A Grand Reunion a.k.a. 8 Hours with Min Mok

Min Mok, I hope that you are reading this, since I am mentioning you by name in my blog again and making you known to everyone else who reads what I write here. My heart is filled with joy because I was able to see you again after more than a year, and, as I said, I had been waiting a long time for this day. You were my first Korean friend, and I believe God arranged for us to meet on Jeju last year. Of all the people living in Korea, God chose to put you in my pathway for a reason. As you said, "Nothing happens by accident." 

For everyone who hasn't met Min Mok, here is what he looked like today here in Seoul:

Min Mok has five more months before he finishes his training in the police academy. He came up to meet me and Tain today on the Liberation Day holiday. We went to lunch and ate barbecue with another of Tain's friends, Johan...

...did some walking around and saw some interesting things...

This looks like it would be a good pork BBQ restauarant

I found Gary and took a picture of him

I made Tain pose with this elephant for some reason...

... and then finally found a place to have dessert. Check this out:

Min Mok and Johan contemplate where to begin eating the dessert. I included them in the picture so that you can get a sense of how large the portions are.

The nearer one is tiramisu and the other is berries and frozen yogurt.

The name of this dessert is patbingsu. It is like a mountain of pure snow (finely shaved ice) topped with sweet delicacies of many varieties. The traditional patbingsu has red beans, sweetened condensed milk, and chopped fruit. That was my first exposure last week at a going away party for Pastor Bob Hotchkiss. But today was the day to try one of the many variations. The tiramisu had some espresso powder and maybe a bit cocoa mixed in with the ice, so it was delicious! I loved the berry and yogurt one the best. After eating enough to make it possible, you stir everything together, and the result is cool, refreshing, sweet delightfulness.

Johan left after dessert, and Min Mok, Tain, and I went to the huge Kyobo bookstore in Seoul where Min Mok and Tain searched for a book that Min Mok could use to learn some Thai language skills. If he learns some Thai, he may be able to travel to Thailand to learn Thai policing skills and share Korean skills with the Thais. It would be a great way to go abroad and gain experience at the same time. I spent some time browsing through the English language book section and look what I came across:

You can take the teacher out of the school, but you can't take the school out of the teacher. It was as if some instinct drew me to the corner where these books were hidden. I didn't buy a math book or any other textbook. I only took these two pictures.

After our bookstore excursion, we went out into the center of Seoul where the Pope had been visiting earlier in the day. There were hundreds of police officers on the streets, partially due to the Pope's visit, but also because of protests from citizens who are angry about some deaths of military recruits from abusive hazing practices. We went down below sidewalk level where a long, peaceful stream of water flows through the center of Seoul, affording people the sights and sounds of water. We walked and found a place to remove our shoes and cool our feet in the passing flow. I think we were there for at least two hours, talking, taking pictures, and enjoying the drop in the temperature as the sun set. Here are Tain and Min Mok relaxing at the water's edge:

While Tain uploaded all sorts of pictures of our day to Facebook in order to "make people jealous so they will want to come to Korea," I got to have a long conversation with Min Mok, who told me that he had read what I had written about him on my Principal's blog. He said that he name caught his eye in one of the entries there. (I hope he was not offended by what I wrote.) I told him that many students and other people know him back in America. Because of today's entry, even more will. I'm asking everyone who reads this to pray for Min Mok because he has pain due to an injury to his back, and he does not want to have back surgery. Pray that God heals his back 100 percent. Also pray that God gives him direction in his life. He is at the point in his life as a Korean man where he is facing some important decisions, and he endeavors to make wise choices for his future. I enjoy listening to him speak. He has a great heart, and he asks deep questions and listens carefully to the answers I give him. (I hope I don't talk too much.) He has invited me and Tain to visit him next month during the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holidays. I plan to go if all works out.

Tomorrow I go bowling with some young people from the church. I cannot recall the last time I went bowling...

Oh! And I spoke in church last Wednesday night and substituted for Pastor Steve in the Survey of Doctrine 1 class that same night after service. Talk about walking by faith...