L'Abri Newsletter, September 2021

September 14, 2021

Dear Praying Family,

Is the world getting used to COVID-19 now? In the situation of more than a thousand new patients coming out every day, am I the only one who is not so surprised and calm? Although it was the second summer in the pandemic, now we seem to like hope with increasing vaccination rate and 'With Corona' declaration of some countries.

Under this pandemic, we held the 1st online Christian Worldview Forum and had a great time. Thankfully, during the four days of the forum, 10~20 people attended each day with passionate presentations, comments and discussions. Below is a simple introduction of presenters and titles.

• August 13rd
  • Sangrae Kim, "The Law of God and the Law of Man"
  • Changhee Jo, "The Futility and Misery of Life"
• August 14th
  • Kwanhyung Lee, "How the Church Treats People with Schizophrenia"
  • Samuel Choi, "Digital Christians"
• August 20th
  • Jinkyung Park, "Post-truth and Korean Politics"
  • Hyukmin Kwon, "How Should Korean Christians View the Generation after the Sewol Ferry Disaster"
• August 21st
  • Junwon Shon, "Kingdom Economy"
  • Inkyung Sung, "Paul's Boasting"

Sangrae appealed that there must be love in law enforcement like Jesus did. And I made a presentation comparing the Christian faith with Schopenhauer's thought on Death. Kwanhyung's presentation made us realize that the church needs more understanding of mental illness to treat the mentally ill personally and respectfully. Through Samuel's presentation, we discussed how Christians could manage their lives in the growing digital world like SNS.

Jinkyung pointed out the context of Korea sharply that many ideas are extremely opposed and blame each other by saying 'Naeronambul' that means if I do, it is romance, but, if you do, it is adultery. Through Hyukmin's presentation, we thought about what hope the Christian faith can give to the generation whose illusions about the government have been shattered since the Sewol ferry disaster. Junwon, a research fellow, presented on Christian economic views. Inkyung showed what and how Christians can be proud of through 2 Corinthians.

Our research fellows, Jongwon Kim, Kijin Sung, Yoonseok Jang, Hyunseok Ji, and Junwon Shon commented well, and Prof. Sungjong Kim, Dankook University, commented as well. Even though we were not familiar with and felt awkward online, everyone showed great interest and passion. Thankfully, through this forum, we experienced online meetings as a new communication tool for the first time, on the other hand, realized how special face-to-face meeting is. I hope we can hold the following forum in the cozy Kimjeongsik hall of L'Abri next year. All papers and comments will come out as a book after some edit. Anybody who wants to taste the truth of Christian Faith in these papers, please contact L'Abri.

I request some prayers.

1. In early July, Samwon's mother had a car accident, so Samwon stayed in Jeonju to care for her mother and various tasks for about two months. Please pray for her mother, who is still ill, to recover well, and the remaining legal matters sorted out peacefully.
2. A fire protection design for the main building of L'Abri, which the fire protection inspection requires, was commissioned by an architectural office in Yangyang. Junwon, our research fellow, works hard for this. Please pray that the whole process goes smoothly.
3. After this forum, we will start an online lecture called "The L'Abri Table" every Saturday 8 pm-10 pm from October 9th to December 11th. We will gather with TeamViewer, which we used in this forum, and the workers, research fellows, and other speakers will give lectures and have time for 'Honest Answers to Honest Questions.' Would you please pray for L'Abri to continue its work through new tools even when we cannot gather due to COVID-19? (Anybody who wants to join, please contact L'Abri.)
4. When every worker completes vaccination in early November, we will open a new term for a few guests who have completed vaccination. (From November 8th to December 10th, up to 4 guests.) Please pray that the pandemic calms down so that the term can usually resume.

There are many times in life that the repeated day-to-day looks so much the same. But there is no doubt that the present, a part of our eternal life, is a gift from God. I sincerely hope that all our praying family will remember that we are children of God and enjoy the love and grace we have received as a gift today.

Warm regards,

Changhee Jo