Korean Sunday

Today, I thank God for the blessing of a new friendship.  

I don't think that I shared this before ~ but the reason for me learning the Korean language as well as the Korean culture was not because I liked K-pop (and I still do not), but because I had a burden to do ministry/missions among the Koreans in Penang.

My journey officially began in 2011. Well, it unofficially began in 2010, when I taught a Korean girl English. (I didn't know a word of Korean then, so we often communicated with our hands!) My love toward the Koreans grew and so, in 2011, while I did not know exactly the kind of ministry that I was to do, I decided to study for a term at a language school (which is way too far from my current residence now). After a term of picking up all the basics, I home-schooled myself for many months on grammar and vocabulary - while I was waiting to graduate with my MA in Christian Studies. The Korean dictionary and my grammar notes were two of my closest friends. I asked my Korean friends for pointers, read the Korean Bible and prayed a lot too. Subsequently, God gave a Korean missionary compassion for me; so she faithfully met me twice a week for 9 months (till she left for another mission) to help me converse better in Korean. She also taught me a lot about their culture, the struggles of today's modern Korean families and a little Korean history. It was all very fascinating. After she left, I have not spoken a word of Korean (thanks to the past 3 months of stresses). I have also not watched any Korean dramas, haha. Just when I was lamenting to God how rusty I had become....

...God brought me to know my Korean neighbours - a family of three. Actually, my hubby met them first. They live somewhere in our block; to think that I have never seen them around before. The mother of the family had been wanting to learn about the Bible for some time - she spoke to Ben and offered (without me asking) to help me with my Korean language in return!

W-O-W! An opportunity to minister and de-rust my Korean tongue? How divine!

I would be lying if I said that I did not hesitate - because I do have a lot of things on my plate at the moment. But I prayed that if this is of God's will, He would let our neighbours be very enthusiastic about establishing the relationship.

And so... they invited us for a meal today. We did not go out to eat random food. Instead, the father of the family cooked me awesome 낙지볶음 (stir-fried octopus noodles in sweet, spicy sauce) when I visited their home this afternoon (he made another seafood dish too)... and when Ben came back from the silent retreat that evening, he cooked Ben a feast too. His cooking was very, very good. What we ate would have cost us a bomb in any Korean restaurant!

We were so touched by their generosity and hospitality. We ended up staying at their place till dinner time - chatting and getting to know the family. Their little girl, P, is extremely adorable. She showed me her favourite lipsticks (To think that she is only 5! What did I know about lipstick at 5?) - and then she asked me to teach her piano. P and her best friend (who stayed for a while) made me play their favourite songs on the piano so that they could dance and sing. It was very entertaining.

P (on the right) and her best friend, S

They are all very enthusiastic. My heart is filled with peace. Thank God.

And so, I will be doing Bible study with Y (the mother of the family) once a week from tomorrow onwards ~ she will also be disciplining my Korean tongue. :P I did tell her to be very hard on me. Good luck, Grace! :P

I thank God for our new friends and the new opportunities for ministry.

Please keep me in prayer.