Sunday, November 23, 2008
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.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
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/
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?
Monday, November 3, 2008
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.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
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?
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?
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