2008–Journey to Germany and Greece

Philippians 2:14-16a say, “Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life–” “In which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life...”

The year, 2007, is the 100th anniversary of the great Korean revival of 1907. It was a year dedicated to pray for revival again. I am thankful that I could visit Korea and that M. Grace A Lee and Dr. Paul Koh could visit North Korea. Our journeys were prayer journeys.

On January 1-2, 2008, I was in Germany to attend the European directors’ conference. After this conference I was privileged to visit the Bonn UBF, and by God’s grace was able to spend several days in Greece, following in the footsteps of the apostle Paul. As I studied Philippians 2, preparing to speak in Bonn at the first Sunday worship of 2008, I thought about the European chapter directors who would be attending the conference in Rehe, Germany. Their house churches, scattered throughout Europe are like stars shining in the black sky. A star is different from a planet. A planet shines with reflected light. A star shines because it has light in itself. If we have the mind of Christ (Php2:5), and Jesus dwells in us, we can shine like stars in the universe (Php 2:15b-16a). The conference theme was “A Royal Priesthood.” We realized from Dr. John Jun’s message that we should affirm our identity as a royal priesthood. As we do this, holding out the word of life to young people who are living in the darkness of sin, we indeed shine like stars in the universe.

On Saturday, we visited the Museum of History in Bonn. Bonn had served as the capitol of West Germany before the reunification of Germany, from 1949 to 1990. It remained the official seat of government until 1999. This was because of the influence of Konrad Adenauer, first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The citizens of Bonn were sorry when they lost the privilege of being the capitol of united Germany, but everyone understood that Berlin should be the capitol. Then, again, with the influence of Mr. Adenauer, the Museum of History was built. If there had been time, we could have learned much about ancient Germany, but we focused on Germany from 1945 until the rupture of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification and painful rebuilding of united Germany through 2002. We saw the stark tragedy of the Holocaust with train loads of emaciated people and truck loads of dead bones. Germans did not try to hide the evil of the Holocaust. We saw the terror of war and the poverty of the German people right after the war. The message of the Museum acknowledged the help of America in rebuilding West Germany by the Marshall plan and the Herculean effort to save West Berlin through the Berlin Airlift. We could see how the German people not only worked hard to rebuild their country, but also opened their arms to the poverty stricken people of East Germany. Germany took the lead in establishing the European Union. Europe now has one money, the Euro and, for the most part, open borders between the European nations. Germany is leading Europe to become a great economic power in the world, challenging America. (It was not a part of our tour, but I was also interested in the vivid depiction of Germany’s submarine warfare during WW11.)

I realize that humanism is very strong in Germany. The German people really need the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray for God’s work through UBF chapters in Bonn, Cologne, Heidelberg and throughout Germany.

After the Sunday Worship Service and a very good time of fellowship with coworkers in Bonn, we drove with M. Peter and Sarah Chang to Frankfurt to catch a plane for Athens. We were met at the airport by our missionaries to Greece. After a good night’s sleep in a fine hotel, we were ready to visit Corinth and Athens, following the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. Corinth is a port city, located on the narrow isthmus connecting the Greek mainland with the Peloponnesian Peninsula. We were reminded of Paul’s rather lengthy stay in Corinth by the still-identifiable ruins of the synagogue in which he preached and some of the major remnants of the agora: the fountain house of the spring of Peirene, the temple of Apollo, the market place and the theater where Gallio the proconsul presided (Acts 18:12). We did not climb to the top of the Acrocorinth. Located there is a fort which is visible from below. Also, there is the temple of Aphrodite, where 1000 pagan priestess-prostitutes served. After the 4th Crusade of 1204, in which Constantinople was sacked, Corinth was up for grabs. A French knight, William of Champlitte, a Crusader, attacked Corinth. The Greek general Leo Sgouros was in the fort on the Acrocorinth defending Corinth. He saw that he was going to be defeated, so he rode his horse off of the top of the Acrocorinth into the sea. In 1458, the Ottoman Turks conquered Corinth and its mighty fort. The museum in Corinth was very interesting. Many of the statues had no heads. I could find no explanation of this.

On our way back to Athens, we had lunch in a typical Greek Restaurant near the famous Canal. The Isthmus of Corinth connects Corinth and Athens; This Canal cuts the Isthmus, connecting the Aegean sea and the Eonian sea. Most bridges raise to allow a ship to come through, but this bridge lowers into the water, allowing a ship to pass over the top of the bridge. We watched a ship being pulled by a small tugboat through the canal. When the bridge came back up out of the water there were a lot of small fish caught between its boards. Nero started building this canal around 50 AD.

We continued on our journey by mini van. (our journey team consisted of: Mark and Anna Yang, Paul and Sarah Hong, Paul Lee (our guide), Dr. John and Sunji Jun, Daniel and Deborah Yang, Samuel H Lee, Isaac and Rebecca Kim, Joseph and Maria Ahn and myself.) We stopped by Cenchrea where Paul cut his hair and made a vow before sailing across the sea to Ephesus.(Acts 18:18) Then, we returned to Athens.

In Athens, we climbed up the Areopagus or Mars Hill. This is a large rock located near the entrance of the Acropolis and just above the Agora where the Council or Court of the Areopagus met. Paul stood here in the meeting of the Areopagus (Acts 17:22) and addressed the “Men of Athens.” He proclaimed to them God the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth. He challenged them to give up their idolatry and worship the true God. And he warned them of the coming judgement by the man whom he appointed, even Jesus Christ whom he raised from the dead. Most people scoffed at the mention of the resurrection. But a few, including a member of the Areopagus, believed. One of the most impressive ruins in Athens is the Parthenon. The name refers to the worship of the Virgin Athena. It is located atop the Acropolis. The Erechtheion temple has statues in place of columns holding up the top. When we came down from the top of the Areopagus, M. Rebecca Kim and I got lost. M. Deborah Yang ran all over the hill looking for the right road down. We found that any path that led to the bottom would work. And some nice young men helped us jump down the final steps.

In the evening we had dinner at Paul and Lydia Lee’s home. We met their three children, Paul, Pauline and Lydia. We also met Mark and Pauline Lee and Esther, and Barnabas and Joanna Woo. After dinner, we participated in the baptism of Shepherd Stematas, a faithful young man who is growing as a shepherd. His friend and growing sheep, Frederick was also there. The children made beautiful music. Then we divided up for Bible study. We studied Deuteronomy 6:4-8. Dr. John Jun studied with the missionaries; Joseph Ahn studied with the children and I studied with the Greek shepherds, Stematas and Frederick.

We arose at 3:30 a.m. to fly to Philippi. Actually, there is no town of Philippi now–only ruins. We flew to Kavalla, known in Paul’s day as Neapolis, and saw the place where the Apostle Paul first put his foot on European soil. The place was marked with a church and a mosaic. We found the ruins of ancient Philippi and saw the river of flowing water where Lydia and her friends met Paul when he went out to a river of flowing water looking for a place of prayer. On the site of the old Philippi we saw the Basilica of Paul–the site of a very early church. We visited the jail where Paul had possibly been imprisoned. (Acts 16) The Philippi of Paul’s time was a mostly Gentile city. It was a place in which Roman officers often retired. There was evidently no synagogue, so Paul went to the river to find a place of prayer and there he met Lydia. He met his next convert while he was in jail. He had been put in jail because he drove the demons out of a young girl who persistently followed him. Her owners were angry because she and her demons had been their source of income. Paul called on his Roman citizenship and left town peacefully. The letter to the Philippians indicates that the believers in Philippi continued to stay in touch with Paul and continued to send him help of all kinds, even when he was in a Roman prison.

We drove on to Berea. There was a memorial church and a plaque about the noble Bereans who searched the scriptures to see if what Paul said were true. We ate lunch in Berea. We drove by Thessalonica to the airport and returned to Athens by plane. That evening, M. Mark Lee invited us to dinner in a Korean Restaurant. After dinner, I went to M. Paul Lee’s home and had a treatment on his saragem massage machine. He is working for a company that sells these machines. I felt very relaxed afterward. I found that several of our missionaries are interested in this business. It was good to spend time with our missionaries. Mission work in Greece is not easy. Greek Orthodox Christianity is hostile toward evangelical Christianity and the Orthodox Priests do not encourage the study of the Bible. But God has given a few faithful men and women and He continues to work in their hearts. The next morning M. Sarah Chang and I flew to Frankfurt and met Samuel H Lee in the airport. M. Stephan and Maria Park, Sh Heidi, Sh Warmheart met us and we could have a time of prayer and fellowship in the airport before I left for Chicago. I flew back on the same flight as Daniel and Deborah Yang and James and Sarah Kim. I praise and thank God for this opportunity to visit Europe and practically study the Bible. I appreciate very much Dr. Peter and Sarah Chang and other coworkers who made this trip possible for me. I thank God and pray for missionaries in Greece who indeed shine like stars in the universe as they hold out the word of life to dying people.