The 2014 Korea Beauty Expo was held at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Ilsan,Gyeonggi Province, from October 30 to November 2, 2014. One of around 480 exhibitors, SDA Fair Mission set up a booth with the theme “Beauty and Diet in Daily Life.”
When the two cuisine experts, Hong SoonAe and Shim SeongAe, started making brown rice waffles, the delicious aroma wafted through the exhibition center, drawing people to the booth. Visitors showed a great interest in the experts’ simple but good looking recipes. Many people copied the recipes or took pictures of them.
Kim HyungJoon, a laughter therapist, and You Hyun, a plastic surgeon, shared their knowledge on healthy ways to lose weight. Kang MiSook, director of the research lab on life medical science atSahmyook Medical Center, gave a short lesson on stretches and massage for relieving fatigue and also provided health consultations.
Booth visitors were interested in not only their outer beauty but also their inner beauty and health. It is natural for such people to be attracted to the counsels about diet, food, health, and moderation, as well as the gospel that the Adventist Church has.
“The more I deliver the gospel message, the more I realize that it is not an easy work. Because our way of preaching the gospel usually does not lead to immediate, tangible results, I often felt like quittingthis work.However, whenever I felt frustrated, God kept urging meto keep doing this mission work. Now I know that we have a lot of opportunities to evangelizepeople not only in Korea but the world,” said Lee JeongHee, general manager of SDA Fair Mission.
Visitors at the SDA Fair Mission booth expressed their gratitude. “This booth shares valuable knowledge with visitors. Thank you for sharing withme the way to be beautiful and to keep my body in shape,” said one high school girl. “I dropped by this booth since I am very interested in a vegetarian diet and natural health care. Besides, I love reading, so this book, An End-of-the-Earth Scenario, is a great gift for me,” said another high school girl who was presented not only with health information but the gospel of God.
It was the second time Ms. Park JeongAe (age 66, Catholic)visited the booth. “My liver is not functioning very well. Last year, I tasted some brown rice Korean bread, and it was very impressive to me. I want to learn thesekinds of recipes. If you plan to hold any workshops, please do not forget to invite me.”
The Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) supported the Mission’s participationin theexpo. NSD directors and staff members visited their booth to encourage them and give them a helping hand. “SDA Fair Mission’s missionary work is kind of a farsighted approach. I assure you that what you have sown is not futile. Have faith that God will make the seeds grow, and move forward in faith regardless of difficulties,” said NSD president Jairyong Lee.
During the expo period, SDA Fair Mission had more than 13,000 visitors. About 600 of them chose to subscribe toHome and Health, the monthly magazine published by the Korean Publishing House. The Mission is planning to deliver God’s message to these subscribers with the cooperation of the NSD.