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by

THREE FIVE.

LAUNDRY DAY BAHAHA.

Woke up, showered, laundry.
BAM.

Done.

Had lunch with the gang + Julia. Went to the cafeteria and then went into town to get Bingsoo =D ($14 for two - decently priced).






Chocolate Bingsoo

Fruit Bingsoo

After this, we all went back to our dorms to 'study' or if they're like me, watch random documentaries until dinner.. Dinner was good today!
Samgyeopsal, Squid, Pork cutlet,Tofu... and the normal rice + kimchi on the side =D... + soup.

After dinner, it was small groups time!
So off I went to Gangnam... 40 minute trip... I was 3 minutes late because I didn't manage my time properly... =[

The train was PACKED with people... I was uncomfortably close to the people around me but thankfully time went rather quick..
Gangnam at night on a weekday is rather interesting..
Streets are packed with young people dressed in fancy clothes and definitely dressed to impress. I was wearing the typical Aussie boy clothes (shirt, shorts, slipons)... so I caught quite some attention haha....

When I arrived at small group... it was literally a 'small' group... with only 5 or 6 guys in the group..
It is an all men's group so at the very least, there are fewer distractions, clearer focus and more tendency to be open about guy stuff.

My study leaders are Darryl and Matt... Two non-Korean locals who have had experience leading Men's sexual purity studies - so we were encouraged to just express topics if we wanted to.

The rest of my group were - Jeong Ho, Tae Hyun and Q... There will be one more person next week that we haven't met yet.

They are all much older than I am.. The 2nd youngest is late 20's if I'm not mistaken.

We talked a lot about our lives... What we've been through and where we are at now. The group is a rather interesting bunch... One of them having gone through drugs and everything else imaginable.. He also had a lot to say and talk about, so it will be a rather loud small group. We are all single except for Tae Hyun, who is the only married one.

Though we didn't touch on the material today (introductory week), I am rather excited about the study and to do it within this group. I pray that this group will be close-knit and we'll put our pride and selfishness aside so that God can do His thing.


When I got back from Gangnam... I met up with the others at the river.... where we met this little guy! He kept talking to us... one time for 30 minutes... all in Korean.

Weirdly enough, I understood maybe 70% of what he was saying (mostly about food in Korea and his likes). He kept falling on his roller blades and was very fun overall.


 That was it for today really... If you noticed in the above picture.. Nicole is holding my bible. We had a good chat tonight about Christianity and what it meant to me...

 When I arrived at the river, Eero made a comment about me holding a Bible, saying "I didn't know you were so religious" almost in a condescending tone... (As I am typing this, I am trying to kill a mosquito in my room)... It then made me a bit puzzled how he quickly associated someone holding a bible as "religious".

 I then had a chat with Nicole about this aspect and we both agreed that it was rather inaccurate to make that association. I told her that I'm no different to anyone else.. I've done bad things in the past and even now I have the capacity to do such things.. Just because I'm holding a bible, it doesn't mean that I'm not a sinner.
[Just because I am in a garage, it doesn't mean I am a car].

 We then had a good session of chatting about her past and how she used to be mildly 'religious' - reading the bible and going to church... Although I think she said she was a Catholic... 
She doesn't do any of that now and is pursuing to get to know Buddhism because Buddhism provides her some sense of freedom on the basis that "I shouldn't believe just for the sake of believing.. I should seek out the truth and follow what my heart wants".
As she was saying that, I thought to myself... That sounds somewhat similar to what I believe in...

 I don't believe in Jesus just because... I believe in Jesus because I know he is the truth (the way and the life) and it is what my heart wants because he fills up the God-shaped hole in all our hearts.
Furthermore, I've had numerous moments where I've doubted... but even more moments where I was convinced that following Jesus means everything to me.

 I'm not too sure what tonight's chat meant to Nicole.. but I know that God is working... Progress may seem slow at times... but I hope I may be an influence to her and to the rest of the group.

 It was uneasy when the group asked me why I was going to Gangnam and I replied "Bible study"... It was uneasy because I know they are thinking "why would anyone waste one or two days of the week to go and do something like that when they could be meeting new people, meeting people of the opposite gender and what-not."
Though it would've been easier to just say "I'm meeting someone in Gangnam" or... "I have something to do"... To hide the fact that I am a Christian is declaring that I am shameful of my God... which I hope I am not.
I will continue what I am doing here and with God's guidance, I hope to be the different.

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On a seemingly related topic...

My dreams have turned very... very bad.

Almost horrific.

My body wants to indulge in worldly pleasures... but my soul, spirit and mind are at constant war with it... But this topic isn't something to be discussed publicly... so that is it.


Thankful: The start of small groups.. A very open and dedicated group. Thankful also for evangelistic opportunities. 

Prayerful: That the small group will be fruitful and keep our commitment to come every week. Prayerful for my inexperience with evangelism.. I've never done it before so it is a daunting task...

Dangers: I'm still mildly too attached to some people in the group... Everything they do seems to affect me on a huge level... Bad bad bad...