What Was I Thinking?

This morning I woke up early, showered, shaved, ate a couple of pieces of toast with jam (thanks again, Connie) and hopped into the white van with Pastor Sejun. He drove me to Nokyang Station where I caught the 7:45 southbound train on Line 1. I transferred with the masses of commuters to another train at Changdong Station and rode standing all the way to Myeongdong Station where I exited and climbed the hill to Yeomyung School. I prayed as I entered the school building and headed to the art classroom in the basement where we meet on Thursdays to teach English Bible class. I rearranged a few chairs around the long, rectangular table and wrote out the chorus to Our God Is An Awesome God on the whiteboard. Then I wrote the names Jacob and Esau on the board and a few bullet points about each of these two sons of Isaac to save class time since we have only 45 minutes. The students entered the room and we exchanged greetings and smiles. A student opened the class with prayer and I taugh...

This is the house where I am living. I am on the first floor. That is the upstairs neighbor's dog. It is Thursday night here in South Korea, and maybe I should close my eyes and go to sleep, but I have decided that it has been too long since my last blog entry, so I am writing. This week marks my first full schedule of work here with Bible college classes, Bible studies, and services, and I am getting a sense of what a typical week will be like. Monday: Wake up, prepare for the day, head out the door at 8 AM to pick up a lady named Jenny to bring her to Bible college. Arrive at the church at 9 to prep for class and have a season of prayer. Teach Church History from 9:30 until noon. Eat lunch, then return to my office to read, preview video classes, perhaps nap, work on a message for Wednesday service, etc. Eat dinner and then teach the same class again from 7:30 - 10:00 PM. Head home and arrive my 10:30 PM (I hope) and go to bed by 11 PM. Tuesday: Same as Monday. Wedn...

The past month has been a time for me of settling into life here in Korea without Pastor DeVries and some of the other constants that were in my life last year. During this new beginning, I'm still trying to figure things out. This afternoon I took a break from preparing for Bible college classes to have an adventure of sorts. First, I drove to the gas station to put some LPG (liquid petroleum gas) into the white van. It was my first time buying gas in Korea. Next, I drove to the local Costco store. I made a few wrong turns, but my visual memory and general sense of direction got me to the store where I purchased my first Costco membership card. Having purchased the card, I did some shopping with the little money I had left over after buying gas and the membership. I bought cinnamon raisin bagels, cream cheese, and orange juice, then treated myself to the hot dog lunch special and a honey almond sundae. Satisfied with my purchases and my meal, I set out to drive home, but I was ...

It has been nearly a month since my last blog entry and much has happened since that one. I moved back to South Korea. I attended the East Asia Conference hosted by our church. I went on a missions trip with members of our church. During this time, Pastor DeVries came and left again for a year's sabbatical in America. Breakfast by Tain with raspberry jam by Connie Morehead Oops! We ran out of gas on the way to the airport Pastor Mark Minichiello came to Asia for his first time and ministered to us at the conference before returning to his life in Baltimore. Pastor Mark tries bibimbap Bless the Lord, O my soul! Mike Colby came for a week and traveled and ministered with us on our missions trip and then flew home to his life in Budapest. Preaching! Saying kimchi, cheese, whatever... just take the picture! Now I am settling in to life in a new home, Pastor DeVries' home in Uijeongbu, where I am living with Tain Palanun and Pastor Se...