Our first trip into Seoul - Monday March 25, 2011
Seoul Tower - a major attraction - maybe we will visit it someday. But this day we had more important things to experience.
Huw, Yang Hee, and Pastor Choe arranged a very special day for Brother Dupre, Brother Hawkins, and us. After the 3 hour bus trip to Seoul, we had an interesting run through the subway system trying to keep up with Huw and Yang Hee.
A neat scene on the streets of Seoul
Then after a taxi ride (we would never try all this without our wonderful guides), we were guests at Yeomyung school (means "the light at daybreak; dawn"). It is a Christian based, government approved, alternative school which provides education, and helps the students experience the human dignity they did not know in North Korea.
Young North Korean defectors say "we can not live in North Korea because of hunger, but in the South we can not live because we do not understand the society". Those who are raised in the North are in a state of confusion when they come to South Korea because of the fast pace of life and the rapid change in the society.
They face many difficulties when adjusting to the South and suffer stress as a result of their defection from the North. They are also anxious about their family members who remain behind. (For this reason we cannot post distinct faces.) They are aged 16 - 25, but due to lack of a proper education in the North, they must be taught the basics in 1 year of middle and 3 years of high school. The hope is that these North Korean defectors will be inspired through the school and that they will be workers for future unification. Many of the students have been out of North Korea less than a year.
We were given the privilege of this visit because of the close friendship between the founder Myung Sook Cho and Yang Hee. She gave us an inspirational history of the school, its purpose, and a view into the daily activities. We were brought to tears as she sincerely asked for our prayers for this very arduous calling.
Yang Hee and her husband Huw
Wish we could show you the happy faces of the students which proves the effectiveness of this program.
This post describes only part of this extraordinary day - a day like we have never experienced before.
There is more to come because we next head to the Demilitarized Zone.
1 comment:
Beautiful pictures and commentary. There's no doubt God has been preparing you two "for such a time as this" for many years. May God richly reward your obedience!
Praying for you daily.
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