A Christ-centred cross-cultural gathering
What happens when a dozen fully-citified Korean young adults drive 10 hours north to visit a remote Indigenous community in the bush? Lots of joy. Lots of love. Lots of fun.
Twenty eight years ago, the first member of Vancouver Korean Presbyterian Church came on a team of Korean youth to bring fun, food, vacation Bible school and cultural exchange to the tiny reserve of Ndazkoh BC. That young woman went back to her church and brought someone else on her Love Corps team the following summer. After that, the team all came from VKPC and kept coming up summer after summer until 2017 when forest fires forced us to cancel the visit.
We resumed for another two years and then COVID-19 struck. The summer of 2025 was the first time since 2019 that our community was able to welcome our friends from VKPC. It was a joyful time.
I felt the very real presence of God’s Holy Spirit as we looked around the circle and sang together.
Typically each summer a team of youth would arrive for 9-10 days, bringing with them all their supplies for VBS after fundraising all year for the trip. They spent the mornings sharing with the kids the love of Jesus through stories, crafts, games and snacks. Afternoons were spent often at the beach and in the evenings, the older kids and teens would hang out on the floor of our mobile home crammed in with the Korean team just hanging out and talking.
Relationships were built that have lasted years thanks to the wonders of Facebook and Messenger. (In the early years we did not even have phones in Ndazkoh so phone lines and Internet have made a huge difference!) A few of the young guys even went to the wedding of one of the Korean women in Vancouver. Those young men are now in their 30s and remember it so well.
Feast night was always the highlight of the week. In the early years we would receive another whole team of 12-15 young people directly from Korea who would host a huge Korean feast and put on cultural presentations of traditional drumming, dancing, Tae Kwon Do or games. The Gospel would be shared through drama, music and testimonies.
Once our team at VKPC was more established, we decided to work together outside of the original Love Corps program and we did our own Feast Nights, encouraging the Ndazkoh people to also share aspects of their culture and food. A special team of elders from VKPC would drive up just to cook all day, host the feast and then return to Vancouver. We would find Bannock, moose meat and luwus (whipped soapberries with a ton of sugar that is known locally as Indian ice cream) alongside the bulgogi, japjae, rice and kimchi. It was a highlight of the week, of the summer, even of the year!
Last week a team of 12 adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s arrived after the five-year hiatus. None of the team had ever been to Ndazkoh. However, the love that was shared over the previous years and the memories of the current parents (who themselves were the VBS kids 20-28 years ago) made the welcome to the team sweet and instantaneous. Parents and other young adults recalled the visits as being some of their best memories of childhood summers. They were so happy for their kids to now experience the same things.
The team then began to sing Amazing Grace and people in the community – not yet followers of Jesus – joined in the circle to sing the song as a blessing to one another over the gathered community.
On the final night the band hall was filled with kids and adults sharing food – all the Korean favourites as well as spaghetti, fresh salmon and bannock. Before eating, the young dancers in the community broke out their jingle dresses and performed for everyone gathered – a gift to our visitors.
While we waited in the line for the buffet the kids and a few adults tried their hands at some traditional Korean games. Dinner was followed by presentations. One of the band staff gave gifts of Ndazkoh swag to each of the team. Our house church opened the evening with a drum song that is an invitation to experience the River of Life flowing from the throne of God. Hyeongbin played several beautiful songs on the viola to a quiet, attentive crowd. This was amazing for a community of country and classic rock fans! The team then began to sing Amazing Grace and people in the community – not yet followers of Jesus – joined in the circle to sing the song as a blessing to one another over the gathered community. I grabbed my hand drum and we added in another verse in the Dakelh language of our community. I felt the very real presence of God’s Holy Spirit as we looked around the circle and sang together. Inspired, another young woman asked if our drum group could sing the men’s and women’s warrior songs to honour our Korean friends to close the evening. The sense of reciprocity, of the giving and receiving of food, gifts and honour was a true reflection of the kingdom of God as we shared love beyond our cultural differences.
They came hoping to give and found that they received even more. This is what mission is meant to be – a mutual giving and receiving as we walk the Jesus way.
Many on the VKPC team expressed that they had been deeply stirred by their time in Ndazkoh. They came hoping to give and found that they received even more. This is what mission is meant to be – a mutual giving and receiving as we walk the Jesus way. We are grateful to our friends at VKPC for their faithfulness and humility in coming to our community to learn and to love in the name of Jesus. We are already looking forward to next year. In the meantime we look to see what God does in the lives of the team and our community because of these few days that we all had together.
