April 2010 Trip To Seoul, South Korea

In October 2009, some representatives from the South Korean Emmaus Community invited and opened their doors to host ten Americans from the North Texas Emmaus Communities to be their guests and observe an Emmaus Walk in Seoul, South Korea.

We accepted their invitation. Vikki Culwell had made all the arrangements for us and we were off to Seoul! Needless to say, if I wrote everyday for a year, I could not give a complete report of our experiences, but I hope to give you at least a glimpse of that experience over the next two months.

Matthew 28:16-17 (MSB) says, "Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw Him they worshiped Him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally."

On April 5, eleven Americans from four Emmaus communities, boarded a plane headed to the mountains of Seoul, South Korea. Feeling commissioned to do so, we headed for the mountain of Korea thinking we were the Upper Room experts on how the Walk to Emmaus should be run and led. With some disagreement about the best ways to see it completed, we all went with our idea of how to grace the Koreans with our presence and knowledge of the Upper Room Emmaus rules and guidelines. However, on this trip, I felt like I was not only a foreigner in another country, but a foreigner not coming to grace the Koreans Emmaus Experience with my presence, but as one being permitted to experience the presence of God in new and wondrous ways. Through it all God taught me a valuable lesson. He showed me that by no means do the Western Emmaus Communities hold an automatic edge in the task of equipping saints for the work of the local church. As I thought back on this experience, I was reminded of how big our God is and how capable He is of working in places and ways that I can neither understand nor predict.

Representing on this trip, the Texoma Emmaus Community were Darold and Barbara Myer. From the Denton Emmaus Community were William and Theresa Rogers, Joe and Victoria Culwell, and Vera Gibbs. From the Dallas Emmaus Community were Kirk and Palmer Ragsdale and Rev. Ella McDonald. We were also blessed to have Rev. Sungnam Choi, director of the Korean/Asian and Pacific Islander Ministries, from Nashville, Tennessee meet us there and become our translator and tour guide.

When we arrived in Seoul, we were met by a welcoming committee who were very friendly and anxious to help us navigate the cities in and near Seoul, South Korea. In fact, the whole Methodist and Emmaus Communities seemed to be competing with each another on ways to welcome us to their country. I cannot speak for anyone but myself, but as for me, this was the trip of a lifetime. I do not believe that I will ever forget the many wonderful sights that we saw, and I know I will never forget the kindness and absolute graciousness of the Korean people, especially the members of the Emmaus Community. Yes, I will treasure this trip for the rest of my life.

Although we received many warnings about safety from our friends in the States, I assure you we never once felt unsafe on our trip. I looked to see how many Americans I could see and was surprised that even though there are American military bases there we saw very few Americans. We visited numerous sights, including, the Methodist Headquarters, the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the Sejong Center, the Namsangol Traditional Korean Village, the Seoul Tower, the Yangwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery, the Seoul Festival where the B Boys, a group of Korean break dancers, performed, and many other sights and museums. We ate three full meals a day at many traditional Korean restaurants and palaces in Seoul. I have never seen so much food on the table all at one time in my life. Dish after dish after dish, the food kept coming. It seemed that the more food we ate, the more food they brought out. As a special treat for us Americans, we also ate at the Korean Outback Steak House Restaurant where I ate what I hope was pork baby back ribs.

After five days of tours and bus rides, it was finally Saturday and we each were given an opportunity to spend a night in the homes of our host families and to worship with them in their local churches. I and Joe and Vikki were blessed above the rest in that we could actually understand the sermon at the church we visited. Okay, let me explain. By the grace of God, I was given an opportunity to preach at the Dong Soo Methodist Church where I spoke in English and it was translated in the Korean language by the pastor of the church, Rev. Haksun Joo. This was a wonderful, stimulating, and eye-opening interaction for me that I will never forget.

I thank God and the Dallas Emmaus Community for affording me the opportunity to participate in something so wonderful. I know beyond a shadowed of a doubt that the sophisticated and Christ-honoring movement of the Korean Emmaus Community will continue to exist and grow whether I or anyone else from the west ever goes back to the Seoul Emmaus Community or not.

I will talk more about the actual Walk experience in my next article. This month, I thought it important to let you know that overall, we loved our experience in South Korea and if you can go, I highly recommend a visit to this delightful country.

DeColores!

Rev. Ella McDonald

Walk #54

Table of Esther