Our AsiaNews correspondent in Seoul has gathered testimony on how various persons spend Christmas. In due proportion, they also serve as advice for other Christians and people throughout the world.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – For some, Christmas is a time of boredom. For others, it is a time of stress. For Korean Catholics and non-Catholics alike, it is a time of charitable giving. "Christmas is a special time to share the joy of the birth of Jesus our Savior with all those suffering and in need of help," said Teresa of the Jesus-Caritas Fraternity.

Korean society is still struggling after the 1997 stock market crisis. Since then poverty has become widespread again in cities and villages. And while the country's economy struggles to revive itself, poverty and loneliness have become the new mission opportunities for believers.  

"Daybreak Village" is the name of a community taking in poor and elderly persons. Every Monday in December the community throws as noodle party. For the past two months, a little restaurant in Gungpiyeong has been providing noodles and soup for its poor guests.  Sr. Kim Yeong-ja whi, the community's director, told AsiaNews: "Go figure, the owner isn't even Christian! But thanks to his generosity, people are able to eat. We live off charity… For two years a company that makes kimchi (spicy cooked cabbage, eaten by Koreans at lunch and dinner time) has donated all the kimchi we want. It's not true that Santa Clause doesn't exist: He's right here, in these secret Santas!" 

Maria Park Yong-suk is a volunteer at the Migrant Workers Counseling Center in the archdiocese of Seoul. She doesn't go on holiday. Instead, she offers her assistance to workers with abused rights cases.  She's not a bureaucrat, but rather a friend offering her help and time to those in financial difficulty. 

"Books Group" is a group of doctors in the Deajeon dioceses.  These physicians have decided to offer their services for free on Christmas day and throughout the year at "St Mary's Village" in Nonsan, which takes in people with severe handicaps. The group provides them with internal treatment and dental care. And they offer free care to migrant workers who cannot afford to pay.

Michaela Lee Seon-hui will spend Christmas with her grandmother, an elderly 78 year-old woman, who is very ill and living by herself in a shanty town outside Seoul. "My grandmother can't even move," said Michaela. "She suffers severe dementia and anemia. I go once a week to her house and try to help her out with everything. My mother died last year and now she's like my mother. I love and serve her as my mother." Every week Michaela brings food to her grandmother and bathes her. But "the most precious gift is to keep her company when talking to her." "I don't feel alone anymore," said her grandmother.

For Christmas, the archdiocese of Seoul has also organized liturgical events, even those of a more official nature: masses for migrant workers, dinner parties for the poor and homeless, and Christmas concerts sponsored by the National Council of Churches in Korea. (KY)

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