The Eyes of Ye Yun Ho

Pastor Ye Yun Ho, 34, of Korea has much to bind him to the U.S. He was educated by U.S. missionaries at Korea's Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Later, G.I.s chipped in to help him build a church for Seoul's dead-end kids, and many U.S. Christians sent him money when they read about his work in TIME (Feb. 16, 1948 et seq.). Now, at last, Pastor Ye had come to the U.S.

Members of the Hi-Y Club of Appleton, Wis., reading about Ye, had sent clothing and supplies for his work in Seoul and learned of his hope to take further training in the U.S. So they dug down for $500 to help bring him to Appleton's own Lawrence College (enrollment: 760).

Ye's black eyes were bright with discovery last week as he began to learn the ropes in the homeland of the G.I.s and missionaries. "America is a very big country and very beautiful," he exclaimed. "Even the barns are beautiful--and bigger than Korean churches. I have not seen slums like our poor little boxes at home. Even in Chicago, the slums are two stories or three stories high." But Ye's eyes saw other things that surprised him in a different way: "The most remarkable tendency--so many nude pictures. Very usual for you, perhaps, but not for me. Go into a magazine store, and you see so many nude paintings on the cover of magazines and books."

And there was something else: "People here do not pray so much. In the dining room, I see many who go to church but do not say grace before meals. They like to help others. I respect it. But I wish they had stronger faith. I expect that many Americans go to church, but so many more do not."

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