After the shouting is over...

The newspaper headlines begin to tell stories other than the North Korean shelling of the YeonPyungdo-island.  It is not over by any means, the Defense Minister resigned shortly after the attack followed by the Army Chief of Staff.

The war of rhetoric between the right and the left within South Korea continues, although the right seems to have the upper hand for now.  Some hardliners, including conservative Christians, insist that military retaliation is the only response Kim Jong-il understands and fault the current regime for timid reactions.  There are many cautious calls for peace and reconciliation as well.  Today (Dec. 20) the army held a firing exercise in the waters near the disputed northern line.  While there have been many warnings from the North, it seems calm for now.  I am quite certain that this will not escalate into an immediate confrontation. Knock on wood.

Many of the NGOs helping the people of North Korea have virtually suspended their operations for now, both for safety and to avoid bad publicity. The people of North who have no voice in this matter are the true victims, as is the case in many dictatorial societies.  I am sure some of the low level officials in North Korea are also suffering from reduced cashflow, often called grease payment.  The South Korean government also has denied travel permits to the businessmen who have operations in the joint industrial complex in Kaesung, just north of the demilitarized zone.  The SK government fears that they may become hostages and severely limit their options should the conflict escalate.

None of these actions contributes to a long-term peaceful solution.  I wonder what would.  Most of the help SK provided over the years were short term immediate relief efforts for famine, flood and other disasters.  Some programs have been running for many years, but the nature of the programs are for immediate relief of the symptoms rather than building capacity for NK to handle the problems on their own.  Many stories of economic policy failures have leaked out.  Failed currency devaluation, erratic policies of free consumer market activities point to lack of human infra-structure to manage more open economic activities which, in my opinion is necessary for any meaningful economic development of the country. 

During the mid 90s I participated in a State Department funded program to train mid-level government bureaucrats from newly independent Central Asian countries on market based economy.  Of course they did not become market economy experts overnight, but we hoped that they would feel confident enough to allow community development workers into their countries.  PCUSA participates in such efforts by seconding our people to the NGOs working in the Central Asian countries.  I wonder whether this would be possible in North Korea.  No, I don't think NK will send hundreds of their officers to SK or US to learn market economy.  If they did send, it is likely that most of them would be intelligence agents rather than community leaders.

But there is a hopeful sign.  In October this year, the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology opened its doors to train tomorrow's leaders in science and industry including modern management systems.  It is largely a Christian community effort, but apolitical and non-proselytizing.  It is purely an effort to help a society to build up human capital to help themselves.  It took a long time, but the NK government is satisfied that the leaders of PUST do not have any hidden motives to cause trouble for the NK regime.  NK authorities selected the first class of around 150 students and they are in intensive English language training since all instructions will be in English.  I pray that this kind of efforts take root and help build ties that can withstand minor skirmishes.  Throughout mission history, education seems to have weathered social changes well, and I believe PUST will be successful as well.   I am gathering information as to how we might help.  I will share what I learn. You can learn about PUST a bit more here.

In the meanwhile we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Saber rattling only or a real thing?

The shelling of Yeonpyeong island by North Korean artillery battery has dominated the news all last week.  As all the YAVs have written, the situation is calmer than what was reported in the press, especially in the Western press.  Of course all is not well either.  How can shelling and killing people ever be normal? Over 90% of the island's civilian population evacuated to the mainland and  stories on the attack never yielded the top of first page on newspapers for two weeks and will probably continue for several weeks.

Politicians all claim that they deplore violence but blame each other, more than North Korea, for making situation worse.  Except for the news hour, television programs are back to usual soap operas and reality shows.  We see nothing that affects everyday life, but keep an watchful eye on the situation as we know North Korea will stir up trouble again.  Stock markets seem to take the situation in stride, and we do not see any panic among ordinary citizens.  Travels to North-South joint industrial zone was closed to the South Koreans for a while but it reopened in a limited way, another sign that a measure of normalcy is returning.

As site coordinators for the YAV program in Korea, we need to inform the YAVs and their family and friends.  We do not have any private information and no wisdom beyond anyone living in Korea.  Having lived in many countries with security concerns (DR Congo and Nepal) we are confident that the current situation in Korea is not a threat to personal safety for those in Daejeon.  Crazy drivers and exposed construction sites are clear and present danger, not to mention the high calorie and fat contents of the holiday feasts.  We will watch the situation and delay the field trip to the demilitarized zone and the Panmunjom until the tense situation passes.

We keep our eyes and ears open for signs that we should take caution and the YAVs will be the first to hear.  In the meanwhile we are preparing for the end of the first term and looking forward to holiday visits and travels.

Helping those in the margin

WARNING:  This post is heavy and rambling.  I am just thinking out loud and the things may not be related at all, just many things.

As a missionary I try to help those in the margin of the society.  Let it be economic, political, religious, racial or gender discriminations, it all involves struggle between the center and the margin.  The center, however, holds the power and once we have the power we can effect the change, so we need to occupy the center, so goes the argument.

Reflecting on my personal experiences I want to learn why it is so difficult to correct the wrongs and we seem so resistant to change.  It is right and noble to advocate for the welfare of the less privileged.  How should we go about it?  Should we try to get to the position of power and enact the change, or should we stand with those at the margin and demand changes?  Two short years ago, we welcomed Barak Obama into the most powerful seat sharing the hope for a change, only to blame him for all difficulties we face and the unrealized hope.  Yes, the Republicans and far-rights engineered and flamed the discontent for their political gains, but I do not believe they are all that smart and powerful.  The election results reflect a great deal of frustration, sense of betrayal and just plain anger.  How did that happen?

One very simple and naive theory is that once we reach the center, others become in the margin by definition.  When Obama became the president, those who were in the previous administration and their followers were pushed out to the margin, at least in their minds.  It probably was the first time in a very long while that they experienced seeing someone visually, socially and racially different from their own in the center.  They made the alienation complete by throwing in manufactured religious difference as well.  They wanted to justify their discomfort.  When the economy crashed and pushed many economic middle class into humiliating marginal lifestyle, they found a convenient excuse other than their own greed and selfishness.  Another reason may be that when Obama entered the seat of power, he found the necessity of housekeeping details took his energy and focus away.  One can be a one-issue candidate, but not one-issue president.

As the economy improves, there is always a lag, and seeing the new leadership in congress speaking loudly the sense of alienation will diminish and the extreme voices will lose their appeal, I pray.  The Republican leaders will claim that as their contribution, so be it.  But this note is not about U.S. politics, it is about missionaries working to help those in the margin.

When we enter into marginalized communities we bring our background, generally more privileged than the community, and access to resources and power.  We want to advocate for the people and to help equip the people to fight for themselves and improve their situation.  But here is the irony.  We are very reluctant to yield the center in this process.  That is, we do not want to play the supporting role in the fringes.  We want to help those in the margin, but do not want  to experience the margin within the marginalized community. We end up further marginalizing the people we want to help.  They wonder whether we really want to help, and we wonder whether they want to help themselves at all? Is it necessary for us to experience what it feels like to be marginalized, in order to become a part of the community and is it necessary to be a part of the community?  My personal opinion is yes and yes to these questions. We may not become a part of the community no matter how hard we try, but we must be willing.  When I served in Nepal, our organization was dedicated to serving the lower class folks in the caste system, whose voices were silenced by their religion, culture and political systems.  I could commiserate with them as I remembered the frustration and the accompanying low self-esteem when I was learning French before our assignment in DR Congo.  Shared experiences allow us to communicate in a higher or deeper level.

Another question is the effectiveness of enacting changes from the center.  Certainly power has privileges and quick structural changes possible, but provides energy and rationale for resistance.  I wondered what it would have been like if Dr. Martin Luther King became a governor or even the president rather than the voice in the wilderness.  Would he have had more influence on the equal rights of the racial minorities?  What if Jesus took the throne of King Herod?  I think they knew and chose to be the powerful voice rather than the secular power.

I have been in enough administrative positions to know that someone has to administer, I simply choose to be the voice.  I must be willing and do occasionally experience the 'marginalness" not to be complacent and energyless.  So help me God.

Trying to control water with a broom or multitasking

The YAVs been here in Korea for six weeks.  Language studies, children's center assignments, church groups, field trips...  All these while battling the initial onset of homesickness, exhaustion from nonstop activities during the month of adrenaline rush,  and changing weather is a lot of load for anyone.  It is a major task for a 64 year old who has been doing it for at least thirty years, but for those on the fresh side of twenty somethings... O Lord have mercy!!!

They have been remarkable troopers taking on tasks they are put to regardless of their talents or lack thereof.  But there is a method to this madness.  Successful multi-tasking requires a common thread that runs through all seemingly different tasks. Until we find the thread, keep working is like trying to control water by sweeping it with a broom.  We think we are pushing water in one direction only to find it rushing to another unintended direction.  We keep sweeping, yet we are not making any progress.

The solution is in pulling, not pushing water.  We need to find the center of gravity and nudge the water to the direction of the gravity.  Sometimes, the center of gravity is the unique personal talent and other times it is in the nature of the tasks at hand.  When the talent and task gravity centers match, it is the best job in the world.

My assignments for the Presbyterian Church (USA) are all over the lot.  Some say I am a disaster specialist (in assisting, not in causing I hope), property person, finance expert, trouble shooter, trouble maker or mediator.  I am sure there are a few more terms said in my absence.  Sometimes I take on many of these roles concurrently.  A coffee mug says "multitasking is a sure way to screw up both jobs".  The challenge is that we cannot always avoid multitasking, and we cannot avoid screwing up all the jobs, not for long anyway.

Allow me to share some tips that I don't practice well, but keep trying.

• Try to find a big picture that can hold multiple tasks we are involved in.  The remaining tasks should be dropped or the picture needs to be adjusted to include them.  Dropping some off the list is not a proof of failure, but keeping them assures failure.
• Are you comfortably in the picture or is it a wrong picture for you?  Think of your long-term goals and see if it is a goal mismatch or you just need to develop skill sets to be compatible with the picture.  If it is a goal mismatch, be prepared to walk away.
• Set benchmarks and develop ways to check the progress. If you don't know where you are going, you are never lost, but you won't ever get there either.
• What are the activities or relationships that runs through most of the tasks?  Can you handle them all on your own, or do you need others' help?
• Trust others and share the responsibilities.  TRUST and do not micromanage.
• Do not be overly anxious about setbacks, that's life.  My GPS navigation machine always points me to the new route to the destination when I go off the original route.
• Do not be concerned about getting credit personally, it destroys relationships.  When the tasks become more important than the people, the costs are more than the benefits.

Rabi Hillel, a Jewish sage of many years ago, spoke to my heart as I was starting my career as an accounting professor;
"If I am not for myself, then WHO is for me?  But, if I am not for others, then WHAT am I?"

Our American culture has and will teach us plenty about the "WHO" question.  The YAVs are seeking the answers to the "WHAT" question this year, and the struggles of these days will contribute to their quest.  I am sure it is in the big picture since God built us in His image.

Communication

We are supposed to be bi-cultural, bi-lingual and omni-generational. We were both born and raised in Korea at least through high-school.  We call United States our home and have children in their thirties residing in Boston and New York.  We lived in six countries in three continents and traveled in over twenty countries.  We can even carry on basic conversations in a few more languages.  Now that should make us good at communicating, right?  We thought so, but...

Working as coordinators for the YAV program, we are learning the basics of communication all over again, making the mistakes all over again, and making others frustrated all over again.  Then again, even God has difficulty getting his messages understood at times.

One source of difficulty is our competing objectives.  As we work with our partners we have two objectives; to share the love of Christ with the children  and to help our YAVs grow in their faith and their capacity to embrace a larger world.  Our partners have he common goal of caring for the children, but also the need to demonstrate the value of the programs in tangible ways.  While I am aware that the Korean culture does not state their wishes directly or openly, I do not always succeed in decoding the the true message in the signals I receive.   If it were just us, we can adjust as the gaps in understanding and expectations appear on the surface, but YAVs are relying on us to get it right as we plan their work assignments and approaches.  Each of the YAVs work with multiple partners which makes the situation a bit more complicated.

But look at the bright side, once they get through the first several months they would have more cross cultural and generational communications experience than any other YAVs.  Haejung and I seek wisdom and patience to intervene only when necessary and let the YAVs tackle the communications issues.  Another protective instinct we must control is the assumption that the YAVs' knowledge of Korean customs and culture is limited to what we shared.  They have already explored and learned a lot on their own and they are capable of much more.  We just hope that they would trust us enough to ask for help when they need it.

Bonding with a community

In Korean-American communities in the United States there is a well known saying that the sphere of their immigrant life is determined by who meets them at the airport.  Their economic, social and even faith life is heavily influenced by the person since the newly arrived has no other base or anchor to shape his or her life in the new society/culture.

It is also true for missionaries entering into a new culture and new communities.  In case of our YAVs there are several potential groups they would meet at the "airport" as they begin their first weeks in Korea.  How and who they bond with will affect their experiences here in Korea and beyond.  We learned this firsthand as we entered many new communities during my academic and missionary career. We are aware of the importance of bonding with correct communities for proper work attitudes, spiritual and physical health and the potential growth, but we do not want to limit their options and encounters.  How do we raise geese that would be friendly without losing their true nature,  their ability to survive in the wild?

Haejung and I try to encourage the YAVs to meet and try different communities while their energy level is high.  They have been remarkably good at trying unfamiliar food, attending functions they cannot participate fully, learning situations where they would not be in the high achievement group and foregoing some groups and activities with which they are comfortable.  We also know that there comes a period when they would yearn for things that are natural and comfortable to them.  We would be more agreeable to our YAVs spending more time and having fellowship with North American communities to help overcome the homesick period.  By then we hope the YAVs would have acquired enough Korean culture, language and friends to function in multi-cultural settings.

The Korean society has changed so much since the arrival of early missionaries, now the older Korean generation would find the food and digital culture of the young Koreans more foreign than the YAVs would.  Older folks hand over business cards while the young register their cell phone numbers in others' phones.  Unlike many American young folks venturing in Korea and elsewhere, our YAVs need to work with different age groups and migrant (different culture) population.  Also, we are not running our own programs, we are assisting in others' programs enhancing the quality and scope of their programs.  We need to adjust our activities to fit in others' plans to the best of our ability.  Our YAVs must be able to function with both the business card collection and ever increasing entries in their phones.

One major problem we see with the self appointed missionaries is that they are mainly concerned with their own activities rather than the needs of the people they serve and the people are means to ends rather than end objects of God's love we are called to share.  Of course there are exceptions but these errors are easy to make when we try to do things quickly in a community we do not understand well.  We are encouraging our young missionaries to concentrate on meeting and bonding with Korean communities before responding to offers of help and fellowship from other North Americans.  There is need for the interaction, but doing so after they leave the "airport" is wise.

Haejung and I are very thankful for the cooperative spirit of the YAVs this year as we are trying to navigate the path of ministry for the first time.  Pray that the energy, wisdom and humility will last us for the whole year.

Energy or lack thereof...

I traveled well over two hundred thousand miles last year,  equivalent to thirty flights between Seoul and Chicago or 420 hours of pure flying time.  Sometimes I did the flying without missing one day at the office doing it all on weekends. Add numerous train rides in Korea and Japan to that.  I even taught a course at Hannam University on the side. It's not a bad energy level for a sixty something, wouldn't you agree?

But compared to the YAVs, I am ready to be put out of commission.  I don't believe I aged so quickly in the last few months, I just ran into a energy level that I have not met during the past thirteen years.  Haejung tells me that God sent angels to bring the message to act my age.  I am ready to admit that I no longer have the energy of the youth, instead I pray for some wisdom of the age to share.

YAVs are eager to serve and get into action, immediately.  I fully understand as they have been preparing for this time at least for a year and since March they knew that they are assigned to Korea.  The wait has been longer than Haejung and my engagement period.  Also, the word "immediately" is used often in the Gospels according to Mark and Luke, and perhaps YAVs are only being biblical.

Still, they need not and should not fill up all available time in the first two weeks.  They have not seen all the opportunities we have identified and we certainly have many more opportunities including many of which we are not yet aware.

Korean folks also come up with many on-the-spot ideas to engage our YAVs without thinking through the process.  Haejung and I encourage the YAVs to experience variety of encounters, but defer long-term commitments until a later date.  We have to take on the load that we can sustain throughout the year, beyond the initial high-energy excitement period.  How about the need and opportunity to be good to ourselves?  YAV year is the time to grow us through service to others.  The tag line on YAV t-shirt is a year of service for a lifetime of change. YAV experience does not end in twelve month but a lifetime, thus our goal for the year is not to complete our mission, but to start a good spark in our hearts to help us live the life worth our calling.

I should be old enough to know our limits.  We hope to build trusting relationships with the precious young ladies for them to be comfortable being in the vacuum for a while.  It's not really a vacuum but  calm and still moments to discern God's plan for us all.

Arrival

In my childhood memories of Korea September brings high blue sky and crisp weather .  But this year on the last day of August, as we were driving up to Inchon airport to meet three young ladies arriving for their journey as missionaries, the Typhoon Gonpas hit us with heavy rain and strong wind.  For Koreans it would have been a safer and saner choice to take interstate bus for travel to the final destination Daejeon from the airport, but we could not traumatize the innocent beings to navigate the huge airport and bus terminal points while maneuvering suitcases filled with life essentials, also some not so essentials, for the next eleven months of their lives, and with no Korean language.

Anticipating the bad weather we left early giving us four hours for the three hour journey.  We arrived early enough for dinner at the airport and having failed to gain entry into a lounge we went to the arrival gate, just to learn that the flight arrived one hour ahead of the schedule.  Padding a few minutes to the flight time to improve their "on-time arrival" statistics is a common technique, but adding one hour to the three hour flight is too much.  We panicked momentarily, but realizing that the YAVs would not be the first one off the plane and their luggages would not be the first on to the carousel, we relaxed and waited.

Before too long, a sixty-one year old lady (Haejung) squealing like a teen ager seeing her heartthrob awoke me from my daydream to see three beautiful young people pulling their luggages.

After loading up the van, and squeezing into the seats, including a jump seat, we set off to Daejeon.  I was quietly concerned since I had come back from the Stateside just the night before and did not know whether the jet-lag would hit me without notice.   After an hour or so on the highway I asked Katie, who was the only one awake, about the airplane food.  When her comments were all on the quantity and not on the quality, I knew she was hungry and we live in different worlds.

It was close to midnight, but we stopped at one of the ubiquitous highway rest areas (a very large travel superstore) for some real food.  They all seem to be more animated with new energy.

It was almost 1:00 a.m. when we arrived at their house for the next year.  We gave a brief tour of the house and distributed essentials like wifi password and the cell phones we had secured for them.

By then it was five hours past our usual bed time and we crashed after a very brief prayer of thanks, but we did not fail to ask for wisdom, patience and humility.

Seven hours later, they all had to show up for their placement interview at the Korean language school in Hannam University.  Haejung and Simon had that long forgotten anxiety of taking children to the first day of school.  They also gave us brave smiles, but we knew they had knots in their tummies.

Then very early the next morning, I took off to Tokyo, Japan for a two day business trip.

A new journey

In late August, I attended the memorial service for my brother-in-law, Elder Kee Sohn, in Champaign, IL.  He was two months younger than me and during the 36 years I have known him we have been very close.  Since we left Champaign in 1985 sometimes we have not seen each other for many years.  After we entered mission service for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1997 and lived in Africa and Asia, our face to face encounters were few and far in-between, mostly at weddings of our children.  Kee passed away at a young age of 64 due to esophageal cancer.  He was loved by everyone and hundreds attending the service during a weekday morning was a proof.  I was very glad that I made the long trip of twenty four hours to be a part of the farewell party.

As I got on the plane home and I realized that I am starting a new life without Kee, although we did not have many physical contacts during the past several years, he was in my life.  Eunhee, my sister, nieces and many friends need to start shaping radically different lives.  It is not just continuing their lives with one piece removed, but a new one.  When we entered mission service it was a new one rather than a revised life, and each subsequent field assignment proved to be a new life with new community, culture and relationships.  This realization was very useful and timely, since we were starting a new life with three Young Adult Volunteers (YAV) staring their year of service in Korea.

The day after I returned to Korea, Haejung and I drove to Inchon Airport three hours north of Daejeon to greet these young missionaries. I am sure they were glad to see us after 19 hours of travel with three hours of additional car ride ahead of them.  We made home safely, and started on new lives together.

During the past dozen years, we relied on our letters to family and friends to share our lives in the field which can be found here.   This blog is to serve as a communication tool for the YAV experience, providing a parallel view of the new life experiences shared by Jenny, Katie and Becky. 


I invite and encourage the parents of these young ladies to read the notes on this space for more complete understanding of your daughters' new life experiences.  Hopefully I can provide some useful context and perspectives for richer understanding.  I also invite young people who are contemplating a service with the YAV program to read and comment with your questions and concerns.  It will take several days for me to catch up with the ladies, but I think that will be the story of our lives during the upcoming year.