What Was I Thinking?

All I can say is, "It's been a while." For five weeks I was living in China helping friends establish a school there. At one point last spring, I was the person who was going to move to China and be the principal of this school which would be for Chinese elementary and middle school students and any students from any other nationalities who want to learn or to improve their English. But God had other plans, so here I am in South Korea for another year serving the wonderful people of the Grace Mission Church in Seoul. I returned to Korea in mid-July and two weeks later I was on a flight to China with two suitcases, one filled with textbooks for the school and the other filled with my clothes. I arrived on a Sunday afternoon to discover that the keys to my Airbnb rental were unavailable and that I would have to find another accommodation for the foreseeable future. I ended up staying in a hotel for three nights before I can could into my Airbnb place for the next seven ...

My feet are back on Korean soil or sidewalk outside the airport... The summer is flying by and I have flew back to Korea on July 13 arriving July 14 due to crossing the International Date Line which puts me 13-14 hours ahead of my friends and family on the East Coast of America, depending on the time of year. As I begin writing this on Friday morning, my parents are getting sleepy and thinking about going to bed on Thursday night. When we talk online, one of us is usually eating breakfast, since my breakfast lines up with their evening at home or my evening at home matches up with their breakfast time. Afternoon here is sleeping time there and afternoon there is sleeping time here. Sometimes I have things I want to tell them, but I have to wait until they are awake to call them. I am grateful for the technology that allows us to bridge the great distance between us. As I was riding in the car with my parents on Wednesday morning to Logan Airport in Boston, I was thinking about ho...

My last blog entry was written in South Korea. Today I am writing from Scarborough, Maine, my stateside home. Last night it rained hard and today the skies are gray. It has been three days since I returned from attending the Greater Grace International Convention in Baltimore, Maryland where I met friends I haven't seen since last June and stayed with my brother and his family. I went to Baltimore hoping to hear from God about His future plans for me, and I got an answer. Since my last blog, I have spoken at the Pastor Bob White's Grace Bible Church in Gorham, Maine, at Pastor Peter Vreeland's church in Pinhook, Maine, at the 75 State Street Independent and Assisted Living community in Portland, Maine, and at Barbara "Mutha" Shorette's monthly Bible study in Dresden, Maine. Each time was a blessing for me, since I was able to see the people who have been praying for me and supporting me on the mission field. It seemed that everyone had heard ...

By this time next week, if I am still here on the planet and everything goes according to plan, I will be sitting in the living room of my parents' home in Maine and my long flight from Korea will be behind me. I have been doing a bit of flying lately and although I appreciate the convenience, flying is only a means to an end and not an end in itself that I enjoy all that much. Since I have moved to Korea to do missionary work, I have done more flying in two years than most of the rest of my life altogether, and my luggage is starting to show some wear and tear. This is a good thing, I suppose, but I wonder how Pastor Scibelli flies so much and doesn't lose his mind. I returned from another trip to China yesterday. My day began around 6 AM at my hotel, packing, checking out, bargaining with the taxi driver for a ride to the airport, negotiating check-in, immigration, and security, and then literally chilling all alone in the cold departure area until some other travelers fina...

This month I was blessed to receive a visit from my mother and father, Pastor Bruce and Kay Dunbar. We had been planning this visit since my trip home to America last June, and for them to finally set foot on Korean soil was the result of prayer and faith. It is a long journey from Scarborough, Maine to Seoul, South Korea, one that began with a bus ride from Portland, Maine to Boston, Massachusetts, then continued with a flight from Boston to Detroit, Michigan, from Detroit to the airport in Incheon, another bus ride from Incheon to Uijeongbu, and then a ride in the car from the bus stop to the house where I am living. My parents would be the first to tell you that they are no longer spring chickens, and the travel took a lot out of them. Blessedly, we arrived at the house at bedtime and they were able to shower and go right to sleep. I had many things planned for what I believed would be my parents one and only trip to Asia. I wanted to show them how I lived, the...