Mark Calhoun

China/SK ~ Day 13

Day 13 (July 24, 2006)

Travel Day!!! We are coming home!!! We visited one more church this morning, Central church located on the 11^th floor of a high rise, had lunch with the pastor, and did some shopping in a local shopping district. This church was the fisrt church planted by a Methodist missionary in the early 1900s…Plane is leaving….must go…. See you all soon.

China/SK ~ Day 12

Day 12 (July 23, 2006) Sunday

Today was Church Day!!! We had the privilege of worshipping at two locations today…DaeWon MC in the morning and KwangLim in the afternoon. During the morning worship we had an opportunity to sing the offertory. Luckily a number of folks in our group sing well…. On the other hand my lip synching skills would make Milli Vanilli weap. This was my first public singing performance since high school, where I acquired the spiritual Gift of Lip synching. There were only 1200 people in worship, so that was comforting. I think Dr. Chun shot some video… that should be interesting. Afternoon worship was at Kwanglim… this one was full on contemporary with a great message that was translated for us via head phones. After worship we met with the Sr. Pastor, an SOB (Son of the Bishop), and joined him for refreshments in their coffee shop ( this place makes Starbuck look like a 7-11. We also toured the new Music performance hall... more on that later. Today was a tough day for our dear Dr. Powe… he has been having stomach trouble for the past few days and finally ended going to the Hospital. As it turned out he ended up having an emergency appendectomy. We thought that he would travel home a few days after us, but as it turns out he will make the flight…AMAZING…. Please pray for Dr. Powe and his family. Marlene has stayed with Dr. Powe to provide comfort for him… we are all thankful for how she has stepped up.

China/SK ~ Day 11

Day 11 (July 22, 2006)

Greetings Everyone!!! We had a pretty good day today. Following breakfast we headed out to the Korean Folk Village (the retreat center that we are staying at is out in the boonies, so we have an hour to an hour and a half drive, each day, to and from our destinations… as I may have mentioned before this a great time to watch the people of Korea go about their daily lives. We were able to spend the entire morning at the folk village, but would have been happy to spend the entire day there. The Village is packed with museums, shops, and areas with live reenactments of early Korean life. During our visit we had an opportunity to see a traditional Korean folk dance, a wedding, and numerous points of interest. Following lunch we journeyed to the KwangLim Prayer Mountain. This “Prayer Mountain” was established as a retreat center for Prayer, Leadership development, and as a place for intentional spiritual formation… I would say that they exceeded in creating an environment conducive to their vision. The center is home to a huge Chapel (we call them sanctuaries, but here in Korea anything around the 1000 seat mark is a called a chapel), a dining and housing center, an amphitheater, and one of the most incredible Prayer walks I have ever seen. The walk was up the mountain, in the trees, and had about 10 stations that were sculptures of various portions of Jesus’ ministry. I applied for a job as the English speaking manager of the place, but was denied on the grounds that I only know one Korean word (Kam Sa Ham Nee Da), and they thought that that would be a barrier…Regarding spiritual formation environments, I have never been to a place as amazing as this. I am sure that the pictures will not do justice to this place. You should all come for visit. This place was designed and built by Bishop Kim as a place for himself and others to go for reflection and introspection. I think that he travels up there to write his sermons. (All the bishops and District Superintendents in Korea pastor Churches while serving in their respective connectional positions.) Three of had an opportunity to visit the Bishops personal apartment and Prayer Closet… very inspirational…

China/SK ~ Day 10

Day 10 (July 21, 2006)

Our day today began at 5:30 am and it is now midnight here. I am dog tired so I will keep this short. At 6:30 am we visited a small (3000 member) Methodist church outside of Seoul. We spent an hour participating in their daily Dawn Prayer gathering. Actually, we attended the second prayer meeting, the first one was at 5 am. The gathering included singing, prayers, scripture, and a short meditation. For those of you reading this that don’t know me very well, I am NOT a morning person, but I have to admit that this was an incredible way to start the day. The communal aspect of this gathering was quite inspirational, and prompted me to think that perhaps this is a holy habit that Western Christianity should adopt from our Korean Friends. Following the prayer gathering we were served a meal and then we were offered an opportunity to visit with the pastor. Our second stop for the day was the Methodist Theological Seminary (The School where Dr. Chun completed his Master of Divinity) where we toured the campus and visited with the President and few faculty members. Following the campus visit we were fortunate to snatch away the History professor who joined us for a historically rich tour of Ganghwa Island. This island has a population of 50,000 and is home to 121 Methodist Churches (just like a few Kansas counties) that provide spiritual direction for 10,000 of the islands inhabitants. During the tour we visited various historical sites, a Methodist church, an Anglican Church, and a Buddhist temple. That ought to cover a variety of religious traditions, eh? We did not get back to the retreat center until after 8, so the good Dr. gave us a break on group reflection and allowed us some free time following dinner (most folks went straight to bed). I guess my primary focus and personal reflection topic for the day is on prayer. I am still processing the level of active prayer that we are experiencing here in Seoul… Something is different, I just can’t seem to put my finger on it…That is all… I am pooped.

PS. Did I mention that we have engaged about 50 varieties of Kim chi (“fire cabbage”) ….and I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten rice for my last 30 meals…We are all getting pretty good at using the ol’ chopsticks, but our attempts to catch table flies with the sticks have failed miserably, and caused several table top “situations.”

China/SK ~ Day 9

Day 9 (July 20, 2006)

Today was filled with the Opening ceremony of the World Methodist Council, two lectures, and lots of food…The official opening ceremony for the conference took place at Kumnan MethodistChurch. The Church was planted in 1958 with 15 members and has grown to about 112,000 members… no that’s not a typo…The opening ceremony was very intense. The sanctuary holds 10,000 people and was nearly filled to capacity with people from around the globe. We enjoyed a 30 minute section of gathering music, performed by a huge choir and Orchestra, and then worship; was kicked off with a Parade of Flags representing all of the denominations (about 96) that claim the Wesleyan Tradition. We sang together, worshipped together, prayed together, and celebrated communion together. The Leader of the council preached on the theme of reconciliation, as in being reconciled to God and to one another, and then passed the torch to a few other council representatives that led us in a time of prayer, which ended with all of us reciting the Lord’s prayer, aloud, in our own languages…AMAZING…. I’m sure most of you have heard the Lord’s Prayer, in a 100 languages, by 10,000 people, but this was my first time…J. I spent the first few minutes of the worship gathering shooting pictures on the main floor and then visiting a variety of booths in the entry area of the church, which, by the way, is the size of a medium sized super market. During my little foray I was able to visit with one of the pastors of Kumnam church, and received from him a limited addition pin that was made especially for the staff members of the church. Other than the congregational singing and Lord’s Prayer, I suppose Communion was one of the highlights. We shared in a full-on, Methodist, High Church liturgy and then were served the elements by Bishops from around the World. We were in the second balcony, but somehow placed ourselves in Bishop Jones’ (Kansas Area Bishop) section. Leaving the Sanctuary was a bit weird, kind of like leaving a huge sporting event. After Worship Dr. Chun turned us loose to fend for ourselves for lunch. Luckily, one of the conference greeters made herself available to us and led us down a small alley to a little restaurant… no shoes, and we sat on the floor for the first time. This meal presented us with the Dr. Powe Daily food challenge… today’s special…octopus…Yum, Yum ?!? We know we’re about to get the challenge when we hear… “Oh’ You gotta try some of this…” It was interesting to see a few familiar faces at the conference, Bishop Jones greeted us as we got off our bus, and I visited for a bit with Tyrone Gordon (a pastor that once served a large African American Church in Wichita). As well, we have been blessed to meet a number of authors that have written some of our textbooks. Following lunch we boarded the bus and headed across town for a lecture at a smaller Methodist Church, only about 85,000 members at this little Gospel outreach post. I forgot to mention that KumnamChurch is so large that there is a bank branch located within the church so that the weekly tithes and offerings can be deposited on the spot (for safety reasons). Anyhow, the second church we visited was Kwanglim church; this church is hosting us at their private retreat center and has provided us with one of their 50 passenger busses and a driver who has been shagging us all around the peninsula. The retreat center is in the mountains and is about an hour from the heart of Seoul, so, needless to say, we have spent a bit of time driving. Actually, the driving is one of my favorite times of the day, it gives us an incredible opportunity to get in rhythm with the Korean people, as well as soak up the landscape. The Kwanglim Church is very active in Korea and throughout the world. On Sunday we will travel to another retreat center of theirs, “Prayer Mountain,” I can’t wait for this little outing… While at Kwanglim we received a lecture from Bishop Sundo Kim. Bishop Kim came to the church in 1971 and is responsible for the majority of the growth experienced by the church. The Bishop lectured for about two hours before taking us to his study to share in an informal conversation while drinking Welch’s Grape Soda. His study id quite large and includes an incredible, “Prayer Closet” where he spends at least an hour each day. The Bishop is about 76 years old, but is still extremely active in the life of the church (his son has taken over the Sr. Pastor role and leads the other 100 pastors that are on the staff.) The Bishops original vision was to be a, “Modern Antioch Church” and grow to the size of 1000 members. I would suggest that the good Bishop has “realized” the potential of this congregation. One of the students from our group asked him about his current vision; he thought for a moment and then replied, “To evangelize Japan.” So, that will about cover our short course Divinely driven visioneering. I can just hear him as he sits around sipping tea with his Cronies….”So Sundo, what do you plan to do with yourself now that you are retired??? Oh, I dunno, maybe I’ll work on evangelizing an entire nation…” AMAZING!!! Some of the Bishops wisdom… 5 Traditions; Belief, Creativity, Integrity, Love, and Obedience…5 principles; Positive Faith, Create Abundant Life, Practice of Love, Life of integrity, Obedience in Unity. I think what touched me at the deepest level was the Bishops attentiveness to, and focus on, prayer. I have never heard or seen anything like it…In some ways it was very intimidating and made me feel very weak in my faith, prayer life, and overall “spirituality.” Following our return trip to the retreat center, and dinner, our second lecture was offered by Bishop Kim. The Bishop shared his testimony with us for about an hour, and then took time to answer some questions. Bishop Kim has endured great trials throughout his life, and is a living testimony of faith, prayer, persistence, and Christian endurance. Part of the Bishops testimony included a story about a time in his life when he embarked on a 40 day mountain top prayer and fasting retreat. The focus of the fast was for clarification regarding the direction he should take with respect to his ministry and his life. The story of his point of revelation, during the fast, was one of the most inspiring things I have ever heard…We closed day ten with prayer and reflection. Our reflection question was, “What has been formational for you the past few days?” My personal elements of formation were centered on my continuing reflection on visioneering, Spiritual habits / Disciplines, and my continuing personal and ongoing struggle to discern things that are of an emotional nature from things that are of a spiritual nature. Before we closed our time together Dr. Chun shared a question that has been flowing through his mind, “Am I really a Christian.” So now, this question is occupying MY mind…Just what I needed, something of this magnitude to dwell on. The examples and testimonies provided over the last few days have made it clear to me that I am the embodiment of unrealized potential… Perhaps it is time for me to focus and get busy pursuing a life that is guided and empowered by the reign of God.

China/SK ~ Day 8

Day 8 (July 19, 2006)

Today started off with a little break… Dr. Chun ran off to tend to some business at the World Methodist Conference, and we got to eat and sleep a bit. We headed into Seoulafter lunch to visit a Korean palace (about 500 Years old), a Shrine dedicated to Catholic Martyrs (Chol Tu San, which means decapitation Mountain), and a popular street shopping district. Today we were joined by several students and leaders from Candler Theological Seminary in Atlanta. It was great fun to hang out with them and share a meal. My highlight for the day came at the Martyrs Shrine… that sounds a little weird…but I was able to see the grave stone of Maude Keister Jensen (a person I did a history paper on and the first woman to receive full clergy rights, in 1956), and the grave markers of several relatives, I think, of Lovett (past Saint Paul President) and Cynthia (pastor serving in Rose Hill Kansas) Weems. Tomorrow will be a big day… We are off to the opening worship of the World Methodist Conference, held at a MethodistChurch with 95,000 members….

On a personal note… Dr. Chun is feeling a lot better today and is back to running us ragged….

There should be a few new photos in the album…

Today has been a great day... lots of Mountains in sight and not so much smog, nearly none...

China/SK ~ Day 7

Day 7 (July 18, 2006)

Today we visited the E Pang Palace, The Small Wild Goose Pagoda, The Large Wild Goose Pagoda, and a Chinese Tea shop… The Palace replica was huge, and was still only one tenth of the size of the original. The visits to the Buddhist Pagodas were very interesting and prompted me to think a great deal about Eastern Spirituality and its implications for Christianity. During our visit to the tea shop we learned a bit about Tea Culture, sampled a wide variety of teas, and spent some time shopping. Dr. Chun was most helpful as he painted an amazing portrait of Chinese and Korean tea culture and the implications for the people of each respective country. Today will be our longest day… we say goodbye to Xian and fly to Korea around midnight. After arriving in Seoul, around 3 am, we drive two hours to the Kwanglim Seminar House, and then get ready for a busy day in Seoul… “No Sleepy, Sleepy”

You might Keep Dr. Chun in your prayers… he has had a little stomach trouble (and body ache situation) for the past few days and had to visit the clinic in the hotel for a little medicine. Needless to say all of our stomachs are responding, in interesting ways, to the all of the food we have been consuming. Thankfully I’ve only spent two days… never mind…. Too much information  J

PS… The Dr. Powe food special of the day was Snow Fish… a little fishy tasting, but this one we could actually have multiple servings of…

China/SK ~ Day 6

Day 6 (July 17, 2006)

We started our day today with a visit to the Terracotta Factory, then we were off to the Emperors Hot Springs (bathhouse), and finally to the TerracottaMuseum before dinner and returning to the hotel for reflection time. Xian (SheAnn) is full of interesting historical sites, but the Terracotta Museum has to be one of the best…The museum is built over the tomb of the Terracotta soldiers. About 2200 years ago the Emperor of the Qing (Ching) Dynasty, at the age of 23, began building his tomb. Believing that there is little separation between life on this earth and life in the other realm, the Ancient Chinese leaders would populate their tombs with the same things available to them while they were still alive. In this case, the Emperor employed thousands of workers to prepare his tomb and supply it with life size soldiers, chariots, and horses. In all, the tomb is believed to house 8,000 soldiers. This place was incredible… I think for me the most interesting thing to think about is that these soldiers (and this tomb) were constructed near the era that Christ walked the Earth….

Our immersion focus is on evangelism and spirituality in a cross cultural context…that has me thinking about elements of evangelism today. The three that come to mind are Verbal, Experiential, and Relational. We have experienced all of these elements in a wide variety of ways over the past days, but today these elements are most evident as we ride around the area and have many opportunities to watch the people of this culture living out their everyday lives, in normal everyday ways. Our reflection questions for the day were… “What were your hopes for the group?” and “What has made you uncomfortable?” Many great answers were shared and we experienced a great time of sharing. Our reflection time tonight allowed folks to share the things that were on their hearts, and in some ways bits of tension and friction were produced. From a group dynamic perspective I think the tension and friction produced was quite healthy for the group. For me personally, it has been interesting to see how personal convictions and interpretations affect the group members and the immersion as a whole.

The final question for the night, left for us to ponder for a day or two… “What are you going to take away from China?”

China/SK ~ Day 5b

As I mentioned, our first stop today was at the Forest of Tablets…another opportunity for us to engage the fruitful history of this country. I think, for me, it is the depth and length of history that is most exciting… we are seeing things that are thousands of years old and that are dated by historical documents and charted by dynasties rather than some sort of scientific carbon dating process. Not that carbon dating is a bad thing I just enjoy details that are handed down through the generations…The Forest of Tablets is made up of stone tablets that include a wide variety of writings that labor to articulate the history, thoughts, and experiences of the early history of China. We saw a large bell today, probably 8 feet tall. After the guide gave us the history of the bell, Dr. Chun spoke to us about the design of the bell as it relates to Western Bells… The short version of the story is that Western bells are meant to produce sound from the inside out, making the focus one of an internal nature. Conversely, Eastern bells are straight on the bottom, not curved, and produce sound when struck externally. I find numerous theological implications contained within the context of that imagery. Following the Forest we traveled to The Xian city wall. This wall completely surrounds the inner city and is in very good shape. The wall is 600 years old and was constructed during the Ming Dynasty. The wall is 13 meters long, 12 meters high, 15-18 meters wide at the base, and 12-15 meters wide at the top. At the wall we toured one of the tower buildings that was home to a Fung Shui Museum. I found this tour to be extremely interesting and insightful. To me, it seems that the rhythm of life, created through the entirety of the Fung Shui notion, has many implications for our Christian pursuit of God. Needless to say, some in our group deny any fusion and see Fung Shui as a purely mystical element of Eastern thought. After lunch we spent two hours worshipping in a Christian Church (I’ll have to post more on this later… not enough time now to do justice to the experience) and then Traveled to a Silk Factory. Dinner this night was centered on dumplings… my wife would have loved this, they offered us 18 varieties of Chinese Dumplings. Tonight we celebrated another birthday...Greg Taylor's... this time we had a Chinese Birthday sing along. After dinner we took in a show that included an orchestra and traditional dancing from the Tang Dynasty. The show was incredible and gave us yet another glimpse of Chinese Culture. I am about a day behind on posting, so I will try to post the day 6 events later today… we have limited internet access here. We are actually starting day seven, we leave Xian tonight at 11 pm and head for Korea.

ps. today I crossed over the 1000 mark for pictures  :-) I'll upload more pictures once we get to SK....

China/SK ~ Day 5

Day 5 (July 16, 2006)

Today starts our first day in Xian. I think that we are a bit closer to the center of the country. Xian looks like a great city, quite a bit smaller than Beijing. There are only 7 million people here, as opposed to the nearly 15 million in Beijing. The day started off great…. A little John Denver playing on hotel intercom system in the restaurant…take me home, country roads… This morning we were offered the second stage of the Dr. Powe Special… a mystery food chosen by our fearless leader… today’s item was a mini fire ball, or hot pepper as we call them at home. This particular variety makes a jalapeño seem like a strawberry. Today we are of to The Forest of Tablets, Church from 2:30 – 5:00 (its Sunday here), and then off to a show… more later…