[Good News Festival Jinju] Good News Corp Homecoming Festival in Jinju
Congressman Je Gyoung Kim’s Congratulatory Message
The congratulatory message of Sun Yu Kim, the former president of Jinju National University.
On February 18th, the third stage of the Good News Festival was held in Jinju Geongnam Cultural Art Centre. It is the first festival that was established in the city. As Jinju is also called “the City of Culture and Arts Education”, the Good News Festival reached out to the local area’s population. Congressman Je Gyoung Kim, Sun Yu Kim, the former president of Jinju National University, and many local students came to participate in the event.
The Congressman gave the first congratulatory message for the festival: “When I go overseas, I always give lectures to university students. They would always ask me, “How is South Korea?” I would give my lectures and students would share with me their presentations and that is how I came to stand in front of all of you today. I cannot forget the memories I shared with the students who have gone overseas to volunteer and now, they are here to perform for all of you.
Sun Yu Kim gave the second: “I was told about what the volunteers had done all over the world and that their homecoming ceremony. I hope that they could revive others through their passion and through their experiences in different and diverse cultures and languages.”
Many youths are suffering from individual, family, and university grades. These youths have changed and now live a completely new lifestyle through the Good News Overseas program. They did not just talk about what they have done when they were in that country; they spoke about how they changed and how they were happy throughout the entire year. These are the stories that they have shared during their year overseas.
Su Jin with her students after she taught a Korean language class
“I thought I was good at English but one day, a Jamaican told me that he could not understand what I was trying to say to him. From then, I thought that I should learn English from the Jamaicans. The problem was that they did not know anything about me. I realized that forming relationships with the people around me was what I had to do before doing anything else.”
Su Bin playing as a member of the “Good News Band”
“For the festival, I played with the Good News Band. During the final rehearsal, I couldn’t keep the tempo and kept making mistakes. I was troubled in my heart but my team leader told me, “we are a team and we believe in you”. When I heard him say that, I could put down the burdens in my heart and talk about what I felt. In the end, I could finish the performance. I am very thankful to be a part of this festival.”
With her mother who attended the Festival
“Before she went overseas to volunteer, she didn’t get along with us in the family and she really did not want to listen anything we had to say. However, after she came back, she would ask about how each of the members of the family are doing and she started to think about their feelings. I was very happy to see this. I was told that Su Bin would be playing in the band and at first, I thought she would not be able to perform because she was a shy person before she went off to volunteer. However, she wanted to show us how she spent her year and I was so very proud and happy when I saw her up on the stage.”
-Su Bin’s mother