South Korea: Virginia Tech

As you may have heard, the 23 year-old student who murdered many of his fellow students at Virginia Tech this past week was from South Korea. I want to take just a moment to give you insight from this country's point of view. I have heard that the South Korean government has offered their condolences and hopes there is no animosity toward the South Korean people. As for my personal experiences, many of my friends know that I am from Virginia and I have have multiple Koreans approach me not only to see if my friends and family are okay, but also to apologize and say how it has made them very sad. One of my Korean friends made sure to call me (even early in the morning) to be sure I knew I had his sympathies. I have appreciated their genuine concern and how the impact is being felt here in Korea. I feel I can honestly say that our hearts are with America as it grieves this tragedy.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4)

Happy Easter From Korea!

While it may seem I've become lax in updating this blog, I still desire to use this blog to record the bigger events that happen in my life here in Korea, as well as give my thoughts on them. That being the case, I must write about the week before Easter. April 2nd- April 6th was one of the biggest weeks for me being here in Korea, specifically related to sharing the message of Christ.

I mentioned in my previous entry that I was planning on sharing the Easter story with my classes and that it exactly what happened. Drawing pictures on the white board for visual aid and doing a self-dramatization, I asked questions and taught my way through the Message of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Hundreds of children got to listen to the lesson in more than 20 classes! They also got to learn the symbolism of the egg at Easter and why Good Friday is considered 'Good', even though that is the day we honor Jesus Christ's death.

It was a special time for me, and it was wonderful to see how the students took on to it. Their eyes would follow me around the classroom and during the different parts of the story they would go from laughing and smiling to being sad and imaging the pain on the cross to surprised that Christ is alive and the story is real! One class even scooted their chairs to the front of the room on their on initiative when I told them I was going to share a story with them. At times, I felt the weariness that can accompany evangelism (sharing the Gospel back to back to back) but I quickly found renewed strength and really enjoyed the task.

I am not sure of all the prayers that go up on my behalf while I have been here in South Korea, but I want to say thank you to those who do take the time to remember me before God. I love seeing that my efforts are not in vain, and I love sharing with you the work that is going on here and how you are connected to it.

Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come. (Luke 11:2)