Garment of Praise

My orphanage has been going through a lot of changes lately.  A number of staff have grown worn out and have quit or are planning to stop working soon.  I was able to talk and pray with a few of the dorm mothers last night.  I shared with them that my biggest prayer for the home right now is for a “garment of praise” (Isaiah 61:3) to cover our home.  In the natural as we look around at my home we see needy kids, different problems, lots of work, and seemingly little fruit.  In the natural, life can be discouraging. 

I shared with them Acts 16:22-26, how Paul and Silas were beaten and whipped severely because of their faith and then chained up in the inner parts of a prison, still bloody and hurting.  Rather than look in the natural, Paul and Silas chose to open their spiritual eyes.  They saw a big, loving, awesome God.  And no matter their natural condition, they had to praise Him.  And as they sang songs of praise, the ground below them in the natural began to shake.  Those chains that were holding them in the natural began to break apart.  Those doors in the natural that were imprisoning them all flew open.  As they praised God, all bondage and discouragement were broken and done away with.  God is good!

Please pray for my home that the staff and children of my home may be covered with a garment of praise.  Pray for us to be able to open our spiritual eyes and see our God for who He is: big, loving, and awesome.  Pray that through the praise all the chains, discouragement, and bondage in my home may be broken and done away with.  Thank you.  God bless!

Sledding pictures

A few weeks ago it snowed again and I went to a nearby park to “go sledding” with some of my kids.  We used cardboard boxes as our sleds… apparently it doesn’t snow enough for Korean people to buy real sleds.  Enjoy the pics!

At the hill, Sun Hee claimed me for most of the time… I love my ear warmers, no matter how goofy they look =)

Seung Hwan

Sledding with Sun Hee

With a few of the young girls… Soo Yun, Hae Ran, and Sun Hee (Seung Hwan about to push us)… we were on a long cardboard box I unfolded

Our cardboard sled fell apart as we went down… Soo Yun and Hae Ran both looking at the wreckage (I love their expressions)

Kids climbing back up… Soo Yun was okay with the wrecked cardboard sled after I told her that “now we have four sleds!” (the four broken pieces)

Soo Yun liked my ear warmers… the snow began to melt so our butts got muddy… fantastic

Climbing back up

Hae Ran and Soo Yun

Il Ho

This is my facial expression about 70% of the time when I talk with my kids… “Huh?  What?”  Good stuff!

Another climb back up

The cardboard kept ripping… Sun Hee and I going down on a small piece

Seung Hwan

Kids watching a random guy go down the little hill on a snowboard

Ye Rang… he got tired after a while =)

The park… pretty nice, right?

God bless!

Sensitivity

A lot of times when new kids first arrive at our home they are lacking a lot in love and attention.  Because of this lack of love, the kids tend to be extra selfish and insensitive to those around them, hitting the other children or activing deceptively to get their way.  The kids are unable to give love because they simply lack it.  They can only think of themselves.  This selfishness leads to insensitivity which soon leads to complete lack of good.  The genocides of the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge, and the country of Rwanda are examples where groups of people completely lost sensitivity to those around them and killed without mercy due to their own selfishness (driven by fear, power, hate, or other evil). 

Ephesians 6:19 – Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

The good news is that God’s love is greater than any fear, hate, lust, depression, or other evil.  In my two years here I’ve witnessed kids gradually transform as they receive love and healthy attention from the staff here.  Its like coming across a dried, withered plant, watering it daily, and watching it turn green again and stretch out in strength.  As love comes in, sensitivity does as well.  We no longer think about ourselves first, but we begin to feel other people’s hurts just as Jesus is hurting with them.  Colossians 1:27 says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  When Jesus’ love grows in us, we can’t help but hurt for those who are hurting.  And this love we receive from Jesus enables us to forgive even those who have hurt us the most, because Jesus Himself was able to forgive all. 

If you are struggling with forgiving someone or struggling with a certain sin, pray and ask the Lord to fill you with His love and give you more of His heart.  Fix your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).  You will soon find yourself not being bitter towards that person that hurt you or not fighting against that sin, but rather focused on Jesus, rejoicing in Him and what He has done for you, and able to let go of the things in this world holding you down. 

God is good!

This past week I attended three different high school graduations and I attended a fourth one a couple weeks ago.  We have 8 kids that graduated high school (four different schools) this year and they all will be leaving the home in the next week.  Its a sad time to see them go and it can be stressful for them as they face living life on their own for the first time.  But we at least are able to have a good time at the graduations and then eat a good meal together afterwards.  Here are some of the pictures from the graduations…

With Min Ho and his younger sister Eun Jin (on his left)

Kyung Mi dorm mother with Min Ho

With So Young and her dorm mother Min Kyung

With Soo Hwan

With Choong Hee

With Go Hyun, Pastor Chae, and Soo Hwan… you might notice Soo Hwan’s hair is a bit white… at high school graduations in Korea the kids will throw flour and eggs at each other after the ceremony and rip up each other’s uniforms… the reason being they will never have to wear the uniform again and they want to ruin it in the most fun and insane way possible… Min Ho (the boy in the first pictures) had his uniform jacket so destroyed and ripped that he threw it away and then washed his face before the pictures… crazy kids…

With Go Hyun, Pastor Lee (pastor of the church in the orphanage), Kyung Min, and Sang Kook

Go Hyun with two girls who used to live in Geon and graduated a couple years ago… Soo Jin and Yoo Ree

Go Hyun and Kyung Min with their dorm father Dong Min

The high schoolers weren’t the only graduates… we also had one girl (Hyun Hee) graduate from junior high school and four kids (no pictures of them, time conflict) graduate from elementary school

Here I am helping one of our elementary school graduates, Byung Chul, set his new watch (graduation present) while we ate a celebratory lunch together

God bless!

Orphanage Ministry Update – Web Guy Needed

The orphanage ministry that I direct here in Seoul became an NGO a couple months ago and we have been steadily growing, with volunteers spread out at six different orphanages in Seoul.  We are now in the process of planning a website… but we have a problem:  we need a web guy.  If you or one of your friends is skilled at making webpages and would be interested in helping out our orphanage ministry, please contact me at jm@comequicklyministries.org.  We can reimburse some, but not too much since we’re a non-profit volunteering group. 

I’ve been blessed by how God has been growing the ministry.  God has continually sent the right people into my life at the right time in order to keep the ministry growing.  There are times when I worry about certain parts of the ministry, but with prayer God has always come through.  God is good! 

We could always use some more full-time volunteers as well.  Care to take a year off and come to Korea to serve at an orphanage?  Just let me know.  We can set you up. 

This past Thursday was Lunar New Year’s (known in America as “Chinese New Years”).  It is one of the biggest holidays in Korea and everyone gets a 3 day holiday.  On Lunar New Years families in Korea gather together, dress up in Korean traditional outfts (if they have them), and the children do a bowing ceremony to their parents to show respect.  The parents then give the kids money and everybody eats dumping soup.  Fantastic!  Here at the Children’s Home we celebrate the day as one huge family.  Enjoy the pictures…

Our littlest ones (except our youngest baby) lined up… don’t miss Sun Ah at the bottom right

Jina receiving her money and a snack from Pastor Chae and Mrs. Chae, whom the children call Father and Mother

Our kindergarten kids…

Our 6th graders bowing

The little ones with Pastor Chae and Mrs. Chae… find Jung Ho, he is the boy picking his nose

Choong Hee and little Ji Won

With some of the junior high girls… these girls were all just below my shoulders in height when I first came here…

With Sung Hyun, Byung Chul, and Yong Shin… a natural shot, giving that Yong Shin is acting goofy (on his tip toes) and Byung Chul is hitting him for it

With our 8 high school graduates… they will all be leaving the home in the next two weeks, I’m going to miss these kids

With some of our now 3rd grade boys… these kids will be up to my shoulders in no time…

With some of the little ones, including Hae Hyun, our 8 year old girl recovering from liver cancer

One more picture with Hae Hyun

The prayer tree in my apartment (read the entry below to see whats on the leaves)… the fruits on the tree have answered prayers from last year written on them

In my apartment I have a prayer tree that at the beginning of the year I stick my English class students’ prayer requests to in the shape of prayer leaves.  We recently took down the requests from last year and wrote the answered prayers on fruit shaped cut outs.  Then I had the kids make new prayer leaves for 2008.  Here are the kids’ prayer requests for this year… I encourage you to pray the requests as you read them.  Stuff written in these (parenthesis) are added notes by the kids, stuff written in these [brackets] are added notes by me.  God bless!

Jong Hyun (16 years old, M) – To grow taller (over 180cm).  For the Geon soccer team to win.  To study better and get good grades at school (over 85).  For the health of Geon family.  To enjoy my second year of high school.  To become a more positive person.

In Chul (17 years old, M) – To grow a lot.  To be able to attend a good university.  To live a long life.  To have a nice home with my mom [he will live with her after he graduates high school and leaves our home].  To get a girlfriend.  To focus better on my studies and do well.

Kot Nim (17 years old, F) – To study hard and do well on my university entrance exam.  To study English well and become as good as JM.  For Hae Hyun to fully heal.  To study the Bible well and pay attention during church service.  To have great faith in God.  For the well-being of my father, mother, orphanage friends and JM.  To enjoy my last year of high school.  To not complain or curse, but to have patience when I am angry. 

This past Monday was my birthday, I turned 26.  Shalom room (the older boys) invited me over and as I came in the room they began singing for me a Korean blessing song.  Then they gave me a cake and sang Happy Birthday.  Enjoy the short clip…

After they turned on the lights I took out the knife and carefully cut the cake into enough pieces.  When the boys saw me doing this they laughed and said, “Don’t you know our style?  We just attack it!”  One of the boys first prayed for me and then I took a bite of the cake.  Right after that first bite the boys all attacked it with their spoons and in a few seconds the cake was gone.  It was good while it lasted…

The remains…

A couple of the boys caked me…

But I got revenge… first Young Sun

And then Chae Ho

Shalom Room boys

Shalom Room boys and Mi Jin dorm mother (why the hands I don’t know)

Then I was invited to Hope Room for some ice cream with the girls

With some of the younger ones…

Some of the kids came by my place at night to give me little gifts or cards… this cute goofball (Eun Ji) gave me a Christmas card for my birthday…

With Jin Seul

With Kot Nim

With Hyun Hee

With Se Bin

I wasn’t able to get pictures with each kids… I had a blessed day.  God is good!