He was a young man with promise, a visionary, when he unexpectedly stumbled over a homeless man on the street. Literally.
The man had not eaten in four days. He lay groaning on the street in front of the train station. The young pastor could not step aside and walk on. He remembered what he had learned in seminary and went home to get a pot to cook some soup for the man. He brought the pot and a small kerosene stove to the street in order to feed the man and other homeless who had gathered. His plans for Europe faded as he kept on making soup for the homeless. Along the way, the police picked him up countless times, taking him to the police station in order to try to convince him that gatherings of homeless were bad for the city. Wouldn’t he just stop this? He couldn’t. God had replaced the dream of a retreat center in the mountains with the dream of feeding the homeless in the streets. He could not set down his pot of soup.
That was 20 years ago. Now he is feeding 1,500 people every day in one location. Four full-time volunteers run the program, organizing 40 volunteers a day for the feeding and 15 volunteers a day for a free hospital that offers care for the homeless and those without insurance. Volunteers call in and make reservations months in advance for the privilege of serving the homeless. Passersby on the street stop and ask, “May we do anything to help?” After moving the lunch program many times in order to accommodate all those who were hungry, the city is building a huge dining hall for this free lunch.
One day a young movie star (along with camera crews) took a turn to volunteer at the feeding program. He was so touched by what was happening with this meal that he asked what more he might do. He wanted to do something significant with his riches. Would he build a school near one of the feeding programs now run in several other countries, they asked. He agreed. He knew that the way to help people live better is through education and he trusted this Presbyterian pastor to do the right thing, to love the community where the school would be built, to make this involvement part of a larger concern.
I know this story sounds like a movie, like a fairy tale told to children. However, it is a true story. I know the pastor and the movie star and have witnessed the feeding and the healing and the building of the school.
It is, however, taking place in Korea and so that part of the story is out of our context. Part of me would like to say that this is the Korean culture and there is no reason to expect something like this to happen where I live, excusing myself from even trying or dreaming. Maybe there is something in the Korean culture that is more open to such generosity. On the other hand, Pastor Choi met with great resistance from the police. He did not initially have much support from others. Some thought he was squandering his leadership potential. But he is now the pastor of a congregation of about 500 worshippers and the director of programs for feeding and for care of children around the world, a peace and human rights center, a hospice facility, and a spiritual retreat center that keeps this work centered in prayer. He is training young adults for servant leadership. I walked around Seoul with him recently and watched the people on the street as well as the country’s dignitaries recognize and respect this pastor.
This year on the Korean holiday that equates to our Thanksgiving Day, Pastor Choi was part of a telethon and concert to raise money for those in need. The president of South Korea (a Presbyterian Elder) spoke at the event — this is in a country that is only18% Protestant and 12% Catholic. Is it really that this culture is predisposed to such generosity? Or is it that, on the other side of the globe, there are Presbyterians who are allowing themselves to dream God’s big dream of SHALOM, who are taking risks and offering whatever they have to God’s work? This is not a fairy tale. This is another story of God’s using five loaves and two fish to feed the multitudes.
I am grateful for all that the Korean Presbyterians have to teach us today. Fortunately, Korean Presbyterians are truly gracious people and welcome our sharing in what God is doing through them. They are grateful for our missionaries who went to their country over 100 years ago. I am grateful for their coming to our country now. Who knows what God might do with us as we become partners together with the Holy Spirit in Christ’s reign among us?
Laura Mendenhall is the former president of Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Ga., and now serves as senior philanthropy advisor for the Texas Presbyterian Foundation. She recently visited with the DAIL Social Welfare Foundation (www.dailusa.org), which has branches in Atlanta, Ga., California, and New Jersey as well as in seven countries.
