Korea

We climbed a mountain!

Our time in South Korea has come to an end. Soon, my time with the Logos Hope will also come to an end. First let me tell you about our time and ministry here in Korea.

Korea has a huge number of Christians and some of the largest churches in the world. As it is a reasonably well reached country our focus was more on partnering than pioneering.

Ulsan:
The climate coming into Ulsan was still that of mourning for the ferry disaster earlier this year. Many feel that the Logos Hope visit was an opportunity for healing for those affected.

Ulsan is a heavy industries area and so in our free time some of us were able to visit Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyards to witness how a ship is constructed.

Fire drills at sea

Busan:
In Busan we were berthed alongside a maritime university which provided many opportunities to connect with the students. We did shift to a different berth just around the headland after a week or so.

I also had what was probably my most challenging C-Day ever. I was on a 3 person team, plus a translator, to an all-boys high school. We had to split up to run two concurrent programs with different age groups. Doing the math leaves me with the translator running a 50 minute program for 16-17 year olds.

Having received information that this was a mission school I prepared a ships-centric missions-based program. After surviving my presentation I discovered that it was a missionary founded school and very few knew Christ. Still, we enjoyed it and God can use our messages even when we mess up.

Worship concert

Gunsan:
We were located quite far away from, well, anywhere really in Gunsan. It felt like a ghost town but people still came to the book fair. We had many events, mostly church visits. My favourite was an event titled ‘Equip 101’ where local church members were trained in some ministry tools such as using drama to share a message.

Abandoned city...

Incheon:
We kicked off our busiest port in South Korea, Incheon, by taking our yearly Sabbath week. Over the week we walked through all the key events in the Old Testament. It was a well-timed week as many people needed a break from the business of being open to the public. Of course it very quickly finished and we were thrown back into the thick of things.

Although quiet at the start we were progressively busier towards the end of the port. It felt like everyone who wanted to come left it to the last day!

Incheon is basically a smaller city attached to Seoul, a huge metropolis and the capital of South Korea. This gave us many opportunities for ministry and to connect with local churches and other partners.

One unique event and a highlight for me was being able to go to the North/South Korea border, the De-Militarized Zone and pray for North Korea in a chapel overlooking the country.

Old Seoul

What’s next?
Currently I am located in Taiwan which is my last country with the Logos Hope. In about 20 days I leave the Logos Hope. Time has gone very quickly and I’m looking forward to coming home and, if you’re interested, sharing my stories with you. I’ve seen God at work in many ways during my year and a half on board.

Before I get back though I have a little more to traveling to do. I fly from the Logos Hope to Wisconsin in the United States. I’ll be visiting Camille there before heading up to Canada to be the best man at a friend from the ship’s wedding. All up I’ll spend around a month in the USA.

That’s not all! I finally arrive back in Australia on the 21st but I have meetings in Melbourne before flying back to Brisbane on Friday the 24^th of October.

I like to keep myself busy so on the 25^th at 4:30 I am giving a presentation from my time with the Logos Hope. If you would like to come please contact my wonderful Mum and event planner, Judy Nichol. There’s plenty of space for you! And free food.

Mixing live sound