In 1981, the International Year of the Disabled, Fr.Noel O'Neill, a Limerick born Irish Columban missionary, aware of the sad plight of the intellectually disabled people in a Confucian influenced Korean Society, together with a 24 year old intellectually disabled woman from the local Beggars Camp and one volunteer began to live in community in an ordinary house in Gwangju city. This was the first
group home in Korea and the first attempt at providing a community based service for intellectually disabled persons.

The local community showed curiosity in this unusual situation, a foreigner living in community with an intellectually disabled person. A few months later they were joined by other volunteers who wished to help and also by other intellectually disabled persons from
families of the local community. The mustard seed was sown which was to grow into the Rainbow Community under whose umbrella various Emmaus services were developed over the years.