One of the highlights of the Bishop’s Retreat, which ended yesterday in Lancaster, PA, was the kids getting to meet Bishop Jeremiah Park, and his wife, Lisa, who are both from Korea.
We took a photo with the Parks after the closing communion service. Unfortunately, we had to crop the right side of the picture due to flash glare. We took another shot to correct the glare, but Sarah, who was tired by this point, refused to face forward. For one of the shots, Bishop Park attempted to sit in the chair, but Ethan took it from him. Only a five-year-old would kick the bishop out of his chair!
When we met the bishop and his wife a few months ago, we showed them photos of Ethan and Sarah. We also thanked them for their involvement in our journey.
Before Bishop Jeremiah Park became our bishop last September, he was the bishop of the New York Annual Conference. When we went to Korea to get Ethan in 2008, our bishop, Bishop Jane Allen Middleton, referred us to Bishop Park. Bishop Park put us in contact with a friend of his, the pastor of Holy Flames Methodist Church, near Seoul, Korea (we mentioned Bishop Park in our first cross-cultural experience post five years ago).
Our contact with the Holy Flames Methodist Church, and particularly, the small group we attended our first evening with Ethan, was an experience we’ll always treasure (see Our Amazing Korean Church Family)!
We are grateful to God for our connectional church!