Posted in Culture
When Rev Naomi Duke first visited South Korea in 2001, the country had an apt slogan – “South Korea: Asia’s best kept secret”. While tourism to the region has increased in the intervening years, South Korea remains a mysterious country for many Australians, including Uniting Church members.
Cultural and missional awareness tours have helped to develop relationships between members of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) and the Uniting Church SA (UCSA) since 1992. Through these friendships and conversations, members of both churches have gained an understanding of being Christian in another culture.
Naomi is one of the Uniting Church SA leaders who has helped to develop relationships between the two churches. She has visited ministers in South Korea, and hosted PROK members in her home. She also became the UCSA/PROK partnership team convenor earlier this year.
“These visits have impacted my family, and my children have learned what it means to ‘welcome the stranger’,” Naomi says.
“I value this partnership because it is an equal partnership. The PROK support us as much as we support them. It’s about equal learning, sharing ideas, and supporting each other in to the future.”
The UCSA/PROK partnership team also seek ways to support the Adelaide Korean Church and Heavenly Springs congregations in South Australia.
Naomi finds this encourages her to think beyond her own local church and be aware of the struggles that CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) churches are facing.
“In talking with our local Korean ministers I learn to listen and hear people who have different experiences to my own,” she reflects.
“Being involved in the UCSA/PROK partnership has widened my own experiences, enabled me to connect with people and grown me in my own leadership and world view.”
The UCSA/PROK partnership has now been operating for 25 years. The most recent intercultural visit between the churches took place in 2014 when PROK members visited Adelaide; planning is underway for Uniting Church SA members to visit Korea in November this year.
The partnership between the two churches was reviewed in 2015 before being endorsed at the November 2015 Presbytery and Synod meeting.
“One of the affirmed aspects in this Partnership is to reinforce links to leadership and discipleship development with young people from both Korea and South Australia,” states International Mission Officer Adrian Nippress.
Families and young people are being particularly encouraged to get involved in developing this partnership further – possibly by engaging with the trip to South Korea in November 2016.
To register interest in the November 2016 trip, please contact Mike Wardrop via email at Turn on Javascript!
To find out more about the UCSA/PROK partnership, please click here.
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A couple of years ago I was participating in a course which had a smattering of people from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background. I would have said that they were good participants in class discussions but not the most active ones, and I gave little thought to it.
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A UnitingCare Emergency Relief Centre was needed in the Port Adelaide-Enfield area of Adelaide. And that's when Lefevre UC and volunteers from Port Adelaide UC stepped up.
The new 'normal’ that we have entered into can certainly bring changes to how we as a church undertake international mission. However, despite this challenge we encourage reflection on the importance of partnerships, solidarity for social justice issues and ecumenical sharing.
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