Here are our four most recent additions to Geon Orphanage…

Three sisters and one brother, ages 1.5, 4, 5(boy), and 6.  Their story is that social services found them at their father’s apartment being raised by their 11 year old aunt (their father’s younger sister).  The 11 year old didn’t like these kids, so she apparently abused them.  Social services have yet to find their parents or their aunt’s parents.  Upon the 11 year old aunt’s request, she was put in another orphanage while these four were sent here. 

After they got here, they acted as new kids (particularly new girls) often act.  Quiet, confused, and crying often.  But whenever new kids come, a beautiful thing happens.  I get to watch the other kids here immediately accept the new ones.  The kids here are always happy to see new faces.  They welcome them with open arms, give them tours of the orphanage, and always invite them to play.  Its beautiful! 

The oldest girl (6 year old Tae Ja) had a rough first few days.  She always had a gloomy look on her face and would walk around in silence.  After meals she would collect the uneaten food at her table to bring to her younger siblings.  The dorm mothers here would stop her and reassure her that her sisters and brother are being taken care of.  After just a week Tae Ja is already smiling all the time.  She now knows she is in a safe place.  A place of love. 

The youngest child, Tae Min, is still very timid.  She often will stand by the door and just stare outside.  She usually stays by herself, away from the other toddlers.  She will watch me playing with the kids outside, but she gets afraid if I come close to her.  I know she will come around.  Love has that power. 

God continues to teach me.  Lately I’ve grown more and more discouraged with one of the boys here.  He is a 5th grader and a known troublemaker.  He tends to bully the younger kids and disobey often.  He has cussed at me before in anger when I had to discipline him.  God keeps reminding me I just need to pray and to show unwavering love.  Still, I can get discouraged at times, and I was feeling this way tonight for no apparent reason.  Then he and another boy just visited a few minutes ago.  He came in and put a new baseball in my hand and said in Korean “present.”  It surprised me, and blessed me.  It was a glimpse of hope… I know God is reminding me not to be discouraged.  I can’t be angry with the boy, he is still young and can’t be held completely accountable.  And a verse came on my heart…

Ephesians 6:10 – For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Gotta keep praying.  Gotta keep loving.  God’s love conquers all. 

United Live – Fire Fall Down

Picture dump!

A couple weeks ago I went to the Korea – USA basketball game with Tae, Kenny, and Kenny’s friend Sarah.  Watching Team USA and all their stars was a once in a lifetime chance.  Here are a few pics…

The starters walking on court… Paul, Brand, Wade, Melo, and… Battier?!??

Game shot… the Korean’s had one huge guy who plays in the NBA, but his coordination is lacking and he got pulled pretty early.  The Korean’s also have a guy who is apparently half-Korean… he dunked near the very end of the game and got a standing applause from the fans for it.  Go Korea!

LeBron, worth the admission ticket…

Look as the American jumps way over the three Koreans for the rebound and put back… that summed up the game, final score USA 116 – Korea 63.

Taekwondo halftime show! 

See how high those wood blocks are at the top of the pic?  The guy ran forward, jumped off the guy standing under the blocks, and flew up and crushed both blocks with an upside down kick.  Now thats entertainment!

Tae (on the right) and I ran into Pastor Dave at the game… both of these brothers have been great friends and encouragements to me since I came to Korea…

Today I showed some of my 3rd – 5th grade kids a movie at my place… afterwards I chased them around the apartment and gave them tickle attacks.  Good times

Today I also went bowling with some of the high schoolers and Kyung Mi… Do Hyun here had an interesting form (nearly fell down everytime), but did really well

Go Hyun

I got a strike here

Kot Nim… her score went from 30 to 73 to 81… I think I’m a better at teaching bowling than teaching English…

Pic with the kids… Do Hyun (looking down), Kot Nim, Yun Hwa, Go Hyun, and Yong Hee

And last, after seeing David Lee’s xanga with the celebrity look-alike tests (4000 celebrities, the site does a face recognition scan, then gives you your closest matches), I decided to have some fun and give it a shot myself… here were my results…

Won Bin!? I look like a Korean guy!?!?? People tease me that I’m becoming Korean, but I never imagined this!!! I posted another pic, a really goofy one of me, and of my eight results I got another Korean guy (Hee Sup Choi)! Ridiculous. Alright, that is all for today folks, God bless!

I had a dream recently where I saw two friends returning from a mission trip.  One of them had a big grin and was so happy… she exclaimed, “I was so blessed.  I love the children!!!”  The other friend had a disappointed look on his face and told me as he looked away, “I just couldn’t love them all.”  Immediately an urgency stirred in my heart and I exclaimed, “God’s love is not complete in you!“  And I woke up.

1John 4:19 – We love because he first loved us.
John 13:34-35 – A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. 
1John 3:16 – This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Growing up, nearly all of us learned how to love from our parents.  They clothed us, fed us, cared for us, educated us… many children when they are very young will exclaim, “I love mom!” or “I love dad!”  Why?  Because that person serves them continually.  We love them because they first loved us. 

I asked my high school Bible study who they would be willing to die for.  All of them said their parents.  Some said brothers or sisters.  They were honest and admitted they probably wouldn’t be willing to die for their friends.  I understood.  I was the same at their age.  My love was imperfect.  Why?  Because I had been taught love by imperfect people… despite my parents being so wonderful, they aren’t perfect.  It was not until I came to know God that I knew true love.  And as I’ve grown in it I’ve tasted that God is so good that I want to empty myself of anything not of Him.  Consider my heart was 10% humble/serving/good, 90% selfishness/sin/junk.  I could only love 10%… his love was not complete in me, so I could not love all.  And so over the years I’ve continually been repenting, letting go of sin, seeking Him, and growing in His love.  He commands us to do this!  And through this God took me from loving just my family, to loving friends, to loving fellowship members, to loving even the really hard to love.  While I am still learning how to love everyone around me relationally, because I’ve been able to take in so much of God’s love I can now say not only am I willing to die for Him (I want to be a martyr for Him!), I am also willing to die for one of His children (that means anyone).  His love is so powerful.  It is transforming me!

And so I pray the same for these kids.  I’m praying they will learn love… that I can plant as many seeds of love as possible and that in time the Spirit will be poured out and cause the seeds to shoot out and grow into trees of righteousness.  I see glimpses.  Last Saturday I let the 1st and 2nd graders watch a movie in my apartment.  I served them snacks and played a little with them.  Unexpectedly, two of the kids went to my fridge and made this…

“We love you JM – Soo Yun, Yoo Dal Woo”

We love because he first loved us.  Use us God.  Take everything we have, make us complete in You, and use us to reveal Your love to the world!

Todd Fields – The Beauty of Your Soul

This first video/picture slideshow was made by one of the VBS volunteers. 

This next one is just a short clip of the kids playing in the kiddie pool.  Listen carefully and you can hear Kee Baek saying my name “J-M” and another boy saying, “Babo” (dummy) to someone else.  And if you look carefully, you will also notice Jung Ho (or who I like to call “naked boy”) playing in the pool half naked.  Good times

This is just a random clip of the kids playing… this was my first video clip… you can hear me mumble halfway, “They don’t know its on video.”  The kids posing included Kee Baek and Yoon Ji (in the kiddie pool), Ye Rang, and then Joon Hyuk. 

One more random clip at the kiddie pool… Yoon Ji loves it when I chase her…

Did you know…

From 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 died of genocide during the Killing Fields in Cambodia in the 1970′s… this was merciless extermination of the educated/religious/handicapped (rape and torture also common)…
About 937,000 died of genocide in Rwanda in 1994
About 400,000 this century have been killed in Darfur, Sudan, mostly genocide (rape and torture also common)… this stat continues to climb, and many more killed in other parts of Sudan
Likely more than 3,000,000 dead of starvation in North Korea in the past 10 years (rape and torture also common in prison camps)… this stat also continues to climb

These are just a few stats of sadness, I was going to share a lot more, but I figured I would just stick to the most recent genocides/domicides.  Thats a lot of death right there… merciless death.  Witnesses in Rwanda claim that those doing the killing had an inhumane look in their eyes, a horrific/cold/merciless look about them.  The same was said of those who killed so many during the Killing Fields.  Christians weren’t prepared.  Few even knew or still don’t know that anything happened in these places.  And even in the aftermath, so few were ready to help.  Cambodia, now a few decades later, is still in shambles.  If North Korea were to open up and Christians could finally minister to all the starving people and thousands upon thousands of orphans… would we be ready?  I feel God pressing on my heart the need to wake up the church.  For too long I was deaf and numb to all the pain out there.  But now that my eyes are being opened, both shame and then urgency are coming upon me.  Some of my friends have seen some videos about North Korea and in their shock they don’t know what to do.  For now, we must pray for this world, especially the broken.  We need to pray for the church to wake up and to care for the broken and oppressed as God commands us (Isaiah 58, 61, countless other passages).  We need to be doing this now, no matter how old we are or where we are living.  Please pray for these things.  And pray for His kingdom to come, so all the hurting may end. 

Come, Lord Jesus.  Come quickly…

David Crowder Band - Come Awake (a song written expressing his prayer for the church to wake up and rise up)

Edit – This entry wasn’t meant to discourage, but to encourage prayer and action

Orphanage VBS pics!  This past Monday – Wednesday a bunch of my friends from the States and from church came and volunteered here, leading a VBS English camp.  It was the first camp ever done by outsiders here at the orphanage.  The kids were difficult the first day, but the last two days were really blessed.  I’m hoping we can hold more such camps in the future…

Yoon Ji and Yo Han

Our 6th grade girls

Il Ho (horse?) and Min Shik (sheep) before their skit

Community girl Eun Sook (cat)

Chae Hyun and Yo Han showing the cards they made for Pastor Chae in Crafts activity

Esther Kang leading the 1st graders in song motions

Kee Baek

Teresa and Kyung Mi (along with Joon Hyuk, who tries to be in every picture )

A 1st and 2nd grade class with teachers

Sun Hee (bat) and Hae Hyun

Crafts activity

Faith and Se Bin

Soo Jin and Dal Woo (sis and bro)

The volunteers (we need more brothers to step up!!!)

Thank you to all who served and made this camp possible!  The kids were blessed. 

I was sharing about the Holy Spirit during a prayer meeting last night and as I was sharing Scripture I realized something simple yet so important…

Creation of the world… Genesis 1:1-2 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Creation of Jesus Christ Son of God… Matthew 1:18 – This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Creation of the church of God… Acts 1:7-8 – He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 

The Holy Spirit was involved in the creation of the world, the creation of Christ, and the creation of the church.

Also, in Galatians 5:22-23 the author says “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  Notice that “fruit” is not plural?  That means that if you are truly living in the Spirit, your character will demonstrate each of those characteristics of the Spirit, not just one or two.  (Learned from a Tim Keller sermon).

Last, remember that it is not Jesus Christ that lives in your heart… Jesus Christ is currently seated at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19)… instead, it is the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8, John 14:16-17).  Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-26 is for us to experience the same unity He experienced with God… and that is through the Spirit of God.  It is the same Spirit that lived in Jesus that now lives in us.  That is power!

Galatians 5:25 – Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to be more active in your life. 

Merchant Band - Into Me

Beach trip!

This past Wednesday – Friday 70 of the kids and 17 of the staff and me went to Dae Chan beach on the West Coast of Korea.  To sum it up, we had a great time.    Here are some pics, nearly all of them taken by the kids here…

Min Ho (junior in high school) and me after arriving

Da Woo, Ye Rang, and Jung Hwan doing some exercises before getting in the water… only a few of the kids had bathing suits, the rest just wore a shirt and shorts… also none of the kids know how to swim, so a lot of them used tubes or stayed in the shallow area

Eun Jin (9th grade) and Yoo Ree (12th grade)… This picture is a good example of the “Korean picture look…” big eyes and a small closed mouthed smile

Kids playing in the water

Hyun Hee, Young Eun, and Sun Ran

Snack break… corn on the cob and some bread

Go Hyun (11th grade) and Jong Hyun (9th grade) posing as if for a magazine… with Mr. Pak (our manager) randomly in the background… Mr. Pak was one of Geon’s first orphans, he is now around 40 years old and married to a woman who also grew up here at Geon

My pictures from here on out have a weird glow, one of the kids had unknowingly hit an option on my camera

Sun Mi (4th grade), Hae Hyun (1st grade), and me with Go Hyun behind me… the two girls were my swimming partners for a lot of the trip… they would hold onto my arms and I would lift them up when waves would come… or I’d piggy back one and go into deeper waters while the other would hold on while in a small inner tube, I wish you could have seen their smiles and heard their laughter

We had a mini olympics Thursday morning… here two of the boys are fighting while holding one leg

Ye Rang and Ji Hoon running a relay

In the water with the kids… I burned pretty bad the first day despite wearing spf15… I forgot the sun is a lot stronger here in Korea due to the pollution… the second day I wore a hat

The kids holding onto me… I woke up with sore shoulders and soreness in the back of my neck each day from all the lifting, but it was definitely worth it 

Jung Hwan, Wee Suk, and Joon Hyuk playing in the shallow area

Eun Ji… this girl is so CUTE!!!

Ji Hoon buried in the sand

Dorm mother Hae Mi and three high school girls buried in the sand…

Byung Chul and me… the kids were amazed to see my sunburn, I don’t think they had ever seen a white person turned red before… its gotten better already

Little Ah Yoon passed out after a long day of playing in the water

God is good!  I’m thankful for the memories and the bonding time with the kids.  Next up is a VBS English camp here at the orphanage this Monday – Wednesday… please be in prayer for us, my hope is that in the future it will turn into a longer winter and summer orphanage mission opportunity.  Take care everybody!

God has been speaking into me lately just how real “We love because He first loved us” is (1John 4:19).  When I was a child I learned love through my parents.  They fed me, cared for me, encouraged me, protected me, taught me… and on and on.  So I loved them.  I loved them because they loved me.  Other people showed me love too and I was able to grow love for them… but it wasn’t until I personally knew God that I was able to love people who do not love me, even those who are mean to me.  And when I say love them, I mean be willing to die for them.

I have been blessed.  I had very loving parents.  But for some of the kids at this home, and for so many in this world, they were not raised in love.  So they have never learned how to love.  These are the people that are hard to love… why… because even when we love them it is like speaking a foreign language to them.  They usually aren’t going to respond or won’t know how to respond the first time.  Or the second.  Or even for a while.  It takes time. 

I’m realizing just how much of a need there is here, and in so many places, for love to be demonstrated… over and over.  I continue to pray for the Spirit to be poured out in this home, but I’m realizing that I need to prepare the soil first.  I have to love these kids good and plant blessed seeds… so that when the Spirit is poured out, they will respond and bear beautiful fruit.  This is my calling, and yours too… to love, especially to love the poor, oppressed, and broken (Isaiah 58).  So help us God.

David Regier(former GEM volunteer) – All Glory