A reflection on the Young Adult Pilgrimage of Peace in South Korea

written by Pastor Siosiana (Joyce) Tangi

After attending the World Methodist Council in Gothenburg, Sweden, 2024 I had the opportunity to continue this Methodist–Wesleyan identity awakening by participating in the inaugural Young Adult Pilgrimage of Peace (YAPP) held in the Republic of Korea from June 23–27, 2025. My heart soared with gratitude for this experience, which continues to stretch and form my faith, deepen my theology, and sharpen my awareness of the world around me.

The Young Adult Pilgrimage of Peace (YAPP) 2025 invited young leaders to engage in peacebuilding through justice, reconciliation, and non-violent action. This initiative is part of the World Methodist Council Young People’s Peace Programme (2024–2029) Organised by the United Methodist Church (UMC), Korean Methodist Church (KMC), and the World Methodist Council (WMC), YAPP brought young adults representing Methodist, Wesleyan, United, and Uniting Churches from 15 countries.

The pilgrimage aimed to raise awareness about militarisation, promote global peace and justice, and deepen Methodist commitments to reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. It built on the momentum of the 2023 Methodist Roundtable in Seoul and the Korea Peace Night held during the World Methodist Council in Sweden. Grounded in the principles of justice, peace, and life in Christ, the program reaffirmed Methodism’s dedication to peacebuilding and solidarity. It sought to transform historical wounds into pathways for reconciliation, celebrate unity across cultures, and inspire participants to become agents of lasting change.

We journeyed through Gwangju, Daejeon, Paju, and Seoul—immersing ourselves in Korea’s historical, political, and spiritual landscape. We were not tourists. We were pilgrims—listening, learning, lamenting, and witnessing.

This was not your average young adult camp, where the goal is simply to have fun, make friends, and sing songs in Jesus’ name. This was hard. This was heavy. This was holy ground. It was a journey of deep theological reckoning, where we bore witness to intergenerational trauma, militarisation, the loss of land, language, and identity—and how these injustices continue to echo across the world today.

 Amidst in the heaviness, I was blessed to be among others who carried similar convictions—a shared hunger for reconciliation, for truth-telling, for peace that isn’t passive but active, disruptive, and rooted in justice. We all came with hearts of similar stories in of our own.

We visited the DMZ and stood where families were torn apart. We wept with mothers who continue to fight for their children’s memories to be honoured. We listened to stories that the world tries to erase. We also formed friendships that I will carry forever—deep connections born out of vulnerability, faith, and shared purpose.

The most difficult yet beautiful truth we carried was this: the stories of division, loss, and resistance are not unique to Korea. A Sister in Christ from Bethlehem continues to call for peace at the footstep of her home and another calls for truth telling in South Africa. As a second-generation Tongan Australian, I couldn’t ignore the parallels with militarisation and identity erasure across the Pacific.

Living on these unceded lands called Australia, I carry an ongoing responsibility to stand in solidarity with First Nations brothers and sisters in truth-telling and reconciliation. Their stories of sovereignty, survival, and sacred connection to Country must remain central to the life of our Church and our discipleship journey. This commitment extends to the wider Pacific—supporting the struggle for independence in Kanaky, resisting deep sea mining and coal extraction, demanding climate justice, and opposing the militarisation and nuclear use of our ocean by foreign powers.

This pilgrimage has left me with both heartache and hope. A renewed commitment to live a life of advocacy, grounded in Christ and driven by the flourishing of all people. A deeper understanding that we must be willing to carry the hard stories—and let them change us.

I offer my deep thanks to the President and the Assembly Standing Committee for your prayers, support, and ongoing commitment to building up young people in new and courageous spaces. Your trust and investment made it possible for me to participate in this sacred journey. A spirit of newness has washed over me—one that has renewed my faith, stretched my imagination, and deepened my calling.

I stand amazed by God’s love revealed through lives so different from mine, yet whose stories have now become part of my own. May we continue to walk together, as a Church that dares to follow Christ into places of pain, hope, and transformation.