2018 Newsletter"This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." (Luke 2:34-35)

Immanuel, another name for Jesus, means “God with us”. What is it like to be with Jesus? In the story of the birth of Jesus, we are told that life with Jesus is completely different from that without him. Christmas brings a new life through the coming of Jesus. But is this really so? Are we not merely adding another shiny decoration to our ordinary lives? Let’s look at the example of Mary, mother of Jesus. Christmas turned her life upside down: a virgin mother that gave birth to a boy, nurtures him to be an adult, to watch him being “spoken against” by others. She must have felt a sword piercing her own soul, just as Simeon prophesied when she visited him with the new born child.

A life with Jesus is life of love. But this does not exclude pains and sufferings. A person who loves another must embrace pains that follow; one who loves but is not willing to sacrifice, loves in vain. The more you love another, the more you need to give up yourself, so that you can enter deeper into the other person’s heart. Pain is an essential part of love.

Christmas is a day when the love of God entered this world. Through the life and suffering of Jesus, that love was made complete. On this day when we are invited to be with God, we look back on our year to see how we have participated in his love. In April, 18 people from European Shinsun Martial Arts Club located in Germany visited our centre and another group of 22 friends from 5 different countries came to see us in September. These practitioners of martial arts visited our Sisterhood and Elderly Home to share in our Spiritual trainings. They also experienced Korean culture and history as well as spiritual fellowship during their visits. They visit us once in two years and support us through the funds they have raised in their own countries.

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Each month, Diakonia Sisterhood visited Family Communities and Local Community Churches we support in different areas. In February, we visited four Family Communities in Ha-soon, Cheon-an area. Dan-bi Church is located in this area. It was built thirty years ago as a community church in the rural neighborhood and Rev. Chung is carrying out a powerful ministry based on this church. We have also started a daycare center for the elderly in this area two years ago. There are currently 17 elderly people being looked after in this facility and we are building extensions in response to increasing demands for such service. The workers and elderly people have also taken some time to visit our Center in Mok-po among such a busy schedule and we treated them with local delicacies and sight-seeing.

In October, we visited Rev. Kim’s community church in Gok-seong, Jeon-nam. He had just built a small house in traditional Korean style at the top of the highest hill in

the village. Jars of pickles and sauces made us all recall our own childhood memories. We had a wonderful fellowship sitting together in the living room.

In November, we visited Rev. Song in Ju-pyeong, Jin-an. He has been farming blueberries for the past three years and he shared the grace of God he experienced while toiling in the field. His touching testimony rendered all of us to tears and we gave thanks to God for the harvest. Rev. Song also holds a

special service for disabled people once a month. On the Sunday that we visited his church, there were fourteen people with disability from different parts of Korea, together with about forty helpers, joining in the worship. Their faces were innocent

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like those of children, without any disguise and we thoroughly immersed ourselves in worshiping our creator in laughter and in tears. We praise God for witnessing Rev. Song and his ministry. At the end of November, we visited Sister Lee’s farm. The vegetable field was just harvested, and remaining leaves in fruit painted beautiful scenery of late autumn. Inside three green houses, in the meantime, were fresh shoots of early spring. Sr. Lee also raises chicken and donates them to local elderly homes, practicing the life of sharing and serving in her community. Diakonia family members had a summer retreat with silent prayers and held regional fellowship meetings in the second half of the year. In October, we had the third general meeting for all the members of Diakonia Family Communities. Main theme of this meeting was finding the balance between work and prayer through spirituality. We held lectures and small group discussions to strengthen each other in spirituality and reconfirmed our fellowship in Diakonia.

During the 38th Anniversary event for Diakonia Sisters Korea, Rev. Sung-jae Kim made a lecture based on a video titled ‘Rev. Byung-moo Ahn and Diakonia’. Late Rev. Ahn was a respected professor of theology, who gave birth to female Christian community movement in Korea, and Diakonia Sisterhood. It was a befitting theme for

our anniversary and remind ourselves of his work for the renewal of Korean church and the kingdom of God.

Sr. Ok-tae Kim and Young-sook Ree visited Germany for three weeks in June to participate in the 43rd Kaiserswerther General Conference. 172 people from 13 different countries gathered under the theme of ‘Contributions to Society - Opportunities in Turbulent Times’. Our sisters also took this opportunity to visit partners in Germany such as EMS, Berlin Korean church and other organizations of Diakonia Federation. In August, we have finished the construction of the approach

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road to our mother center in Mokpo. This has long been in our prayer. We thank God for giving us more convenient access through nearby village.

Our sisters participate in regular meetings of the Federation of Community Movements in Korea to exchange news and encourage cooperation. In May, Salem Spirituality Center visited our center. For the past 10 years they have been our close companion for the Christian spirituality movement in Korea. We also participate in inter-religion female community meetings including Buddhist, Won-Buddhist, and Christian nuns, to promote cooperation and harmony among people of different beliefs. In the meantime, female Church leaders gather together for a prayer meeting on the first day of each month, starting from July.

Mr. Kim, a tuberculosis patient in our Chronic Patients’ Home passed away in May from lung cancer. We held funeral service and placed him near our family home.

The other three men lead ordinary life focusing on looking after their health with a little bit of gardening as entertainment.

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We continue to support families in needs – impoverished, multi-cultural, and refugees –through our household support project in rural areas around city of Mok-po. We provide daily expenses, counselling, scholarship and medical expense. We focus on giving more than material supports to those who are in the blind spots of government-led welfare system and strive to be the good neighbor to them. We approach them through prayer and love together with others who are inspired by our pioneering works.

Our Home for the Elderly continues to cater for 60 elderly people. Three sisters look after them together with around forty helpers. Under their dedicated service, the home maintains cheerful and family-like atmosphere for both those who are giving and receiving care. Ms. yuh who provided material basis for the establishment of the sisterhood is weak at the age of 101, but she enjoys peaceful life under our care and this year, she received Gold Humanitarian Awards by Red cross for her past

contribution to Redcross.

Our work is among those who are suffering. And in their midst, we feel the love of God that makes us humble in continuing our work. We also remember your prayer and support that make our work possible.Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth!

Diakonia Sisterhood Korea,Abbess Sr. Young-sook Ree

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