November

Oh man it's almost Christmas!!!  Time is flying by.  It's time for an update.

Korea is getting colder, but it sounds like Georgia has us beat!  Y'all had your first frost before we did and it sounds like you may get a snowfall before we do.  Crazy Georgia weather.

Right now we have a friend staying with us for 10 days.  We met him last year at Taize in France.  He is Dutch and is a worship leader.  Kidoong went to Holland to visit him and his church, "Door Brekkers," a couple of months ago.  He arrived last Thursday, Thanksgiving Day (more on that later...).  Rutger joined us for a worship team retreat and participated with me and the YES team for leading worship for 2 services.  He did a great job and we all really enjoyed having him. 

About Thanksgiving... well, let's just say that I'm glad "thanksgiving" is not confined to food, family and geographic location.  I'm hoping for a little turkey when I come back for Christmas.  I had to work extra for Thanksgiving and there was no time for cooking or celebrating in the way we would in the U.S.  I struggled with homesickness that day.

Barry and the kids are doing great.  Most kids make a paper chain to count down the days to Christmas.  Sam and Will made a paper chain to count down the days until our flight back to the U.S.!  It will be a happy time.

See you all SOON!!!

Autumn, My Favorite!

Hello from Korea!!!  It's been a month and I'm sure it's time for an update.  So here we go!

Barry and the kids just got back from Yesan Retreat Center with the KidsWorship gang.  The kids had a blast climbing around and exploring in the area.  It's a beautiful place.  I had to stay home and work, but I'll get my dose of Fall colors and mountain scenery this weekend at the Y.D.B. retreat at Horeb.  I'll be helping out with worship and soaking in the sights of Fall.  I can't wait!!!

October has flown by and our visit home is fast approaching.  Our flight tickets are set for December 19th and we'll stay in Georgia for 5 or 6 weeks.  Slowly, but surely the details for housing and vehicles are falling into place.  Some dear friends of ours from Statham offered us their home and a vehicle for about 2 weeks around Christmas while they are out of town.  THANK YOU!!!  We'll also stay at Snow's Mill for a week and stay with our family some.  We do not own a vehicle at the moment, so we'll enjoy our 2 weeks with wheels fo' sho'!  I haven't driven a car since December 2010.  Be afraid...

Our home in Statham has found new tenants as of November 1st.  This will help us with our mortgage payment and keep the house occupied in our absence.  Our agent, Burgundy is amazing.  She's done a fantastic job dealing with everything via email.  We thank God for her help!  She is truly a blessing.

I'm working 5 days a week and Barry and I are serving in the ministry simultaneously, but like the majority of folks out there we still have to trust God for our finances.  It'll cost 6k to get us all back to Korea after our visit home.  I'm still hoping for the day I can snap my fingers and jump from continent to continent, but so far it hasn't worked...  We feel confident that the Lord wants us to return to Korea to continue working for a season so we're expecting Him to provide.  He already has in so many incredible ways!  There are not enough hours in the day to tell of all He's done.  Following Him is such a wonderful adventure.  He created the universe and everything in it, I think He can manage a plane ticket or two (or four.)

In terms of ministry, well that's a multi-faceted topic for us, but over-all we're praying that the Lord will help us to faithfully teach what He's taught us and that He'll create a hunger here for His word and give "the spirit of wisdom and revelation" spoken of in the book of Ephesians, that we may all come to know Him better.  We have plans for recording an album with the YES team this winter and Barry is leading the English service in the Word every week.  We're also working with Pastor Kidoong and KidsWorship team to create resources to share the Gospel around the world.  Wahoo!!!  The Lord will return.  While we wait we want to be found doing His work.

"The Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."   ~Isaiah 61:11b

September

Happy Birthday, Mom! 

Happy Fall!!!  It's been an eventful month (in our hearts).  This picture was taken at a botanical garden type place that we found near our apartment.

Life is moving along at a steady pace.  Barry teaches English in the mornings at the church now.  I think he really enjoys teaching and working with the young adult students.  We're still doing the Sunday night English worship service and Barry still leads Bible studies for various age groups during the day on Sundays.  Things at my school are going well.  I enjoy working with the kids.

The latest news is that after praying and thinking and talking extensively, we feel like we need to stay a bit longer in Korea.  The plan is to come home for Christmas and then continue our work here for a little longer.  I will still work at the school, but I will have some weekdays open to wrap up some of the KidsWorship projects I need to get to.

There are a lot of details yet to be dealt with, but we're trusting that God will help us fill in the gaps as He leads us.  We may have already found a potential new renter for our home in Statham.  We're working on those details now.  We'll need to pay someone to move our junk out and do some painting then the house will be ready to go.  That saves us the headache of having an unoccupied house in the U.S. and it will help a little with the mortgage payment. 

We're all really excited about coming home for a bit.  It'll be so nice to catch up with friends and family in Georgia.  We'll need to borrow or rent a car while we're home and we're still working on living arrangements, but it's falling into place little by little.

While we're home we will lead a 2 week trip for a group of folks from South Korea.  We're not sure how many people are coming yet, but we know that we will spend 1 week in Georgia and then we'll split up and spend the other week in either Nashville or Orlando.  We plan to do some recording in Nashville and the other group is attending a conference in Orlando.  The dates will fall between January 9th and 23rd.  I'm happy to have the opportunity to see my two "worlds" come together -- Koreans in the U.S. among my home friends and family.

I guess that's it for now.  Love and miss you!

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

We just got home from China.  We left on our 13th wedding anniversary and came home just before Sam's 12th birthday.  It's hard to believe I'm the mother of a 12 year old.  She's a wonderful 12 year old and I'm thankful for everyday I've known her.  In some ways it seems like she has more maturity and wisdom at the age of 12 than I have at the age of 33.  Of course, I have prayed for her that just like Jesus, she will "grow in wisdom, stature and favor with God and with men."  Apparently God's been listening!

The opportunities for the Gospel here in Asia are unbelievable.  It's almost overwhelming -- mostly in a good way.  Kids camps in Korea and in China went great.  It was so fun to work with the Korean and U.S. teams for a few weeks and it was a joy to see everyone using their gifts and working together as one to share God's good news and love.  Thank you for praying for us.  It made a difference and we needed it!

There were several opportunities to lead worship for different groups in Korea and China.  We had the opportunity to lead worship for the adults in the Shanghai church.  We had a powerful prayer time with them and really sensed God's power and presence within and on behalf of their church.  It's amazing to see and experience the growth of the church in a country that openly rejects religion.  God is at work in Asia.  The kids were so hungry for God and for the most part very attentive to the teachers.  One night we had a Parents Night for the campers.  We worshipped together and then had the parents and kids pray together as families.  That was a sweet time.

I never realized how beautiful China is.  I always imagined it as a polluted, factory-filled nation.  It's not that way.  There are many trees and gardens.  It's lovely.  There are, of course, some unlovely things, but I guess that's to be expected.

We had the opportunity to see the Pearl Tower in Shanghai.  The city at night is so pretty and SO huge!  I've never been in such a large city.  Seoul dwarfs Atlanta, but Shanghai is massive!!!

Funny things I observed:  Men often walk around shirtless with their potbellies hanging out (it's very hot in China), children relieve themselves in public, parents carry around naked babies, you are expected to provide your own toilet paper around and also Chinese people will literally stop you in your tracks just to take a picture with you because you're a white person (that doesn't happen in Korea much.)

Tomorrow I go back to work.  I've got mixed emotions about that.  We obviously need and appreciate the paycheck, but part of me wishes we could continue to travel and do ministry.  God uses it all, though.

I think the next trip will be in October.  Barry will go to Singapore with Kidoong for a conference.  That's all for now.

Camps

The Mongolia trip was incredible!  The team ministered to 104 churches and gave them free supplies and training.  GREAT trip.  Thank you for praying.

Next up is 2 weeks of camp.  Six wonderful people from the States will be flying over in a day or so.  We will lead a camp here in Korea and then we will go to China for a camp.  In the bits of time in between we will be recording, acting and doing voice over work for KidsWorship.

I'm working at S&P up until camp begins and will work immediately after.  They've graciously given me an extra week so that I can go to China.  I've never been so busy or so dependent on the Lord.  There is such a freedom in trust and surrender.

So, here we go!  Barry and I have both had a few random physical ailments and such, but by God's grace we're moving forward.

Please keep the team in your prayers.  We need energy, health, unity, and God's grace and anointing.  We're asking Him for "fruit that will last" and we want to be full of His Spirit and love so that others can see and experience the reality of Christ.  Thanks.

Hi

So, Barry left for Mongolia a couple of days ago.  I'm excited about that trip.  They will be training 1000+ Mongolian pastors and lay people and supplying them with much needed resources for teaching the Bible to children.  It's a very poor area so the folks are incredibly grateful for the free resources and training.  The team is way out of wi-fi range (ministering to folks in the countryside) so I probably won't here from Barry while they're there.

The kids and I are holding down the fort here in Jongno.  I'm working during the day and the kids hang with Chan Hye and San.  In the evenings I cook supper and we watch some Andy Griffith reruns or play Legos or whatever else we can find to do.  I've started reading Dr. Doolittle to the kids at night before  bed.  That's been fun.  The kids get a kick out of that because they have recently acquired 2 caterpillars as pets.  One is named "Fluffy" and the other is named "Fuzz."  Sam likes to watch them while I read.

The weather has been so nice the past couple of days.  We're getting a little reprieve from "rainy season."  I have never encountered humidity like this -- not even in Valdosta, GA.  It's crazy!  I have some dried flowers sitting on the night stand by my bed and they WILTED!!!  They literally rehydrated and promptly slumped over in the dry vase.  It's a suffocating type of humid, so, we're glad to get a break from it.  I like the rain, I think it's cozy, but I also like dry towels and clothes.  There are no dryers here, so it can take days for your clothes to dry if it's raining outside.  Now I know why Asia is so lush and green!

I envy the rain here on y'all's behalf.  I know it's painfully dry in the U.S.  I saw an article recently about a guy who has gone into business painting grass green in the States.  For real.  He uses eco-friendly green paint that won't wash off.  Why water it when you can just paint it, right?

That's all for now... (I woke up at 4am today.  I don't know why, but I'm loving the extra time.  It's a great thrill when a "non-morning person" like me feels perky in the wee hours of the morning.  It gave me some extra time to write!)

Summer...

Summer is almost here.  We've hit the high 80's, but I know that's nothing compared to Georgia heat!  It's very humid here, too.  It does a number on my guitar strings!

I enjoy keeping up with folks by looking at pictures on facebook.  I am so excited about all the babies that we will meet when we get back!

Communication is not what I had hoped it would be.  I think if the time change weren't so drastic it might be a bit easier, but, like I said, I try to follow folks through blogs and fb and the pictures speak a thousand words.  We'll pick up where we left off once we get back!

So!  This summer Barry will travel to Mongolia for 2 weeks in July and then in August we'll have our team from the States fly over to help out with 2 weeks of English camps.  I may have mentioned this already, but, one camp will be at Horeb (you can see pictures in the previous post) and the other camp will be in Shanghai.

We're still involved in our weekly meetings and such.  I'm still leading worship for the Y.E.S. English Worship service on Sundays as well as helping out monthly with kids music and Barry teaches Saturday nights and Sundays throughout the day.  He's such a good teacher.  I admire his mind.  Though we are so, so different, I really value and appreciate his strengths.

My burden for Korea continues to grow.  So many people here are burdened and weighed down by so many things -- social pressures, expectations, busy-ness, etc.  Jesus said that "his yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30)."  For many people it would seem that the fear of man or what others think hinders them from the freedom that would come if they could take up only the yoke Christ has assigned them.

I know this is a challenge we all face.  I, too, have to learn to continually keep watch so that my inner convictions line up with my use of time and energy in my "outer life."  It's not easy in a world so full of "urgent" requests and demands on our time, especially when we want to say yes and convey our willingness to help in any and every arena of life.

I guess it's like they say, "good is the enemy of best."  We have to ask ourselves, "what is the best use of my time?" "What has God called me to do?"  It's not helpful to just blindly fill our schedules with "good" things or be at the continual beck and call of that which drains us, but is unproductive or unhealthy.

Anyway, that's a snap shot into some of my thoughts lately.

I'm still teaching Monday through Friday.  I love the kids, but I find that it's a very tiring job.  I guess that's to be expected.  That's why they call it work!

Here are some random pictures that were on my phone:

Sam, Will and San watching Kung Fu Panda 2

Joy-Bird, the more sociable of the 2 birds we have

Paper Lanterns on the Chungee Chung, a nearby tributary
of the Han River

The kids and I at Lotte World

The English Team from S&P -- when we went to see Jane Eyre together.
I am a giant.

My school (S&P)
I don't know the random guy getting out of the taxi...

Sam and Barry went to climb a mountain.  This is Sang Hyo who is a member of
the worship team and a good friend of ours.

Dung aka poop is a popular and funny thing here.
These are "dong" piles made on the side of the road.
The kids  couldn't resist...