Two Stories: A New Way to Say Good | Sacred Journey is Very Choa!
by Rev. Gordon Rankin
I learned a new word at summer camp this year – “choa,” the Korean word for good. It quickly became the popular exclamation during the Sacred Journey 2004 Conference at Silver Lake Conference Center.
The Sacred Journey Conference brought 18 high-school-aged conferees from our Connecticut churches and 10 high-school aged youth from our partner churches in the Kyung-Ki Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea to Silver Lake for a week of learning and growing together. This was the third time since 1996 that Silver Lake has hosted a Sacred Journey Conference. And twice, in 1998 and 2002, the Korean Partnership Committee has sponsored groups of youth from the Connecticut Conference in travels to Korea as well.
The main goal of the Sacred Journey Conference is to help youth from both nations develop a better understanding and appreciation for a different culture. This is done through a variety of experiences, including drama, worship, games, work projects, and even food. The Korean students were able to try American favorites from grilled cheese to strawberry soup, while the American students were able to share in a meal of bulgogi, kimchi, and kim bop. As a sign of affirmation, the Korean and American conferees alike took to shouting, “Choa!,” as a sign of support for one another during new experiences. As an American conferee managed to manipulate chopsticks and feed herself a mouth full of rice, “Choa!” was exclaimed. When a triumphant, yet relieved, Korean student returned to earth after completing a walk across the catwalk at the high ropes course, “Choa!” could be heard. As an American student practiced for worship by reading Galatians 3 in Korean, her Korean compatriots all patted her on the back and offered a hearty “Choa!”
While a variety of programs served as the framework, the real blessing of the conference was in the new-found friendships. The challenge of pushing beyond cultural and linguistic barriers to build relationships brought an increased depth and intensity to the friendships that were formed. As the week concluded and the time to leave drew closer, one of the Korean youth looked at his new American buddies and proclaimed “Not Choa.” Fighting back tears, they all echoed him: “Not Choa.”
It seems as though a week was not only long enough for these 28 young people to gain insight and a sense of delight regarding one another’s cultures, but it was also long enough for bonds to be built so strong that parting pain could be felt when it came time for these bonds to again be stretched halfway around the world.
I can’t help but wonder if God looked at all the cross-cultural bridges that were built, world views that were expanded, and friendships that blossomed despite difference of appearance and language that week at Silver Lake and thought, “Choa!”
Gordon Rankin is the Pastor of the Congregational Church of Naugatuck. He was a Co-dean of the Sacred Journey 2004 Conference.
by Jillian Fulda and Kathryn Lewis
This summer, we had the privilege and blessing of spending a week with 10 Korean teens at Silver Lake. In one week, we became close to kids who are so different than us, yet who now feel like soul mates. We remember their patience in teaching us to count to eight in Korean, and the laughter we shared when we put on skits about life in our respective countries. Through laughter, charades, music and more, we conveyed to them the culture of America and we were opened up to a whole new world.
On Wednesday night, we ate a Korean feast with a delicious beef dish, kim chee (spicy vegetables), and a type of sushi. It was very amusing looking around the room packed full of Americans trying to pick up rice with chopsticks! After the worship service that evening, the Koreans gave us one of the most moving experiences of the week. In Korea, there is the wonderful tradition of a visitor giving the host a drum performance, and they worked extremely hard on their performance for us. It was spectacular! One particularly moving image is the invitation to other conferees to dance in middle of the circle of drummers. It reminds us to continue to extend a hand of welcome to all people, no matter their culture or appearance.
Our word of the week was “choa,” which means good or great in Korean. You could always tell our conference was coming up the path, emitting loud and joyful yells of “choa” throughout the camp. We were the closest conference that week; everyone said so. And no one produced as many tears as we did the last night.
During a short communion service on Friday evening, we held each other tightly. Our dean, Rev. Gordon Rankin, explained how the Last Supper was a way that Jesus said goodbye to his friends. As we were saying goodbye to our friends, we felt like something was going to die the next day. And yet, we felt also a deep sense of communion and love. We couldn’t understand how we could become so close and then have to be separated.
It didn’t seem right, but we soon understood why we took this sacred journey. This week was not to make friends and then have a bitter goodbye, but to spread the awareness of love throughout the world, and to create foreign friendships unlike any others. It hit us when Hae Lim, the Korean counselor, told us that in Korea, Americans are disliked. It was hard to hear, but then she said that after spending a week with us, she knew that people were wrong about Americans. Fighting through tears, she said she would tell everyone that Americans are kind-hearted people who made her week one of the best of her life.
That evening, our deans gave us t-shirts with the year and “Sacred Journeys” printed in Korean and English. Then the Koreans went to their rooms, and came out with smiles on their faces, arms loaded with gifts. We all hugged and cried as they gave us their gifts. There was a lot of crying! Later in our rooms, we talked about the act of gift-giving. We realized how much we would have wanted to share gifts with the Korean kids; all we gave them was our laughter, tears, and shared memories. And though they received them with great joy, if we could change one thing about the program, it would be that the Americans would also bring gifts to share.
That week was only the beginning of our journey. Now it is our job and our privilege to go out into the world to spread the love we learned in that short week. The lessons we learned will last us a lifetime, and we are hoping to have another sacred journey when we go to Korea in two years. And that is very choa!
Jillian Fulda, 15, and Kathryn Lewis, 14, are both members of Rocky Hill Congregational Church and have been attending Silver Lake Conference Center for several years. Jillian is a sophomore at Rocky Hill High School and Kathryn is a freshman at Wethersfield High School.
