The day started like any other Sunday, Heavy G wanted to leave around 11am and I was fine with that. We got to church around 11:30 and headed in to the sermon. The pastor was almost finished with his sermon and after he was done we hung around to have some lunch.
Church lunch is usually the same, rice, kimchi, some sort of vegetable, and soup. This week was 시레기국 (She Reh Gi Gook) or vegetable soup. It was a tad bland to be honest, but it was good. I hadn't eaten breakfast at this point so I was happy to get some food in me before the inevitable workout.
After eating and a quick meeting at Starbucks we headed out to the park. There was a breathtaking view from the soccer field, and luckily I had the presence of mind to grab a video for you guys to see. The field itself was nice too, all the fields I have seen here are astroturf so they stay nice year round.
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| When you're trying to fill the shoes of the guy before you. |
The first game was a bunch of cardboard cards on the ground. One side was all white, and the other was all blue. There was a 1 min time limit, and the team who had the most cards turned over to their color when time was up was a winner. Each team had 6 members. Let me tell you that game got intense. I was exhausted after 1 round, it's basically a sprint for a minute straight.
The second game was a form of team jump rope. Each team had two lines of 7 people close together. The first two in line would take the rope and go down the line passing it underneath the feet of the rest of the people in line. Once they got to the end of the line, they would lift the rope up over the head of everyone and pass it all the way back to the front. When they finished the next two would pick up the rope and do the same. This went on until everyone had cycled through once. The difficulty with this game is that everyone was of different ages and heights. We played with very young kids, so when they tried to pass the rope over our heads, I had to squat down as low as possible. This was a legit squat workout with jumping and sprinting included. I felt like I was back in an OHL training camp haha.
The third game was a mission run just like the day before with the K-PACE students. Luckily I was able to hide and sit this one out. It was really fun to be able to watch everyone work hard. This game can also be hilarious as people scramble to find what they need and bring it to the finish line.
After this game we played a water based game. There was a giant tub of water maybe 20 yards from the start line, and two smaller tubs by each team's line. Each team was given a bowl and one at a time had to sprint to the large tub of water and then come back as fast as possible and put it in their own tub.
The first iteration of this was a timed event. I believe it was about 3 minutes in the interval, and the referee was doing the final 10 second countdown when it was my turn, so I believe he gave me some extra time haha. The next iteration was again timed, but each team was able to pick a deflector to cover the other team's tub with their hands. Well guess who my team picked? Yeah the guy with the biggest hands...me. The other team's deflector? You guessed it, Heavy G. We had a pretty epic battle, complete with me interfering with Heavy G by wrapping his arms behind his back when our team was coming back with their last bowl of water. I also used his shirt as a dish towel after we were finished lol, all in good fun. The last iteration was to go until we finished filling our tub. This allowed everyone to go through 2-3 times. It also allowed for finding the most efficient way to bring back water. The different techniques were very interesting, some people electing to sprint back fast and spilling some water, while others wanted to walk back with their entire bowl in tact. A fun game indeed.
While this was all happening the children had set up a game of duck, duck, goose. I had an interesting thought that I had never pondered before: children who play a lot of playground games probably tend to learn about life faster. What I mean by that is that they learn how to cheat, how to win, how to bend the odds in their favor. This might not be the positive of light shed on the situation, but think about it. Over time kids learn which other kids to pick so that they don't get caught. They learn how to stretch their hand backwards to just barely touch the head of the kid they're going to tag at the last second to give themselves the biggest lead possible. They learn how to watch the person who is running around the circle like a hawk so as to get every possible advantage if they're picked. They learn how to look like they're sitting down but are actually ready to spring up into action if chosen. All of these are hallmarks of children who come into school and sports ahead of the game, and are essential tools in learning street smarts and truly how to not be taken advantage of in the world.
Anyways haha, the last game was soccer. We played 6 on 6 in a strange L-shaped field pattern. We wanted to move the nets to play across the field, but the nets were too heavy. There was a net setup on one side of the field, so we used that net and one of the regular nets. Hopefully you can understand what I'm talking about lol.
Following soccer we had to vacate the field. We had rented it out until 5pm I guess, so we moved all of our stuff to the other side of the park and sat down to rest. After maybe 20 minutes and a few watermelons later lunch arrived. Hosigi chicken! Heavy G's favorite. There were also lunch boxes with rice and bulgogi in them. I was in heaven. I took a seat at a table and started going to town. The pastor brought up his chair and sat with me and two other church patrons.
The pastor started asking me questions. Things were pretty intense, his leading question was "when did you accept Christ into your life?" talk about not messing around. Well as most of you know it was when I went to North Dakota with my buddy Matt Gates for a Christian hockey retreat. I had been a Christian my entire life, but never had a relationship with God until then. I regaled him with this wonderful heartfelt story. Then I asked him about his relationship with God. He told me all about how he had been an electrical engineering major in college, and found God and immediately switched to seminary. He's been a pastor for about 30 years now, and I think doing a wonderful job.
This gave me a chance to really thank him for his hard work, and let him know that I loved his sermons. They connected with me on a personal level instantly and I'm glad I was able to encourage him. Remember, even when someone is in a position of power and it looks like they have everything going for them, they're still just human, they need encouragement. I was more than happy to give him that.
I asked him about his vision for the church, and he told me about G12 which originated in Bogota, Columbia. It's now a worldwide summit with satellite conferences all over the globe. A fascinating concept of making all church goers into leaders, and leaders of leaders. The general idea is that you train someone to lead, they go out and form a small group of their own of 12 members. Then they train their members to be leaders, and those members go out and form small groups of their own. So your 12 grows to 144 and then to 1728 and then to whatever is after that.
I have a lot of thoughts on this. I won't post them all right now because honestly there's too many. The general idea is that I can see why this is popular. I'm worried however that the message of the cross gets too standardized with this approach. This is honestly very close to how MLM (multi-level marketing) works. Think Amway, and Cutco, and Mary Kay all those companies you love to hate.
Not everyone is cut out to be a leader, in fact Biblically we're all cut from different cloth. As Paul says in the gospel;
"Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Unity and Diversity in the Body
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts." (1 Corinthians 12)
Sorry for the long paste but I absolutely love that passage, and I think it's all extremely applicable here. Certainly we would love things to be cut and dry, and to make disciples of everyone and send them out into the world to create more. This type of Christianity honestly worries me, and I feel it's much too structured and a business type approach to what should be ruled by love and forgiveness. I do not want this to rid the cross of it's power, because honestly that's what we need to be focusing on. That's really just scratching the surface, but I'm really going to be asking God to fill me with the Holy Spirit when I talk to the pastor about this so that he will give me the right words to explain the truth.
Anyways, the pastor also asked me about what I saw in my future. I told him the crazy truth as I see it. I realize it seems like an impossible endeavor at this point, and even if it does become possible a dangerous and stupid one. However, in the back of my mind I've felt that God has put me here to help the people of North Korea. Now am I going to go storming in there with my American flag waving announcing my arrival and demanding repentance? Of course not. When Kim Jong-Eun is finally removed from power, there will be a major scramble with many refugees. I am prepared to do everything I can to help these people acclimate to how life actually is in the world, and hopefully to witness to them as well. If this doesn't happen, hey I'm all for wherever God wants me to go. I could be completely wrong. All I want to do is follow His will.
After dinner, there was a quick scavenger hunt with gifts given away by the church and some picture time. I won some mouth wash but since I already had some from the U.S. I gave it to Heavy G and traded for a tooth brush which I can always use later.
We finally got home after dark and were pretty exhausted. We hung out for a little while and then headed to bed after some good fellowship with An Hyo Sang and YJS. Good times and another great Sunday! Stay tuned for the next adventure!
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| Bonus pic of the church field day! |
TL:DR I am Blessed.
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