24 March 2022 | St Albans, UK [Patrick Johnson]
During my first year at Newbold College, the Newbold Student Association (NSA) had an assembly where returning student missionaries spoke about their experiences. I was inspired. In fact, the feeling I had was like what I had experienced when a real-life missionary came and spoke at my home church when I was a teenager. For some reason the thought of being a missionary abroad really appealed to me!
Usually, the NSA would only sponsor students who had completed a minimum of two years of their studies. However, they were willing to make an exception for me because I had done nursing before coming to Newbold, and so was considered more experienced and mature. I chose to go to South Korea where I would be teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to university students and conducting evangelistic meetings each weekend for a whole year. It was an amazing experience!
I lived in a town called Daegu together with two other student missionaries: one from Australia and the other from the USA; that experience was an education in itself. The whole experience in Korea provided me with exposure to cultures very different to mine, which really broadened my perspectives. I learnt to appreciate a completely different menu (but was glad I could say I was a vegetarian, and thus avoid trying some of the things they had on offer). And of course, I managed to master the use of chopsticks!
I had the opportunity to travel and see some of the tourist sites, including the demilitarised zone with North Korea. I also experienced a country with four very distinct seasons, the cherry blossoms of spring were particularly memorable. Neither will I forget living through my first typhoon. The strength of the wind and the deluge of rain are forever etched in my memory.
Perhaps the most profound effect was on my spiritual life. Up to this point, in my witnessing, I had always started with the assumption that I would be talking with someone from a Western Christian, agnostic or atheistic background. Being in South Korea forced me to appreciate the thinking of people with a non-Xian worldview, in particular those with a Buddhist perspective.
One of the great things about being there was going to “coffeeshops” with students. Basically, it meant going to a place to eat and to have anywhere between two to ten students firing questions at you about your faith and why you believed the way you did. This really matured my faith. I had never felt the need to really review my faith before, but this kind of interrogation actually helped it grow much stronger.
Returning to Newbold I found myself living in a flat with someone from South Korea and, needless to say, we ended up becoming the best of friends.
I would always encourage young people to consider becoming a student missionary. In my experience, it strengthened my relationship with God, gave me memories for life, and life-long friendships. What more could you ask for?
