“Border areas”: Frontiers and DMZ

I’m sorry for the long delay, but I have been busy! I will try to catch up to the present in two posts! I need to mention the week of May 12 – 18 on its own, because it was full of good things.

I finally visited the Frontiers community!  Before I had attended one of their Monday night prayer meetings in Seoul, but this time I not only attended the Monday prayer meeting, but I also went home with them, had a sleepover with Cindy, went on a walk with her and Jung Joo, made 된장 (Doenjang: soy bean paste) with all the Frontiers 샘터 community members, and celebrated with lunch out and coffee at a super cute cafe!

Whew! What a rich experience! I felt so much at home during my visit. Intentional Christian community is ‘my thing.’ My kind of people. The environment where I feel like I can grow, where my heart feels light and free. I know that I will return there again. I know that celebrations really show communities in the best light… but rather than dismissing this experience as one-of-a-kind, I’d rather try to create more reasons to bring people together to celebrate throughout my life!

A few days later I had another opportunity to spend time with many like-minded people. The Korean Peacebuilding Institute (KOPI) had an advanced/professional-level restorative justice training in Inje, 강원도, and I went along to do childcare and scope out the venue (DMZ Peace-Life Valley – the same place where we’ll host NARPI in August).  It was another lovely time, though I did get a migraine and usually childcare isn’t my thing.  I enjoyed just sitting at a distance watching kids who live in urban Deokso building a house with stones and grass.  I enjoyed talking to different people who I knew from work, from church, and from Frontiers.  It was moving to see the participants demonstrate the power of “psycho-drama,” acting out situations of real-life conflicts to help people see things in a new light and find hope and healing.

The trip to Inje was also good preparation to get me excited for Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute.  More about that in the next post!