Thomas journals

Jeff and I were among many YISS teachers who attended the concluding worship service of the "God of This City" Youth Event, at our school in September. It was held at the end of a full day of activities for Christian high school youth from English-speaking congregations and schools in Seoul. The YISS Praise Team led worship and did an excellent job. Afterwards, a team of youth leaders from the U.S. called Axis, led a tag-team discussion about how to read the Bible - a practical message to inspire us all to read our bibles as a story, not just as isolated passages. I was impressed that the message delivery appealed to the youth, but was not "dummed-down" for them - it challenged their thinking, as it did mine. 

Barb and I last night attended a lecture by a group working with Third Culture Kids, and specifically with North Korean refugee children.     The featured speakers were two young women who (separately) crossed the river from North Korea into China then made their way arduously to Seoul.  Their personal stories were touching, and their personalities were winning.   I wish we had more time to talk with them about life in that mysteriously isolated place.  They gave every evidence of being quite apolitical throughout, and neither had suffered from famine -- they simply wanted to escape from the incessant monitoring and fear of their government. The several autobiographies and memoirs of refugees from North Korea are incredibly frightening, all the more so because of their proximity -- in both time and, here, geography.   And we wonder, what can we do?   We can support refugee organizations and political efforts to pressure the Chinese government to accept the refugees -- or at least not