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Letter from Overseas
HyeRan and David Kim-Cragg write from Korea
Letter #6 February
2006
A Report from the Kim-Craggs (February
13, 2006)
We are writing this report on the day after JeongWol DaehBoRum,
meaning the first fullmoon festival of Korea
(the 15th day of the 1st month of the lunar calendar).
On this day, many Koreans eat a meal of rice cooked together with five
additional grains and seven special vegetable dishes. Other festival foods include peanuts and
walnuts, whose shells are broken open with one’s teeth as a way of wishing for good
health. On this day some people in the
country burn dry grass and plants as a symbolic act of getting rid of evil
spirits for the whole year. Such yummy and festive events end at night with a
contemplative moment of staring at the full moon and making annual
resolutions for individual and communal well-being.
The Kim-Craggs
spent the past month welcoming David’s parents (Mary and Wesley Cragg), who
brought 15 hockey sticks donated by Aurora United Church for the purpose of
playing hockey with students at HanShin University
this spring. We hope this will create a cross-cultural experience and feeling
of fellowship. Two museums and a trip to a hot-spring spa as a part of family
re-union were preceeded by David’s
week long trip to China,
accompanying a group of young students and adults from JoongBu
church, a PROK church in Suwon.
A day before his departure, HyeRan was invited to preach in HyangRin church, another PROK church, famous for its
exclusive use of Korean inculturated music in
worship and its strong witness during the years of dictatorship in South Korea. It was the Sunday annually set aside by the
General Council of the PROK for addressing women’s issues. When it was
a time for his grand-parents to leave, Noah decided to go with David to say
good-bye at the airport. We later
found out that it was his intention to go to Canada with grandma and grandpa
rather than seeing them off.
The visit reminded us of the
geographical, physical, and emotional re-location of our family and brought
home to us our separation from family and friends back in Canada. To help us get through the emotions we kept
ourselves busy getting ready for a new semester an the University, leading
the English worship service and Bible study at church and responding to such
requests for visits, Bible study and preaching and speaking engagements. HyeRan, for example was asked to be a theme
speaker for the KSCF annual meeting. KSCF is a student Christian group she
was heavily involved with in university days.
She gave a speech on the theme of “KSCF-being Tuned to the Voice of the Lowly.” David is preparing a Bible study for JoongBu Church and a sermon for a worship lead by the youth
group of NamSung church in Seoul.
The family also hosted a lunch meeting of the once famous “Monday
Missionaries’ Meeting”, a tradition that has been alive for
decades. It was formed by a group of
socially conscious missionaries of all denominations and back grounds in the
first part of this century. The group
of ten who gathered at our place (on a Saturday) represented the Philippines, Switzerland,
USA, India and of course Canada
and Korea. It is a small world indeed and, we
discover, wrapped round with the arms of the Spirit.
May the Spirit of the first
full moon of this year, the very Spirit of creation, dwell in each of you
throughout this year.
The Kim-Craggs
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