100 Things I Love About Korea: #67: Mama's Table

Fresh salads and real sandwiches.  That alone makes this place elite.

To top it off, the prices are reasonable; the atmosphere is comfortable and quiet; and the owners are very nice.
The salads come in three basic options: grilled chicken, smoked salmon, and tofu.  All of these are available as a small house salad or as part of a "brunch set" which also includes sausage, bacon, and whole wheat bread.  If you don't want all the meat, you can ask them to substitute them for more salad instead.  You can also get an Americano for 1,000 won more.  Total price: 8,000.  Not bad.
There are four sandwiches: salmon on croissant, grilled chicken on bagel, egg salad and bacon on whole wheat, and dry bulgogi on a bun.  All of them are pretty tasty, but my favorites are the salmon and egg salad.

If you just want coffee or a drink, they have loads to choose from.  But I always get a plain Americano with milk on the side.  Just 2,000 won.

Mama's Table is above the bath house or sauna Cara Cara in SsangYong Dong, 5 minutes from Korea Nazarene University.  (From the KNU main gate, walk up the hill.  Turn left at the fruit stand and NongHyup Bank.  The street will force you to make a right turn.  Mama's Table will be on your right near the end of the street.)

Thanks to http://joanninkorea.blogspot.kr for the pics.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #62 - 70 Years of Nazarene History

Korea, situated in the heart of the Far East, remained for centuries a strangely remote land, ethnically pure, and tied to its ancient traditions.  It has been aptly called the “Hermit Nation.”  Even the Church of the Nazarene passed it by as it established work in the country's more dominant neighbors, China and Japan.

But the beautiful Land of the Morning Calm was not wholly out of mind.  In 1936 Sung-oak Chang, a young Korean student who had gone to Japan to further his education, crossed paths with Rev. W. A. Eckel and Rev. Nobumi Isayama.  These men were able to help him become established in the Christian faith and encouraged him to return to his homeland and start a Nazarene church there.

He successfully launched a work in Pyongyang, the capital city of what is now North Korea, and then went down to Seoul, present capital of South Korea, to establish another church.  In the latter place he secured an assistant by the name of Huk-soo Sung.  The work was officially under the supervision of the Japan mission, but the relationship was apparently quite tenuous.

To read the rest of this post, click here.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #14 - Korea Nazarene Univeristy

(Today in the Korea Nazarene University faculty chapel, I am giving this short farewell address.  I hope to do the first few paragraphs in Korean and then switch to English with the translation on the screen behind me.  KNU is one of the things I love most about Korea.) 

Our family moved to Korea 8 years ago in 2004.  However, in a few months, our family will be moving back to the USA.  As I say goodbye, I would like to share 8 thanksgivings from our time here and 8 prayer requests for the future of KNU.

First, I’m thankful for the opportunity to learn Korean.  However, my biggest regret for my time in Korea is that I did not learn more Korean.  

So my first prayer request is that KNU will become more effective in helping our international faculty and students learn Korean.  (However, because I didn’t study enough, I have to change to English now!)

---

Second, I’m thankful that KNU welcomed my wife, Sarah, as your first international exchange student in 1999.  

My second prayer request is that God will help KNU to see the great potential of KNU’s international students.  Your investment in them is an investment in God’s work around the world, but it’s also an investment in the future of KNU.

Goodbye Letter #05: Nesheba Joy Thomas

Hello, KNU International English Church!  It's me, Joy.  I want to say a great big thank you to you for welcoming my husband and I so well that we feel like we will always have a home with you.  

I want to thank Pastor Josh for the first invite to church back in 2009.  I had jut arrived in Korea and was attending an all Korean service on the 13 bus route.  I thought about my life in college and thought that a service full of Americans was not for me.  So, I declined that first invitation.  

The second request to join the KNU service was from my then boyfriend, now husband Richard, in 2010. I told him that I did not want o be around that many Americans.  I regret this because there are many beautiful Americans, not like the ones I met in college.  And, Many many lovely Koreans in our church. 

The third and final invitation I got to church was from Mrs. Kim Taeran, in 2011.  She was my co teacher, friend and mentor/mom.  I really felt good about being invited by a Korean person.  So, I thought, " maybe, there are Korean people there, too." 

I really enjoyed my time singing with the praise team, listening to the sermons and taking notes as secretary of the advisory council. My main regret and deepest embarressment is that I did not come when I first arrived in 2009.  I missed so much time with you all.  I hope we return to you, soon.  But, I have a feeling that it won't be for some years, yet.

I love you.  And, hope to see you again.

Joy, Richard's wife

Goodbye Letter #02: Elizabeth Jancewicz

-- This was originally a post Elizabeth did on her blog, where she post lots of cool original art and updates on her adventures with her also very cool musician husband, Eric. ---

In honor of it being Palm Sunday (it has been for 17 minutes now) I am finally posting a little drawing I did weeks ago:

First off, the church that Eric and I went to when we lived in Korea was amazing. It was the KNU International English Church in Cheonan, and it still stands as one of the best churches either of us have ever had the privileged of attending. The community in the church was not only welcoming and kept a strong community within the church by getting together for lunches, but they also addressed really tough issues that a lot of churches seem to steer clear of, and they are extremely active in real help for the poor and needy. I was impressed and moved by the actions of this church during my few short months in Korea two years ago.

To add to this, Eric and I were involved with Pastor Josh Broward’s family in that Sarah, Josh’s wife, was my assistant during my first teaching job in Korea and also found me another job so that I could extend my stay; and Eric taught their young daughter piano lessons. (Eric also played piano in the worship team when he was there.)

Seriously, sometimes we think about returning to live in Korean simply because the church was really just so good.

Korea Tip 118: Getting a Teaching Job in Korea

"I'm thinking of working in Korea.  What should I do to prepare?  What advice do you have for me?"
I've been getting these questions a lot lately.  Here are my answers.

1) Work for a reliable institution.  You are usually safer with universities or public schools (or programs working with public schools).  As a general rule of thumb, the larger the institution and the older the English teaching program, the safer it is as a workplace.  Here are some I recommend:

• Korea Nazarene University
• EPIK
• Soon Chun Hyang University

2) Start early.  Korea requires more and more documentation and authentication every year.  Some of those documents can take a great deal of time to obtain.

3) Maintain healthy skepticism.  Most employers and most recruiters are pretty good people who will treat you pretty well, but there are some real scumbags out there.  Check the wages compared to other jobs with similar working hours.  Ask to speak with a current or former employee (a foreigner if possible). 

4) Check out the area.  While public transportation here is good, its quality diminishes dramatically outside major cities.  Be aware that if you live in the sticks, you may have to buy a car or suffer the randomness of buses beyond your control.  If you're a Christian, you'll want to be looking for an English speaking church within reasonable commuting distance.

5) Know your rights.  We're currently working on an English Teacher's Rights guide.  Stay tuned here for that posting coming soon.  In the meantime, make sure your potential employer plans to provide you with health insurance and pension. 

Arise and Shine - Engage Magazine Article

-- This article originally appeared at: www.engagemagazine.com.   --

 Baptism speaks of a new life, and on September 4 we witnessed this glorious sacrament in abundance as nine people rose up from the waters at KNU International English Church (at Korea Nazarene University). In golden letters on a wall overlooking the plaza, 'Arise, shine' (Isaiah 60:1) formed a fitting backdrop for Christians arising from the water aglow with sunlight.

The baptism testimonies were as different as you would expect in a group hailing from four countries and spread over three generations.

Undoubtedly, one of the most uplifting stories shared was from Mrs. Lee, a mother of two teenage sons who were also baptized. As one of her sons translated, she spoke of her life without God for 27 years and how she had slowly started experiencing the Lord in her life again. Even though she doesn't speak English well, with help from the pastors and the Holy Spirit, she has overcome the language barrier. One night she dreamed she met God in a room with a white wall and high ceiling. Later in the week she joined her sons in the church's 24/7 prayer room, and she was shocked to see the same room where she had met the Lord in her dream. She immediately broke down in tears, and soon after she gave her life to Christ.

A Village for Widows

Our mission is to be a loving community that changes our world.  We say it every week, and we mean it.  Our church, KNU International English Church (at Korea Nazarene University), is passionately living out our calling to change our world. 

However, we understand that we can’t change the whole world all at once.  A key plank of our vision is “global change through local action.”  We serve our local community in a variety of ways, and we are partnering with Nazarenes in Bangladesh to help build a village for widows and orphans.  What follows is the story of how this partnership developed.

Missions in our DNA
As a multicultural church founded by missionaries, our church has always had missions in our DNA.  ...


READ THE REST AT: www.engagemagazine.com.

Dragon Seed - Review

"The woman had hair as yellow as cat's fur, and it did not lie smooth about her head as hair does, but it stood out like lamb's wool."  These were the thoughts of Ling Sao as she came face to face with her first white woman.
Pearl Buck's Dragon Seed is set in northeastern China during Japan's invasion between 1937-1941.  It tells the story in all its brutal details through the lens of a single farming family living on the outskirts of a large city - possibly Nanjing or Shanghai.  This simple, hardy family suffers all the ravages of war and being conquered - flight, rape, murder, oppression, irrational injustice, heavy taxation, poverty, hunger, disease, and extreme instability.  In the midst of this single family, we all the options of resistance - flight, subversive fighting from the hills, compromise with the enemy, sabotage from within the enemy's camp, passive endurance, and sly evasion of taxes and oppression.
In addition to telling a riveting story, Pearl Buck has also revealed the difficulties of isolated people coming into contact with outsiders for the first time.  As one living in Korea, where contact with foreigners is still somewhat new.  These little bits of insight from the perspective of the indigenous people shed light on many of my experiences.  On more than one occasion, we have caused a baby to cry simply by entering an elevator with our white faces.  But even more common is a deep reticence to talk with us simply because we are different.  When one has been exposed to only one type of people for many generations, the sudden advent of diversity is radically disconcerting.
I recommend this book, not only because it's a great novel, but also because it can help expats living in Asia to understand a little bit more about how we are often experienced by many in our host nation.  The Josh rating: JJJJ.

Seung-An Im: Leading with Vision

[Michael R. Palmer and I wrote this article for Holiness Today.]

Just an hour south of Seoul and two hours south of the DMZ, Korea Nazarene University(KNU) is quietly changing the world. With almost 7,000 students, KNU is now the largest Nazarene university in the world. KNU’s president Seung-An (Abraham) Im has been named the Forbes Korea Global CEO for two years running. He regularly jokes about his small stature, but he has no shortage of vision.

Q: What was your childhood like?

A: I had a very difficult childhood. I was very poor, and at the age of seven I lost my mother. I often went without food or warm clothes.

In the sixth grade my friend invited me to a small Nazarene church. I attended it only two or three times, and then went to my sister's house for the winter vacation. When I returned, I learned that the Sunday School teacher had been asking where I was and if I was okay. This touched my heart, and I started attending church regularly.

Actually, I was really a trouble maker in the church youth group, but I began to pray that God would change me. ...

To continue reading the article, click here.

.

Korea Tip 96: History of the Church of the Nazarene in Korea - through 1985

Korea, situated in the heart of the Far East, remained for centuries a strangely remote land, ethnically pure, and tied to its ancient traditions. It has been aptly called the “Hermit Nation.” Even the Church of the Nazarene passed it by as it established work in the country's more dominant neighbors, China and Japan.

But the beautiful Land of the Morning Calm was not wholly out of mind. In 1936 Sung-oak Chang, a young Korean student who had gone to Japan to further his education, crossed paths with Rev. W. A. Eckel and Rev. Nobumi Isayama. These men were able to help him become established in the Christian faith and encouraged him to return to his homeland and start a Nazarene church there.

He successfully launched a work in Pyongyang, the capital city of what is now North Korea, and then went down to Seoul, present capital of South Korea, to establish another church. In the latter place he secured an assistant by the name of Huk-soo Sung. The work was officially under the supervision of the Japan mission, but the relationship was apparently quite tenuous.

To read the rest of this post, click here.