Logos Hope: A Traveling Mission Boat

The Logos Hope follows three other boats that have been floating Christian bookstore–slash–traveling evangelism centers. The three forerunner boats were Doulos, Logos, and Logos II. The Logos Hope is like a luxury liner in comparison to its forerunners with larger accommodations, more toilets, more office space and areas for a bakery, a café, a welcome area, a dining room and laundry, and very importantly, a larger book fair display center (one of the principal reasons for traveling from port to port—to make Christian books available to people in many countries).

To board, a person must give picture ID which is quickly scanned into their system. I guess this is a form
of security to protect both themselves and the visitor in case of emergency.

On the mobile Christian bookstore are pastors, evangelists, occasionally doctors and dentists who volunteer their time to aide certain countries’ citizens, and of course youth workers. No one is paid a salary; all are volunteers and are responsible for raising their own expenses or are sponsored by churches or individuals.

My friend, who has already made three visits to the Logos Hope to view their Christian books for herself and friends, took me. I didn’t anticipate buying anything as I’m backpacking around but I couldn’t resist buying three books and two videos for my family. Going to a Christian bookstore at home costs money, but the goal of the traveling Christian bookstore is to make books and Christian material available at a very reasonable price, and the videos were more than reasonable, not to mention hard to find. Ah well, backpacking the extra weight around will eventually pay off when I can give those video gems to my family.

To also generate some additional money for ship expenses and evangelism, a tour for about W7,000 can be had. Usually there are set times for tours, but if there were a few people wanting one, it could be privately arranged.

Logos Hope is founded on years of experience as a tool for evangelism by OM Ships International, with OM meaning Operation Mobilization. The ship ministry aspect of OM International began in 1970 as part of a more extensive global Christian training and outreach movement. Since then, the OM ships have visited over 450 different ports in more than 150 countries and territories and welcomed over 43 million visitors on board.

"The goal is to bring knowledge, help and hope to the people of the world by supplying vital literature resources, encouraging cross-cultural understanding, training young people for more effective life and service, providing needed relief, and sharing a message of hope in God wherever there is opportunity."

The ship visits each port for several weeks and opens the gangways to hundreds and sometimes thousands of visitors each day. On average, over one million visitors have been welcomed on board every year! The floating book fair offers over 5,000 titles, providing many visitors their first-ever opportunity to purchase quality educational and Christian literature.

An international crew and staff of volunteers live and work on the ship. Teams from the ship go into surrounding areas to supply aid and community care, and in each port, the ship’s crew joins local churches to bring hope and show love to people whatever their circumstance, culture or background.

In many countries like in the Caribbean, the traveling mission ship aka Christian bookstore is a much-awaited event. When the ship comes to port, lines and lines of people show up and patiently await their chance to enter the bookstore and browse the treasures available. Unfortunately, Korea is no longer a poor country with very limited resources, and with the overabundance of shopping opportunities and years of evangelism in a now luke-warm Christian country, people just aren't beating down the doors to the Logos Hope. In fact, the night I visited the ship there was a handful in front of me and it had been pretty much that way for my friend's three other visits. It must be very disappointing to get the subtle message "not really wanted" that the poor attendance in a city of millions conveys.

a line-up of people in a third-world country patiently
waiting their turn to enter the exciting traveling Christian bookstore

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Upcoming ports - Logos Hope

Following is a list of the current and upcoming ports for the Logos Hope. Please note: All ports and dates are subject to change. Ports and dates in orange italics are not confirmed yet. Port   Arrival Date   Departure Date Busan, South Korea June 4th, 2014 July 8th, 2014 Gunsan, South Korea July 10th, 2014 July 28th, 2014 Incheon, South Korea July 29th, 2014 August 19th, 2014 Keelung, Taiwan August 22nd, 2014 September 11th, 2014 Kaohsiung, Taiwan September 12th, 2014 September 25th, 2014 Anping, Taiwan September 25th, 2014 September 30th, 2014 Singapore Power Up Project, Singapore October 7th, 2014 March 30th, 2015

Oryukdo Skywalk

The coastal hill, on which Oryukdo Skywalk (Pusan) was built, was called Seungdumal in the past, a derivative of Seungduma as it was thought to be saddle-shaped. Women divers and local residents had their own name for it, Jallokgae (roughly meaning "slender estuary"), but this name is now little used. Stretched out below and beyond the hill are a string of islands, sometimes 5 or sometimes 6, depending on the direction which they are viewed from. If viewed from the east, 6 islands are apparent but from the west only 5 islands can be seen, and therefore, the name Oryukdo, literally “5 or 6 islands”.  Not particularly creative in nomenclature but very easy to remember. Because of the scenic view from the various angles, the islands were designated Scenic Site No. 24 by the Cultural Heritage Administration on October 1, 2007.

“According to a folk tale, Seungdumal which longed for a the sea gave birth to 6 islets of Oryukdo Islands in a row. After that, its bulging belly changed to a concave shape, which became a pier and the hill at the entrance.” [sic]

Another but closer look from the Igidae trail. The skywalk is becoming a bit clearer.

The 35-meter long skywalk

Oryukdo Skywalk was built on Seungdumal, a natural boundary between the East Sea and South Sea and beyond which the two seas meet in a passion of color and force. The construction began on September 12, 2012, with an investment of 1.4 billion KRW at the expense of the state and the city. It was completed and opened to the public on October 18, 2013 and named Oryukdo Skywalk, which carries the meaning of  “walking in the sky”.

The walkway is a 15-meter long horseshoe-shaped glass bridge consisting of iron beams installed on a 35-meter high coastal cliff with 24 glass panels laid on top. The floor is designed with safety in mind—55.49 mm thick, high-load-bearing and bullet-resistant glass. That is, the 4 layers of 12mm-thick glass panels are made more durable with a bullet-proof film.

The film and glass are surprisingly clear for their thickness, and to facilitate visitors in getting the clearest view of the ocean hitting the rocks below, visitors are required to put on booties to keep from leaving footprints and soil on the glass.

 I get a big kick out of the narcissism here in Korea, especially evident along the Igidae trail that ends here at the Oryukdo Skywalk. All along the trail there were signs proclaiming that “here is a photo opportunity”, and of course people are taking all sorts of pictures—group shots, couple-shots and or course loads of self-ies. And here was no exception. The whole skywalk was filled with people with cameras, not so much snapping the scenery but self-ies with the scenery in the background.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this scene show up in a movie. The speed boat and jet skis lined up and at some signal they all took off maintaining a careful distance from one another and not really to race.

Igidae Coastal Walk

IGIDAE COASTAL WALKWAY (이기대 해안산책로) in Pusan on a opposite coastal walk from Haeundae Beach is part of growing network of scenic walking trails in and around Pusan. The trail from start to finish takes approximately 3 hours, and of the several coastal walking trails I've been on so far in the Pusan area, this is by far my favorite .... away from the city noises, ultra scenic with a diversity of historical sites, and easily accessible for an afternoon getaway but still remote enough that it's not particularly crowded.

The entrance to the trail gives a grand view of the Gwangan (Diamond) Bridge that spans the Suyeoungman Bay. Directly opposite the entrance is the rather verdant green promontory where the Nurimaru APEC House is located, to the right or further east is the not clearly seen but still famous Haeundae Beach and further to the right and which goes off the picture is the Dalmajigil Road/Park—all of which are scenic coastal walkways.

Igidae Coastal Walkway starts out on a walkway that several people with strollers even attempted, despite the stairs. (The last half of the trail was a lot of very steep ups and downs and not many people were on this stretch.) 

The origin of the name of Igidae comes from when the Japanese invaded Joseon in the late 16^th century. The Japanese were able to conquer Suyeongseong Fortress and so held a feast at a high spot with a commanding view to celebrate their victory. Two Korean gisaeng (female professional entertainers similar to the Japanese geisha) were taken to the feast, where they seized a drunken Japanese commander and jumped into the sea as a reprisal against the Japanese invasion of their homeland. Thus, the name Igidae, meaning two gisaeng, was given to this place.

The Coastal Suspension Bridge, which translates into Korean as the Coastal Cloud Bridge "해안길 구름다", got a lot of people jumping up and down getting some rhythm and motion going. My friend and I were jumping too, but a bunch of housewives waved us off because they wanted a self-photo moment ... what a crack-up!

Fossil Dinosaur Footprints (공련발자국) also remain in one particular location along the route. These prints weren't as spectacular as are the Uhangri and Goseong prints I've been to, but nevertheless, South Korea should be well-known for its many dinosaur footprints along southern coastal waterways. These prints weren't shown on any tourist maps and surprisingly Pusan with all its coastal waterways has no dinosaur track tourist attractions ... but then maybe that's because Pusan is so built up and has destroyed what it didn't recognize as being a magnet to tourists and tourist economies. In any regard, the closest tourist map documented dinosaur tracks and also within Gyeongsangnam-do are in Changwon and Goseong to the west and Ulsan to the north.

해녀막사 (Female Divers Barracks/Quarters) is a place for female divers to keep their fishing equipment and diving suits needed for collecting seafood, and to change in after fishing. This place was made about 40 years ago and was repaired and restored in the 2005 "Igidae Coastline Trail Project" to withstand the force of waves and preserve the diver-women's culture. Around 10 divers still use the place as their shelter to collect all kinds of seafood such a sea cucumber, abalone, sea squirt and seaweed. Hikers on the trail are very attracted to the freshness of the seafood offerings and frequently stop to refresh themselves before hiking on.

Other points of interest along the trail:

Closed copper mine "여기는 구리 광산" — Supposedly a nearby mine named Daehan Mine Co., Ltd existed from the Japanese colonial period. In this mine of 283ha, a quantity of 99.9% pure brass was produced. A lot of copper, or lumps of shinju, were found around the foothills of the mountain during the Japanese colonial period, and so the Japanese started to dig to excavate the good quality copper. The number 1 mine, of which only traces remain today, was the first dug. The number 2 mine, located here along the trail, was as deep as 550m horizontally and 380m vertically. The number 3 and 4 mines used to be located in the middle of the coastline trail but the entrance and large shafts have been obliterated with the excavation to build a yacht arena. The number 5 mine is located in the courtyard of the Igidae eowoolmadang outdoor central entrance. With only a trace of floor at the Igidae seashore location in 1997, it was rebuilt into the Igidae outdoor theater and observatory.

Japanese Artillery Position (entrance) "일본군 포진지" — The period between the 19^th and 20^th centuries was marked by a fierce competition between the world’s imperial powers to get more colonies and trading ports largely through military means. It was during this period that Japan, after the victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), built large military facilities to defend mainland Japan, and here on the coast overlooking Oryukdo Islands in Yongho-dong, Pusan, a 410mm gun was mounted. Records say that there were four gun forts of the same size, but today there remains only one relic along the trail as historical evidence of the Japanese invasion of both Korea and Manchuria.

Other interesting sites reflect culture. Stones piled upon one another have traditionally symbolized the desire to have a son (not so commonly believed now in this age of birth control and extremely low birth rate) or to make a wish or express a heartfelt desire. One particular area along the walking trail was strewn with smooth stoned rocks piled upon one another.

Also of interest along the way was a traveler's tower with distance to key interest points from the "here" of Igidae trail.

Los Angeles ............. 9636 km

Hong Kong .............. 2029 km

Beijing ..................... 1243 km

Tokyo ....................... 901 km

Dokdo ...................... 341 km

Other sites are a huge rock balanced precariously on two other rocks, the 농바위, and the Eoulmadang, a garden site which was the filming site of "Haeundae", the movie.

The trail ends at the huge and very new apartment complex reaching such astonishing heights that they actually peak over the mountains along the trail. At the base of the apartment complex are huge gardens of wild roses intermingled with brown-eyed susans. The color was amazing and wow was I so surprised to see such a rich wealth of rose hips on the wild roses. The only other place I saw such growth of the wild roses was along sea coasts on Sakhalin Island, Russia, and wow did we ever eat the most delicious rose hip jam there. Ahhh, if I lived in that apartment complex, I would eat jam jam jam ... and btw, rose hips are one of the highest sources of vitamin C in the world (raw of course).

At the very end and a bit beyond the amazingly tall apartment complex with rich beds of wild roses was the spectacular Oryukdo Skywalk. It was somewhat crowded as most of the people there either drove or bussed themselves in. Not many actually walked the trail to experience the glass-floored sea bridge or view the Oryukdo Islands.