About a thousand people gathered at the Ansan Memorial Site for the joint Christmas worship at 3:30 p.m.  This place chosen for this year’s worship as the organizers considered that at this Christmas time, traditionally a period of joy, the families of the victims of those drowned in the Sewol Ferry disaster are still in the depths of pain, and the citizens of the country grieve with them.  This Memorial Site is an official memorial altar prepared since April 16 by the government as a place where people can come to remember and to honour, offer flowers or burn incense for the 250 high school students who drowned so tragically when the Sewol Ferry overturned in the waters off the south coast of Korea.   The title of the service was “Our Promise to Reveal the Truth”, and Rev. Bang In Song,  pastor of Hamkae Yeounun Church preached on Psalm 85, ‘Raise Justice and Realize Peace’.  Different churches and members of the ecumenical family took part in prayers, readings and music.  A very meaningful part of the service was that 9 parents of the students shared as servers in the distribution of the communion bread and wine with the clergy, and later when the representative of the family committee, Jeon Myung Sun, one of the fathers, gave a testimony of the past several months for the suffering families.   A prepared statement was read, saying while we can’t forget the morning of April 16, even more sadness comes to us from the present attitude of government and social leaders, as they avoid the truth, refraining from taking responsibility and oppressing the request for the truth.   In this Christmas time, remembering those who have died, we follow the Scriptural call to weep with those who weep.  The commitments were made to remain with those who grieve, to continue to call for bringing out the truth, and to work to solve the social structural problem that led to the Sewol disaster, because this disaster is not only a one-time accident; it is a symptom of this society that values capital and power over human need and security.   Those gathered in the cold winter afternoon are looking to a happier New Year, as the government realizes their responsibility and a solution comes which will bring satisfaction to those in need, to bring about a society of hope, happiness and peace.