Giving Thanks 감사의 기도
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”Psalm107:1
Greetings from South Korea! What a blessing it has been to spend the fall months here in Gyeonggi province. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Korea for five full months already, soon to be six. Many things have been happening over the past few months. First, I’ve been able to develop a number of wonderful relationships with Korean teachers at my school. We enjoy going out to dinner and movies, they really like introducing me to Korean culture. I am so thankful for their friendship and thankful for the opportunity to get an inside look at the Korean way of life.
Second, after what seems like months, I’ve been able to find some foreigners to connect with whom also teach in public schools. Living cross-culturally can be difficult at times especially when you are surrounded by people who don’t speak your language. Having English speaking friends has never been more of a blessing.
After being with my students for these past five months, I’ve gotten to know many of them much better. It’s difficult to get to know each every student individually when you have 300 of them. But little by little I’ve been able to see their personalities come out and develop relationships with them. These kids are fun and energetic and it has been a lot of fun interacting with them both in and out of class!
Korean Kindergartners Attack!
I was asked in September to teach the kindergarten class once a week. After coming from a job in America teaching preschool age kids, I was reluctant to agree because I had a feeling I knew exactly what I would be getting into. Lots of high energy kids who don’t speak English every week was sure to be a difficult task. My first day in class was hilarious because the kids just stared at me in confusion and awe (some of them had never seen a foreigner before). It only took about 1 week before they were comfortable around me, babbling to me in Korean, asking for high fives, jumping around the classroom showing off their jumps and somersaults. It turns out that these kids have great potential for learning English at their young age and as crazy as they may get sometimes, they try really hard to listen in my class and follow instructions. They are now one of my favorite classes to teach each week. They have interest in everything I do, from songs to dances to puppets and videos. I’ve seen more progress in them over the past 2 months than many of the other classes, including the 6th graders.
A funny story about my kindergarten class. The students are so active and fun, that at the end of the class they like to run up and give me high-fives. They can get pretty wild because they are all pushing and shoving each other out of the way to slap my hand. One particular day at the end of class, I happened to drop something on the floor. I decided to get down on my hands and knees to pick it up; it had rolled under a chair where I couldn’t reach it. One student decided to jump on top of me; it took less than 5 seconds before the entire class joined in, all 17 kindergartners. The best part about this is that at that exact moment, the principal of the school, my boss, walks by the classroom and looks in to check on the progress of the class. It was probably one of the funniest moments of my time in Korea. Luckily he has a sense of humor and was laughing at me as I pushed the kindergartners off me one at a time. The kindergarten teacher was so appalled by her class that she ran, screaming in Korean, across the room and started grabbing kids as fast as she could. I was laughing pretty hard at that point, eventually she calmed down when she realized I wasn’t upset. She is constantly worried that the kids are too crazy around me and that they “bother” me. What she doesn’t know is that after working with preschool kids last year, nothing really bothers me anymore, when it comes to little kids.
And so…
This experience in Korea has been such a wonderful one, but it is not without it tensions and difficulties. With the presence of North Korea so close to where I live, it has really given me pause to reflect and think about many things that I had taken for granted for so long. I have never been in a situation where I’ve actually had to consider what steps I must take if the country I’m currently living in is suddenly attacked. I’ve been blessed to live in countries where I have always felt safe and secure. Being in this situation opens my eyes, ever so slightly, to what so many people around the world go through everyday. Ultimately I am at peace because I know God is completely sovereign and in control. However, it does shed light on those others who also live day to day in fear and makes me realize how blessed I truly am.
Praises
· My close relationship with my co-teacher Moon, she is such a wonderful teacher and friend. It is such a blessing to have a Christian co-worker.
· My friendship with Ducky, the teacher who drives me to church with her every Sunday. Ducky has two daughters, a 15 year old and a 10 year old, and they have become like family to me. I spend a lot of time with these wonderful girls, I am so thankful to have them in my life!
· I was recently evaluated by the Korean Office of Education, and I praise the Lord that the evaluation went very well! Because of which, I will more than likely not have to be evaluated again for the rest of the year.
· I’m headed back to Japan again on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas with my family! All five of us will be getting together in Nagoya for two weeks!
Prayer Requests
· Please continue to pray for my study of the Korean language. I am now able to read and write Korean, however, I have still a lot more studying to do. Conversations are still difficult, though I can get by with some basic conversation skills. Please pray that I am able to absorb a lot more of the language while I’m here.
· Please pray for the planning of winter camp. After Christmas break, I will be having a 3-week long winter English camp.
· Pray for one of my students, a 4th grader named Jack (his chosen English name). A little boy from a very troubled background, currently living in a home similar to an orphanage. Over two months ago he got into a lot of trouble at school and even disappeared for a couple of days, police were even involved. I’ve developed a friendship with this little guy over the past few months and with all this trouble that has happened, I’ve committed myself even more to giving him as much love and attention as I possibly can. He’s been showing improvement in English class, which is wonderful. He goes out of his way to bring me things that he has cooked in his after school cooking class. He’s a wonderful little boy, but has already seen so much sadness in his life. Please pray for him, and pray that I am able to fully and truly demonstrate Jesus’ love for him as his teacher.
· As tensions rise between North and South Korea, please keep both nations in prayer. Pray for the people of North Korea, many of who are facing very harsh conditions this winter with little to no food. Pray for wisdom for the leaders involved, for the Koreans as well as the world leaders working towards a resolution. We should never cease our prayers for peace.
I thank you all for your diligent prayers for me. I am so thankful for each and every one of you who not only take time out of you very busy lives to read my updates, but also to respond and pray for the prayer requests! Thank you!
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