The director of Chun-ae homeless shelter introduced us to another place where needs more help. The place was called ‘Da si suh gi’ which means ‘standing up again.’ In Korea there are only three organizations like Da si suh gi in which homeless people can get housing, food, clothes and many other things they need to be resettled.
Like Chun-ae homeless shelter, Da si suh gi was located in a hard place to find. When I heard about this place from the director of Chun-ae homeless shelter, I pictured a big building; however, I soon realized that I was wrong. The building of the drop in center was small and shabby. Sumin, Andy and I went in and met a person who was told about us through the director of Chun-ae homeless shelter. He led us to his desk in the office and introduced himself. His name was Jung Jae Lee and he was a full time worker. Jung Jae informed us about the place and his expectations from us.
“I will assign you to work at the soup kitchen. We do have an out-reach team but we do not want you to work there. If we put you in the team, you will most likely build friendships; however, you will end up be leaving the country, and that friendships might leave scars to the homeless.” Jung Jae had a “sorry look” on his face as he was explaining us the reason we got the soup kitchen jobs.
When Jung Jae told us about the reason, I was astonished. I never thought about people being hurt from not continuing the friendship. This realization made me to ponder upon the power and importance of friendships.
Since then, we volunteered numerous weeks. Luckily, we were able to join foreign volunteers on the Fridays and Sundays. For Andy at least, this meant a lot because he was able to connect with people who have similar back grounds. Frankly, Andy has been going through hard times as he was encountering new things in Korea. I ask you to pray for him.
Issac Won
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