Sunday, May 22, 2016

Our day began with breakfast at the Bali Hotel in Seoul. We were served by former national freestyle wrestling coach, Coach Kim. After finishing up breakfast, we took the subway to church. After 2 trains we met with our contact, Joshua.

Joshua took the team to New Family at the Global Mission Church Vision Center. We traveled to the 8th floor to meet the congregation in the main chapel. The music was beautiful and the worship team was massive !!! We heard some familiar songs and some new songs. The pastor gave his sermon on loving our neighbors and use the words of Jesus Christ from Matthew 25: 34-40.

After the first service we had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. Then we went back for the All-nations service, which was held in English. The sermon was given by Peter Chung from Compassion International. He spoke about the Great Commission.

The last activity of the day was a tour of Seoul Olympic Park given by some of the wrestlers from Seoul Sports High School. We saw the art of the Olympic Park and visited the Alone Tree. The tree is famous for its appearances in music videos, films, and tv dramas. We also visited the Baekje Museum and learn about one of the many dynasties from Korean history. We ended our tour with beef soup for dinner.

While here the team has had many opportunities to show off our abilities to say hello and thank you in the Korean language. The language is very difficult, but Professor Sang and Gloria have helped us with proper pronunciation. Trying different and new foods has its challenges but still remains a memorable experience. All in all, the start to our trip has been a good one.

Andres Gutierrez (Class of 2016)