries is our Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)group. It is a part of our community outreach. We provide a meeting place for an AA group every weekday, Monday through Friday, which meets officially from 5:30 until 6:30 pm. We have been told it is the biggest AA group in town, with probably 150-200 people coming through each week and an attendance of 70-100 each night. We are the only location that offers babysitting every night for those who go to the meetings.

The AA group has access to the whole church during their meetings most nights, unless another church group needs a room or two. They have coffee (and other foods sometimes). Some who attend our church go to the meetings and oversee everything. The meetings are closed except for one night a month, so only those who are working on overcoming their addictions and alcoholism are attending. Nobody is supposed to come just to watch in this group unless it is open night. The purpose is to respect the privacy of those who attend. For example, a person may not have had a drink for 10, 20 or 30 years, but may need the support of the group to continue to abstain. There are employers who would fire them if they knew they attended AA, even if the problem has not existed for many years. Life is not fair, thus a need for privacy.

Several AA members have keys and come over any time they want to pray or meet with mentors or spend time with others. Generally, some start coming to the church by 3 pm and do not leave until about 7:30 pm. They meet at other times with their mentors at the church too and have had leadership meetings and classes.

There are so many people who are battling addictions and alcoholism and need the support. They come from all walks of life and many are hard working people holding good and responsible jobs. Our church ministers by providing a safe and open environment for the recovery process to happen. Some might call it a community service or a community outreach. Any person who attends AA is always welcome in our church. No distinctions are made. It has happened a few times that someone who attends church services is drunk and we are kind to them. What better place for a hurting person to be than in the house of the Lord?

Alcoholism is an illness. Our ministry is to be supportive of those who struggle and to welcome them. Jesus was accused of eating with sinners and he did not condemn those who were making an effort to move forward in their lives. May our attitude be like Christ's.

Crosslines Food Pantry Ministry

The Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church provides food and volunteer time to Crosslines on a regular basis. Crosslines is a ministry of the Council of Churches in Springfield, MO. Each weekday of the month, a different church volunteers for a day. First Monday, Third Tuesday, Second Wednesday, etc and that is the day they take enough food to the pantry to feed about 50 families or so each month. The volunteer church of the day fills bags of food for the people who come into Crosslines in need.

Small churches, that do not have the resources to fill the pantry each month, take fifth weekdays, which come about once a quarter. That is what our church does. When they first volunteered many years ago, the membership of the church was in the 20's and 30's and they did not have the resources to do more. We are still small and once a quarter is do-able. Our day is the 5th Wednesday and our next Crosslines day is in March.

A person (not in their church), a regular volunteer, takes the applications of the people wanting food and determines if they are eligible under government guidelines. There is not enough food for every person in town who doesn't feel like shopping to go in and get free food so there have to be guidelines. Almost everybody who goes there is eligible.

The volunteer church of the day is to give the person needing food enough for at least 3 days for the number of people in their household. A family of 10 gets a lot more food than a single person.

When I was the volunteer who took the applications, I saw that the majority of people needing help had physical and psychological problems and many were on disability. I loved the little lady in her 80's who had surgery and could barely walk. She was determined, when she got her strength back, she was going to get a job and not have to ask for help.

One lady had just learned she had a brain tumor and had just adopted another family member's children due to some issues. Her children and the additional children gave her quite a crew to look after.

One younger man, in his 30's, looked very healthy and hearty, but when he lifted up his shirt, he had stitches healing all the way down from recent open heart surgery. (Some of our volunteer churches send only elderly people who refuse to help people load the groceries they give. They do not have the ability.Where are the healthy younger volunteers with big hearts to help those who are doing the best they can but can't quite do it all?)

There was the family with the little boy who was dying of cancer. It was his birthday and they thought it would be his last. Our people, since it happened on the day our church was filling the pantry, went to the store and bought him a special cake and other things.

Some of the people who come for food were special students in school. They were not born with the ability to do as much. Those individuals tended to be working part time at low paying jobs and just having trouble making ends meet.

A few of the people coming in would be college students who were on their own and having trouble making ends meet while they were in school, particularly if they had children. These students were mainly those who had no family support and were trying to do better than their families of birth had done. I respect that.

Some of the people who came in were elderly. The checks they got did not cover their expenses. Sometimes other family members who lost jobs or had health issues, or even children whose families were dysfunctional were living with them. The older generation is very much geared toward taking care of your own from what I saw, even though it was a hardship on them. The other major reason they needed help was the cost of prescription medications prescribed but not covered by any plan and expensive.

We had many people who got laid off and were out of work but looking. That's a temporary thing for them, but painful.

It bothered me the number of people who had been in the service who were having trouble finding employment. These were people with good educations and excellent skills. I'm not sure why employers shy away from them, but many do. One young family came in and the dad had been a helicopter pilot in the military months before. He told me about his struggles to find a job, any job. I think he had been in combat too. He should be honored, not shunned. They were planning to move to another part of the country to look for work.

There are many people who live on the edge, we call them the working poor, who are financially wiped out if they have car trouble or medical problems. They are hard working people who get discouraged.

There are so many more stories, everybody has a story. If you go to our church and you are reading this, be assured everything you give to our food pantry goes to those in need and God will bless you for your generosity. Remember what Jesus said, when you do (or don't do) something for the least of these, you do (or don't do) it for Him. (It might be worth a glance at the second half of Matt 25;31ff. Modern pastors like to read the first half of the passage and neglect the second.)

Child Advocacy Center Ministry

The Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church has many outreaches to the hurting. Our region of the country has an unusually high number and percentage of abused and neglected children. The Child Advocacy cCuncil meets regularly, as a team with everyone involved with the children, (from medical professionals to police to social workers to school personnel) to decide the best options for caring for the needs of the children. One of our members knows some in the group so she was aware of some of their needs. That is how our little CP church got involved.

The teams come together for an entire day to go over as many cases as possible. Budgets are a concern of the group. They want to have more money for the children instead of spending it on their meeting needs. Other groups have been providing them lunch on those days and we are one of those groups. We provide the meal for the workers so they do not have to leave to go buy lunch. The response of the group has been very enthusiastic. They love the food we have provided for them. I think we provide for about 20 people. The food is dropped off in a room in the same building and those meeting come and eat.

The Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church is signed up to provide the meal again in the next few months. In Matt 25:40 Jesus says, that when you have done it for the least of these, you did it for Him.

Ronald McDonald House

The Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church serves meals at the Ronald McDonald House. The last time we went, we had so much food and had a good time. The counters were loaded with food from the church members. One of the women's groups provided the funds to buy the meats.

We got feedback from the people in the house. They said it was delicious. We had plenty left over, ham and other easy to eat things for people who stayed late at the hospital with their children and wanted to grab a bite later.

We are planning our next serving event. We are also looking at other ways to minister to needs at the Ronald McDonald House. One of our members is a weekly volunteer and another is on the board, Mark. Mark has been given use of the church van for fundraising events for the Ronald McDonald House.

We hope to do even more for the RM house as we are able. In Matt 25:34-35 Jesus says "I was sick and you visited me" "I was hungry and you fed me"

On the way

We are sitting in a 24 hour coffee shop at the airport on our way to see Cindy. It is 2:45 am and the plane leaves at 5:35 am. It will be fun.