Kkottongnae? What in heaven’s name is a Kkottongnae? I would bet the house, hands down, not more than a handful of people can guess what Kkottongnae is all about. When I was invited by our village parish priest, Fr. Rodel Paulino, to join him and other brave souls to Kkottongnae, I couldn’t even figure out how to pronounce or spell the word, much less where he was proposing to take me.

But the trusting soul that I am, I decided to take a leap of faith and follow the lead of this Pied Piper of Alabang. After all, this would be the third time he would take me on a distant journey, and after each adventure I would always find myself being more spiritually joyful because of his cheerful but straightforward and gentle demeanor in dishing out spiritual advice.

Let me share with you folks out there who are clueless about Kkottongnae what I learned this past week.

The word is Korean and literally means Flower Village, but Fr. Rodel didn’t take us to a botanical garden. Instead, he brought us to an experience of a few days of unforgettable immersion in a community where Love in Action for the homeless and the needy who have been abandoned by their families is on full display – day in, day out – by the clergy of Kkottongnae sisters, brothers and lay volunteers.

This mountainous community, composed of several buildings nestled among the lush greenery of Maeng Dong-myeon in Chungcheongbuk-do, is about two hours drive from Seoul. It is a welcoming scenic sight amid the very cool temperatures that greeted us as our bus snaked up to the mountaintop where a 4-story dormitory was to be our home during our retreat.

This 200-plus hectare mission community was inspired in September 1976 by a moving experience a Catholic priest, Fr. John Woong-Jin Oh, had with a street beggar, “Grandpa” Choi Kwi-Dong, in the harsh and freezing Korean winter.

Fr. John had observed the old man begging on several occasions by his church. His curiosity prompted him to follow the beggar one day. Upon reaching his destination, a make-do shelter at the foot of Yongdam mountain, to Fr. John’s surprise, he saw 18 old men, cripples, too weak, too deathly sick with tuberculosis and even mentally deranged to even beg for food, being fed by Grandpa Choi from the little food he was able to gather. And only after he had shared what little morsels of food he had did he start to eat.

This selfless act of love for strangers when Choi himself was in great need sparked in the heart of Fr. John, a son of farmers who grew up often hungry, the desire to emulate the beggar’s sacrificial spirit of love.

His heart told him that “if you have only the strength to beg for food, it is the blessing of God,” an inspirational phrase that has become today the motto of the Kkottongnae movement. With his meager savings of 1,100 won, Fr. John decided to build a makeshift shelter, painstakingly brick by brick, for the homeless beggars being cared for by Choi.

And from this humble beginning, Kkottongnae grew into a full blown order of thousands of clergy sisters and brothers and lay volunteers manning several communities of hospitals, dormitories, charitable and teaching centers, all imbued with the spirit of providing love to the homeless, the sick and the hungry in South Korea, the Philippines, Uganda, USA, Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India.

Our retreat commenced with an orientation and tour of the community’s facilities and face to face meetings with several sickly, critically ill but surprisingly cheerful residents saddled with various ailments such as cerebral palsy, severe rheumatoid arthritis, kidney disease, and the abandoned, decrepit elderly.

A prayer meeting with the movement’s founder, Fr. John, was a particularly moving moment as he shared with about 45 participants from the Philippines, Uganda and Switzerland the driving philosophy behind the movement – which is to love your fellow men particularly those in dire straits even to the extent of giving up all your worldly attachments, and even your life.

Indeed, this is a tough act to follow and a philosophy that not too many of us can emulate. (To be continued)

Until next week… OBF!

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