In search of a church (pt 1)

So it turns out that the woman I went through training with (I'll call her J here) is also Catholic.  So she and I went looking for a local Catholic church yesterday.  We weren't sure when the Mass would be, so we figured that we might end up just saying a prayer, getting a bulletin, and planning on going back on Ash Wednesday.  Well, the Lord had other ideas in mind. 

So we met up a little late at a local Starbucks after some initial confusion as to which coffee shop we were going to meet up at.  Once we did get met up, we looked at the map and the directions from our wise friend Google.  Well, we found the bus stop, but the bus that we were looking for didn't stop there.  So we decided to jump on a bus going about the right direction and we'd look for the cross with a circle around it (the only thing we could see on the website for the church that might give us an idea that it was the right church).  There's quite a few churches around here, and you can tell because they generally have a cross on the top.  So we got on the bus and rode it until it turned - according to the directions, the bus would not turn before we got to the church. We walked a little ways and then saw a church (cross on the top) with some cars around and thought, 'what the heck, let's see if we get lucky.'

So we walk up to the church and there is a lady outside who gestures for us to come in and makes eating motions with her hands.  She takes us up a floor or two where the elevator doors open to some of the most amazing smells we've smelled.  Seriously, Korean food is AMAZING.  And she introduces us to the pastor, who speaks English!  He tells us that we missed the service, but that they are having lunch together and we're welcome to join.  So we get some rice, kimchi, and some other stuff that I have no idea what it was, but MAN it was yummy.  J told me that one of the ladies there complimented my chopstick skills and told her that she needs to learn from me!  After we had lunch we went back down to leave, but the pastor called us and we went to another room where there was coffee and baked goods. 

That's when we found out that we had wandered into Peace Methodist Church.  The pastor (I never got his name) focuses his ministry on feeding the hungry.  They have a bakery in the ground floor of the church and they do not charge for the stuff they bake.  They gave us some milk bread (fluffy white bread with whipped cream in the middle) and cookies to take home.  We chatted a bit about where J and I are from, how long we'd been in Korea (they were amused to find that we'd only been here for 2 weeks), and how long we'd been friends (also 2 weeks).  The pastor then took us on a tour of the church (the actual church is in the basement) and showed us the pictures that they had taken from some of their mission/humanitarian trips.  He's started bakeries in 20 different countries, and they also went to help people recover from natural disasters in places as far away as Haiti. He said that they offer food and medicine to people who need it.  Then when we were in the sanctuary he showed us the hymnals which are in Korean and English and sang one for us.  It was a really nice experience. 

What really strikes me about people around here is how welcoming and open they are.  I don't think it was just because it was a church - many Koreans have said that we will have a good time here, and it seems important to them (culturally) that foreigners have good things to say about the country and the people.  The pastor made me laugh when he made sure to let us know that the pollution is mostly from China, not Korea.  Apparently they even get yellow stand from the Ghobi Desert when the wind is blowing right (or wrong).

So I love that J has no problem asking our fellow teachers about where to find a Catholic church and if they have an English service.  Thanks to her our fellow teacher, T, knows someone and is going to help us to find an actual Catholic church.  I'm still a little shy about telling people I'm Catholic... I think I've just gotten such negative reactions before (and so has she) that I tend to keep it to myself until someone straight up asks.  It was funny at the church we found, they asked if we were Christian and we (of course) said yes.  We both thought about elucidating, and then decided against it.  There's SO many misconceptions people have about Catholics. 

All in all, it was a good day even if we didn't find the Catholic church.  We did make plans for several trips out from Dongtan... one will involve going to Seoul and seeing the cathedral there.  I officially have a travel buddy, fellow Catholic, and Aussie matchmaker in my wonderful 2 week friend!  :)