Dear Family and Friends:

We thought we would have a lot to tell when we came back from our retreat at Victoria Falls. The most important story is that we did come back to Tshikaji. We have too much to tell you everything, but not enough important things for a newsletter.

We left on January 26 to go to Kinshasa for a few days of shopping for the hospital. When we arrived at Kinshasa after seven months in Tshikaji, it seemed like we have arrived at a metropolitan city. Parts of the streets were paved, there were lots of cars and stores that sold "real food stuff." We decided right then and there that we would eat all the food we craved. Money was not the object. It was a busy week, making new contacts and purchasing medicines, car parts and the cars themselves. We arrived at the Nairobi (Kenya) airport around midnight because we had to wait for three hours to get the jet fuel at the Kinshasa airport. The taxi ride back to the airport early the next morning revealed a bustling city with signs of all the familiar brand names shocked us. "This is not Africa!" we told each other.

We felt guilty when we checked in at the Bronte Hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was a very well kept garden-style hotel with a good dining room. Is it okay to enjoy this much luxury? Never seen a better sixty-five-dollars-a-night hotel. After two nights, we finally gathered at the Kingdom resort at Victoria Falls. We started the retreat with an inspiring worship and rededication. Each morning we opened the day with a worship service and a Bible study. By now, we had already eaten all the rich food that we craved and were looking for a simple, light lunch. While we were stuffed with good food the evening before, by next morning we were hungry again. The only thing that remained with us were the uncomfortable effects of over-indulgence. But, as we got into regular worship and the study of Scripture, we got hungry for more. We realized how much we missed the regular worship and the community to study the Word together. Could this be the difference between the "living water" and the water from Jacob’s well? It was also a great time of seeing old friends and making new ones. We did not forget to take a trip to the Chobe Game Reserve in Botswana. We are no longer impressed with any herd of elephants less than one hundred and further than ten yards away. Imagine 50,000 elephants in one park. We also visited the Victoria Falls. The main fall is deeper than Niagara Falls, and one can see it much closer because the river is narrower than the banks of the lake at Niagara, almost too close for a panoramic view. One can never cease to marvel at the wonders of nature.

Too soon, it was time to bid "till next time" to friends and start on the return trip. It would be less than honest to say that we were fully charged, ready to face any challenges that may come our way. In some sense, we got a real taste of what we were yearning for and to return to "reality" was difficult. But, the real world awaited us, and albeit reluctantly we went to Harare for an overnight stay. We had an opportunity to do some souvenir shopping and to look at the downtown shops. We saw what escaped us the first time. Twenty years after independence, the buildings and the basic system remain, but the country’s economic and social system were not well maintained. We saw the vast gap between the well kept stores, hotels and restaurants that cater to foreign visitors and the rich, and the everyday life of the ordinary people. We wondered whether our spiritual health will likewise keep up the outward appearance but be bankrupt within. Pray for us that we would be continually restored. Also pray for the Worldwide Ministries Division staff in Louisville. They are the invisible servants who get blamed whenever anything goes wrong, regardless of the source.

We spent a few days in Nairobi with the Tim and Sue Anne Fairman, who work with the students at Daystar University in a servant leadership program. Besides hitting Japanese and Korean restaurants, we had two memorable experiences. On Sunday we went to Nairobi Chapel in downtown Nairobi. When we got there at 9:40 for a 10:00 service, the earlier service was still going on with more than a hundred worshipers sitting on benches set on the perimeters of the sanctuary and another hundred or so waiting in line to get seats in the next service. It looked like an Olive Garden restaurant on a Friday night. It was an inspiring experience. Next time we go to the States and are waiting in line for a table, we will say "It’s just like the Nairobi chapel!" Let’s pray that we will be able to say "It’s just like xxx Presbyterian church!".

The following Wednesday was Sue Anne Fairman’s Mother Teresa’s Home day in a Nairobi slum. It was a large compound caring for broken and abandoned people of all ages. We spent most of our few hours with the crippled children and the abandoned ones. At first we could only see the broken bodies. As we overcame our hesitancy and held them and talked to them, we were able to see the soul and humanity, with joys and sorrows in them. It would be presumptuous to say that we were able to see it all in just a few hours. However, the effect on us was unmistakable. Once we were able to go beyond the initial barrier, we found a whole new world that always existed but to which we were blind.

We want to share with you the struggle we have had for the past few months. As we look back, our "ministry" was to put our, and your, resources to good use. In practical terms, we had to work hard to keep our medicines, fuel, food stuff and money from being stolen and misused. In a sense our mission is that of warehouse guards. How can we witness Jesus Christ while trying to protect our resources from the very people we are to serve? What sort of missionaries are we? Through the retreat and other experiences during the trip, we learned that we have the opportunity to deal with people at their raw and basic needs, ugly as well as good. Perhaps, a true witnessing can take place at this naked relationship. Pray for us that we would be able to witness our Lord in our daily dealings with the people.

We did not forget to bring back good coffee from Kenya and food items from Kinshasa, including a 50 kilogram sack of Italian rice. We will be all right until we go to the States in June for a medical check-up. We have been back in Tshikaji for almost a week. Based on the number of people knocking on our door with problems, we can tell things are back to normal. That’s how our second month of the year or the millennium went.

Love to you all,

Haejung & Simon Park

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The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 29