Where to go to Seminary? A preliminary comparison between seminaries in Canada, the United States, and Korea

This post arises out of a unique journey of mine. Believe it or not, I am actually enrolled in 4 seminaries at the moment, pursuing my Masters of Divinity (M.Div) at all of them! Okay, before I qualify that statement, I am actually only taking courses at one of the four seminaries, but I still [...]

Discovering Myself and My Calling Through Writing

I recently started to write for a monthly devotional publication – Living Life: A Journal of Spiritual Formation & Reflection (It is published by Duranno and the English version is translated into Spanish and Russian), and guess what I’ve discovered about myself? I love writing. I even consider writing to be a potential strength for [...]

The Architecture of Asian Christianity

Two weeks ago, when my wife and I travelled down to my mom’s home town (Seosan, Choongchun-Namdo, South Korea) for my uncle’s funeral, we came across this interesting building. Upon closer examiniation, we discovered that it is a Catholic church, but I was just in awe of the Asian flavor that the cathedral had.
Living in Montreal, Quebec for [...]

A Korean Funeral

This past week, my uncle passed away from cancer so I had the opportunity to experience a full-fledged Buddhist Korean funeral. When I got to the hospital, I had to pay my respects to his son and his mother and then we were ushered into this room where the dead body was (it was covered with [...]

The Power of Shame in Asian Cultures

I have never heard so much about suicide until moving to Korea. Sure, there were the occasional suicide stories in the news back in Canada and in Hollywood, but to so frequently read the names of celebrities, political leaders, and high-profile individuals in the headlines in apposition with the deadly words, “suicide,” was unfathomable.
“South Korean [...]

Sociology of the Homeless in Seoul, Korea

There are approximately 1 million homeless individuals in Seoul, and 300 at Seoul Station, which is a major landmark in Seoul.  That’s very intriguing because the population of greater Seoul is 24.5 million people.  That means 1 in every 25 people is homeless in Seoul.
We had an outreach to the homeless in Seoul a few [...]

Life in Korea: Priorities

Upon arriving to Korea a few months ago, life has been hectic, and it’s been quite the struggle to find an opportunity to blog.  I love blogging, but life has just been overwhelming.
One of the blessings of being here and serving at Onnuri Community Church is that I get to learn from Pastor Eddie Byun.  [...]

Green McDonald’s and Missional Living

Reserved parking spaces for hybrid cars, tables and chairs made from recycled milk and detergent containers, and vegetative green roofs – these are a few of the 20 features that McDonald’s has conjured up to attract the eco-concious population (see Korea Times Article).

On top of that, today’s McDonald menu is vastly different from its menu [...]

Sex Trafficking

“The CIA estimates that between 50 000 and 100 000 girls, boys and women are trafficked annually into the United States to be pimped out or sold for forced sex.  Worldwide more than 1 million people are trafficked across international borders against their will.”
“We are not finding victims in the United States because we’re not [...]

exploiting the poor?

Is this exploitation of the poor? A saavy marketing campaign? A political statement? Or just plain cruel?
In the August 2008 issue of Vogue India, there is a controversial 16 page advertising campaign that uses the countries poor to sell products meant for the countries rich.
In the image below, you see a picture of a poor [...]