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In This Issue:
- A Month in South Korea
- What's Next?
- Prayer Requests
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A Month in South Korea - Fr. Chris's Survey/Training Trip
I had the pleasure of living in South Korea from Sep 10 - Oct 7, spending most of my days at the St Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Seoul, while having a chance to get out for a few adventures outside the city as well!
Life at the cathedral:
Weekends are busy at the cathedral and include Friday night bible studies led by Met. Ambrosios, Saturday night vespers, Sunday liturgy, and a communal meal and fellowship. During the week, the cathedral has morning and evening services Tuesday to Friday, and I was given the opportunity to lead these services so as to get acquainted with their way of serving in the Metropolis and to begin to learn and use some of the litanies and exclamations in the Korean language.
Many faithful people work at the cathedral throughout the week: translators, administrative assistants, an iconographer, groundskeepers, clergy, etc., and it was really wonderful to get to know this group and to learn from them. I also had the opportunity to have some good conversation with Met. Ambrosios and Fr. Antonios Im about serving in the Metropolis and ministry in our anticipated city of Ulsan.
Trip to Ulsan:
While in Korea we made a trip down to St Dionysios Orthodox parish in Ulsan, a city of 1.1 million people. The parish lost their priest, Fr. Paul Kwon, last year to cancer and has been without a full-time priest since. Thus we are beginning our ministry in South Korea to meet this immediate need. I got to spend some time with Fr. Paul's wife, Presbytera Charis, who has been working faithfully to keep the community together. Fr. Antonios Woo has also been coming down from Seoul every weekend to minister to the congregation. We will be working closely with both of these people as we begin life and ministry there. Many Koreans and Korean families are part of the parish, along with a sizable expat community of Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Romanians, and Copts. It was clear in my short time at the parish that there is a need for a full-time clergy presence there among Koreans, expats, and seekers. We want to be ready and available for those who are members of the church, while also being attentive to how Christ is calling both us as missionaries and the parish itself to be his light, his witnesses, and his servants in the city and its surrounding region.
Other activities:
I got to visit the Holy Transfiguration Monastery of the Korean Orthodox Church twice while in Korea. Two monastics reside there while others regularly come to live and work there. Sister Agapi is the one Korean nun of the church. Met. Sotirios Trambas is the retired bishop of the Metropolis and resides at the monastery for a good portion of the year. Met. Sotirios has lived in Korea for over 40 years and it was really great to ask his advice about how to begin ministry.
I also took an afternoon to travel to Incheon and visit Fr. Daniel Na, who serves the well established parish of St Paul. Fr. Daniel, Basilios (a parishioner and groundsman), and I had a lovely conversation about evangelism and ministry in South Korea and thinking about vision for the future of the Church there.
Lastly, I was able to become acquainted with the English speaking expat community of the cathedral and enjoyed getting to know this group of folks, their activities, accomplishments, and struggles. As I anticipate being the only Orthodox priest with English as a first language in the country, we expect a ministry to this community in some fashion as well.
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What's Next?
We are in the process of finalizing approvals and plans with OCMC and with the Korean Orthodox Church to move to Ulsan, South Korea. We've begun the process of applying for visas, which likely will take another couple of weeks. We also are seeking out what housing options might be available for us in the city, and we are in a season of support raising. We are looking for individuals and churches who are interested in supporting our anticipated ministry that Christ is laying before us in Korea. Regular monthly, quarterly, and yearly donations will help get us to Korea quicker and help us stay longer. We will begin with a two-year term in South Korea and our hope is to serve many terms and live in the country for many years, as the Lord wills. We also value your regular prayers for our preparation, transition, and efforts, as we've seen even in this past month how God is faithful and truly works through the prayers of his people.
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Prayer Requests:
- Positive interactions and building of new and important relationships while we visit to different churches almost every Sunday during this season.
- Finding an apartment in Ulsan that will be suitable for our family, in a good location, and positive for all parties involved.
- Our transition: We've been in transition since graduating from St Vlad's in May and will continue to feel so as we get settled in Ulsan. We are blessed to be living with Jen's parents in Indiana and have some stability of location and good times for the boys. We regularly wonder how the boys are doing with all this and how they will adjust to life in Korea.
- Visas: Our visa applications have been approved by the office of immigration in Seoul! Please pray for our next step of applying for visas at the South Korean Consulate in Chicago.
- Language learning: We are currently studying Korean through the app, Lingodeer, for grammar and the Pimsleur audio course for speaking. It's a good start and we'll be looking to have regular lessons with a teacher on our arrival in country.
- St Dionysios parish: Pray for the Lord to sustain this parish, to encourage the faithful there, and to grow it while they also are in a time of transition.
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As we've been traveling through Indiana farmland on some of our recent trips, our sons have been enjoying seeing the harvesting vehicles for the corn and soybeans. Indeed, it's harvest season here in the US and we've made it through the Thanksgiving holiday! We pray you're able to find many things in your life to be thankful about, and to take such a eucharistic attitude with you into your world. We are thankful for the Lord's continued blessings that we experience through your interest in our lives and the journey the Lord has us on.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Chris & Mat. Jen, Andrew, and Gideon
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