Sewol

Last week as I began preparing to go home, my coteacher told me about a boat that had sunk on the way to Jeju Island.  She told me basic details of what was known about 6 hours after the ferry had sunk.  It wasn't much, but it was terrible news to hear.  My mom had actually sent me a message earlier in the day to ask if I knew about a boat sinking, but I didn't see it the message until I went home.  I had taught the entire day and wasn't told until we were leaving.  It seems so different from America.  When big news happens, usually teachers know even if they cannot watch the news.

But in a way, I'm glad I didn't know.  My heart breaks for the families and communities forever impacted by this tragedy.  The next morning my coteacher made me laugh because after saying the normal greetings she said to me "The boat captain is crazy!"  I hadn't seen the reports that he had actually left the boat first at that point.  She made me very aware of his actions and of course her opinion that he is crazy!

Then as the day after the sinking continued I heard more and more stories that break my heart.  A six-year-old whose parents sent the child on ahead to safety through someone else.  The child was safe but the child's parents and younger sibling were all still missing.  And then there is the reports of text messages and phone calls from students to their parents.  There is the story of the mom who convinced her daughter to go on the trip even though she had been to Jeju Island just months before.  The mom was not only grief-stricken but also full of guilt for making her child go on the trip that ended with her on the doomed ferry.

The stories are too difficult to bear.  The reports of hundreds dead and still about 150 missing.  I don't want to hear of the pain and suffering of these people.  I don't won't to imagine the school that is staring at dozens and dozens of students that will never return.  There was a first grader who died while I worked at a school in Georgia.  The struggle of just the one life that was gone from the school impacted the entire school.  I can't imagine what it would be like to have so many students all die at the same time.

I struggle and for days I actually avoided the news.  I listen and talk with my coteachers about it.  However, I just struggle to comprehend and process how tragic this is.  Please be in prayer for the families of the those still missing.  Pray for those whose loved ones have died.  Pray for those who are searching in the murky waters.  Pray for the communities that have lost many people.  Pray for the school that had children on a field trip.  Pray for the Korean people in general.  Concerts and other events are all being cancelled because of what has happened.  Koreans are not an individualistic society but a society focused on the collective.  They are hurting.  The day after the sinking when I asked my students "How are you?" as part of my normal greetings they answered "I'm sad."  They were sad because of the ferry sinking.  Please join me in praying for these people.