Internet was down yesterday so I couldn’t update.  In fact, the entire orphanage’s power was accidently cut by some construction workers nearby.  The power was cut around 7pm, just as it was getting dark.  In the dorms and church it got really dark so we had the kids all go outside.  They loved it.  Kids are so funny. 

One of our 2nd grade boys, Dal Woo, hurt his shoulders while playing a couple weeks ago.  Something happened that caused some bones around his shoulders to drop (some weird medical term), so he has to keep his arms up all the time for a few weeks.  He can’t go to school because of it and he can’t even feed himself because he has to keep his arms up.  I would be so frustrated if that happened to me.  But Dal Woo?  He thinks its so cool.  I think some of the other little kids are jealous of him.  Goofy kids.  Dal Woo’s situation reminds me of that movie of that kid in ”Rookie of the Year.”  Anyone remember that movie? 

Right now I have a 3rd grade boy (Myung Bae) living with me right now because he got pink-eye (my place is the incubation apartment here).  He loves the National Geographic/Animal channel.  Right now he is sitting in front of the TV watching a show on hyenas.  Cute kid. 

I could update with more, but I think this is good for now.  God bless!

During a holiday this past week the orphanage all went to an amusement park.  The forecast was for rain all day, but the rain held out until the afternoon so we had a great time in the morning because barely anyone was there.  It began to pour in the afternoon, but we continued to have fun despite being soaked.  I stayed mainly with 7 junior high and high school girls during the day.  Enjoy the pics!

Our first ride was “The Viking:” a ship that would swing up high in the air (not a full 360) back and forth.  It wasn’t that exciting, but some of the kids scare easily.  Enjoy this sequence of Yun Hwa (white shirt) freaking out…

The beginning… “Yaaaay”

Towards the middle

Poor Yun Hwa…

Jin Seul the cook with Sun Ran peeking behind her

The Korean girl pose is to purse your lips and make just a slight smirk/smile…

That is me in the back, the only one tall enough for you to be able to see… I barely fit into the seat…

Soo Hwan in the batting cages

Soo Min, Go Hyun, and Myung Mook

Sun Ran, Jin Seul, and Yun Hwa

Lunch at the Lotteria (Korean fast food)

Sun Ran and I at one ride… both of us barely making the height requirements

The girls on a spinny ride that made me sick just watching it…

Round and round…

Family picture… two of the girls are sisters, can you tell who?

One of those rides that lifts you up and drops you… I began to realize that pretty much every amusement ride is something that swings you around or drops you really quick… good times

My favorite… Sky-X bungee swing… only two girls were brave enough to do it with me

Last picture (notice the Korean style smiles that almost look like frowns… only Yun Hwa showed teeth, and I think by accident)

We had some fun stories from the day… it was hard to get good pictures because of the rain and the running around, but I hope you enjoyed those.  God bless!

David Crowder Band – My Hope

Heart for the Muslims?  Would you like to give up your life for God? 

Below is part of an e-mail I received from Pastor Tandi in Indonesia about a “missionary training school” he hopes to begin.  Pastor Tandi is the head of a Bible college on the island of Papua.  Honestly, if God had not already given me the work and visions for the orphanage ministry, I would really pray hard over this opportunity.  The classes taught and the experiences in service will no doubt be amazing.  You would have to go way out of your comfort zone in going, but God tends to use us best when we do just that and have to rely on Him.  Read through it.  Its time for the workers to hear the call of God, rise up, and go out in His name! 

Pastor Tandi:  I have established a mission organization called Shalom Ministry Fellowship of Indonesia (SMFI). The main purpose of SMFI is to recruit and train people who are really committed for doing cross-cultural ministry to bring the Gospel to the receptive people and plant local churches in Indonesia. We will select the applicants carefully and train them for 5 months each term. The first term will begin  on August through December 2007. Every term we will accept maximum 8 people. Because the house that we use as training center and mission house can accommodate 8 people. We will teach them practice subjects that I think is needed in the mission field such as power encounter, powerful prayers, spiritual maturity, spiritual warfare, strategic and effective approach to win the Muslim, inner healing, team-work building, etc.

We plan to start in August and then in December we will send them to the places that need to be evangelized.

Please pray that God will send right people to be trained and equipped as good soldier of Christ Jesus who are willing to endure hardship for the Christ sake and for the extension of God’s kingdom in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world.

If you have friends who have burden for reaching the Muslims for Christ, please let them to be involved in this project. I believe this is the time to do God’s mission for reaching the Muslims in Indonesia.

We need four double-bed, cooking utensils, white board, chairs and tables for learning process. We really start this ministry only by faith. Our income is derived from donation of  SMFI members (11 people). Each of us made a faith promise to give for this ministry. Every month we need about US $ 500. We plan to provide all the needs of those who are trained. That means they do not have to pay the tuition fees.

This past Saturday we had a community festival at the Children’s Home… lots of games, activities, snacks, and even a little zoo.  I invited some of my classmates from Korean class for it.  Enjoy the pics!

Ji Hoon and Il Ho checking out the snacks

Young Eun and an iguana

Dal Woo and a little hamster

Dae Chul and a goofy talking parrot

Jae hammering some ricey goo into “Dduk”

Min Shik giving it a try

Won Bin snacking

With Japanese classmate Amano, his friend Yuka, and little Soo Rim

Chinese classmate Lyu Lyu, little Joon Hyuk, and Japanese classmates Na-Ohko and Meeho

With Hae Ran about to handprint a sheet

My handprint more than doubled hers

Jung Ho and Hyun Hee

My classmates with Kot Nim and Jin Seul in the middle… today was the first time my kids had met Japanese people

 Vineyard – The Lord is Gracious and Compassionate

Boyookwon (보육원) Kids… what are their backgrounds?

Boyookwon is translated into English as “Children’s Home,” not “orphanage.”  You see, only about 10 of the 80 children who live in this home are considered “true orphans.”  These kids parents died when they were young or they were found as an infant at the steps of the children’s home.  These kids have literally no relatives or family history.  Many of them, as they grow up here, consider the long tenured dorm mothers as their own parents.  All they have is what the home gives them, which isn’t much. 

The other 70 kids are here because of abuse, alcoholism, mental illness, poverty, or shame.  Some of the kids came from a broken home where the mother or relatives of the kids literally “hid” the children in a children’s home and ran away from their abusive husband.  Many of these mothers fell into alcoholism so bad that they are now hospitalized and have little chance of ever recovering.  Other mothers abandoned their kids to their alcoholic father and then social services took the children from their incapable father and put them in homes.  Other childrens’ mother or father died or disappeared when they were young, and their other parent was mentally ill and unable to care for them.  Some of these kids’ parents divorced and the mother or father who was willing to care for them ran out of money and was unable to care for them while having to work crazy long hours, so out of “last hope” they brought their children here, hoping in a few years they will save enough money to take the kids back.  And finally some of the kids are simply results of an affair between married people and were put away in the childrens home because of the shame the knowledge of the child would bring on each family.  I think the government allows this because if the child was forced to live with their real parents the family of their parent would likely abuse them physically or verbally. 

Lots of different scars here.  Of those 70, most of them also have cousins and aunts and uncles, some of whom are very rich, but these same relatives feel they have no responsibility for the kids here since they are not their own direct children.  Family identity is crucial in Asian cultures (China, Korea, Japan in particular).  To not have a family means you have no identity.  I’m learning just how important family is by living here.  Nearly all of the children here (those here not because of abuse) still want to live with their parent they know is alive, even if that parent is an alcoholic or shows little affection.  I guess as much as some people don’t like their families, they can’t ignore that they are made of the same flesh and blood.

Isaiah 1:17 – Learn to do right!  Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the cause of the widow.

Deuteronomy 10:18 – He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.

Psalm 68:5 – A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling.

Last Saturday was “Children’s Day,” a holiday here in Korea.  We celebrated by playing a bunch of goofy games outside in the morning and then having a little cookout together for lunch.  Enjoy the pics!

Yoon Ji and me

Eun Jin getting her face covered in shaving cream… she was the first person on her relay team… one by one they would have to rub faces and then whichever’s team last person was the most covered in shaving cream won…

I think this was Young Eun and Sun Ran, but I’m not sure

Yo Han and Chae Hyun, the last two

In between games, Ye Rang resting (I love this picture)

Team jump rope… sorry Min Je, the camera doesn’t lie…

This time it was Dal Woo

The staff were good at this (I had to do this too)

In this game the kids had big puzzle pieces they had to put together, it ended up spelling the three “Family Precepts” that Pastor Chae wrote for the home a long time ago

Next was an obstacle course, here are Ye Rang and Dal Woo (Ye Rang’s face a result of a previous part of the course, I think that was sugar powder on him)

Soo Hwan and Eun Song at the start of the obstacle course

Yo Han and Choong Hee napping while waiting for the meat to cook for lunch, Young Sun pretending Choong Hee is lunch

Little Eun Ho and So Yun (our orphanage’s dietician)

Jae proudly announced to me he had eaten 13 slices of watermelon, this is him trying to down the 14th

With Choong Hyuk, the tallest boy here… he is still growing and I think will pass me by the end of summer

Some of the kids receiving presents from Pastor Chae… almost all the kids either got new pajamas, shirts, or bathroom accessories for a few girls

We ended the day with the kids all letting go of balloons with their dreams written on small cards and tied to the balloon’s string

And last, In Chul, the pink eye boy who had to stay with me in my apartment (which doubles as the clinic/incubation room) for a few days, including Children’s Day. 

For about one month I had from 1 to as many as 6 boys living with me with different health problems, almost all of them chicken pox.  11 boys passed through my place.  Right now there are still three chicken pox kids here at our home (one of them discovered today); all of them are toddlers though so they are thankfully in the baby room.  In the past month all the kids in the baby room eventually came down with it.  I wouldn’t be surprised if more kids here get it soon too.  For now I’m enjoying my quiet, empty apartment. 

No More Men…

Yesterday I asked a Thai girl who is one of my classmates at our Korean school if it is true that more than 30% of the men in Thailand have had sex changes.  She said yes, and that the percentage is probably higher.  She said many men can only afford the breast implants, and some can only afford one breast implant and not both.  When she gave a speech about “What I Want to Do In Life” she left out marriage.  Afterwards our teacher asked her why and she told us she does not expect to marry because of the lack of men in Thailand.  She says there are now 3 women for every 1 man, mostly due to the sex changes, and the numbers continue to get worse.  And there are still many gay men who have not had the sex change.  She also said many of these men (after the surgeries) look prettier than the women.  Thailand’s population is well over 64.5 million people.

Sometimes its good to step back from our daily lives and see the world from a bigger picture.  Thailand has not always been a country of such immorality, it has just gotten worse and worse to the point that now the prostitution scene is one of its well known tourist attractions.  While thinking about the country I was reminded of the “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas” commercials in America.  Las Vegas now proudly advertises its immorality, and no one seems to care.

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.  They were haughty and did detestable things before me.  Therefore I did away with them as you have seen” – Ezekiel 16:49-50

“If my people, who are called by my name, (1) will humble themselves (2) and pray (3) and seek my face  (4) and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” 2Chronicles 7:14. 

Last Saturday I went with the 4th – 9th graders to Seoul Grand Park for a picture/essay contest among all the children homes in Seoul.  Enjoy the pictures, with a few puppy pictures thrown in at the end…

Hyun Hee, Sun Ran, Jin Seul and Young Eun

Some of the boys writing

Ah Reum

A lot of these pictures were taken by the kids, not by me.  This is Yo Han taking a picture of himself…

Seung Hwan and me

Soo Jin and me (I got a haircut the next day, don’t worry dad )

Min Shik, his fried chicken, and me

Sung Hyun and Young Eun

Helping Sun Mi with her painting, although looking at the picture it looks like I’m pulling a quarter out of Sun Mi’s ear

Eun Ji and Seung Hwan on the bus ride home

That same picture rotated upside down

Puppies!  We have a number of guard dogs at our home and one of them had 6 puppies last week.  Yay for puppies!

Three of them

Little guy

One more pic…

God bless!

Time to share another paper I had to write for my Korean class.  This one is titled, “Something I Want To Do.”  I needed a lot of help with this paper because the subject I wrote about is a little tough to explain.  The translation is below.  Enjoy!

하고싶은일

제가 북한애들을위해서 보육원을 만들고 싶어요.  한국에 왔을때 꿈이 있었어요.  5년동안 제가 한국말을 공부하고 자원봉사사자팀을 만드는 거예요.  제 계획은 첫번해에 자원봉사자 1명이 오고 다음해에 3명이 오고 세번째해에 5명이 오고 네번째해에 7명이 오고 다섯번째해에 9명이 오는 거예요.  그래서 한국에 오고 난후 5년이 지난후에는 자원봉사자 25명을 계획하고 있어요.  모든 자원봉사자들이 서울에 있는 보육원에서 살면서 자원봉사를 해요.  보육원에서 영어를 가르치거나 다른 과목을 가르치거나 다른 일을 할 거예요.  무엇보다도 애들을 사랑 하는 방법을 배워야 해요.  대한민국에서 자원봉사를 하는 것은 북한 보육원 일을 하기 위한 훈련이에요.  많은 사람들이 북한이 개방 되기를 원하는데 북한이 개방되면 사람들은 준비되어 있지않기 때문이에요.  한국 보육원에서 살면서 일을 하면 애들의 마음을 이해하고 사랑하고 돌보는 방법을 잘 배울 수 있어요.  한국에 오고 난후 5년이 지나면 먼저 북중국에 가서 북한 망명자 애들을위해서 보육원을 만들 거예요.  제 소망은 한국의 보육원 선생님들도 같이 가는 거예요.  제 계획이 어려운 꿈이라고 생각하지만 하나님과 함께라면 모든 것을 할 수 있어요.  그래서 저는 자주 기도 해요.  한국에 있는 1년동안 자원봉사자 1명이 왔어요.  올해에 3명을 더 보내달라고 기도하고 있어요.  하나님과 함께라면 모든 것을 할 수 있어요.

I want to make orphanages for North Korean children.  I came to Korea with a dream.  For five years I would learn Korean and form a volunteer team.  My plan is that during the first year one volunteer would come, the next year 3 volunteers, the third year 5 volunteers, the fourth year 7 volunteers, and the fifth year 9 volunteers would come.  So after I have been in Korea five years I would have 25 volunteers.  Every volunteer would be living and serving in a children’s home (orphanage) in Seoul.  In the children’s home they would teach English, another subject, or do some other sort of work.  Above all, they would learn how to love children.  This service would be training for the North Korean orphanage work.  Many people want North Korea to open up, but if North Korea were to open these people would not be ready.  By living and working in a Korean orphanage you can soon understand children (in particular broken/scarred children) and learn how to love and care for them.  After five years have past we will first go to North China to make orphanages for the North Korean refugee orphans.  My hope is that some dorm mothers/other workers from the South Korean orphanages will go with us.  I think my plans are a difficult dream, but with God all things are possible.  So I pray often.  During my first year in Korea one volunteer came.  This year I am praying for three more.  With God all things are possible.

Interested in joining the team?