It was a gorgeous fall day in South Korea on Monday, October 21 – sunny with highs in the upper 60’s – in fact, it was a great day to look out on Seoul from the top of a tower but more about that later.
Our day began once again with the Early Morning Prayer Service at 5:00 a.m. The Rev. Yo Han Kim read from Joel 2:28-29 and preached on “Let’s Become Men and Women of Dreams and Visions.”
After breakfast, we had our second seminar led by the Senior Pastor, Rev. Eun Pa Hong. His talk was on “Revival and Growth of the Korean Church.”
When the lecture ended we boarded the bus for the drive to the capital city of Seoul. The drive took about an hour. Our first stop was Seoul Tower.
The city of Seoul is divided by the Han River which runs east and west through the center of the city. The Seoul Tower is north of the Han River. It is 777 feet tall and is 1,574 feet above sea level. The weather today was perfect and you could see for miles and miles on the observation deck.
Seoul from the top of the Tower
The tower was built in 1969 as a communications tower. Fiver television stations broadcast their signal from the tower.
After a lunch break we visited Jesus Village Church in the Chun Cheon neighborhood in Seoul. Jesus Village Church is an Anabaptist congregation based on New Testament principles. It uses a cell church model, follows the leading of the Holy Spirit in worship and encourages all members to be engaged in ministry according to their gifts. Plural leadership and service in society are important aspects of community life at Jesus Village Church. Leaders in the church include Daniel Ahn, Sung-Do Cha, Sang-Uk Nham, Il-Hwan Kim and Tae-Min Kim.
Bishop Cho and Rev. Ahn from Jesus Village Church
Jesus Village Church officially began on the first Sunday of 1996. The vision for the formation of this fellowship of believers was preceded by three years of intense study on the nature of the church by Christian professionals who longed to rediscover the power and spirit of the New Testament Church. They felt strongly drawn to the Anabaptist Church tradition as the model closest to what they desired. Jesus Village Church is an associate member of Mennonite World Conference.
Day Care Center run by the people of Jesus Village Church
The church goes beyond the walls of the church out into the community and offers help to its neighbors in tangible ways. Some of the programs we visited included a day care center, thrift store, a high school that specializes in teaching music, a nursing home for dementia patients, free legal clinic, and a coffee shop. Church members staff these places of business and all services are offered at no charge.
After dinner heavy traffic delayed our return to the church until about 8:45 p.m. It was another great day in Korea.
