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2009-02-11 14:36:22, 조회 : 27,227, 추천 : 3067 |
Korean Urantia Association Report
The Chartering of the Urantia Association of South Korea.
gary rawlings
UAI – Membership Chair
Garyurantia@aol.com
Following in the steps of Catherine Jones was always going to be a challenge and since 2005, I have been involved with the Chartering of the local UAI associations for the Dominican Republic, Belgium, Sweden, Malawi, Zambia and now Korea, always being accompanied by the President of UAI – Gaétan G. Charland.
Each of those countries is unique, geographically and in culture, but unified by the reading of The Urantia Book. The planned trip for the chartering of the local Association was underway with dates agreed upon by David Kim the nominated President of the association. Having met up with Gaétan in London, we then took the overnight flight to the capital of South Korea - Seoul and eight hours later after flying over Europe, Russia and China, and eventually arrived at our destination where we were met by David and is wife.
Having settled into the hotel on the west bank of the city, we were then taken on the following day to one of the major tourist attractions in the city, the Seoul Tower. This was an incredible visit to this amazing sight with views of the winding river cutting through its centre that were crossed over at various locations by a number of bridges, the view was truly stunning.
The following day, in the morning, of the 30th of November, we prepared ourselves for the inauguration ceremony that took place in the afternoon and this was truly a momentous day for the UAI and the chartering of a local association in Korea. We met with the board members before the ceremony, which took place after the weekly study group meeting which was held at the Seoul’s Women’s Plaza. David Kim introduced both Gaétan and me; I then thanked and congratulated David and his board members for their hospitality and for making this visit possible.
After relating the duties of the Membership Chair, I then introduced Gaétan who gave an overview of what the UAI stands for and the aspirations of the newly formed Urantia Association of Korea, which was followed by a period of questions and answers and then the handing over of the concentric circle banner of Michael to David from Gaetan was one of these precious moments in life that one will always treasure. After the presentation and a photo session, a dinner was provided with a number of excellent local food dishes.
The following days after the ceremony were taken up with the visit to the Emperors Palace and the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that is on the border between North and South Korea, where we were personally escorted by David Kim and his wife and this event was extremely fascinating that covered the tourist highlights on this Panmunjom tour. On the last day we met up with a number of Urantia Book readers and drunk some very enriching Korean tea and discussed various parts of the book which was again another special moment on this wonderful visit to Korea and a great experience.
Having said goodbye to our hosts we then flew back to London and Gaetan went from there to Canada with vivid memories of those special moments carrying out the Fathers will.
In loving service. Gary Rawlings
UAI – Membership Chair.
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