Tangible Hope

As you may know, much of my time spent in Korea is teaching English mostly to middle-aged women from around the community. After each morning class my students like show their appreciation by taking me out for lunch, usually to various, expensive restaurants. I've been incredibly blessed by their generosity and care for me as a missionary.

Today some of my students took me to 'Trump World', a very new and affluent apartment complex here in Daegu. While sitting in a restaurant on the bottom floor of this apartment complex there began to be a stirring of people outside. One of my students went outside to scope out the situation and see why people seemed to look troubled. I was completely disturbed by her report that someone had jumped from their high-rise apartment balcony and that there was a dead body laying outside on the pavement.




Apart from the pit in my stomach that took away any previous appetite, the Holy Spirit began breaking my heart for Korean people of whom I love. Unfortunately this was not an isolated event but seems to be a common news topic in Korea. Since being here for over a year I've heard about several famous people who have taken their lives recently. From the former President of Korea to pop singers to soccer players to famous actors. Even the other day while having coffee with a friend who broke down and shared with me how her father had committed suicide a few years back.

In recent years suicide has become a pandemic in South Korea where an average of 33 people a day will kill themselves. The government attributes this horrible pattern to a surge in social conflicts, including feuds between the sexes, economic hardship and domestic violence.



"The more I gain, the more lonely it is."

"Mad depressed and overworked."

"I can't begin to fathom the countless agonies down the road,"

..These are just a few samples of the thousands of suicide notes that are left behind for family and friends.

As the world comes up with its physical, psychological and social implications for such a phenomenon a Christian cannot deny the spiritual reality of the war that is being waged on this side of heaven. Jesus was clear with us that there is a deceiver named Satan who is alive and well in the invisible and if we allow him, will implant lies into our mind with the sole purpose of causing our self-destruction. (John 10:10)

I'm not going to sit here and explain away more of the agonizing details of a broken world but hope to exhort us in being a tangible messenger of hope in the lives of others. Our lives are usually in constant community and interactions yet we rarely see the internal throbbing pain of the human souls around us. The reality is that often people are lonely and need a friend. Don't be deceived by the exterior smiles of 'togetherness' but lets make a conscious effort to encourage, love and accept others. We don't know where people are at.



May my life, my actions, words and aura be a broken record of the message of the gospel. There is rest, peace, joy, hope and life in the man Jesus Christ who lived, died and rose again to save us from ourselves.

Please be praying with a passion for the people of South Korea.

Because his love is better than life,

Jer

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us" 2 Cor 5:20

"...you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee." St. Augustine