One of the most striking differences between my experiences in the past on American university campuses and those here at Handong is the multitude of languages I hear spoken on any given day. When just taking a walk from my apartment to All Nations Hall, it is not usual for me to hear no less than four or five different languages being spoken by students and faculty, alike.
While Korean is by far the most common language here, I also hear Swahili spoken by students from Congo, Khmer by students from Cambodia, Dari (a dialect of Persian) and Pashto by students from Afghanistan, as well as Russian and Mongolian by students and German by a couple of faculty members, just to name a few.
Yesterday afternoon Handong's multitude of languages was impressed upon me in a new way. Each Wednesday at 3:15pm, students gather for an English chapel service. Though English is the unifying language of this gathering, there comes a time in the service when the worship leader asks the congregation to sing, or sometimes to pray, in the languages of each one's homeland.
To some observers this might have sounded like a cacophony. As I sat and listened, though, I began to discern the various individual languages, and while I did not understand the particular meaning of each, I realized that those who spoke were joining together with all present in words of praise and thanksgiving to God. While there was a diversity of expression, there was unity of purpose.
Then a passage from Revelation came to mind:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9 ESV)
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