Day 28

There’s an old song that goes something like, “Lord, Don’t Call Me to Africa.” And today, I really wanted to change the name to “Lord, Don’t Call Me to Korea.”

The Lord is stretching me. In ways I am not fond of stretching, nor in ways that I thought were possible to stretch. He likes doing that though, I think.

Ok, so I didn’t go to bed til like 2am last night, and then woke up several times throughout the night and could not fall asleep because I had some pretty significant pain in my spine. I think it is a pinched nerve. And I just couldn’t sleep in any position that was comfortable. It was not a good way to start the day. I probably got one, maybe two hours of sleep.

I talked to Leah a little later today, and I got some drugs to help relax the muscles around the spine and icy hot and junk and spent the morning trying to get better. It helped a little. Went to lunch after a long morning of attempted napping and stuff. Teaching in the afternoon was a lot of fun, actually. All we really did was prepare for the parent’s night tonight. The kids were really sad that “teacher was so sick.” It really didn’t stop them from talking up a storm, or having a FIELD DAY when it started to pour. They were just distracted. However, Parent’s Night turned out really well – they did their speeches and we played an idiom game and I praised each student separately in front of their parents. I’m not sure how much they really understood, but that’s ok. It took an hour.

Pray for us. Today has been rough not only from the pain in my spine/neck, but there seems to be confusion over the communication over when our contracts end with the college here. This won’t affect when I fly out, but pretty much if I get any days off before we leave to sightsee/buy souvenirs. It’s kind of stressful for all of us to be told today we’re actually working an extra camp that we didn’t plan on. So, we’re serving Jesus, seeking Him, and relying on his strength so we (I, in particular) don’t stress and get premature heart disease.

Lord, you can call me to Korea, if you so desire. Because I love you more than I might be frustrated with Korea today. And that’s what matters.

Please pray for my neck/back. It still is giving me pain as I write tonight.

Day 27

Today was a great day. We worked most of the day on speeches, with idioms and reading and writing interspersed. It went really well. The kids and I are on the “same team” now, and we have a good relationship. They worked really hard on their speeches. They are supposed to be 2 minutes long, but I’m realizing that’s really hard for some non-English speakers, so after telling them time and again “Add four more sentences!” I think I’m just going to be happy with 90 second speeches.

After lunch, we had a game that raised tensions with the team members. We still love each other, don’t worry. Basically, we had to travel to the five different classrooms for 10 minutes apiece as we tried to cram all kinds of trivia about Korea. And then we had to play a game show and answer questions after cramming in our five different classrooms. Most stressful thing yet. And our whole team winning and getting a pizza party kind of came down to this last game. And today our team started in forth place. No pressure, Joshua, but if you want to escape kimchi tonight, you need to do well.

Well, I won. It was awesome. And the grace of God. I remembered things that I didn’t even think I remembered. For instance, one of the questions was how many calories are in bibimbap? The answer is 730 kcal. That was a random number that popped into my head – and I was right. Maybe now I’m starting to realize how I got through college with all A’s – good cramming skills.

We won, but we lost overall first place by two points. Sad day. And I was told if I taught my kids better, I would have received more points. Sometimes, I don’t think people exactly know how they say things, but it just reminds me to be careful how I phrase things. We like to be results-oriented in the United States (and apparently Korea), but results do not define people, nor to they give or take away worth.

Had a fun night at the rally – it was crazy hair night. We spent like 20 minutes just spraying hairspray and mouse. Hard to breathe at times with all of that. Then we played a few games – pumping the tunes are my thing. Rocking it like it’s 2010.

Watched “What Happens In Vegas” with the team tonight, and then had a good, good talk with the team until like 2 am. So pumped for this weekend.

Day 26

Today was awesome. And I’m trying to remember why. So hopefully you and I realize by the end of this post.

This morning, I don’t think I wanted to get up – I feel like I feel like that most mornings – like I never get enough rest. Oh, last night I talked to a good buddy of mine and it made me pumped to see some of my friends in the States when I’m back.

Anyway, so got up this morning. Walked into the classroom this morning not really motivated, but got a lot accomplished…11:50 happened on me before I was actually ready for it. Did a fun project about writing a schedule for a lazy day that the kids really enjoyed actually. Got to experience what some teachers do with high stakes testing – had to take a lot of heat because my kids had the lowest scores on their idiom tests – and I really didn’t know what to do with kids who just have no motivation to study. I’m going to have to try harder this week.

Anyway, went to lunch, and after lunch, we worked on their speeches they have to give when their parents come this weekend and I have to teach in front of them for 2 hours – yeah, found out about that today. YAY! That took up all of our grammar time, and probably will for the rest of the week. I’m not too bummed about that haha.

Did the art station, and snuck upstairs to score some grilled cheese sandwiches in breaks, where we lock out the kids and just make them for ourselves, haha. They were SOOOO good. A little bit of American heaven. When the kids were banging on the door to be let it, I frustratedly shouted, “See, that’s what it’s like to be forever separated from God’s glory!” ☺ Maybe we make too many spiritual jokes because we can’t evangelize directly and they couldn’t hear us anyway.

During group game time, all of my students started showing me their appreciation – and I also experienced that in reading some of their speeches – they think I am kind. One wrote, “Sometimes, he gets angry. But he tells us “Good Job” and that makes us feel better.” And we had good team bonding, though we are probably in last place after today (getting the worst grades on the idiom test didn’t really bode well for us either). But it’s cool.

We went to Stu’s house for dinner tonight. He is a fellow teacher we’ve been teaching with since our first week. We had grilled chicken, pork, and hamburgers, Can someboday give the Lord a shout of praise?!?! Hallelujah! It was positively glorious. Eric pulled me into the inflatable pool on the roof with my shirt on…and then he pulled Amanda in with a dress on. I think she was the unhappier one out of the two of us.

After we left, we went to the rally and I played all Disney songs. They tried to (very unsuccessfully) run a game of Steal the Bacon. Royal Rangers has trained me well in the game of ‘Steal the Bacon’ and it failed on every level tonight. Eric walked over to the sound booth saying “I HATE THIS GAME!” lol.

Had a great talk later with Eric and Dan about the dreams that the Lord is giving Dan. I’m eager to see where he ends up.

Finished Amos tonight. I have like 4 minor prophets to read tomorrow.

That’s all. Woohoo!

Day 25

Did you ever have one of those days where you just want to write the un-recommendation letter to the Lord (and everybody else) about why you’re completely unqualified for him to use you? That’s what I went through today. Something like “Lord, this is how I’ve messed up Just TODAY! How are you ever going to work in me when I am probably going to make so many more mistakes that just what I’ve done on this trip? What if I have a bad attitude tomorrow, or the next day? Lord, What do you even see in ME?”

I guess we all have these days. I felt a lot like Zacchaeus in the Bible. He didn’t even really pursue Jesus – He just kind of watches him go by from a tree. He doesn’t even really feel worthy to go down and try to seek Jesus out – but he is intrigued. So he just chills, because he doesn’t really feel good enough to go and talk to Jesus. And Jesus looks – and sees him, right where he is. Tax collector and cheater and slime of the earth that He is. And Jesus calls him down, and goes and shares a meal with Him. Why? It’s not like Zacchaeus even pursued Jesus.

But this is what 1 John 4:10 says “Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that HE. LOVED. US. And sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

And in my mopey mood of “Jesus really shouldn’t love or choose me because I am not really good at living life perfectly,” I came across Hosea 2. The prophet is talking to a generation who has REALLY screwed up – they’re going to be exiled because of their massive amounts of sin. Yet, the Lord still loves them. He says,

Ok, Israel, you’ve messed up, but let’s try again. I’m going to woo you into the wilderness and we’re going to start over. I’m going to show compassion to you (Yes, I know you don’t deserve it.) And I’m going to call you mine (yes, though you have rebelled time and again). You are my people, and [you] will say, You are my God.

Wow. I’m not deserving. Neither were Zacchaeus or the Israelites. But to quote a [ex]popular song, “The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair” (Relient K, for those who appreciate citations). Maybe today, the Lord is trying to teach me, and perhaps you, a little bit about grace.

Unmerited. Undeserved. Grace.

Thank you, Jesus.

Day 24

Hello USA people. Today was good. I’m trying to remember what exactly. Nothing too eventful. I taught English. Most of the day. Then I worked the art station and had them make headlines and illustrations about what they liked about English Camp. They flattered Amanda and I, as we were their judges. My team told Amanda that she was a great dancer and that I was very handsome. They didn’t win though because the other team owned them with better pictures. We also snuck up to the cooking station and scored some Grilled Cheese – SANTO! It was so good!

We had devotions. I shared from Hebrews 12:1-3: Persevering, and fixing our eyes always on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Such powerful, timely words. We also spend some time encouraging each other.

Oh, another thing I thought about today. Daniel, and his friends had to face culture shock too – and with the Lord’s help, the succeeded, so much so that they were promoted to government positions even while being foreigners. That’s awesome. Another thing I thought about today with that story is that Daniel and his three friends asked to be put on a special diet. Obviously, this had to do with their dietary restrictions that the Lord gave the Israelites. But I wondered – wouldn’t most of the people Daniel was with have also been Israelites? And yet we’re only told Daniel and his friends asked to abide by it? I want to be one who serves Jesus even when other people who supposedly do fall by the wayside. Anyway, just something to think about…

Played an obstacle course tonight. I got to play some electronic music I never thought I’d listen to when I got it for free off iTunes…now those free singles of the week are coming in handy! Also played “Duel of the Fates” from Star Wars – some of the kids told me “Teacher! Play different music – this music is scary and we don’t like opera!” Haha.

Thank God for Eric Billstone. He is a man of God and I am honored to be working with him. He’s sound and grounded and I don’t know how sane I’d be if he wasn’t my roommate while I was here.

Prayer Request: Lindsay and Dan start a new camp tomorrow for Japanese students. These are students who weren’t good enough to study at universities in the United States, so they’re going to a Mormon camp in Utah after this camp for a year – pray that the Word of Truth would be presented to them and the Holy Spirit would open a door for Dan and Lindsay to share their faith in the next two weeks with these students.

Thanks about it. Shalom. From Korea.

Day 23

Woke up this morning with plenty of time to get ready and go to church. But the same can’t be said for the whole team. So we were a little late in getting to church. Normally we’d be arriving at church by 9:30; we got there around 10. So Aubrey didn’t get to do special music, and we came in during the sermon. It was a cool service, from the little that we got to experience. Eric gave a testimony during the “English Zone” part of the service at the end. It was good.

We were supposed to go to Gran Piato, the great Italian restaurant, but we couldn’t find the lady, so we just went back to the University. This may be a record for the shortest amount of time I’ve ever spent in a church on a Sunday. Literally was in and out. After this trip, I also won’t be driving to church anymore. That kind of excites me. Worshipping Jesus without fear of persecution or spending money on gas to get there. It’ll be sweet. I’ll just have to pole vault over the privacy fence that separates my yard from the church yard and leap over giant puddles/snow/rabid gophers and I’ll be there lickity split.

We came back, ate in the café (which was pretty spicy, but tasty). There was only meat and rice that were somewhat appealing to me. Came back, journaled about yesterday, did some emailing, and then Bible reading and took a glorious Sabbathical nap. It was amazing. Woke up when the A/C decided to shut off (it does that a lot) and I was sweating up a storm. Read some in a novel I have here, and then later we went for dinner in the café I think. If I recall, all there were was some dumplings that were really good. Lindsey scored some soy sauce – and that made the meal better.

Eric, Leah, Lindsey, David, Dan, and I headed out with Yoshi (that’s not her real name but I can’t remember what is) to an old Korean village tourist spot thing. And we didn’t know we were going there, or we would have taken cameras. But it was sunset so I don’t know how many good pictures we would have gotten anyway. We made our way into the town and walked around window shopping. Not my favorite activity, but whatever. Stopped at a great restaurant called Asian Spoon. Eric and I had creamy chicken pasta. It was for like 8 dollars – so good. Shopped a little more, Lindsey and I discussed missions, families, and relationships. Took the bus home after Dan & David bought some clothing at a store that reminded me a lot of the Gap.

On the bus ride home, I was thinking about Jesus, and satisfaction in life. Am I completely satisfied in who Jesus is. Moreover, am I so satisfied that I long for nothing else in life because who He is and what He did on the cross is totally enough for me? Something I’m going to be thinking about this week – putting the cross before my eyes and thinking about how Jesus is everything – there’s nothing more I need.

Day 22

Today we got to sleep in a little bit – and then embarked on a journey to visit a Korean public swimming pool. Let me paint the picture for you. We disembarked off the huge tour bus that we’d just spend 45 minutes from the University, and then we had to make lines with our teams. The kids were then kind of ordered to do about 20 minutes of exercises before we entered the pool area. This was kind of crazy to watch – I guess the idea was to make them sweaty before they got to enjoy the pool. The sky was very overcast when we first arrived, and the weather was cooler than it had been all week. We walked to the “section” that had been designated for our group (probably 90 of us in all). We strode past the pool, which has five mini-waterfall/sprinkler things spraying above our heads and into the pool below. The water was very cold. There were also two other smaller pools with short waterslides, and a few kiddie pools.

Our area was marked with a giant blue tarp for all the kids to sit on. The kids were then allowed to change into their suits, one team at a time. And when they got back – culture shock, round 3. A good majority of all the males in Korea seem fond of sporting very small, tight swimsuits. Most of them are in the speedo form. In addition to this very different sight at a public pool, almost all the children wear swim caps. Combine that with half of them wearing goggles, and it was quite a new experience for those of us from the States. I leaned over to one of my friends, and I said, “This would be the most ghetto swimming pool if we were in the US.” It truly was.

We had a great lunch. I thought it was beef, rice, and cheese, and we also got mayo and soy sauce for toppings (I used the latter, not the first). I learned later that it wasn’t cheese, but shredded fried egg. Whatever, it was delicious. It was hard to find a place to sit to eat it – the blue tarp was covered with 75 or so children, so David and I eventually found a bench along the wall that was tilted so that if you didn’t have your feet on the ground you’d probably fall off. Eventually, it dawned upon us that we were in someone else’s seats, and they congregated closely. So we went over and found some “poolside” longue chairs next to Leah and Aubrey to eat. The afternoon consisted predominately of throwing people in the water, including soaking me with a water bottle and then throwing me in when I was dry, haha. Some of the guys also threw the PA’s in after they had changed into their dry clothes. Eric and I fell asleep on the way home. Question: why is it always the hottest time of the day after you change into dry clothes and leave a pool?

Got back, everyone enjoyed a good nap, and then we met for devotions. Amanda and Christy have TV in their room, so after hearing from Eric about Cross Cultural Servanthood from Jesus’ perspective (Phil 2), we gathered round and watch August Rush before going to change and go to dinner. We took the bus all the way into downtown Jeonju, and ate at OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE! Pure awesomeness! Medium in Korea seems to be a little more rare than Medium in the US, but that was ok – the sirloin was delicious. I hope God never calls me to be a vegetarian. It was a lot of fun fellowship and taking a “Sabbath” from English camp and just having a relaxing night with friends and fellow teachers. Lindsey, Aubery, Eric and I shared a table. We discussed the difficulty sometimes in trusting the Lord, and other people. Sometimes it’s easier to trust people over the Lord because we’re physical, yet sometimes it’s hard to trust people if we’ve been hurt before. What is important in both cases is to try to fully realize the incredible fidelity of our Heavenly Father. As I’m journeying through the canon, I’ve realized Israel really screwed up – like royally, but the Lord never abandons them. Even in exile, the Lord doesn’t forget about them, and promises a time of restoration. Such a principle I could do more to internalize. The Lord is faithful. Through the ages.

Not much left to say. My family is now in Bolivia. Pray for them over the next week as they do missions work with local missionaries down there.