Sung Joon… the newest to our family

The little guy was super tiny when he first arrived a few weeks ago (he was 10 days old when he first arrived).  With some good love and attention (and consistent feeding) I’m sure he will fill out quickly. 

Pictures!  Recently the TV show, “Lineup” visited our home and the hosts of the show (a goofy comedic-cooking show) made lunch for our kids. 

Aside from our young boys, most of our kids were too shy to come out or get close… here are some of the boys standing at a distant, watching

Korean celebrities… I don’t know them, but apparently two of them are well known

Hyun Hee and Sun Ran (waiting for the food)

Young Eun and Yun Hwa

Min Seung and Hyun Hee

Eun Ji getting interviewed for the TV show

Holding Sun Ah

Our beloved cleaning lady with some of the younger kids

Sun Ah wanting some of the radishes

One of the TV guys talking with our young boys as they ate

Two of the TV guys trying to interview a super shy Dae Chul (hunched over and mumbling, the poor guy )

Here are a few extra pictures of other orphanage volunteers with their kids.  The kids are wearing hats that I had received from a lady in the State’s whose sister is mentally disabled and is only able to knit these hats.  Her sister makes a bunch of them and has sent us a couple boxes now filled with the hats.  Since my kids all have them, I’ve distributed them to other volunteers in the ministry who serve at other homes. 

Volunteer Menya with one of her girls

John with two of his girls

Sang Min with two boys

God bless!

GOD SPEAKS IN DREAMS

Tonight during English class with my high school students I did a mini Bible study, teaching them how God speaks in dreams.  Although my kids have been taught the Bible a fair amount, they were totally unaware of how often God spoke in the Bible to people through dreams and visions.  I quickly shared examples of God speaking to Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, Mary and Joseph (Jesus’ parents), Peter, and Paul all in dreams.  There are tons of other examples.  I lived for 25 years of my life not really knowing just how much God speaks to us in dreams.  I guess I always expected God to speak directly in a crazy manifestation, but reading the Bible you see God spoke mostly through symbolism in dreams (stars, moon and sun bowing to Joseph, 7 skinny cows eating 7 fat cows for Pharaoh, a huge statue destroyed by a stone for Nebuchadnezzar).  When you think about it, Jesus used parables when He taught, giving the people illustrations that oftentimes they would have to pray over and use discernment in order to learn from.  Dreams are very similar… unless we pray for help in interpretation and use discernment we will never fully know what the Lord might be trying to tell us.  I’ve learned to journal my dreams, particularly the ones where something specific stands out to me or when I’ve felt a specifically strong emotion.  Light bulbs seemed to go on over my kids as they listened and I’m praying for the lesson to bear good fruit, that these kids begin truly hearing from the Lord as they sleep. 

Job 33:14-15 – For God does speak–now one way, now another–though man may not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds.

Pictures from the past week… little kids, Fifa soccer tournament, and SNOW!!!

Soo Rim, Min Seung, and a running Won Bin trying to get in the picture (weird picture)

With the kids, a surprise kiss

Better pic

The Fifa soccer (video game) tournament… this was a 3 day event lasting about 4 hours a day… here is Eun Ho against Min Ho

The kids loved the tournament and are already looking forward to the next one

Byung Chul against Soo Hwan

The championship… 5th grader Yo Han against 11th grader Soo Min (even our dorm father Dong Min was interested in watching)

More and more kids came in to watch

Soo Min won so he got the grand prize… a box of chicken!!!  Nice!!!

Snow!!!  I made a snowman with these three little ones… Hae Ran…

Sun Hee…

and Eun Ho

Some boys teamed up for a snowball fight… I participated in the madness for a bit, but never dared pull out my camera to take pictures amidst the fighting, too risky

Joon Hyuk and Yoo Jin working on a baby snowman

The baby snowman

The papa snowman

Some of the kids with their creations

With Kot Nim, amidst the snow

North Korea

Today John and I met up with a pastor who helped start a small orphanage in north China for some North Korean refugee orphans.  He also helps run a business that supplies food aid into North Korea.  It was good to hear his stories and learn from his experience.  One thing he emphasised to us is the corruption/chaos in both Noth Korea and China.  Because of this he knows the orphanage could at anytime be broken up and the children sent back to North Korea.  The same goes for the food aid and for the other refugee help work that he helps do.  All the work is high risk.  I understood this before, but hearing some of his stories really made it clear.  It was obvious all the work he was involved in was only able to happen because of God’s providence over it all.

Talking with John afterwards we had to confess to each other that such work would require a lot of faith… it is work that can only be successful if God’s favor is fully over it.  It is easy to look at that type of work and feel inadequate for it.  I can already see though how God has been training me for it.  I remember in college my greatest faith jumps were leading a small group, a short term mission team, or committing my school work and quiet times to God.  Those “acts of faith” seem small now, but at the time they were big for me and helped grow me up.  Now I find myself having to commit my orphanage ministry to God because the volunteers are constantly coming and going (living in Korea for a short time), the orphanages here are somewhat unstable, and there is only so much I can control on my own.  Everything else I have to simply commit to prayer and trust that God will take care of it all.  I know God is growing my faith.  I pray that I may continue to grow to the point that I feel totally secure in trusting everything to God and living in His true peace, knowing He is with me. 

This is the verse that I have been leaning on more lately…

John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

Oil Spill Trip

Recently I went with the junior high and high school kids to Taean beach where there was an oil spill.  The kids had wanted to go to volunteer and somehow we got the funding and were able to do it.  The beach was a sad sight and the cleanup was tedious, but it was a good experience and I had fun bonding with the kids.  Here are some of the pics…

Putting on our cover all suits while on the bus

Goofy girls

With Yong Shin

I think this is Soo Jin, Young Eun, Jin Seul, and Se Bin… I just thought it was funny how the wind would blow and turn our coverall suits into fat suits

Kids descending onto the beach

Go Hyun cleaning some of the rocks… that was our basic job, to rub the oil off rocks around the shoreline… very tedious, but it was about all we could do

Lunch time… we were served Ramyun (instant noodles) by some volunteers at the site… Se Bin is the one looking up

Me going for all my noodles at once as Kot Nim looks on

Sun Ran

Sun Ran’s name written on the back of her suit

A small crab amidst the muck… still alive

Boys cleaning and talking

Yun Hwa and Kot Nim during a break

Hyun Hee…

The kids wondering how far they can go out in the muck (I knew this was not going to end well from the start)

Dae Chul and Eun Ho trying to make their way back

Yoo Jin sinking deep

“I’ll just stick my hands in to pull out my feet”… not good… she ended up losing her boot, but I dug it out of the mud for her

Taking off our boots and suits after a long day of service

Wearing those suits reminded me of my engineering work from a few years ago.  This picture was taken back in the spring of 2003 when I worked as an intern in a clean room (memory chip fabrication plant) back in Richmond, Virginia (I’m in the middle).  I really can’t imagine how my life would have been if I had ended up being a full time engineer back in the States rather than coming here to Korea…

God bless!

Last night I took one of the games my sister had sent me for Christmas (the game “Trouble”) to the girls room and played it with the younger girls.  It is a tedious game, but it has the plastic half bubble that you press down causing the dice inside to flip around and the kids can’t get enough of it.  What started out as me playing with three of the kids turned into a 2 on 2 on 2 on 3 team game.  My job was just letting some of the kids sit in my lap (to the point where I couldn’t even see the board), keeping the group from the competitive quarreling, and giving high fives and praise when a good dice bounce would happen.  I loved it when one of them would pop the bubble, get a good roll, and then look at me and say looking for approval, “I did good, right?”  Yes, you punched that bubble well.  Cute kids. 

If you haven’t seen the “Geon Christmas Play 2007″ video, please scroll under this update and watch it.  That said, I’m a bit behind with my picture updates.  Here are pictures from that performance night, with a few extras from another day… enjoy!

The little ones performing… cute stuff…

Our young elementary kids waiting to perform their dance

Hae Ran and Sun Hee

Soo Rim and Bum Yong (bro and sis)… good news is they will be able to return to live with their mother later this month, we will miss them though

Min Je, Se Bin, and Sun Ran… the kids love the camera…

Ji Hoon

Hyun Hee and Kot Nim

Hyun Woo and Byung Chul

Yo Han and Myung Mook

Won Bin

Kids playing their Korean recorder… I always forget the name of it…

Cheerleaders…

My English students after the performance night (watch the video of the skit!)

With some of the girls outside afterwards

With Soo Rim and Ah Reum

Our kids performing again at the big “Seoul Orphanage Gathering.”  A bunch of orphanages gathered and each had some kids represent them with a performance.  Our kids did a song with the older boys playing chimes and the younger kids playing their recorders… sounded good…

A Korean comedian (“Gag Man”) was the emcee for the event and grabbed our boy Choong Hyuk for an awkward interview after the performance… good times…

Some of our kids watching the show

Some of our kids not watching the show… Jae and Soo Hoon

Good times.  I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and a happy new year.  God bless!