The Oyasato Seminar Korean Course, sponsored by Tenrikyo Overseas Department, was held from August 5 through 17. The Oyasato Seminar, which was launched in 1984 to help nurture successors of the path living outside of Japan, opened the Korean Course five years ago. Seventeen students (11 boys and 6 girls) participated in the course this year and spent 13 days striving to grow spiritually by learning the teachings and sowing seeds of sincerity at Jiba.
During the first half of the program, the students had chances to learn the teachings, practice the dance and the musical instruments for the service, do corridor-cleaning hinokishin, spread the name of God, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, and engage in missionary work in the city of Nara. The highlight of the second half of the program was a service performance. They also walked the distance of 30 kilometers (18 miles) to Jiba from Takayasu Grand Church, located in Yao, Osaka, encouraging one another in the sweltering summer heat.
At the closing ceremony, on August 17, Overseas Department Head Yoichiro Miyamori presented each participant with the certificate of completion. Go Wonjun, a 16-year-old participant who belongs to Wongnamseong Church, said: “I would like to attend the morning and evening services and pray for those suffering from troubles when I go back to my country.”
The 2013 Oyasato Seminar, which was held with five courses in four languages, came to an end with the closing of the Korean Course.