Missions During COVID
Covid caused a lot of changes in everyone's daily lives all around the world. From what I can tell, it seems like some countries, like America, are opening back up again and are nearly back to what we would call normal. However, not every country is like that. One of those countries happens to be where I’m serving: South Korea. To give you an idea about what daily life is like at the moment, masks are still a must and gatherings are extremely restricted. While the government is enforcing a limit on how many people can gather (for example, six people if four of them are fully vaccinated), people here in Seoul are getting a little tired of these rules. Yet, as missionaries here trying to represent God we are doing our best to be very careful and not do anything that can have our ministry criticized. Not to mention many foreigners are having a hard time making Korean friends because of the fear of interacting with people from outside the country. This has made our team of missionaries get more creative with ways to do ministry.
Recent ministry in Korea, I have noticed, is more successful when you build relationships with your community. But how do we meet people when Covid is making it so hard to do so? For our team, we have been utilizing language exchanges. Language exchange cafes are exactly what they sound like: a cafe hosts an event where Koreans and foreigners can get together to learn the others’ language. A church member started her own language exchange cafe in our neighborhood during the summer, and another church member and I have started a new one this semester. At these language exchange cafes, we get a mixture of believers and unbelievers. Here we’re able to have one-on-one conversations with a native speaker of the opposite language. Not only are we able to practice our Korean and help our community learn English, but we’re also able to get to know those around us. Students I have met through this have become friends. It is with these friends that I’m able to have spiritual conversations and share my faith. Young people in Korea seem to have a mistrust for the church and many don’t care to talk about religion, especially with a stranger. However, when you’re actually friends with a person you want to talk more and hear about their story. Not everyone who hears that I’m a missionary wants to be friends, but some are curious and ask great questions. This is not only a great way to do ministry, but a wonderful way to make good friends overseas! No one wants to be in a foreign country all alone, so this has been a good way for me to meet up with people my age.
The second thing our team does is participate in teaching online. College students who want some extra help in studying English can join our online classes. The teachers, two of us are missionaries and one is a foreign exchange student who is a believer, get to pick a topic to discuss and facilitate conversation. During this conversation we can teach new vocabulary and help with grammar and pronunciation. This program was started by the Baptist Student Union (BSU) here in Korea and they advertised to universities all over the country resulting in us having a good diversity in our students. Outside of class, we are able to get together with the students that live around us for a meal or coffee as well. Monday nights, we offer an English Bible Study as well. A handful of students come, most are already believers, however one girl was curious about Christianity and wanted to know more which is why she joined. Shortly before the Bible Study began, she accepted Christ as her savior and is now excited to study more about God! We are hoping that Covid restrictions will lessen by Christmas so we can all meet together for a party to close our semester long class. This online class has been another great way for our team to make connections and build relationships with university students.
While Covid may seem like an impossible obstacle to overcome, there are still ways to reach the community. In a time like this where people are uncertain, maybe even scared, of the future, it is so important to simply love on them the way Christ loves. Be bold and step out into the community, serving in any way you can! It might be hard to find ways sometimes, but God is gracious and is always ready to guide us. We just have to listen and have faith that He will do His work.
