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.