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Articles About the Family Mission |
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The Following is a collection of journal entries written by Elizabeth Sumrall. Elizabeth is a 15-year-old homeschool student serving in Seoul, South Korea with her family. Read her observations and you will get a better glimpse of life and ministry in Korea.
March 27 th Korea - our first “actual” twenty-four hours in the land of the morning calm, last night and today - what a wonderful experience! I say “actual” for from our Wednesday airport arrival, through Saturday, life at the Voeller’s was a blur. Oddly, I still simply could not comprehend that I was in Korea, there was no culture shock as I expected. Rather, I could almost have imagined I had moved to New York or some other large city in the U.S. Yes, the words and the people were Korean, but in the apartment, life simply carried on as normal. Only last evening did reality strike. We went to the Saemmuel church for an introductory meeting with the homeschooling families there. Sitting barefoot on the floor surrounded by some of the most precious families I have met, listening in amazement to a foreign tongue, speaking though so nervous, Korea finally became a reality.
May 9 th “…we went camping several days ago… Our group was composed of about fifteen or sixteen families… We assembled at a lovely place, a national park. On the first afternoon, everyone was called out to prepare for a hike up the mountain. Up and up for two hours or more we plodded, only stopping once. Attempting to interact with the children while feverishly nature journaling, I grew quite exhausted near the end of our trek. Again and again I thought we had reached our destiny, yet I found myself disappointed, called upon to strike up enough energy to keep on pushing upwards. Finally we reached the true “last stretch.” Breaking suddenly through the trees, Johanna and I found ourselves face to face with the finish line. Ten more steps and I stood on the crest of the mountain, gazing down in wonder at the site lying before me, all pain and effort completely forgotten. “What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you take thought of him,” my heart cried out with the Psalmist. Verdant mountains and fertile green valleys stretched out toward the horizon traversed by winding roads and dotted with the structures of civilization…a beautiful sight!”
June 9 th The days seem so full here. Up on the mountain behind our apartment, we got a good workout this morning. During our walk we planned activities for the children coming to our house. Six moms and thirteen children arrived at 10:00 for the preparing of the Korean History Unit Study. Following our prepared plan, we took the little ones for a nature hunt around the base of the mountain. Attentively searching for things to collect, we ran across many interesting insects, and even caught a damselfly or two! At home, the children pasted their finds onto a “Nature Hunt’ page creating a take-home collage artwork. Lunch and a scavenger hunt, (with prizes), filled our afternoon. Truly, it was a blessed and wonderfully full day!
June 13 th Each week I expectantly look forward to going to our CHEA co-op. Watching the children make their presentations of the countries they studied the previous week was especially enjoyable. Dressed up in various outfits, each group sang a song in the language, and either acted out some of the country’s history or presented facts about it. Really, it is great to see them taking responsibility and working together to prepare things.
July 18 th I am so thankful for the body of Christ at Church of Joy! Enthusiastic, positive, and joyful, (of course) they are a bright people. As I thought today, why do I smile so much here—because these dear people are always smiling at me! Truly I wonder if there is another place with such a light-hearted atmosphere. Fathers, mothers, children of all ages, join together in hand motions. It is so fun to watch…and participate! How refreshing these precious believers are!
September 28 th Praise the Lord for a fulfilling completion of our co-op trio! We met with CHEA Monday, Saemmuel Tuesday and Church of Joy Wednesday. We had a wonderful time today…pushing and pulling, building and testing bridges. Although the pace of classes is fervent, I cannot say the busyness is altogether unwelcome. Frankly it keeps us, forces us, to be on schedule. Beyond practical advantages, I really enjoy co-ops just for what they are. The children, the precious, gracious mothers, teaching and getting to practice Korean, are all wonderful things.
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