Sunset International Studies Division

South Korea is the land of the neon red cross. It seems that there is no place in Seoul where one can stand at night and not see at least one neon red cross on top of some building. I counted 9 of them standing on the roof of the building where we stayed. Each cross signifies the meeting place of some protestant church.

Considering that Korea didn't get its first complete translation of the Bible in its own language until 1911 (exactly 300 years after the venerable King James English version) it is almost unbelievable that more than 35% of Koreans have abandoned Buddhism and Confucianism to embrace faith in Jesus Christ.

For our last Sunday in Korea, Donna and I accompanied Jay Cho to the East West Church of Christ (no I can't explain the name) where one of my students preaches and the two young ladies who work for Sang Yang at the Bible Correspondence Center attend.

The service was in Korean with no interpretation but we were warmly welcomed and felt very included. We blended our English with the Korean on the familiar melodies.

Following services we headed downtown for some sightseeing and ended up at the Korean War Memorial. This is a huge facility that begins 5,000 years ago with ancient historic battles and ends with Korean participation in the Gulf War.

We hadn't been in the Memorial very long before we were approached by a group of 5th grade girls whose teacher had assigned them the task of greeting English speaking foreigners in their own language and getting their signatures. The girls were just too cute and they made us feel like celebrities.

Along toward evening we made our way to a street market in the middle of downtown Seoul. I am not sure of the name; it may have been Donam-Dong. I am sure that it contained the largest concentration of people per square inch (most of them young) of any place we went. It was a fun place to visit and I was again impressed with the courtesy and restrain of these lovely people.

Tuesday we took the subway to Gyeongbokgung Royal Palace. This is a popular tourist stop and features an English language tour. The compound was built in 1394 by King Taejo of the Joseon Dynasty. The middle of the compound features a beautiful garden with a pool bordered with trees that were in the midst of putting on their Fall colors. While we were standing in line to go in, a group of teenage Korean girls spotted us and came running over asking to take their picture with us. I returned the request by taking a picture of Donna with them. Like I say, way too cute.

After leaving the Palace we strolled through Insa-Dong, a pretty tree-lined district filled with antique shops and art galleries.

Wednesday was our last day to sightsee so Jay decided we needed to see the chrysanthemums. We took an hour and a half ride on the subway to get from the Northwest to the Southeast side of town and ended up in the financial district. There, as promised, we found a dazzling display of chrysanthemums. in every color imaginable. In addition we found an ultra-modern shopping mall and a food court with Western style barbecued ribs.

On our way back to the apartment, we made one last stop at Itaewon to pick up a suit I had ordered and to finish our gift shopping. It is a good thing we had round trip airplane tickets.

Donna summed up our tourist activities by saying "we walked our souls on our soles all over Seoul."

Thursday I taught my last two class sessions while Donna packed for the trip home. Even though we were anxious to get back to family and church friends, the month had gone by much too fast.

Seoul is the home of the largest Christian church in the world, a Pentecostal cell-based organization named The Full Gospel Central Church led by Cho, Yonggi that numbers over 50,000 members. The Presbyterian Church is the largest Protestant group. According to the CIA World Fact Sheet, there are still more than 40% of the population who are not committed to any religion. Who will teach them? The best hope for the Church of Christ is to leverage the outstanding work being done by the Bible Correspondence Center (BBC), using the multitude of candidates being reached by Internet, Television Broadcast, and mail as a pool to seek out and train able spokesmen of the Word.

It is exciting to be a small part of such a grand project. May God bless His faithful servants in this great country that is ripe unto harvest.

Lanny's Journal - Week Four- October, 2004
The Neon Red Cross East West Church of Christ Jun-Joo and a member's little boy at church Lanny and Jay at Korean War Memorial Donna signs class assignment sheets	South Korea is the land of the neon red cross. It seems that there is no place in Seoul where one can stand at night and not see at least one neon red cross on top of some building. I counted 9 of them standing on the roof of the building where we stayed. Each cross signifies the meeting place of some protestant church. Considering that Korea didn't get its first complete translation of the Bible in its own language until 1911 (exactly 300 years after the venerable King James English version) it is almost unbelievable that more than 35% of Koreans have abandoned Buddhism and Confucianism to embrace faith in Jesus Christ. For our last Sunday in Korea, Donna and I accompanied Jay Cho to the East West Church of Christ (no I can't explain the name) where one of my students preaches and the two young ladies who work for Sang Yang at the Bible Correspondence Center attend. The service was in Korean with no interpretation but we were warmly welcomed and felt very included. We blended our English with the Korean on the familiar melodies. Following services we headed downtown for some sightseeing and ended up at the Korean War Memorial. This is a huge facility that begins 5,000 years ago with ancient historic battles and ends with Korean participation in the Gulf War. We hadn't been in the Memorial very long before we were approached by a group of 5th grade girls whose teacher had assigned them the task of greeting English speaking foreigners in their own language and getting their signatures. The girls were just too cute and they made us feel like celebrities. Along toward evening we made our way to a street market in the middle of downtown Seoul. I am not sure of the name; it may have been Donam-Dong. I am sure that it contained the largest concentration of people per square inch (most of them young) of any place we went. It was a fun place to visit and I was again impressed with the courtesy and restrain of these lovely people. Tuesday we took the subway to Gyeongbokgung Royal Palace. This is a popular tourist stop and features an English language tour. The compound was built in 1394 by King Taejo of the Joseon Dynasty. The middle of the compound features a beautiful garden with a pool bordered with trees that were in the midst of putting on their Fall colors. While we were standing in line to go in, a group of teenage Korean girls spotted us and came running over asking to take their picture with us. I returned the request by taking a picture of Donna with them. Like I say, way too cute. After leaving the Palace we strolled through Insa-Dong, a pretty tree-lined district filled with antique shops and art galleries. Wednesday was our last day to sightsee so Jay decided we needed to see the chrysanthemums. We took an hour and a half ride on the subway to get from the Northwest to the Southeast side of town and ended up in the financial district. There, as promised, we found a dazzling display of chrysanthemums. in every color imaginable. In addition we found an ultra-modern shopping mall and a food court with Western style barbecued ribs. On our way back to the apartment, we made one last stop at Itaewon to pick up a suit I had ordered and to finish our gift shopping. It is a good thing we had round trip airplane tickets. Donna summed up our tourist activities by saying "we walked our souls on our soles all over Seoul." Thursday I taught my last two class sessions while Donna packed for the trip home. Even though we were anxious to get back to family and church friends, the month had gone by much too fast. Seoul is the home of the largest Christian church in the world, a Pentecostal cell-based organization named The Full Gospel Central Church led by Cho, Yonggi that numbers over 50,000 members. The Presbyterian Church is the largest Protestant group. According to the CIA World Fact Sheet, there are still more than 40% of the population who are not committed to any religion. Who will teach them? The best hope for the Church of Christ is to leverage the outstanding work being done by the Bible Correspondence Center (BBC), using the multitude of candidates being reached by Internet, Television Broadcast, and mail as a pool to seek out and train able spokesmen of the Word. It is exciting to be a small part of such a grand project. May God bless His faithful servants in this great country that is ripe unto harvest.
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