Many of you were moved by the story (TIME, Feb. 16) of Ye Yun Ho, ardent young graduate of Korea's Presbyterian Theological Seminary, to send in contributions (or ask where they could be sent) to help him build his church for the scavengers living off of the city dump at the outskirts of Seoul. Recently, TIME Inc.'s Tokyo bureau chief, Carl Mydans, visited Presbyterian Ye and airmailed the photographs and the account of him below.

Ye Yun Ho, as you may recall, met his present parishioners one day last summer when he went for a walk by the River Han and saw the swarms of ragged urchins clawing over the piled-up refuse for scraps of coal or tin or paper that could possibly be sold. In time he made friends with them and, while awaiting the arrival of fresh loads of garbage, told them Bible stories and taught them a few hymns. After a while he moved into a packing case at the dump and began to build his church. When TIME told his story, he figured that $100 would just about complete it.

First to arrive on the scene after the story was printed were the 42nd Engineers, of the U.S. Army, with enough lumber and plywood for a floor and additional material for finishing other parts of the church. Then cash contributions from the U.S. began arriving. At present they total more than $1,200, which has been turned over to George Fitch, local director of the YMCA and an old Asia hand, for conversion into yen (Koreans may not possess American money). With this more than ample sum Ye Yun Ho now plans the following projects:

A medical clinic, to be built near by, which his fiancee will run after her graduation next month from the Seoul Women's Medical College.

A cooperative factory to manufacture Korean clothing and to convert the donations of used clothing now arriving in relief packages from the U.S.

A day school for the children of the city dump.

"Ye is a small, frail man," Mydans wrote. "He is intense, nervous and understanding. He is overwhelmed by the gifts he is receiving from America and wants to do the most he can with the funds. He explains, however, that with all the sickness and poorness of the people around him, 'it is difficult not to give to people in great want. I can not help it,' he says, 'but sometimes I feel it is more important to give to the sick and poor than to build my church.'

" Nevertheless, Ye continues to build his church. He has done most of the construction work himself, although he now has the help of an ex-alcoholic Korean carpenter, whom Ye reformed.Two rooms have been added to one end of the little church, one for Ye to live in, another for his study. The steeple was twisted by a high wind and must be somewhat altered in design.There is a cabbage crop planted on the plot of land (donated by the U.S. Army) where the factory will be, and the foundation-laying must await the harvest.

As for the flock of more than 200 young Christian scavengers who faithfully attend his Sunday School, Ye Yun Ho is presently engaged in a campaign to teach them the use of soap and water. Believing that cleanliness is next to godliness, he has been cutting cakes of soap from the relief packages into small pieces and leading his charges down the embankment from the church to the Han, where, he says, he is making slow but recognizable headway in teaching them the blessings of a daily bath.

Cordially,

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.