| The main theme of this research is to examine Korean immigrant women's deep sense of spiritual resiliency and their self-donating love despite life forces that constantly demote their dignity. The discussion also focuses on these women's stories of redemption, with a particular attention to their view of the Cross, as they are assigned and from which is demanded the role of self-giving servant to follow Crucified Christ, in their struggles to remain faithful through hardships in migration journeys and beyond.;Engaging a strong feminist theological voice, my initial approach was to analyze whether the Christological emphasis of self-sacrifice in the Korean church have been constructive or destructive influences on these women's spiritual well-being, ultimately to envision what it means to "flourish" as a woman of faith in this given context.;My ethnographic immersion, however, has turned this research proposal in a different direction. These women's resilience has been resourced through those doctrines and biblical principles and even strengthened by their voluntary submission to church authorities. Despite the prevailing circumstances that constantly patronize women's submissive roles, these women in my research commonly narrated their stories in ways such orthodox faith and practices have redeemed their hardships, turning their lonely journey into a pilgrimage of common Christian faith. They were able to strategize their modes to survive with a set of concrete rules and constraints given any forms of patriarchy.;These women in this research commonly incorporated a redemption sequence into their life narratives. With or without conscious efforts, they adopted a meaning-making process to frame their redemption stories. Grounded in Christian belief and faith, they translated their struggles and hardships into a positive, satisfied life experience. Compared to McAdams' study on American Redemptive Self, this research delineated different patterns and templates of redemption narratives these Christian women shared. For them, redemption is experienced through the inner change of their selves, with a transformed view to embrace life with vulnerability. In their stories of redemption, my initial feminist critique and its dilemma was finally resolved, by witnessing the way these faithful cross-bearers embrace the paradox of the Cross: to live is to suffer, to empty oneself is to fulfill. Through their persistent practice of kenotic, self-donating love, they still surrender their own place of honor to permit others, rather than the self, yet to occupy a place of distinction and to avail a place of redemption for all. |
