They will know we are christians by our love..

JJ signed us up for www.couchsurfing.org/. Of course, while our house was still filled with boxes and with a new dog, he received a request for a place to stay from this guy.  Sunim, (which we learned is the name for monk), has been traveling on his bicycle since April.  He has already ridden from the west coast of Canada, just above the US border, to Prince Edward Island, down to Ohio, taken a train to Chicago, and then again down to Flagstaff.  From there, he rode to Kayenta, and continues on through Monument Valley to California and down through Central America to the tip of Argentina. When we asked what inspired the trip, through his broken English, we got that he felt he needed to do something, or something was missing.  He tried to push the thoughts away, but finally had to give in to do something big and he chose to sort of "circumnavigate" the America's.  

It was interesting to learn through conversing with Sunim, that in Seoul, Korea, once you are a monk, you are a monk for life. He has been a monk for the last 24 years, since he was 19.  As a monk, from what I understood from his explanation, the goal is to empty yourself of all human emotion, everything.  So he has had no contact with his family since he was 19.  I asked him if his family was buddhist, and he said yes, and that he had known he would be a monk since he was young.  He said his mother said "No, no monk!" which I can completely understand. How could you say good-bye to your  loved ones forever?

I try not to be so full of judgement.  It is a weakness of mine.  But two thoughts have come to my mind since his visit.  One, he's on a search.  Obviously. But in the search, he's left his monastery for 2 years, and he's given up some of his monk ways that are linked to his beliefs.  For one, he's eating meat and they believe in reincarnation.  So, my first thought(s) is, what is he missing?  What will he find through this journey? And how will he be changed

I cannot help but think of his situation, from the perspective of a christian.  In no way did we try to convert him, but he was very aware of our beliefs.  We prayed as a family before dinner. When he came in for breakfast (he stayed in the guest house..aka the rv), the kids and I were reading the Bible-always the beginning of our school day.  He was very curious about our curriculum and I showed him Sonlight, and the books we would study throughout the year, as well as the curriculum we would study in the future. He made several comments about the kids throughout his stay-observations about how they were different from other children he encountered-and how our parenting seemed very different from the parenting he knew in Korea.  

My other thought, again a thought, and not a judgement, I couldn't help but wonder what other christians thought about us hosting a Buddhist monk.  I know many of our friends and family would have done the same, but especially in this time of election, where everyone is fired up about their beliefs and divided over issues and candidates, passionately posting on Facebook where they stand, I get another feeling from people who I know love God-

christians do not always emulate love.  

As I was washing dishes last night, considering this thought, I remembered a song we used to sing at camp, one I remember my Mom singing with her guitar:

"They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they'll know we are christians by our love"

But is that true? This made me think of Jesus, and how many of the stories we see in the New Testament tell about the people he chose to spend time with-Zaccheus, the tax collector who everyone hated; The woman at the well, a known prostitute; his disciples who were fisherman and not Rabbi's.  
I'm not in anyway, comparing our guest to these people, however, Jesus did not limit his time with religious leaders-in fact he was often rebuking them as a result of their judgements.  I believe through love, his message is most clear.  

Sunim's goal is to make it to the tip of Argentina, however, while his English is slightly broken, his Spanish is nearly non-existent.  He is trying to learn, however he probably has less than 10 Spanish words in his vocabulary and he'll be in Mexico in just a few weeks.  

To tie this together, what might his journey look like if he has many Christians hosting him.  What if through hospitality, not evangelism, questions are raised.   I know from my own experience, the posting of the opposing political beliefs on facebook actually makes me want to block my friends news feeds.  What effect does preaching an opposing faith have?  Sometimes the gentle example speaks louder than words. 

If you have any connections in Central or South America who might consider hosting Sunim on his journey, you can contact his team through this link. JJ and I are concerned for his safety as he continues his "journey of spirit" through some areas that are full of unrest.  Please consider what you can do to help.