Columba Eun-Yeal Chang is a St Columban Mission Society lay missionary. In June 1990, she was a member of the first Korean Region Lay Mission team appointed to the Philippines where she worked for 18 years. She was then a member of the lay missionary central leadership team stationed in Hong Kong for three years. This was followed by six years on mission in Myanmar and finally three years working with migrants in Korea. After celebrating 30 years of missionary life, Columba retired in May 2021 and now shares with us her reflections on those years.
Columba Eun-Yeal Chang, 2021. Photo: Columba Eun-Yeal Chang
It seems like only yesterday I became a Columban Lay Missionary and was appointed to the Philippines but thirty years have flown by. I had no idea that I would work as a Lay Missionary for such a long time.
When I was three years old, my parents took me in their arms to the church and I was baptized with the parish priest deciding on ‘Columba’ for my baptismal name. I wonder if he had the foresight to know that I would one day become a Columban Lay Missionary.
House of Love in a shantytown
I got a glimpse of what a missionary’s life was like when during my working days I attended Mass at the House of Love in a shantytown area of Seoul, or what is affectionately referred to in Korea as a “Moon district” where Columban priests were establishing a small community. The atmosphere there was strange and new to me, as I had been reared in a patriarchal culture where the church was centred on priests. But these foreign priests spoke our language extremely well and had adopted a Korean lifestyle and, in particular, lived poorly like the rest of the people in the neighbourhood.
When these missionaries met their neighbours, they patiently listened to their sad stories and attempted to console them. It was a lively faith experience for me as I observed these missionaries living lives of active service and I came to realize that “Jesus had not come to be served but to serve”. As a result, I like to believe that I chose a missionary life rather than a married life that society was expecting and demanding of me at that time.
While the life of a lay missionary is not all roses, it is a fulfilling life.
Columba Eun-Yeal Chang on mission in Myanmar. Photo: Columba Eun-Yeal Chang
“Do not forget your own identity as a Korean woman and a Lay Missionary.” This was the advice we received from a Columban Missionary Sister during our orientation to mission programme that took place before we were assigned to our first mission area. These words always occupied a special place in my faith journey as a lay missionary. The life of a lay missionary is not all plain sailing. Unlike priests or religious who have a certain image and role in the church, the role of the lay missionary is not defined. They have to start out on a road that has not yet been travelled. Lay missionaries have to carefully fill in the spaces on a blank canvas, often experiencing times of confusion and fear. One of the questions that I received most and always caused me to become flustered was “what do lay missionaries actually do?”
I think that lay missionaries are people who, in attempting to follow Jesus, leave their native countries, become one with, share friendship with, people of a different culture, especially with the poor and abandoned. As members of our missionary community we are friends, sisters to each other, sometimes students learning as we go. At other times, we are teachers teaching, and, at times, we inevitably have to take on leadership roles.
Living in a village on the largest rubbish dump in Manila, Philippines, where rag pickers eke out an existence. Accompanying aids victims, dying of complicated diseases, or, working with special needs children who have been abandoned by their families and forced to live in special institutions. Visiting those confined to prison and those who have lost their homes in Myanmar due to civil war. When I reflect on my life I realize that as a lay missionary I have lived a blessed life in sharing the joys and sorrows of these people and becoming their friend.
Gospel conversion and letting go of my own will
While living in an unfamiliar land with a different culture and language, adapting to a new way of living, becoming familiar with English and the process of learning a new language for each missionary region was of course very difficult. However, I discovered fighting with my own self was more difficult than any of that. Before I started living as a lay missionary, I regarded myself to be a good person and therefore I believed that I could live well as a lay missionary. But I discovered that I was not as good a person as I had thought. I felt a sense of shame when I realized that when I experienced situations that were not to my liking I actually chose to hide and make excuses. In my desire to receive approval, I competed with others and when I was afraid of becoming a failure, I held back. I learned that it is only when I accept that I am loved as I am that I can be generous in accepting others as they are. When I think about it, I tried too hard to look good and made many mistakes when I tried to do things my way. I could have achieved results far beyond my expectations had I been able to let go of my will and discover God’s will.
Retirement and preparing for a new journey
As I face retirement and look back on the days gone by I give thanks to the Lord for giving me graceful times. Columban Missionreflected on the signs of the times and responded positively. A missionary society, mainly comprised of priest missionaries, invited us lay missionaries to be their companions. I regard it as a great honour to have been able to join in the mission that works in solidarity with other religions, works for justice and peace as well as the protection of the earth and has the poor and abandoned as its priority. I hope that many young people will be inspired by Columban Missionto participate in God’s work as priests, sisters and lay missionaries.
Columban Eun-Yeal Chang, former Columban Lay Missionary.
Listen to "A life I never dreamt of"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - July 2021
