Merry CHRISTMAS to you all.

Home(sick) for the holidays

Well, this is my second Christmas away from home for the holidays. Last year wasn't so hard because we still had Thanksgiving at home and we were so exhausted for Christmas with the move. I wasn't sure how this year would affect me and my family emotionally. Just before Thanksgiving, Pamela and I both went through a time of depression missing family, friends, and church. Our kids also had some homesickness also. As we have passed our first anniversary here in Korea, we feel joyful for the time here and for all God has brought us through in that first year. Yet, as we approach the rest of the holiday season, we really are all missing everyone there. We miss some of the Christmas spirit that is evident in the states that is not present here. Christmas day all of the businesses will be open and have an as usual day. One thing we don't miss here though is the commercialization. The Korean people don't do much of anything special for Christmas. It seems to just be a day off for them. We really didn't know how much we would miss those close to us during this time. We truly miss all of you. We want to see you all again. If you know anyone that is overseas, or just away from home, for the holidays, please remember to pray for them and maybe even to send them a card letting them know you are thinking of them. Sometimes it can feel pretty lonely on the other side of the planet from your loved ones.

Our original plan was to stay one year in Korea, and then to come home for a visit after the holidays. Our finances were not set for this to happen. We are planning on coming back in the summer, but it will cost us a pretty penny for the whole family to come back. My school will pay for my way back, but I am responsible for everyone else to go back. It will cost us around $4-5000 for tickets. Please pray that God will supply this amount for us so we can buy them in advance and get the best rates possible.

1 year in Korea

How do you summarize a full year's worth of events and emotions in one email? It is almost impossible to do, but we will attempt to cover the high points and use lots of visuals.


December 17th 2007 Fly out from Will Rogers International Airport (After no sleep for almost 36 hours)
December 18th 2007 Arrive in Seoul, South Korea and take a two hour ride in a van to our new home. After going shopping at a huge shopping center that made the supercenter Walmart look small.



January through July- teach at Disciple International Christian School with little to no pay from the school. God provided abundantly for everything we could need during the whole time. We made some good friends during this time. God taught us many things through the trial of trusting him for everything. We are very grateful for the many lessons we learned through this time.






Last week of July- Vacation time with my parents. We had them here for one full week. It was wonderful being able to show them Korea, but we had just moved and didn't know where anything was.














August through present- Teaching at Jeulgeoun Montessori kindergarten and English institute. I teach Korean children from ages 4 through 7 American age.

What are you thankful for?

I had my pastor here in Korea call me this week and ask me to speak for a couple of minutes and tell what I am thankful for this year. As I reflect over my life to think about what things I am thankful for, I realize how much I have to be thankful for. I realize I am not as thankful as I should be for the things God has given me. I have parents who raised me in a loving manner and taught me many things about God. I have a wife who takes care of my children and keeps my house. I have 5 children who want to be like me, please me, and be loved by me. I have a good job that pays me for work I enjoy. This is something to be truly thankful for when you worked for 6 months without being paid. I am thankful that God supplied all of our needs for those 6 months with no paycheck. I am thankful that God put in my heart over 15 years ago to be a missionary and that he has fulfilled it this year. I have a church in America that loves and supports our work here in Korea. I have a church in Korea that has a heart to reach their unreached kinsmen in the North. I have opportunities to show God’s love to refugees from the North by teaching English each week. I have people all over the world who care for, love, and pray for us here in Korea. I have my health. My family has their health. More important than all of these is that I have a Savior that loves me and has redeemed me out of the pit. I was the wretch the song talks about. I was a liar, thief, murderer and adulterer at heart. I was the fulfillment of the verse that says that our heart is desperately wicked above all things. I had nothing worth redeeming in myself, but God chose to save me from myself and from his wrath at my sin. Even when I hated Him, He sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. In the middle of my sin, He drew me to himself and I repented of my sins. He made me a new creation, with new thoughts and desires. He gave me the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of the things he has promised in his word to give to those who follow him. What more could I thank him for? He saved me when I deserved to die and spend eternity in Hell.

11 months in Korea

As we reach this holiday season, we are getting a little homesick. Pamela and I both have had some depression lately thinking about not being home for the holidays to see our friends, family, and church. Some things that you take for granted about the holidays in the states, we don't get to have here in Korea. We can't just go and buy a turkey for Thanksgiving to cook and eat. They don't eat turkey here. Even if we could find turkey, we couldn't cook it because we don't have an oven to speak of. We can't bake any pies for the same reason. So, we will have to make some new traditions here. Korea celebrated their thanksgiving in September. It is called Chuseok. I am already singing Christmas songs and have been for almost 2 weeks. Korea hasn't bought into the commercial ideas of Christmas yet, but they also don't celebrate it as a big holiday. I only get one day off for Christmas break. Most people just buy a cake at the bakery and eat them on Christmas. Other than that it is treated almost like any other day. Luckily, our church here is ordering in Turkeys from a hotel to have next Sunday for a Thanksgiving potluck. So, we will at least get some turkey to eat. We miss everyone there and wish that we could see you all again. We know that this is where God wants us to be at the present time, but we still get homesick at times.

I had to teach 4 open classes this last week for our 5 year old program. I only had a small part in the class actually. This is a class where we invite the parents to come in and see their children in the classroom interacting with the teachers. The school videotaped these classes and I have asked for a copy of them so I can post them up on the net for you to see what I have been doing. I used to love teaching teenagers, but now my favorite class is the 5 year olds, at least in my school. My absolute favorite is teaching the North Korean women refugee's class. Another teacher from America and I came up with 4 lesson plans to teach at this facility. The women are there for 8 weeks before being integrated into South Korean society. We teach there every 2 weeks, so that makes only 4 lessons per group. They have new groups coming in each week and old groups leaving. Teaching at the North Korean refugee centers is a ministry of our church. Our pastor asked me to be the lead teacher at the women's facility and we have a great team. One of our team is a music teacher and she has been a great benefit. We also have a Korean that is driving us there that is fluent in English. She is our interpretor for our lessons.

I have another blog up that I have titled, "Memoirs of a missionary" that just tells about things that happen here and has some of my musings about life in general. If you would like to read it, you can click here, or follow the link at the bottom of the page.

I pray the Lord is blessing you during this holiday season. If you have anything we can pray for you about, please reply to this email and let me know.

http://memoirsofamissionary.blogspot.com/

On Death and Dying

Life is short. I was reminded of this fact again this week. One of my online friends, Jim Jones, died in a bicycling accident. I know, Jim Jones died in Guyana back in the 70's. This is not that Jim Jones. I had only talked with Jim on one of several message boards. The most recent was one he created called Fishin' Fools. Jim was a street evangelist in Grant's Pass, Oregon. He was faithful to go out almost every week sharing the Good News of our glorious Savior, Jesus. I can't help but think about my life and how short it could be. I will be 40 in less than 4 years, that's the same age Jim was when he was promoted to headquarters. If I only had 3 years left, how would I live my life differently. I know I would want to spend more time with my family. I also know I would want to be more patient and kind to them. What about you? What if your time on earth was almost over? Would you live life any different? One thing I can tell you for sure is that we are all part of the ultimate statistic: 10 out of 10 people will die. What's waiting on the other side for us? Heaven? Hell? Reincarnation? Nothing? According to the Bible, it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. If you were to stand before God right now and he asked you, "Why should I let you into my Heaven?" What would your answer be? Just like almost all tests, there is only one right answer. Do you know what it is? None of us deserve to go to Heaven because we are all wickedly sinful. Many people may not agree with that statement, but it is what the Bible teaches. Since we are wicked, how can a just and holy God allow us into his perfect Heaven? Do you know the answers to these questions? If you would like to discuss what the Bible says about it, just comment on this post and I will correspond with you. Just remember that you never know when your time will come! It could be sudden, like Jim, or you could live for many years. What will you do with the time you have left? Where will you spend eternity?

Jeulgeoun Kindergarten and Hagwon

This is the Kindergarten and language institute where I teach. Enjoy the pics.

Jeulgeoun Kindergarten and Hagwon

This is the Kindergarten and language institute (hagwon) where I teach. Enjoy the pics.

Korean Fire Drill

Have you heard of a Chinese Fire Drill? That's where you pull up to a stop sign or light and everyone gets out of the car, runs around the car. Then, they all get back in, but everyone is in a different seat. Well, Korean fire drills can be just about as much fun.

Today, while I am teaching a class of 11 seven year olds, I see one of the teachers run up to my window, look in, look in the window across the hall and then run back down the hall as fast as she could go. I am thinking to myself, "What's going on? Did one of the students disappear?" So, I open my classroom door and look down the hall only to see smoke coming up the stairwell. The other American teacher is looking the same direction and I asked him if we were supposed to evacuate. He said he didn't know. One of the Korean teachers says that the smoke is from downstairs and it's okay, just keep teaching. I'm thinking, "If downstairs is on fire, we need to get out of here." I go back into my classroom and continue teaching still wondering what's going on. A couple of hours later, at lunch, I find out that another school on the floor below was having a fire drill with their students. They told me that this school has a fire drill almost once a month and that they try to make them as real as possible. So, they use smoke bombs. They bought them from a different manufacturer this time and they were much more powerful than the previous ones. We asked our fellow teachers what we were supposed to do in case of real fire. We have never had a fire drill. In America, there would be a fire escape plan posted in each classroom. My school is on the fourth floor and there is only one stairwell. What do we do if there is a fire on the second floor and we can't go down the stairs? When we asked this question, we were told they have a rope in one of the classrooms. We have 80 plus seven year old students and about 12 adults that we would be trying to lower by rope out a window. They are now considering what we would do and planning about how to handle the real scenario.

As I think about this, I couldn't help but think how Satan is like this fire drill. He likes to give us something that looks like the real thing, but it is really just a subtle lie. I man looking for a wife and a man looking to enjoy himself with a woman for a night say the same thing, "I love you." One is being sincere and thinking of the other person's feelings, whereas the other is only looking out for himself. One truly means what he says, the other is lying to get what he wants. Satan likes to tell us what we want to hear instead of telling us the hard truth. He used these same tactics when he spoke to Jesus in the desert. Unfortunately, this is happening in many churches these days. The preacher is telling people what they want to hear and not speaking the "truth in love" to their sheep. The old adage is, "where there is smoke there is fire." In this circumstance at the school, there was smoke, but no fire. Many churches make a lot of smoke, but where is the fire. Where is the Holy Spirit actually changing people's lives, making them into new creatures? Where is the power of people surrendered to God following Him no matter what the cost? Where are the people who have been delivered from the power of sin, who are dead to sin, but alive to God through Christ? Where is the fire of love for mankind that should lead people to show compassion on others, to share the gospel with them, to share the truth even when it hurts? In my Bible, it says that my God is a consuming fire. Are you being consumed by Him?

Korean Fire Drill

Have you heard of a Chinese Fire Drill? That's where you pull up to a stop sign or light and everyone gets out of the car, runs around the car. Then, they all get back in, but everyone is in a different seat. Well, Korean fire drills can be just about as much fun.

Today, while I am teaching a class of 11 seven year olds, I see one of the teachers run up to my window, look in, look in the window across the hall and then run back down the hall as fast as she could go. I am thinking to myself, "What's going on? Did one of the students disappear?" So, I open my classroom door and look down the hall only to see smoke coming up the stairwell. The other American teacher is looking the same direction and I asked him if we were supposed to evacuate. He said he didn't know. One of the Korean teachers says that the smoke is from downstairs and it's okay, just keep teaching. I'm thinking, "If downstairs is on fire, we need to get out of here." I go back into my classroom and continue teaching still wondering what's going on. A couple of hours later, at lunch, I find out that another school on the floor below was having a fire drill with their students. They told me that this school has a fire drill almost once a month and that they try to make them as real as possible. So, they use smoke bombs. They bought them from a different manufacturer this time and they were much more powerful than the previous ones. We asked our fellow teachers what we were supposed to do in case of real fire. We have never had a fire drill. In America, there would be a fire escape plan posted in each classroom. My school is on the fourth floor and there is only one stairwell. What do we do if there is a fire on the second floor and we can't go down the stairs? When we asked this question, we were told they have a rope in one of the classrooms. We have 80 plus seven year old students and about 12 adults that we would be trying to lower by rope out a window. They are now considering what we would do and planning about how to handle the real scenario.

As I think about this, I couldn't help but think how Satan is like this fire drill. He likes to give us something that looks like the real thing, but it is really just a subtle lie. I man looking for a wife and a man looking to enjoy himself with a woman for a night say the same thing, "I love you." One is being sincere and thinking of the other person's feelings, whereas the other is only looking out for himself. One truly means what he says, the other is lying to get what he wants. Satan likes to tell us what we want to hear instead of telling us the hard truth. He used these same tactics when he spoke to Jesus in the desert. Unfortunately, this is happening in many churches these days. The preacher is telling people what they want to hear and not speaking the "truth in love" to their sheep. The old adage is, "where there is smoke there is fire." In this circumstance at the school, there was smoke, but no fire. Many churches make a lot of smoke, but where is the fire. Where is the Holy Spirit actually changing people's lives, making them into new creatures? Where is the power of people surrendered to God following Him no matter what the cost? Where are the people who have been delivered from the power of sin, who are dead to sin, but alive to God through Christ? Where is the fire of love for mankind that should lead people to show compassion on others, to share the gospel with them, to share the truth even when it hurts? In my Bible, it says that my God is a consuming fire. Are you being consumed by Him?

What is He thinking?

Have you ever asked yourself this question about someone? What was he/she thinking? I sometimes ask myself this question in regards to God. What is He thinking? When we were in Ochang, I asked some of the church people what they thought about the North Koreans. They looked at me like I was from outer space and it wasn't because they didn't understand the question. Each and every person said they never thought about it. They didn't think about people of their own nationality, that speak their own language, that love the same God that were starving and being tortured for their faith. The young people even went so far as to tell me that they were against unification because it would be difficult financially for South Koreans. I knew more Americans praying for North Korea than South Koreans. I found that really sad.

Fast forward to our new home and new church. Our pastor is a Canadian Korean that has a heart for North Korea. The church has been volunteer teaching English to male North Korean refugees through the government facility for right at two years. They go every Tuesday evening. One month ago, I went with them for the first time. My heart went out to these men. They were so eager to learn. There are many different levels of ability, but they all want to learn more. A week and a half ago, seven people from our church (myself included) went to the women's and children's facility to teach English there. Almost 80% of the refugees coming into South Korea are women. These people face many hardships leaving their country. They also face severe penalties if caught. Yet they do it to have the freedoms that we enjoy here in South Korea, much like there in the States. Two weeks ago, our church had a guest speaker who had been a missionary to Korea for many years through Youth with a Mission (YWAM). He spoke about the North Korean church and plight of the people. He believes there will be a large mission force raised up from North Korea that will go into the most hostile environments to the Gospel because they are already equipped to handle the situation better than any westerners. They already know what it is to have nothing, to have little or no food, to face persecution, and even risk death for the Gospel. I don't know what God is doing, but I know that He has put a burden in my family's heart for the North Korean people. Who knows, maybe this is just a training ground for God to prepare us to go to North Korea someday. After the missionary preached about North Korea and all of the suffering there, Pamela and I were both feeling like God might be moving us there later. As we were walking home that day, Caitlyn said, "Mom, I think God wants me to go to North Korea. I am going to study Korean very hard so I can speak it fluently and take the Gospel into North Korea."

So, what is God thinking? I can't say for sure, but I know He is thinking about North Korea. Psalms repeatedly talks about hearing our cry and rescuing us. I know that the North Koreans need His saving hand. When you have a leader who has made himself into a God and the people have to pray to him, God is watching. One day, judgment will fall on the leader and then what will God do through these people? The spiritual heritage South Koreans have is directly related to North Korean Christians. There was a huge revival in the capital city before the communist came into power and many of the people came south when they did come. I know that God's heart breaks for these people and He wants them to surrender to him. Will you join me in praying for North Korea? Visit www.persecution.com to read about Christians in North Korea and to get some fact sheets. Every Tuesday, my family is eating rice and water to remember the North Koreans who don't have even that. That is the same day that I go teach at the refugee center. Maybe you would be willing to join us in that also. We plan on donating the money we would normally spend on meat and vegetables to see ministry done in North Korea. I don't know what God is thinking, but I know He has burdened my heart.

What is normal?

This is a question I used to ask people when they said I wasn't normal. "What is normal?" Now, I ask myself that question in regards to my own life. I am an alien living in a foreign land that is learning about how they live here. Yet, I am still an outsider and feel that I will always be such. Is normal going to the store and asking, "How much is it?" or "Ohl man eye oh?" When you meet someone, do you bow and say, "Anyanghasayo." or do you shake hands as you say, "Hello."? Do you eat using a spoon and fork, or a spoon and chopsticks? What is normal? In this new land, normal is continually changing. Here I feel like a king because I am paid in the millions. A half-liter Pepsi costs one thousand. Everyone looks at us like we are movie stars. Many people look, laugh, and whisper to each other as we pass by. Others will come up to us to practice the little bit of English that they know. We always have people looking at us. When we go back to the states to visit, what will normal be? What will life be like there, even if for just a short time? Will we remember how to drive a car? Here we walk, ride a bus, a subway, or take a taxi. As we work here, things are changing there in the states also. It's hard imagining how different everything will be when we visit the states. It's hard imagining how long God will have us stay here in Korea. Is normal going to visit North Koreans to teach them English at a processing facility before they are integrated into society? Or is normal witnessing and preaching on the streets in Oklahoma? I don't know what normal really is. So, I will ask you, "What is normal?"

Normal is such a strange word. Nothing is really normal when you are trying to follow God. Normal to God and normal to the world are two totally different things. I went to a conference recently and the speaker made the following statement, "When I want to see what God's will is in any certain situation, I think about what would I do naturally, then I know I should probably do the opposite." Our natural man is so opposed to the ways of God that this statement is totally true. Just look at the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus makes statements like, "you have heard and eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, But I say to you, 'Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Jesus also said, "You have heard that is was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.'" This goes totally against what most people would consider normal behavior. However, it is the way of God. I guess the final question is, "Do you want to be normal, or abnormal?" Those I know who have followed God at all costs were definately abnormal people according to the world's definition. I pray that at the end of my life, people will remember my family and I as abnormal people.

Christian Ship

This 14 minute video should be seen by all Christians. It shows the attitude of many about the fate of the lost. I hope you that God uses it to encourage or convict you.

Pics from Korean Folk Village and 63 Building

9 months in Korea

It's hard to believe that we have been here 9 months. We have been in a new city teaching at a new school since July 25th. Things are going very well at the new school. I received my first paycheck 3 days early and the teachers are great to work with. They are teaching the children Godly character using Character First curriculum that has been translated into Korean. I almost feel like I am working with Brandon and Rachel Werner as I put up one, two, and then three fingers. (One means look at the teacher, Two means sit up straight, and Three means smile.) This is so effective and makes it so you don't have to raise your voice to be heard. The Korean teachers are great to work with and are very patient with the children. I have a Korean-American teacher that is teaching English with me also. His name is Todd. He was adopted from South Korea at 2 1/2. His English is as good as mine. Todd grew up Catholic, but is pretty apathetic to religious things right now. He is married to a Korean women and they have two young daughters. Please pray as I try to build a relationship with him, share God's love with him, and share the Gospel with him.

My parents came to visit the end of July and had a great time. They thought it was very hot and humid here. The funny thing is that the week before and the week after they were here it was about 10 degrees hotter and was more humid. We took them to a Korean Folk Village to see some of the old style houses and some of the traditional music and dancing. We also took them to the 63 building. This is a famous building here in Korea that has Sea World in the lower floors, an Imax theater. The 62nd floor is all windows where you can look out over all of Seoul. (See pic, showing Seoul Tower) I think it would have been more spectacular at night, but it was still pretty cool.

Pamela has started homeschooling the kids again. They are still trying to work out a new schedule. They had almost found one that worked when we started homeschooling one of my bosses children. His name is YuBum (pronounced you bum), but his English name is Ben. They are compensating us for facilitating his English learning. He is studying all of his other subjects at the kindergarten where I work on the computer, but we are teaching him English and Bible. Please pray as we work with him. He is a very eager young man, but his family needs prayer. Pamela has also made friends with some people here in our apartment complex. One lady, Betty, has a young son and has taken our children to the zoo. Another lady, Anne, has started teaching Caitlyn flute. She spent some time in England and you can certainly tell it when she speaks. Her family is going to go to America in the future and her son doesn't speak much English, so while she teaches Caitlyn flute, Pamela and the other kids read and talk with her son. God keeps sending people he wants us to minister unto.

Finally, we have found a church home that we love that we can walk to from our apartment. It is called Global Mission Church or Jiguchon in Korea. It is part of a large group of churches that originated from America. The pastor is a Korean from Canada. His name is Bob Kim. The service we attend is all in English and it is a family service. We are still getting to know the people, but we really enjoy the messages.

Please continue to pray for us as we minister to the Korean people. Pray that we will begin to learn the language. It is very difficult to minister effectively when we can't communicate. Fortunately, many people here want to learn or practice their English. Pray that we will be able to use our English for God's glory. Pamela would like to go teach English at an orphanage with our church on a Saturday and I would like to go teach English at a North Korean refugee facility on Tuesday evenings. Our church has both of these ministries ongoing every week. Please pray that we can arrange our schedules to fit these in. Please pray for our family, especially Pamela and I's marriage. In a foreign setting, even little problems can be magnified making it marriage that much more difficult. If you have any questions or would just like to talk, please feel free to contact us.

In His Service,

Derek (for the Woods)
(405) 445-0180 (calls our computer, it's a local call for those in the 405 area code)
Skype- derek.l.woods
Facebook

On the other side of the door

It has been an interesting few weeks since our last update. We have packed all of our goods, moved them to a new apartment, unpacked the essentials, picked up my parents at the airport, spent a week on vacation with them, and sent them off to Japan for the rest of their vacation.

Let's back up and take things one at a time. First, we finished teaching at DICS and said goodbye to everyone. We had a party on the last day and the principal handed out summer vacation homework packs to all of the children. They are supposed to come to school from 9am to noon everyday to read books and watch movies in English. They are supposed to do like 20 book reports over their reading during the summer also. I asked one of the older boys if the principal understood that they were supposed to have some fun over their summer break. He said he didn't think so. Second, on Wednesday the 16th, we finished packing up everything in our apartment only to find that the movers would have packed most everything for us. We then rode a bus from Ochang to Nambu bus station and took a subway to Bundang where my new school is located. We then went to our new apartment to meet the movers. We told them where to put all of the boxes and set up for our first night there. The school owners took us out to eat that evening and we purchased a few things we needed to survive in the new apartment such as food and cleaners. The apartment is much smaller than the one we had in Ochang and is much older. The bathroom tile grout was black, but was supposed to be white. The kitchen didn't even have a range to cook on. There was a lower cabinet it was supposed to be on, but there wasn't one there. The new school purchased one for us and had it installed the next day. Pamela spent most of Thursday and Friday cleaning and unpacking. I helped with what I could. Friday evening my parents arrived from Oklahoma. The director of my school was supposed to help me drive my parents from the subway to our apartment, but his phone malfunctioned and didn't work for the next several days. I had to put them on a public bus and then missed my stop. We had to catch a cab to my apartment, but I couldn't give him the address. (Remember I only have been here for two days.) I remembered the name of my apartments and wrote the name out in Korean so he put it in his GPS and it gave him directions right to them. Thank God for being able to read and write in Korean. We had a great vacation time visiting a few places with my parents and this morning we put them on the bus to the airport. I start teaching on Monday and still have to do some things to update my visa. Please continue to keep us in prayer as we transition to our new apartment and location. Our apartment is small, but it is now clean. Pamela took hours cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen. We still have to unpack many things. The positive side is that we now have air conditioning where we didn't in Ochang. We also have walking access to large shopping centers that we didn't have in Ochang. We had to have someone drive us or ride a bus a half hour to shop there. I am very impressed with my new school and the management I will be working with. Pray for Pamela and the children as we try to figure out where to put all of our things and how they are going to homeschool here in this small apartment.

Last Sunday, we attended a church near my school called Global Mission Church. This is a large church that has an English service. They also have a family service within walking distance of our new apartment. We will probably attend it this Sunday. This church has an outreach to two different orphanages teaching English and also goes once a week to help teach North Korean refugees. Orphans have been on Pamela's heart for quite some time. Most Koreans don't like to talk about orphanages and the children in them. I have a burden for the North Koreans. At our previous school, I talked with the teenagers about the North Koreans and they said they didn't really think about the North Koreans much at all. These fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are severely persecuted for their faith while just miles south the South Koreans enjoy freedom to worship. It is good to find a church that wants to reach out to these forgotten people.

The door opens wider

I was able to meet with the pastor/principal here last Tuesday. God definitely went before me. I told the pastor that it was time for us to part ways like Paul and Barnabas separated to do more ministry. I explained that God had opened a door we needed to go through. He was very gracious in the meeting and understood us leaving. Several times in the meeting he stated that we were Christian brothers and that he wanted to maintain a friendship and to pray for each other. I agreed with him on this matter. I also gave him my proposal about giving us the furniture in the apartment as past payments. This was offered to give him an honorable way to get out of his debt and it would help us move on to our new position. He said he would like to read over the papers and he would give them back to me in the next couple of days. He gave them all back to me the next day. He was very sad giving them to me, but he understood that God was moving. This has removed a barrier between us and has relieved a burden from him. I had a meeting with him on Friday and he asked how things were going with our paperwork for updating my visa. He has listed our apartment to be able to rent it out to someone else. This makes one more bill he doesn't have to pay. Now, he is able to focus more on the school without having to worry on so many debts. I received an email of my new contract for review and should have a copy of it to sign in the next few days. I will send all of my paperwork back to the new school so they can get them processed at the immigration office. When they have my approval number, I will have to leave the country to go to a Korean consulate and get my new visa. This will be done in Taiwan or Japan, probably. We are supposed to move on Tuesday the 22nd or Wednesday the 23rd. My parents are supposed to arrive on Friday the 25th. Lastly, I am supposed to start my new job on August 4th. It sounds like so much to do in such a short time, but I don't really have any stress over it at all. God has given us peace about this whole situation. Please continue to pray for us as we try to accomplish all of this in this timetable.

In His service,

Derek (for the Woods)

Closed Doors, Open Doors

Closed Doors

As most of you know, we have been in Korea for a little over 6 months and have received less than $4,000 from the school where we work. It isn't that they don't want to pay us, they just don't have the money. The school only has 13 students. They are trying to pay for the school expenses (rent, utilities, loans, food, books, etc), our apartment rent, and their own bills (rent, utilities, food, etc.). There just isn't enough money for all of the expenses. When he contracted with us, the agreement was we would be paid every month for our work. Last month, I talked to him about him fulfilling his obligation to pay us. I told him that I didn't see that there was anyway he could pay us on a consistent basis with the current situation. He paid me in two installments what he owed me for my teaching for May. We had Pamela stop teaching in the school and start homeschooling again. He told me that he would make paying me a priority each month. He said that he would pay me in full without fail on the 3rd. He said that if anything came up where he couldn't, he would tell me a week in advance. On the 3rd of this month, he told me he didn't have the full amount and that he would pay me half as soon as possible and the other half by the 20th. This weekend he put a fourth of my monthly salary in my account. I talked to him last month explaining about keeping our word and not sinning by making promises that he couldn't fulfill. On top of this, there is little to no communication between us. I am supposed to administer testing on Friday to my students to evaluate them to see about their placement for next semester. He hasn't told me what he wants on the test or how he wants them evaluated. I asked him last week about it and all I got were some generalities, then he proceeded to tell me which students he was planning on putting in what class. So, it seems the test is just to tell the parents the children were tested to put them in whatever class he deems they need to be in instead of what their ability shows. This is just one example of the many communication problems we have had. So, needless to say, we feel that God has closed the door for us here at this school. That leads us to our next section, open doors.

Open Doors

While I was having the meetings with the pastor last month about his integrity and paying us, I called several friends from our home church that live here in Korea to update them and have them pray. I spoke with one couple, the Williams, and they told me about a friend of theirs that had a school that would need teachers, but when I called her she didn't need anyone until September. I spoke with another couple, the Levundusky's, and they said they had a friend that was planning on expanding his school, but they weren't sure when. They asked if I would mind them mentioning me to him. I said that would be fine. Their friend, Mr. Kim IkSang emailed me and told me that he wasn't needing anyone until September himself either, but he had a friend that needed a teacher or two as soon as possible. He forwarded my information to them and we have been corresponding back and forth for a couple of weeks. This school is in the Bundang area of Seoul which would put us closer to many things. Currently, we are in a brand new small city over three hours away from Seoul. This school teaches character from Character First in their kindergarten and they have opened the language school to continue teaching character along with English. I had a meeting this last Sunday with Mr. Kim, the school owner, and the school director to discuss our requirements for coming. Everything we needed to be able to come, they said would be no problem. We are finalizing the contract terms now and should have everything done on it by the end of the week. I am going to be talking with Mr. Kim after school tomorrow. Please pray that all goes well with our meeting. Since he owes us over $10,000, we are going to try to alleviate the debt by asking for the large furniture in the apartment like the refrigerator, bed, wardrobe, and the washing machine. I am going to propose that he give us these items and we will call the debt paid. Also, please pray for us as we will be moving in two weeks. After we move, my parents are coming on vacation and will be here for a week. Please pray as I will have to leave the country to update my visa sometime during this time also. I will start on August 4th at the new school. God sure does move in mysterious ways. Before we came to Korea, I met with our pastor to tell him about our trip and to have him write a letter of recommendation. Pastor Jerry Wells may not tell you he is a prophet, but his words from that meeting certainly came true. This is what he told me, "What are you going to do if when you get there, this school can't pay you. As a Christian, you don't want to take a fellow Christian to court. So, you will hit your knees and ask God to help you and provide for your needs. Remember, Derek, that sometimes God will move you one place to get you to another where he wants you to be." These were definitely prophetic words for us and I have held on to them for the last six months. I think that the part about God moving you one place to get you to another may come true many times over in my life in the coming years. Thank you all for all of the time you have spent before the throne of grace on our behalf. I want you to know that He has been faithful to hear and answer exceeding and abundantly over what you could ever know. If there is anything we can lift up to the Father on your behalf, feel free to email me and we will pray for you.

In His service,

Derek

Most people would say that I am a new missionary, considering I have only been in Korea for 6 months. I would say that I have been a missionary for years, only now I have crossed the ocean to continue what was started in America. The mission hasn't changed, just the location. The mission continues to be the same one that Jesus started and has been carried on through the centuries; to seek and save that which was lost and be a servant. I am serving now in the capacity of a teacher in a Christian school. I find it quite ironic that God sent me halfway around the world to have me teach in a school that uses American textbooks and is totally taught in English. I mean he could just as easily let me stay in America and teach the same material as I am teaching now. There are many schools that use the same Bob Jones curriculum there. I also find it funny that he would move us here to confirm that we are supposed to homeschool our children. God definitely has a sense of humor. For years, my wife and I were burdened for the hispanic people. We worked at a Spanish speaking church, had friends who were hispanic and even lived in a predominantly hispanic neighborhood. However, God decided we needed to go to South Korea. When we came here, I didn't know any Korean language and had only met a few Koreans. I didn't know anything about the country, it's people, or it's history. I am learning much about these things each day.

Before coming to Korea, I spent many hours passing out tracts, talking to people one on one or in small groups, and occasionally preaching in the open air. I sometimes went with a team, or if no one else was available, I went by myself. I enjoyed this very much, but God wanted to stretch me spiritually so he arranged for me to come to Korea. If you want to know more about how we came to be in Korea or about our current situation you can read my other blog.

Welcome

This blog is dedicated to my musings about theology, apologetics, evangelism, cross-cultural communication, cultural differences, and the Bible in relation to Christ's mission for all of us to make disciples of all nations. Sometimes, the musings will be serious and at others they will be very humorous. I hope you enjoy the writings. If you have any questions, or comments feel free to leave them here. Please remember that these are my musings and my memoirs, so they will be slanted in that they are my personal viewpoints. You may or may not agree with all things written.

6 months in Korea

We have been a complete 6 months in Korea now. I think we may have learned more than we have taught in the last six months. I know that God has been using this time to mold me. There is one thing that I know for sure; being molded is a painful experience. It is through difficult circumstances that God is able to change us the most. I want to be more like Christ, but I don't like the work and suffering to get there. God has truly been working on my character. He has been teaching me about patience, deference, mercy, meekness, flexibility, faith, discernment, discretion, resourcefulness, decisiveness, wisdom, determination, tolerance, contentment, forgiveness, and endurance. (If you want definitions for each of these qualities, click here.) Let's just say that God is still working on me to make me what he wants me to be.

After having two encounters of confrontation with the pastor, we have finally been paid one person's monthly salary. He paid part of the payment on the 4th and the rest on the evening of the 17th. On the afternoon of the 17th, I called a hagwon (academy) owner in the Cheonan area to see about the possibility of teaching at her school. This is a Christian lady that is friends with Cathy and Terrill Williams from our church in Oklahoma. Her school has been established for quite some time and she came highly recommended from the Williams. She said that she would love to have me come teach, but that she doesn't need anyone till September. On Friday the 13th, I had called another man from my church in Oklahoma that is currently in Korea. His name is Tim Levendusky and he works for IBLP-Korea and CTI-Mongolia. He is the one who gave the character training class I attended in March. He is also the one that I went to see in the Seoul area a couple of weeks ago to attend a homeschool meeting and to purchase some character curriculum for my family and the school. At this meeting, I had informed him of our situation and he had been praying for us. I called him to give him an update and to have him pray. He gave me some good advice and prayed with me over the phone. During the conversation, he mentioned that one of the people who has translated for them before has a kindergarten and is looking to open an English hagwon (academy or institute). He said he would mention us to him then next time they spoke. I received an email from this man on Tuesday the 17th also. He is looking for some teachers that understand character and will be able to help teach character as well as English. His school is in the city of Anyang which is very close to Seoul. He is going to open his school in September. So, it looks as if God is preparing us to leave here and start somewhere else in September. The school semester here will end on July 25th. On that same day, my parents will come to visit for 10 days. We will probably take the rest of August to get my visa changed over to a new school. I may have to leave Korea to complete the visa process, but I don't have to come all the way back to America to do it. I can fly to Japan and go to the Korean consulate to do it. My parents when they leave are going to spend 4 days in Tokyo, so I may have to crash in their hotel for a couple of days to complete this process.

Praise God that we have received a payment from the school. Please continue to pray for us as we transition Pamela and the kids back to homeschooling. We don't have a lot of curriculum here for teaching, but they are going to concentrate for the next couple of months on Korean language learning. We have some video lessons, a computer language program, and they will go three times per week to the school to continue lessons with the pastor's wife. Please pray as we try to discern God's leading as to what he wants to do with us here in Korea.

Special Update

Many of you are wondering, and some have asked, what happened in my meeting with the pastor/principal. So, this update is just to let you know what I said to the pastor and what the outcome has been so far. I am copying the letter that I wrote to the pastor and used as an outline to talk to him so you can somewhat see my reasoning. I will continue the story after the letter.

Pastor Kim, June 5, 2008

The Bible tells us that we are supposed to live at peace with all men as far as it is possible with us. I want to ask your forgiveness for having bitterness and anger in my heart at times because of the situation we are presently in. I have asked for God’s forgiveness in this and would like for you to forgive me also.

I now need to talk with you about our current situation very frankly. This is very difficult for me to do, but I feel it is necessary. I know you are under a great burden with your school and with the situation. I have shared in your burden and have spent many hours praying about what my personal responsibility and my family’s responsibility has been. After months of prayer, I feel the Lord has revealed the problem and how we can fix it. Matthew 18:15 tells us if we have been sinned against, we should go to him alone and try to reconcile.

Reconciliation

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

(Mat 18:15)

Before I came to Korea, you said you wanted to do right for my family and you offered to pay us for each month of teaching, but this has not been done. I understand that this is a new school, but the Bible is clear that we should fulfill our vows.

Yes be Yes/Promises

But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

(Jas 5:12)

Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.

(Mat 5:37)

It is also very clear that we should pay those whom we owe money.

Pay what is owed

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

(Rom 13:7)

The following verse also tells us to owe no man anything except to love.

Owe no one

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

(Rom 13:8)

The school is running right now on your credit. This does not honor God. I personally owe people in the states for medical services. I told many of these people I would pay them as I started getting paid here.

Above Reproach

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

(1Ti 3:2)

As a pastor, you should be above reproach. You are bringing reproach upon the name of Christ by not fulfilling your promises to my family and by living contrary to God’s word about credit and debt.

Like Jesus

Rom 8:29

(29) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Character exhibited

Meekness- yielding my rights to be paid

Deference- putting other people’s needs above my own. (Pamela going home, we felt two months ago she should)

Patience-

humility

Father’s Responsibility

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

(Eph 6:4)

Deu 6:6-9

(6) And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

(7) You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

(8) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

(9) You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

God has called me to live out his words to my children and to teach them to them at all times. I am responsible for what they learn, who they have as friends, what they listen to, and to ensure that they know God’s word.

Mother’s Responsibility

Tit 2:3-5

(3) Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,

(4) and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,

(5) to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Pamela also has a responsibility that we have yielded for her to be teaching in this school. I believe God has done this for a reason. He has confirmed to us through this experience that we are supposed to homeschool. This will allow Pamela to fulfill the above by working at home.

God has taught me many things through this time and has grown my character. I thank Him for molding me through this time.

Considering we have not been paid our salaries, there are several things that need to happen now.

1. First, Pamela and the children need to stay home and let her teach them there. She will maintain teaching for a short time for you to have enough time to re-arrange things.

2. Second, you need to pay us for our labor here as you promised to do.

3. Third, if you can’t pay us, you need to give us a letter of release so we can find another place to work that can pay us. The Bible says that a father who doesn’t provide for his family is worse than an infidel. The contract was voided on February 3^rd when you didn’t pay us, but we have been gracious for four months trying to work this out. I will maintain teaching here until I am able to find another position somewhere else. You can consider this my notice and we can discuss the final date as circumstances arise.

Beginning this week, we will not be attending church at JDC also. We have many things we need to be training into our children. We are not able to do this through the church, so we are going to have our church at home. I pray you will understand our reasoning.

In conclusion, I am not angry or bitter at you. I don’t come to you just to demand my rights, but feel that God cannot be honored without us resolving this issue. I pray that you have heard my heart and know that I care for you and your family, the students at the school, and the members of the church. I don’t want any evil to come upon you.

In His service,

Derek L. Woods

So, Pamela and the children will begin homeschooling again after June 20th. This gave him some time to adjust schedules so that all classes can be taught. This was the first point of reconciliation in my letter. I didn't give him options on this, I just told him it had to happen. He was fine with this, although he did ask if Samuel and Adriel could stay in the school since they were already here and had textbooks. I firmly told him that this was not negotiable.

The next point was he needed to pay me or release me. He paid me $800 of the $2000 he owes. He hasn't paid Pamela anything since we have come. He paid $200 in April, $600 in May, and had already deposited $800 in June the day before our meeting. He was planning on only paying me $800 even though last month I told him I needed at least one person's salary every month. I told him that I knew he was probably not prepared to answer me right then and that I wanted him to pray and talk to his wife about it first. Friday was a holiday, so he had three days to think about it, pray, and discuss it. I told him we would need to talk by Monday after school. This meeting was very difficult for me, but he was gracious in receiving my words. I don't like confrontation. Most people don't. On Monday, after school, he stopped me in the hallway and asked if he could have one more day to pray. At first, I said okay, but I went into my office and my spirit would not let me leave it. So, I went back to the pastor and asked to go ahead and talk. I told him that he had three days to pray about it and that one more day wouldn't change the situation at all. I told him that we needed to be honest. I told him that I didn't see any way he could pay me and maintain paying all of the other bills he has. I said that he needs to be honest with me and tell me if he can pay me the rest of the money for this month and on the 3rd every month thereafter. He said he didn't have the rest of the money for this month right now, but that he would by the 18th, next Wednesday. I asked him if he could pay that and still come up with the $2000 he would owe me on the 3rd. He assured me he could. I asked to step out of the room for a minute and went to talk to Pamela. I wasn't sure what to do. I felt like I should just tell him to write me a letter or release, but I didn't tell Pamela my thoughts. I asked her and she said that if he could pay, then we should stay. I went back and told him that we would agree to being paid the rest by the 18th and then a full payment on July 3rd. My gut feeling is that he is stalling and won't be able to pay me. He has a field trip scheduled for next Thursday to a city one hour away. This means he is going to be renting another bus to take the children. If he tells me on Wednesday that he can't pay, I am going to hand him a letter of release to sign that I will already have drafted and printed. This second meeting was harder than the first. As I said before, I don't like confrontation and I have had to do it twice in less than a week. Now, I think I will have to do it again next week, because the pastor's pattern is to put off everything as long as he can. Please pray for us during the next weeks as there is likely to be more confrontations. I have tried in my dealings to speak the truth in love. I covet your prayers for my family during this time. We are being tried and we are not always passing the tests. Please pray that we will depend on the Spirit to guide us and to continue to seek Godly counsel.

In His service,

Derek

5 (and a half) months in Korea

This update is late and I apologize. We have traveled some in the last few weeks and I have started an online course also. This has caused me to not have as much free time to write.

We have been in Korea for over 5 months now and have only received around $1200 of compensation. Several hundred of that has been from the pastor buying our groceries. In April, he gave us $200 and in May $600. When he talked to me in May, his first question was, "How much money do you have? Are you doing OK or do you need money?" I didn't answer the first question about how much money we have, because he didn't really need to know. I explained that it was time for us to start being paid. We were promised $2000 each/month for teaching. We haven't even had one month's salary for one person yet. I told him that we needed to see at least one person's salary this month because we can't live forever on no income. I know that God is the one who provides, but I also know that man should honor his word. I know that God uses difficult circumstances to develop His character in us. I have learned patience(which I didn't pray for), meekness (yielding my rights to be paid), humility, truthfulness(keeping my word), and deference(putting the needs of others before my own). After three months of prayer and study, I feel that it is time to confront the pastor. In Matthew 18, it tells believers to confront someone who has sinned against them and try to reconcile. I am planning on doing that this Thursday. PLEASE PRAY!!! I do not like this type of confrontation, but I feel it is necessary. As I have been studying character qualities, I have learned that we should be people of our word. As the Bible says, "let your yea be yea and your nay, nay." This pastor promised and contracted with us for a payment for services rendered and has not fulfilled it. He has purchased things that were not necessities for the school, has paid for a tour bus trip to Seoul for the school, but hasn't been able to pay us. As a pastor of a church the Scriptures say he should be above reproach. He is bringing reproach on the name of Christ by not fulfilling his promises. He also has started and grown this school on credit, not on the reliance of the Lord's provision. He goes deeper and deeper in debt each month. However, he talks about how he is going to have 5 or 6 classes in September, yet can't pay the teachers he has now. There are also philosophical differences on education between us. Lastly, there are Biblical differences between us. He is very liberal in his interpretation of Scripture in my opinion and he doesn't look at the historical background and context of the passages. He prefers teaching about having a vision for your life and positive thinking than giving a Biblical message. Once again, PLEASE PRAY as I will be talking to him on Thursday afternoon Korean time.

In His service,

Derek

2 Trips- 2 Days

We visited two different cities in two days time on May 11th and 12th. On Monday, the 11th, we went to Cheonan to visit friends from our church in the states. They are the ones who opened our hearts to work in Korea. We had a good time of fellowship with them and with some of their students. We rode the express bus from Ochang to Cheonan. It was a very new experience for us. It was like a Greyhound bus that we rode and there were plenty of seats. We arrived at the bus station which was at the back of a shopping center named Yawoori (pronounced ya-oo-ree). We went through the shopping center to the city buses that parked out front. We caught the bus and arrived at Korea Nazarene University. Cathy and Terrill met us at the front gate and took us to their apartment. We dropped off our things and went on a tour of the campus. It has some very pretty buildings. We met a few other teachers there, also. We went back to the apartment to talk and get ready for lunch. While we were there, a Chinese couple came to visit. They were very nice. They are both studying to be English teachers. They spoke very good English, but their Korean was not very good. We all walked to the top of a hill at the college close to the apartment for a picnic lunch. We had a good time of eating, talking, and playing. Later in the day, we went to Homever and did a little shopping. We found some large bags that have words printed on the front that say plastic, metal, and paper. We use these for sorting the things we are throwing out. We have recycle bins for all of these things and everything else has to go in special trash bags that everyone has to use. These are sold at all of the local marts, but are issued by the local government. You have to use these bags for all trash. The trip home was uneventful, but we had to wait an hour for the express bus to ride home. We were the first in line, so we were able to have seats. Those at the end of the line had to stand up. We made it home late and we were very tired.

The next day we got up, went to school and took a small charter bus to Seoul. We were supposed to go and see a large fortress there, but since the day before was Buddha's birthday, they were closed. So, we went to the National Museum. It had several areas of artifacts and art, but was pretty boring for most of the students. We spent most of the day there. Later in the day we went to Nam San mountain. This is the south mountain of Seoul. It was a beautiful place. You can see some pictures below. They had a science museum that was like the Omniplex in OKC. The kids were really enjoying themselves with the different experiments and then we went and watched a planetarium show. We hope to go back to Nam San and spend some time there again.

Elizabeth's First Birthday

Korea Update- 4months

It's hard to believe that we will have been in Korea for four months this coming Friday. We are still adjusting to the culture here. We have days where we feel like we are beginning to understand and others where we just are lost.

As we told you in our last newsletter, we have not been paid. The principal of the school wants to pay us, but there just aren't the funds with the amount of students. He is paying for the rent on the school, the food program, the school utilities, and our apartment rent. With the number of students we currently have, he isn't even breaking even with the amount of money he has coming in. I asked him how many students he would need to break even and he said around 30 total students. Right now we have 10 students. So, just to break even we need another 20 students. Even if we had 20 more students, we probably wouldn't have enough teachers, because of the different grade levels that we would have coming in. So, the pastor is living month to month on credit cards and loans. We told the pastor that we would forgive our salaries for January. We haven't been paid for February or March either. We are now halfway through April and there doesn't seem to be any way for him to be able to pay us. We are alright with that since we felt like we were coming as missionaries. The question we have is, "How long can he continue operating in the red?"

The awesome thing is how God has provided for our families needs. When we came, our church gave us some money to help us set up our apartment when we got here. We also had a little money of our own. We lived on it for a while and when we were down to our last $100, our car in the states sold. We lived on it a while longer. When it was almost gone, we received the money from our tax returns. We have been living on it for the last couple of months. Since our last update, the Lord has laid it on several people's hearts to help us. We have received money from our church, an elderly woman in my parent's church, and my father's uncle's church. The amazing thing to us is that we don't even know the lady from my parent's church. We also don't know anyone but my dad's uncle at that church. It just goes to show that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He can direct people that don't even know you to send you money to continue His work in a particular area. All I can say is God is good.

Please pray for us as we try to follow God from here. We don't know how long the principal can continue with the present situation. Since I have a family of seven people, I must look at what God would have us to do. God has provided for us so far, but we need to have a contingency plan. We don't want to leave the school just yet, but if God opens a door, we will need to step through it. We haven't actively pursued another position here yet, but we have told some friends our situation and they know of some opportunities in their area. They are going to email us the info and I will start contacting them. It will be easier to find a position from here than in the states and we have the advantage of already being here. I have been praying for the last few weeks about what we should do. God has confirmed that Pamela is not to continue teaching when things change. This time has truly confirmed our calling to homeschool our children. Even if we continue teaching where we are at, we will eventually have Pamela stay home with the kids and just have me teach. I believe that we can live on just one salary here without any problems, but God will provide. Please pray for us as we seek the Lord's direction from here. We also feel that an English institute will be a better place to teach in that I will only have to teach English. The school would provide all teaching materials and I wouldn't have to do very much preparing. This would free me up to help with the homeschooling of the kids also. I also would have more influence with unbelievers than I do now. Once again, please pray for us as we seek God's will.

In His service till the nets are full or He calls us home,

Derek (for the Woods)

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