Yesterday (Sunday), was an amazing day for the students. We started the day by attending the Yoido Full Gospel Church. This church is the largest Christian church in the world. They have almost 1.5 million members along with 7 services on Sunday. We were able to enter and be seated in the foreigner section right at the end of the prior service. It was expansive with a massive choir, full orchestra, a beautiful pipe organ, and two 'jumbo-tron' TV screens that you would see at a sporting event. When the prior service ended the choir and orchestra exited and an entirely new choir and orchestra entered.... not sure if they have seven (one for each service).... but they have at least two! The service was nice, the message was excellent, although both Dr. Duerr and myself has one small theological disagreement with a point that was made during the service... just a somewhat minor detail.
After the service we met up with a native Korean pastor who actually lives Philadelphia (Professor at Temple Univ.) He took us to the most sacred cemetery for Christians in Korea. The very first missionaries to Korea are buried there. The gospel did not reach Korea until 1885. In fact the Bible was not completely translated into Korean until 1911. Korean Christians are celebrating 100 years since the Bible became fully available. In one day, the students were able to see the birthplace of Christianity in Korea along with the amazing results of the efforts and sacrifices of the first few missionaries to Korea not that long ago. While Christians only makes up about 20% of the entire Korean population... Christians do make up over 50% of the individuals in power in Korea. They govern with their faith being always present as a strong influence. Separation of church and state is not in practice here in Korea.
Lastly, we headed to a guided tour with our Korean Pastor (& historian) to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. This was the palace and living quarters for the royal family during the last dynasty in Korea.
Sunday's photos are here: http://bwilson.cs.georgefox.edu/GEED365/May-6/album/
Today is an open day for the students... many are staying close to home and just resting. Our pedometer said we walked another 8 miles yesterday bring our 3 day total to over 32 miles.
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