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 The
Kumsung church in Huam dong, Seoul, has completed its 2008 mission
to help out those in need in developing countries, returning to Korea
from the city of Cainta in the Philippines where the mission took
place August 3rd to the 8th.
This year’s mission, sponsored by Times Core, was titled ‘the first
mission of our lives.’ The team of thirty eight people included middle school, high
school and university students. They prepared for the mission by collecting gifts and learning
traditional Korean dance movements for two months.
The first day of the mission, after a Korean breakfast, the team arrived
at their first mission site, Bankers Village, to hand out bread, rice
and donated clothing to about
thirty expectant children. When
the team made cotton candy to give out, about a hundred children gathered around and everyone’s
faces were happy. The atmosphere heightened when the team
performed the Korean fan
dance, made balloon art and offered face paintings for
the kids.
In the afternoon, the mission team drove into the countryside to visit Montalban
Church, a church started by Korean missionaries. The surrounding village came
about when large numbers of homeless were moved by the government
to this area. The mission team donated money to help a child suffering
from cancer at this church and spent about an hour with villagers who had filled
the streets.
The next day began in Regal St., a ghetto area. This was a restricted zone where the
squalor and odors were intense. Children here were
exposed to serious nutritional deficiencies and the mission team added coconut to chicken
soup to raise their calorie intake. Students on the team
had a chance to reflect on the different
realities of how at home people go on diets due to over-eating while here people
have no food to feed their children.
The students who came back from this mission trip say they can still
see the faces of children lining up with cups, beer glasses and plastic
containers to get chicken
soup. They shed tears sometimes from
looking at children with no shoes. Everyone returned from the Vision
Trip Team in good health, but also moved and inspired. They have since
stated that ‘The First Mission of our Lives’ has renewed their visions and
philosophies for the future. |
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