WAITING FOR ISAAC

The orphanage here has been going through some struggles spiritually over the past years.  For a variety of reasons, prayer and seeking the Lord among the staff and children has been fading.  For the few staff and church members that have been here for a long time, they are continuing to pray but are becoming discouraged… especially now with one of our stronger dorm fathers likely leaving.  Our pastor here commented to his small loyal group that we are going through a dry season.  And then what he shared encouraged the heck out of me…

Abraham was promised that he would have a son who God would make into a great nation.  He was first promised this at the age of 75.  His wife was also old and barren.  Abraham believed God, but the child did not come.  Years and years passed and they continued to grow older, but still no child.  Sarah became frustrated, and in their desperation she had Abraham sleep with a maidservant who bore Ishmael.  But Ishmael was not God’s promise.  Instead they were to wait longer.  They became very old, with little hope.  But then God moved at the least expected time.  And Isaac was born… and soon came a great nation… and soon came Jesus Christ.

Pastor Lee encouraged us to wait for our Isaac.  Although we are in a dry season here with little movement from the Lord, we cannot allow ourselves to become desperate and make rash decisions that would lead to an Ishmael.  We have to wait for our Isaac.

I know the blessings are coming.  I know the Spirit is going to be poured out, in the Lord’s time.  Even if I have to wait for years and years like Abraham, I choose to believe and trust and wait for God’s awesome hand to move.  Please pray for my orphanage when you can. 

Kate Miner – God Is My Refuge (old song written by Jason Wade of Lifehouse)

Yesterday some Korean company treated all the kids and staff to the Korea – Bosnia soccer match!  It was an exhibition game for the World Cup and held in World Cup Stadium.  It was quite an experience! 

Che Young and Min Shik outside the stadium before we entered

Sang Yong and I inside the stadium

The amazing Korea marching band!  Virginia Tech needs these guys, mainly for their cool uniforms.

As the game began some huge banners came down over parts of the lower levels and a bunch of flares were lit… this section was like the student section of VT, loud and crazy the whole game, tons of chants and beating of drums and all that… made me miss Hokie football

Picture of the game (Korea won, 2-0)

Eun Jin, who I like to think of as my friend Teresa Chen’s Korean counterpart, can sleep anywhere… that includes at a Korea soccer match.  Go Hyun is to the left and Eun Jin, covered by a jacket, is on the right.  She reminded me of worn out first years towards the end of their first Hokie football game, the game too exhausting for them… I really do miss Hokie football…

My pics of people at the game didn’t come out as well because of all the thundersticks getting in the way, the lighting, and other things… but here are some pics from today…  I took my 3rd – 5th grade students to my friend Henry’s mini movie theatre in Sinchon, about an hour away using the subway.  Taking care of 12 kids is pretty tough and I was exhausted at the end of it, but it was still a great time. 

Se Bin, Hae Ji, Soo Jin (head down), Kyung Mi, Eun Ji, and Min Shik on the subway… Kyung Mi went to Sinchon with us, but had to leave early for a friend’s wedding. 

Eun Ji, Yong Shin, Il Ho, and Hyun Suk in the mini theatre (Henry’s face is peeking in the picture)… the mini theatre is really nice… it was originally Henry’s office but he gradually bought a bunch of chairs, a screen, projector, built levels for the chairs, and even installed floor lights.  Nice!

After the movie we ate McDonald’s and then rode the subway back.  Here is a pic of the kids making up a limbo game inside the subway station.

Whew, this entry took me a while.  My photo uploading was painfully slow, despite my good connection; its been that way lately with xanga.  Take care everybody

HE MAKES THEM GROW

One of the dorm fathers has given the office his notice of resignation.  He said that he has been disappointed with the way the orphanage has been run and the lack of growth with God among the children.  He is one of our more committed Christians, so this is pretty surprising and discouraging.  I can tell though that he is burned out.  The children can be difficult, and when you are a dorm mother or dorm father and you have to take care of 11 – 13 kids everyday, usually at least one child will be having a bad day and will give you a hard time.  I want to encourage him.  Please pray for him, his name is Hyun Shik.

We can’t give up.  If God leads us to someone, our job is to pray for and love on that person just as Christ would.  We are called to plant seeds.  Even in a simple smile to a child you can be planting a seed of God’s love in them.  We aren’t expected to make the people grow, that is the Lord’s work. 

I just want to encourage any of you who are praying for someone or leading a small group, and I especially want to encourage you Sunday school teachers… don’t give up!  People, especially children, need every seed you have to offer, so keep faithful.  Seeds don’t sprout overnight.  Trust that the Lord will send His rain and cause growth in time.  In serving these children I’ve come to realize just how important Sunday school is for little ones.  They need seeds of God’s love and instruction at the youngest ages. 

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor” – 1Corinthians 3:6-8.

Tim Hughes – Everything… Christ in you, the hope of glory =)

Well, when I first heard the name I thought it was funny, but then I found out the baby is a girl and now its not so funny at all.  Our new baby was named “Na-Po-Le-On” (family name: Na, first name: Poleon) by her mother.  I also found out that her mother is mentally disabled (the baby is apparently fine).  The dorm mothers have decided to call her “Na-Re” (Na-ray) instead.  I like that a lot better.    She is 7 weeks old and will likely be here at Geon for the first 19 years of her life.  Its going to be neat watching her grow up, I’m already amazed at how much the one year olds have grown in the few months I’ve been here.  Here is a picture of Na Re…

She is already receiving a lot of love from the Geon family (all 100 of us, children and staff together), so praise God for that

Polar Opposites

What drives most people in the world, whether knowingly or unknowingly?  Fear and pride.  They are polar opposites.  Fear of the things of this world and pride in oneself.  People fear the future, people fear failure, people fear loss, people fear judgment, some people even make life decisions out of their fear of other people’s judgments!  People also allow their pride to try to cover their insecurities, to choose things that will feed their ego or selfishness, and to never let themselves become vulnerable. 

What should drive Christians?  Confidence and humility.  Confidence in who we are in God: His sons and daughters, His servants, His beloved, His creation, His joy.  Humility in who we are before God: we have nothing except what we have received from Him. 

Rather than having fear of this world, we should have confidence of who we are in Him.  He loves us and will take care of our every need!  His promises are true and eternal!  And He is all we truly need.  Romans 8:14-16, 37-39, Psalm 121, Psalm 139:13-18, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20b, Jeremiah 31:3, Ephesians 1:18. 

Rather than letting pride rule us, we should have humility before God.  We should choose to live a life of unselfish love, humble before God and His creation.  John 3:30, Romans 12:1, Matthew 20:26-28, Philippians 2:8, 1Peter 5:5.

Be vulnerable with others, don’t let fear or pride hold you back in anything.  And be blessed.  Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).  

CCF Praise Team – Hail To The King

Last night was In Chul’s birthday (his 16th) and he requested if we could watch Harry Potter at my place.  His nickname here is “Chocolate,” so I got him a chocolate cake…

The boy has a crush on Emma Watson who is the girl in the Harry Potter movies.  He knows her full name and put it up on my refrigerator… we had to check imdb.com for the spelling of “Duerre”

At first I thought, “Woah, isn’t she a little too young…?”  She was born in 1990.  And then I realized so was In Chul.  Eesh… makes me feel old.  In Chul says he wants to go to England to meet her and be an actor.  He cracks me up. 

Today (Saturday) a bunch of volunteers from a local college came and helped set up a community festival, complete with games, food, a magic show, and other stuff. 

Se Bin, Soo Jin, Hae Ji, and Soo Yun

Sang Hoon, Min Shik, Go Hyun, and Il Ho

Nothing like fish on a stick, rice balls covered with shredded seaweed, and hot fish broth in a cup to wash it all down with.  Gotta love Korea 

Eun Song, Eun Jin, and me

Dae Hoon, Ji Won, Sun Jae, and Hyun Bin watching the preparation… Hyun Bin is going to be an athlete… he is already a big kid for his size and is always throwing stuff… you heard the scouting prediction here first!

Joon Hyuk

Se Bin and Ye Jin

Sun Ran with her silver fist imprint

Eun Ji, Sun Ran’s younger sister… just one of the 80 cute kids at this orphanage

“I do not have a heart for you, I’m sorry…”

At the beginning of 2002 when I was 20, if you had asked me if I had a heart for children I would have told you, “No way.  My heart is for college people and maybe teenagers.”

If you had asked me if I had any desire to be a missionary I would have told you, “None at all.”

If you had asked me if I would consider teaching English after college I would have laughed at you and said, ”I will be an engineer!”

If you had asked me where Korea was on a map I would have looked around China but would not have been sure which peninsula Korea was… the one closer to Japan or the one closer to Alaska?  Forgive me for my past ignorance. 

If you had asked me at the beginning of 2002 what I would be doing with my life, I would have said, “I will be an engineer in Virginia (close to home).  I will have a family.  I will support my local church.  I will maybe help lead a Bible study for college age people or adults.” 

What about children’s ministry or something overseas?  “No, I do not have a heart for either.“

But look where I am now!  Crazy, right?  And I am happy!  I am so thankful that I am not living the life I once envisioned.  God has shaped me so much over the years and changed me in ways only He can.  He is good!

Do not restrict God’s work in you.  Do not close doors that are set in front of you, only let God close them.  He has awesome plans for you, just be in prayer and let Him lead you.  Every step in your life is preparation for the next.

Jesus never went to a certain people or a certain place and said, “I do not have a heart for you, I’m sorry.”  He cared for all! 

That same love Jesus had is now inside each and everyone of us.  Let His love overflow in your life.  Do not restrict Him… to restrict Him is to not allow His love to work in an area of your heart.  As you let Him lead you, you will be amazed at the love He will give you. 

NLCF Band (old school) – How Deeply I Need You

Yesterday (May 5th) was “Children’s Day” in South Korea.  I stayed up late Thursday night with some dorm mothers and a dorm father and helped decorate the orphanage.  In the morning we all went hiking together and then came back and the children went on a mini treasure hunt and then each got a present.  Then we played a game of basketball of dorm mothers, myself, and a dorm father against some of the boys.  Good times! 

Today I helped two of the dorm mothers take all the elementary school students to Kang Nam on a bus (an hour away) for a magic show and a Korean traditional music/puppet show… all of it free by KB Bank (big bank in Korea).  Its tough trying to herd so many little bundles of energy.  During the shows the two dorm mothers slept in their seats out of exhaustion.  I almost slept too but I was too amused by the kids goofy reactions to the puppet show. 

Alright, here are a few random pictures from the past two days…

Da Woo, my hiking partner

Random “exercise/rest” station along the trail

Sun Jae

Dae Hoon

Pictures of the decorations and kids… my apartment’s balcony is where we put up the phrase for the kids, “Hey!  Its our day”

I like this picture because of the boy playing in the cardboard box… nothing like a good sized box to keep kids entertained in.  Also, the gifts the kids got (they each went and found numbers hidden around the orphanage grounds that matched with a number on a wrapped gift) included books, random CDs (one of them was a a jazz CD from America??), squirt guns, puzzles, little games, and even Ramyun (instant noodles)… although each kid only got one gift, no one seemed disappointed if they got one of the lesser gifts because the kids are good about sharing their things with each other… 80 kids = 80 gifts

 

Sun Mi asked me to take a picture of her during the bus ride today to the theatre… I love the big, forced grin

The kids tried to dress up Ji Hoon like a hip hop star

Hae Hyun with her fake money

Soo Jin and Young Eun

Sources of Joy

One of the greatest joys in life is to be desired by someone you love.  When someone I care about calls my name and comes to me with a happy smile, I can’t help but feel loved.  When someone I care about tells me they want to spend time with me, I can’t help but feel blessed. 

I was thinking about that today and felt the Spirit telling me that He loves me so much.  And that just as I am filled with joy when a loved one wants to be with me, so is the Spirit filled with joy when we seek after Him. 

This entry is short and simple, but it was something on my heart that I felt I’d share.  This afternoon my friend Tae and I did just what the Spirit desires and we cried out to God in prayer and worship together.  All we wanted to do was let go of the world and love on Him.  Times like today are true tastes of heaven.  Knowing that God loves me and wants to be with me always, that is the true source of my joy. 

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness – Jeremiah 31:3. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled – Matthew 5:6