As the Church we are called to care for widows and orphans, and that can be really difficult to do. I think our modern perspective of society has transformed our idea of widows and orphans. As a modern society we have also become complacent with our surroundings and we find too much comfort in them.

It seems this mindset has subconsciously been adopted by many Christians, and it has kept us from truly caring for widows and orphans who are in need and in close proximity.

Visiting the Shinsaengwon orphanage opened my eyes to the oftentimes very bleak world of orphans. I can’t say I was extensively involved in relating to a lot of the children there, but I believe that God was easing me into a new perspective of the world during my time with the kids.

Honestly, I can’t say my heart was in the right place when I went to see the orphans. I had heard about Dongshin’s ministry through the church, but I never really felt compelled to look into it. When I did decided to visit the orphanage my heart wasn’t entirely in it. My overall experience may have been affected by how I was feeling, and my general attitude probably made me feel less connected to the kids there.

God was at work despite how I was feeling, and ultimately, I really did have a good time with everyone at the orphanage. They were very generous and friendly, they served us all kinds of food and we did some swimming—albeit in freezing water. It was quite the experience for someone like me. Someone who has had everything dealt with and handed over by parents or friends.

To see children, who have been sent away from their loved ones, smiling and having fun, convicted me.

God has shown me that my heart needs to be worked on, and that my capacity for compassion needs to be examined before visiting the orphanage again.

Reaching out isn’t always easy, but it can help us see past our own reality and into someone’s dark situation. We can be a light to those people but we first need to learn how to be overcome the superficial comfort of our world.

When we have surrendered to the comfort of our little world we forget how important compassion for others is. We forget that Jesus purposefully stepped out of his comfort zone to feel compassion towards those less fortunate. Also that He never felt compassion out of guilt or duty, but He felt it from the depths of His soul. That’s how we should show compassion to others.

One thing I’ve learned out here in Korea is to never pass up an opportunity to eat a bunch of food and hang out with friends. At least unless I’m passed out from a previous food coma (mostly sugar coma, in my case) or just plain tired.

Renee and Richard were hosting a party at their place last Sunday, and at first I didn’t plan on attending. I didn’t have any of the required bright neon clothing and I’m a big planner to begin with, but when I heard a lot of people were going, I figured it was a good idea.

When the worship squad arrived at Richard’s pad we found the place already packed with Dongshin people and some of them dressed to impress in their neon chic. I almost failed to mention, the party was to celebrate Renee’s birthday and to say farewell to some old Dongshin friends. This whole blog entry wouldn’t have a point without explaining that.

Being the greatly generous people they are, Renee and Richard prepared a massive amount of food for everyone to enjoy. There was everything from hot dog bites to some excellent salad with cherry tomatoes and basil. I’m surprised my tongue can still taste anything after it experienced that deliciousness.

What followed up the snacking and desserts was a good time of fellowship and chilling. I’m actually not so great in social situations, but since I’m in Korea and pretty much deprived of interaction during the week, I try.

Other highlights of the night included: Stephen’s free flow poetry to the guitar styling of Nate and the passing out of gifts to the best dressed.

We had a really fun time with the people from Dongshin and there were some new people in attendance as well, it’ll be cool to see if they come to church on Sunday. This past weekend was a good time—but you really can’t go wrong with Renee and Richard throwing a party. Good job guys!

Finally, I was able to rest and relax with my friends at Dongshin at the ministry leaders retreat… wait… what am I talking about?!

The previous weekend, a group of the many ministry leaders traveled to some place (Chimsan Village) east of Daegu to a really cool secluded area. The funny part about the whole retreat is that I didn’t get much rest!

I was prepared to get up early enough in the morning to hit up the bus to get down to church, but somehow I ended up running a bit late—that never happens! Eventually I showed up at Dongshin not really knowing what to expect from my first leaders’ retreat.

We crowded into a few vans and headed out to a mountainous region past Daegu, it was really nice to finally be away from buildings and civilization for a while. Really, it was my first time being in the “great wide open” of Korea—I liked it.

After showing up late to the retreat site, we started things off with a message from Andy about God working in us despite our weaknesses. It was really cool to see Andy open up and be real with us. Sometimes I feel like some pastors don’t take the time to level with their congregation, so I appreciated hearing his message.

The rest of our retreat was generally focused on receiving input from the ministry leaders on how we can improve and stabilize the structure of leadership at Dongshin for future generations.

There was some really constructive conversations going on and it was exciting to see God working through the leaders. Balancing worship and service while maintaining a Christ-centered church can be nerve-wracking, but The Lord showed up that day to help smooth the process out.

After our meetings, we had a great lunch prepared by Richard and Renee. They worked hard to feed all of us and I was happy about being able to eat some spaghetti in Korea!

Once we had all finished our lunch, we participated in some whacky camp style games. Picking out your team members’ shoes–that was dangerous and the human knot–that was… interesting.

We gathered again in the main cabin to hear a message from Dash, and then we proceeded to dinner at Restaurant. I guess they couldn’t come up with a catchy name for it—I thought “Restaurant” flowed off the tongue nicely.

Near the end of the retreat we all met separately in our respective ministry groups. I enjoyed being able to sit down with the worship team members and throw around ideas for next year—that doesn’t happen everyday.

Being a part of the worship ministry at a few churches, I’ve realized that teamwork and compromise are important to leading God’s people into worship.

A lot of my ministry’s conversation focused on sharing the load of responsibility and being prepared for Sunday.

I ended up feeling really tired by the end of the retreat, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy myself. I’m very thankful for Dongshin and the humble ministry leaders who work hard to strengthen God’s people here in Korea.

Dongshin 2011 Scavenger Hunt May 15th

Last Sunday, the Dongshin English Service formulated a plan to take over downtown Daegu—not really, but we got close! In actuality a few squads of Dongshin members were sent scrambling through the busy streets of downtown for an epic scavenger hunt.

I must admit that my mind wasn’t completely functioning that day because I was dead tired and had a massive headache, but I’ll do my best to recollect my experience for you all.

My group The Kings of Kimbap raced towards downtown via automobile—“race” may not be the best word, but we definitely tried our best. The traffic was beating us up pretty badly and the task of finding decent parking was a rather pesky one. Despite our initial hardships, The Kings of Kimbap hit the ground running at a good pace.

Every good team has a strategy to win, and we put our heads together to find the best way to achieve the most points. When I heard about getting points for a haircut, I couldn’t resist—I needed a haircut badly. Hitting up the majorly rewarding assignments while throwing in a few minor activities for good measure seemed a sure-fire way to win the hunt.

There really isn’t a quicker way to be singled out as a foreigner in Korea than pasting stickers on each and every Korean (or foreigner) you can find and snapping a picture with them.

I’m really grateful for the scavenger hunt because it helped me experience more of the culture than I would have if I were by myself walking around downtown.

Furthermore, I’m very thankful for the people on my team who could speak Korean–without them The Kings of Kimbap would have been The Kings of Konfusion (or Confucius, if you prefer a Chinese reference).

By the end of our journey across downtown, my team was quite successful in gathering up a copious amount of points. Alas, we were not victorious but our spirits were not stricken too badly by the pain of defeat. In our minds we were winners and that’s all that mattered.

In all seriousness, my experience was a very positive one and one that I will remember even after I head back home. It helped me develop better my teamwork skills and also provide a really fun adventure for my teammates and I.

(by Chris Whetsell)

This past weekend at Dongshin we had our very first all praise and worship night.

Going into the event, I didn’t know what to expect. In all honesty my heart wasn’t entirely set on worship, I was more worried about the overall structure of the service. I had no idea what God had in store for our church—He really had some surprises for us that evening.
I’m very thankful to be a part of a church that is open to what the Spirit is doing and how He is leading. The worship night was just one example of how the Lord has showed up and how He has been opening our hearts to Him in Korea. That openness to the Spirit will turn the floor over to the work that God has for us. It’s very exciting to witness the moving of the Spirit with all of you at Dongshin.
Being involved in the worship band made worship night an interesting experience for me. As a musician I find it difficult to balance the performance aspect of playing with the worship and praise side of service. Even going into the worship night I was worried about how I would play, but eventually the Lord settled my heart down and reminded me that this night isn’t about my performance at all.
This week we remember Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. I pray that it is a time for all of us to reflect on how God paid the greatest price to save us from eternal separation from Him.
Personally, my time with the Lord this week has really humbled me. Patience and peace are two things that God has blessed me with this week, in the midst of tension and frustration at work. Just when my mind starts to think that He turned His back to me, Jesus comes and comforts me and tells me that He’s been with me all along.
Praise God for His faithfulness and for his willingness to send His son to set the captives free.
(Written by Chris Whetsell)
Board Games and Learning to Pay Attention

Dongshin Church has many members and lots of different experiences that can be shared. If you have any stories about what God has been doing in your life that you want to share, please send them to [email protected]

One thing I’ve really come to enjoy at Dongshin is the opportunity to interact with so many different kinds of people. Our community is a very unique mix of people from all over the world, and it’s eye opening to a Christian—like myself—who was raised in a more exclusive community of believers.

This past weekend was board game night and a great time to extend the hand of friendship to new faces.

I’m not too much into playing board games, but I know that they are a good way to connect with others. It’s also a really fun way to experience a different—and crazy—side of someone when they’re wrapped up in the tension of a game of Catch Phrase! Even if you don’t know someone very well, playing games together really breaks the ice well—more Ice Breakers please.

Coming into church this week I was feeling really sullen from the workweek, but I had a feeling God had something to tell me. Sure enough, the message easily thwarted my uncaring perspective and I began to relax. Sundays have really been a blessing to me, even if I didn’t realize it at the time. God is always able to blow away my defenses and then have me take a look in the mirror.

Living all the way out in Chilgok has given me a lot of time to reflect on myself, and while it’s been beneficial, it sometimes makes me apathetic to what God’s doing with me out here.  After a bad day of work I usually take out of anger on myself and place the blame squarely on my shoulders. I’m end up staring at the brick wall in my face instead of looking up and over at what God’s up to. It’s really sobering to realize that when I fail or feel discouraged, the Lord will strive after me to set me back on the right path.

I was very pleased with the board game gathering and thankful to know that God is still faithful to me. The reassurance of knowing that He is still bringing His plans to fruition helped me to relax that night, and to enjoy myself.

It’s comforting to know that even after the long hours and tested patience at work, the Lord is always leading me to a new challenge of growth and maturity.

Our resident blogger (Chris Whetsell) has the first contribution

Before coming to Korea my life was full of uncertainties and despairing moments. Despite the gloomy cloud overhead, I could hear God telling me to take the risk and venture out of my comfort zone. I knew that this would be a frightening experience for me because I had never done something like this before.

Making new friends, learning to abide in Christ by myself, and learning how to trust in my own decisions were all very daunting tasks.

I wasn’t sure how I would survive on my own—it all overwhelmed me—and as soon as I had arrived, I retreated into my personal comfort zone that I established earlier at home.

Having heard about Dongshin through the Internet, I knew the international Church was nearby, but I was just unwilling to step out into the awkwardness of meeting new people.

I was having a bad time in Korea and I was fearful that venturing into more unknown territory would result in failure. I felt to experience the failure of rejection would only take me deeper into my hole I was content staying in.

Even as I sat in my dark bedroom with the blinds closed, God reminded me about what I had learned from my friends back home. I can’t be alone—I wasn’t created for that.

With that reminder, I set out to find the body of Christ here in Korea—deep in my sin and still feeling guilty—I caught a taxi to the nearest station. I had no idea how to get back to my apartment, but I knew that God was with me.

I told myself if He had provided for me thus far; He would definitely bring me into community out here as well.

It’s been a few months since I’ve become a part of Dongshin and it really has been a stretching experience for me. Relationally and spiritually, the international Church has been teaching me how to be honest and intentional with people. I’m allowing God’s message to sink in deeper now, and He’s showing me that His love for me really has no limits.

I pray that I will continue for the willingness to reach a new level of connectivity with the people of Dongshin, and to continue partnering with the Lord during my stay in Korea.