Photo: canva.com/u_whytwjfk7b
I served as a Columban Lay Missionary in Korea from 1994 to 2000. Our team was the first lay missionary team received in Korea, and five of us Irish lay missionaries arrived at the end of May 1994 to a very hot summer in Korea.
There was so much to learn in a country so different from our home in Ireland, but we all settled in and found our respective ministries in Korea without too much trouble. There were a lot of Columban priests and sisters in Korea at that time. The Korean Church appeared, to us, to be thriving with lots of vocations and the churches full. I lived and worked in Jeollanamdo Gwangju and loved the more rural feel of Gwangju.
The lay missionary training we received in Dalgan Park, Ireland, gave us a good grounding in prayer and reading scripture as well as confidence in our baptismal call to mission and service. After our first term of three years finished, we went home, and I returned for a second term alone. During that second term, I worked with women involved in the sex industry in Gwangju.
After my second term of three years, I returned home, intent on finding my place in the Church in Ireland. I also needed to work. While holding down a paying job, I volunteered with Ruhama (a Dublin-based non-government organisation that works with women affected by prostitution and other forms of commercial exploitation) and studied theology part-time at All Hallows College. I got busy with family life, but that sense of call to mission never left. I was always involved in some voluntary work besides my day job. I never lost touch with Columbans, even though I was no longer a Columban lay missionary in Korea. I got involved in ecological groups in my local parish, the green schools programme, mental health support groups, and teaching literacy. More recently, I volunteered at the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. I also do technical work with my church community to make our weekly liturgy available on Zoom and YouTube.
Chrissie Fitzpatrick (centre) with former Columban lay missionaries Victoria Cho Puni (left) and Emanuella Kim Hyunsook (right). Photo: Chrissie Fitzpatrick
Through it all, I've never forgotten my experience in Korea, where I got to know many Korean women of all ages. I learned a lot from them about endurance and patience and had a lot of fun, too, which all helped me in my own life afterwards. I learned how valuable it is to be present to others in their joy and their pain.
This year, when I made the journey back to Korea after almost 25 years, I had many concerns about what it would be like. It turned out to be fantastic. I felt completely at home in Korea in many ways and loved just listening to the people speak. My Korean language came back bit by bit. It was just wonderful to meet so many people I had known back then and catch up on life and all that has happened in the last 25 years, trading stories of work, family, church, and friends. It was wonderful to meet so many people who have continued the mission in Korea, to see some of the Columbans engaging in mission in the Korean Church in different ways, to see people who were in formation as seminarians and novices back in the 90s and active in Columban mission, and to be at the ordination of young Columban missionaries. It was great to chat about the mission of the Church in Korea and the Church in Ireland and to discuss developments and changes in both places. I really believe the people we meet and choose to align ourselves with become part of the colourful tapestry that is our life to date.
Reflecting on 25 years of life together covers dreams fulfilled and forgotten, sadness, joy, pain, grief, and laughter. We all have challenges and victories in work, family, faith, health, and life choices, but as Church members, we are part of a bigger community of support for living life well. I particularly notice in Dublin that since the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer people come to church, but those that do come seem to want more and are willing to do more. I am probably more hopeful about faith and the Church in Ireland nowadays than for a long time, and I’m happy and curious to see what unfolds next both in Korea and Ireland.
I am eternally grateful that I had the chance to be a Columban lay missionary in Korea. It gave me the understanding and patience to find ways to be on mission wherever I am in the world, and that’s a nice feeling indeed! The mission continues even when the cast changes.
Columban lay missionary Chrissie Fitzpatrick lives in Ireland.
Listen to "Returing, Remembering, Renewed"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - July 2025
