[Czech Republic] Korean Camp at the IYF Prague Centre

From August 18th to the 21st, a Korean Camp was held at Prague, Czech Republic by inviting Pastor Han Soo Chang of Good News Asan Church and the Rio Montana. In the beginning, there was nothing prepared. But, we were able to find a venue by help of a Taekwondo Instructor who was connected in March and receive donation of rice, kimbab ingredients, snacks etc. from an Asian restaurant.

The Czech students who were normally interested in Korean k-pop and drama attended the camp through advertisement on Facebook. They tried on the Hanbok at the Hanbok corner, make traditional masks and folded Hanbok shaped with coloured papers at the Korean Town, glad that they attended the Korean Camp.

The opening ceremony began with the Righteous Stars’ dance that delivers bright smiles and joy, and the Czech students’ K-pop dance group O.M.G (Oh My Girl) performed. Branch Manager Byung Jun Jin of IYF Berlin delivered a congratulatory message saying, ‘Although we cannot smell the scent of an apple’s seed, we can smell the sweet scent through the apple fruit. Likewise, although we cannot smell the scent of Korea through the seeds of Korean Camp, we hope that you can feel Korean culture through the Korea Town, Taekwondo etc., and also smell the scent of the world of the mind delivered by the IYF.’

In the morning of the camp, Korean calligraphy and Taekwondo taught by a local instructor was taught during academy session. In the afternoon, the mind recreation instructors of Asan Church taught the students the world of the mind through various games under themes of communication of the heart, self-control, isolation and the importance of conversation for two days.

The songs of Rio Montana before the mind lectures during the Korean Camp made the hearts of the participants into soft soil that can accept the world of the heart. Especially, the African songs ‘Jambo’ and ‘Cast your burden unto Jesus’ made everyone stand up from their seats and dance along to the band’s performance.

During the mind education session, Pastor Han Soo Chang explained the 5 steps of the heart, explaining to the students that it was important to know where their hearts were situated currently and asked them where their hearts were. Most of them chose that their level of mind to be at level 3 which is a ‘life in reality.’ Pastor Han Soo Park gave them hope that the IYF will enable them to have a great mind through challenge, exchange, and cohesion. Besides this, after listening to lectures on ‘connection of the heart’, ‘desire and self-control’ etc., the students were able to have discussion and share their hearts at a group meeting.

Amongst the participants, Veronica said she thought herself to sing well until now. But, as she watched the Rio Montana’s performance, she changed her mind from being good to wanting to learn. Daniela said she realized that others felt sad as well when she talked about sad things and had decided not to tell her family about such things. But, as they learned through the mind lecture that our hearts need to flow as electricity flows through wires and water flows through pipes, she said she wanted to try sharing her heart with her family as well.

Although the camp had ended, the Czech students that had opened their hearts towards the IYF promised to stay connected with the IYF Prague branch. Through His servant, God gave us the scriptures in Genesis 1:11 ‘And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.’ for the country of Czech Republic. At this camp, God sent us students from Czech Republic, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Germany etc. various countries and we are hopeful that many students each “after its kind” will also be gained in Czech Republic.