Roger and Marge Armbruster Visit South Korea from April 15 to 26, 2013

From Toronto, Canada, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Seoul, South Korea, Roger and Marge flew in this Emirates Airline Jet on April 15 and 26. 

This is Marge with one of the friendly Emirates Airline stewardesses who wear special uniforms, and who helped a lot to make the long flight more pleasant.

The layover at the Airport in Dubai was over 9 hours.  It was layovers like this that made the total time of travel from the time of departure from Winnipeg, Manitoba, until the time of arrival at Seoul, South Korea, some 40 hours.

While in Seoul, Roger and Marge were able to visit the Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was built in 1395, three years after the Joseon Dynasty was founded in Korea, and it served as the main palace for more than 500 years.

 As Gyeongbokgung Palace was a symbol of Korean national sovereignty, it was demolished during the Japanese occupation in 1910.  In 1911, ownership of land at the palace was transferred to the Japanese Government-General.  Restoration of Gyeongbokgung to its former glory has been ongoing since 1990.

While in Seoul, Roger and Marge were taken around to see the sights by Sung Hyun Lee (left), a friend of their son Sherwood from YWAM days around the year 2000, and one who has visited in their home on at least two occasions.  To the right of Roger and Marge are Sung Hyun's children Siho (4 years) and Naeun (7 years), sitting on the laps of his parents.  To their right is Sung Hyun's beautiful wife Young Mi Ko.  This family treated Roger and Marge as royally as the palace that they visited in Seoul.

Here is Naeun, using an umbrella when it started to rain while they were visiting the palace grounds.

This beautiful family, Sung Hyun Lee, Young Mi Ko, Naeun Lee and Si Ho Lee are standing in front of a beautiful tree on the palace grounds which was blossomng on the palace ground, right at the time that we were there.

In fact, we were told that this tree actually blossoms only for about one week of the year, and it happened to be right at the time we were there around the third week of April.

These blossoms remind us that new life follows deadness and barrenness, just as the human spirit rises up again after it has been suppressed.

 For some 35 years, between 1910 and 1945, the Koreans were horribly oppressed during the Japanese occupation.  Many Koreans were brutalized, tortured and treated with gross injustice.

World War II was followed by the Korean War between 1950 and 1953.  Then on top of this, both North and South Korea were involved with the Vietnamese War, which started in 1959.  In 1960, right around the time that this picture was taken, South Korea was one of the poorest nations on the earth, with the per capita GNP at about $80.00 U. S.

Today, in 2013, South Korea has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the 20th century up until 1960, to an economic giant in the early 21st century!

Korean society has undergone a major transformation since 1960.  Nothing short of an economic miracle has taken place.

Profound changes have been noticed in every field of life since 1960.  The per capita GNP rose from $80.00 in 1960 to $1,600.00 in 1980.

The number of registered motor vehicles increased 360 times over, from 31,000 to 11,134,000 between 1960 and 1999.

After the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945, only about 2% of South Korea's population were Christian. A rapid growth of Christianity ensued, and today, magnificent church buildings with a cross on top of the building have proliferated in cities all over the nation.

The influence of the Christian faith on education has been decisive as Christians have started 293 schools and 40 universities including 3 of the top 5 academic institutions.

Protestantism is seen as the faith of the middle class, youth, intellectuals, and urbanites, and has been central to South Korea's pursuit of modernity.

In recent years, Protestantism has seen somewhat of a decline in South Korea due to scandals involving church leadership, including some conflicts and divisions.  It is a reminder that when a nation becomes prosperous, that we must never lose sight of where all blessings flow from.   Nevertheless, the influence of the Christian faith upon the nation is still significant.

Here, in the city of Jeon Ju, is the Paul Church where the Korean North American Aboriginal Mission Conference was held between April 23 to 25, 2013.

This Conference, which Roger and Marge attended, bought about a dialogue and interaction between some of the Korean Church, North American indigenous Church leaders, and those Korean missionaries who have a heart to reach out to the First Nations in Canada.

If there is a secret to the extent that the Holy Spirit has moved in South Korea, it has been because the Spirit's movement has been birthed in prayer.  Here Roger and Marge are at the Kangman Fasting Prayer Mountain.  This Prayer Mountain is near the border with North Korea, and prayer goes on there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but we further learned that there are actually some 500 Houses of Prayer in South Korea where 24/7 prayer is happening.

This picture was taken on the property of the Prayer Mountain, and it reminds us just how new life blossoms outwardly from the life of the sap of the tree within, even so the indwelling Holy Spirit begins to break out and to manifest through the lives of humans through earnest, prevailing prayer.

But it takes more than prayer to make a nation prosper.  The biblical admonition that "if a man does not work, neither should he eat" (II Thessalonians 3:10) is engraved on this stone at the Canaan Farmer's School at Hanam-City.  The Canaan family is highly concerned with the future.  The Bong-Ahn Ideal Village was founded in 1935, at a time when the future of Korea was unclear and in dismay, and it continues to work towards fostering a solid foundation that future generations can build upon. 

The Canaan Farmer's School, established in 1962, was developed around the foundation of Mr. Yong-Ki Kim's biblical teachings.  The school addresses and values the well-being of individuals within the Korean society, and is constantly promoting a future of peace and justice throughout the nation.

Mr. Kim has always had one dream in his life:  to make Korea into a nation of freedom and prosperity.  He worked non-stop with a Bible in one hand and his farming tools in the other.  He dedicated his life for the rehabilitation of the Korean people from Japanese imperialism, enlightening the minds of Korean farmers to create new hopes for freedom and for civilization within the nation.

In the Bible, "work" and "worship" go together.  In fact, everything that is done from the heart as unto the Lord is a part of our reasonable service and spiritual worship.  Worship in the Korean church is from the heart, and includes musical instruments, the voice and the dance...

It involves bodily movement.

And the drum!

God's praise is made glorious...

through colorful adorning and fanfare which is an extension of the heart.

During the time of the Conference at the Paul Church in Jeon Ju, Roger and Marge, along with many of the First Nations and Korean participants in the Conference, stayed at this dormitory, the Hunsan Gunji House, which is a part of the Chonbuk Naional University.

This picture will give an idea of the number of North American First Nations and Koreans who were the core of this Korean North American Aboriginal Mission Conference between April 23 and 25 at the Paul Church in Jeon Ju, South Korea.  A more complete report on this Conference, plus the things learned from South Korean churches throughout all parts of the country has been shared in posts immediately prior to this one.  It was very eye-opening to learn how the Korean Church has risen above victimhood from the past, and many are rising to a destiny which is much greater than the past, and is becoming a light to the nations!  So stay tuned!