News > Korea

2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I HAVE FINISHED THE RACE, I have kept the faith."

This summer has been a summer of travel for me. First I completed a 127 kilometer walk across the middle of the west coast of South Korea with about 130 Dream School students. I learned that although Jesus and His disciple could walk across Israel in sandals without socks, it is a very bad idea to try to walk across Korea like this - large, very painful blisters pop up beginning on day two. Never the less, I made the entire march and I learned to love Korea even more. Last week, I attempted an even more ambitious 국토. I rode my bike from Incheon to Busan. The first three days I was accompanied by one high school senior. He was a great blessing. He saved me from getting hopelessly lost, was a great travel companion and helped me in many small ways. For instance, he arranged our lodging for the first two nights - the first night we stayed at a motel that certainly is not known for their English acumen (see attached picture) and the second night we stayed at a 찜질방. This was my first time staying at one of these and perhaps my last because some old man tried to steal my phone as I slept. I have no idea how or why I woke up, but I caught him right in the act. For some reason, God moved my heart so that I wasn't mad at him, but I felt compassion for him instead. I let him off the hook and din't turn him in, but I think I'll avoid public sleeping rooms in the future - but the spa sure was nice after a long day of riding. Harry (my riding partner) had to leave me at 구미 which is about 50 kilometers north of 대구. Our last meal together was really funny. We looked around for a restaurant, but we couldn't find one, so we did what anyone would do in that situation. We went to the 구미대교 (the Gumi Big Bridge), ordered Chinese food and had them deliver it to us under the bridge.The restaurant actually delivered our food to us under the bridge and we ate it like a couple of homeless people. Chinese people are really great!

I thought the last two days would be kind of lonely, but if your an American crazy enough to ride your bike across Korea alone, there are no shortage of Koreans who want to talk to you. Its amazing, these Koreans were doing exactly what I was doing (maybe they weren't all riding from Incheon, but they were riding across a portion of Korea), yet they all seemed to think that what I was doing was somehow more impressive than what they were doing. I didn't understand, but I liked talking with them and wowing them with my 'great feat.' There were two guys in particular who stood out. Thursday at about 10 in the morning I got lost - really lost. I was running out of hope when these two college aged guys came riding by. I waved them down and they asked me if I was going to Busan. When I said yes they told me to follow them. It turns out they were just as lost as me. Anyway, I had my smart phone with GPS and they had theirs and they actually knew how to use it (unlike me). I figured we would be back on the trail in no time. That thinking turned out to be wrong. Keep in mind, these were college age guys, obviously experienced bikers, with all the right gear and really good road bikes. I am a fat middle aged man in sandals on a really bad mountain bike. These guys led me down a major interstate for about 5-10 kilometers going about 35 kilometers an hour. I was dying just to keep up. Then they stopped and said we went the wrong way, so we turned around on this major interstate and went the wrong way for about a kilometer. Death never looked so likely before. When we got off the interstate, they continued to travel at breakneck speeds up and down some pretty major hills. Just when I was about to pass out they stopped, looked at their GPS and decided that we had yet again gone in the wrong direction. This went on for about 40 minutes. After the first ten minutes I had no choice but to follow them because there was no way I could retrace my route. Those two really helped me to pray - I prayed that I wouldn't lose them or die trying to keep up with them. Eventually we found the path again. I thanked them and went on ahead of them because they wanted to stop and rest for a bit - I was too tired to rest. After traveling a little ways I realized that I didn't get a picture of them. I figured they would pass me soon enough and I'd take the picture then. Well, they didn't pass me and I came to the next certification center (designated resting points along the way where they have good bathrooms and food and water). I have no idea how they did it, because they never passed me, but they were already at that place. So I took their picture and said good bye.

The final day was pretty uneventful, except there was about a 15 kilometer wind blowing straight in my face for the last thirty kilometers or so. It was miserable until I finished, but then it made finishing all that much sweeter.

That bicycle ride was one of the highlights of my life. I got to see my mission field from top to bottom. It is truly a beautiful country with beautiful people in it. To top off the trip, I met a retired Korean English teacher at the finishing place. He asked me how long I planned on staying in Korea and he was very happy when I said "until God calls me home." Then, like every good Korean I've met, he told me the first thing I need to do is meet a good Korean woman and marry her. He then went on for ten minutes describing all the good points of Korean women, adding at the end that they love to ride bikes as he pointed out his own wife who had made the cross country trip with him.

God Bless Korea.