Soul Searching in Seoul

Maybe I should just write a book. It would be a very long book. However, I would not be the first Xulon Press employee to take the initiative and get published through the company. At least five Xulon employees are or soon will be Xulon authors—from short children’s stories to computer skills books by a former teacher to adult fiction about finding lost brothers. As you can see, Christian publishing cannot be limited. We see just as many genres and types of writing here as any other publisher. There is a unique story behind every book.

My story, as I said in last week’s post, began in late August of 2006. I traveled to Seoul for the first time in my life to be a hybrid English and Bible teacher. We would start off each class with a worship thought and a prayer, then dive into pronunciation, grammar and conversation. Before I left, everyone told me I was crazy. No one could fathom that a 23 year old woman who knew nothing about the country would venture over without even one acquaintance on that side of the hemisphere. However, I felt convicted in my heart that Seoul was where I needed to be and had faith enough to be content with not knowing why until after I got there.

All the experiences that showed me God’s purpose for my life—both long term and in the moment—would truly take up an entire book. What I can say here is that I matured immensely and was very humbled to have such a clear understanding of how the Lord was using me to reach others. Over the three years I saw many of my students get baptized, get married, become parents, graduate college and start new careers. Being a part of those stages in their lives, being someone they will never forget, is as much a blessing to me as it was to them.

Regardless of the context, industry, country or genre, Christian publishing is one key that opens many doors, doors we can’t even imagine until we are standing in front of them. It facilitates the exchange of rich happy experiences, deep wisdom and knowledge, some plain old fun and even the arts—culinary, poetic or otherwise. We’re so happy that you are a Xulon reader here on this blog and if you are a Xulon author, we invite you to share how Christian publishing has opened your eyes in the comments below!