FYI Opps

You got your money's worth today folks... 2 for one and I haven't posted for a month! LOL - ok I ment to tell you why my heart is filled with such joy. with in the last 2 Terms I have been building relationships. These relationships have taken much more time then I anticipated. But they have come. In the last couple of weeks I have had several students from the past some who have not been coming and some who have been coming to SDA ask me when the religion classes are. I scheduled myself to teach in the morning and not in the evening... Partly for selfish financial motives which i regret. Because i didn't pray and ask for guidance on such a matter. (the decision caused more headache then i care to discuss). But that's what I did. So now I know of several students who want to join my religion class - who are not even taking english at SDA language institute, But because of my poor scheduling I am having to teach them after my 9pm class. I cannot tell you the joy of reading with someone Genesis Chapter 1! Yes Genesis Chapter 1. I plan to go through the first 3 chapters and continue on to share the story of salvation with her. If you have any ideas of how to progress fromt there I am all ears. Think... teaching someone something as big as the bible for the first time. So many ways to start... So much to share! What a privilage. After 4.5 months this is the Joy from th refiners fire. Part of me wishes that if this is the reward for the fire, then CRANK IT! But one day at a time. One degree at a time. Little bites at a time. God is Good. Amen.

Refiners Fire

This is not my own blog and they are not my own words. But it is how I feel as a lay my head down to sleep tonight:http://scarbrock.blogspot.com/2007/12/refiner-fire.html

Zechariah 13-14, Revelation 21
Key Verse: Zechariah 13:9

"The process of refining metals is used in the Bible as a metaphor of
spiritual purification. In a sense, if you have something made of pure gold or
pure silver, it is made of the leftovers. Refining is a process by which
everything else is removed and only the pure metal remains. It is accomplished
through firing, putting the metal over the fire until it is a liquid from which
can be drawn all the dross.

Our lives are not pure gold by any means. God's desire is that we be holy as
He is holy. That means there are things that need to be removed from our lives.
It also means that He will assist in that process!

God's intent is not to destroy us but to purify us. Sometimes His method is
akin to the intense heat of the refiner's fire. Our response to the process is
crucial. We can either allow Him to work in our lives, cooperating in removing
that which is impure, or we can resist or rebel.

To His people, God sent the message through the prophet Zechariah that He
would "refine them like silver and test them like gold" (13:9). That is painful,
but look at the promise: "They will call on my name and I will answer them; I
will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'" The
blessing will be ours.

Don't resist or rebel against God's refining fire. Learn from the tough
times. Look for the ways in which God is using your difficulties to refine
you."

God has revealed a little bit to me today that it does take pain and suffering for us to fully rely on God as we should and that it will take some more rough times to get through to us what we should or shouldn't be doing in our lives. Sometimes (a lot of times) I miss judge someone or a situation before I take the time to get to know something or someone. I can admit that I misjudged/prejudged my new roomates before I gave them a chance. I believe in the past week I have built a closer relationship with them more so than I had with my prior roomates. It will come with time though. The purifiers fire is not an instantanious blast of fire, but a timely simmer. Although there is much pain. In the end there is much gladness. Through my pain and suffering I have made some poor choices. I judged the leadership of my company for loosing their vision. But it seems that I myself had lost my vision, and may not be entirely set on what my vision is yet again, but it takes a good second to tern a frigate ship back to the right heading. I am not quite sure if I am to stay at wonju or to venture to another place in seoul to study. I pray ... Psalms 5:8 to lead me and to put the plan in my face so i may know what he wants of me. Change takes time. TIme that I was to impatient to see. Please continue to pray for a solid vision for my future.

The questions we ask...

Why? is the question that every 2-4 year old asks anyone who will answer them. This is how I feel when I think of why God put me in a small non english speaking town of Wonju. Why am I here? Why could I not be put in Seoul where all my friends are. Where english is more prominent... Why am I stuck in a quiet town? And as I think back to what I have done in the past several weeks I begin to understand the role He has played.  And why I am here. I admit I do not know the full reason. And today was a hard day... Why am I here feeling like I am so alone? In the past several weeks there has been drama at my school... (to give some background). There are 3 teachers, Me the coordinator and another. The other 2 guys are leaving in about 3 weeks to go home. I will prob get 2 new teachers, and be the head guy. Well about 3 weeks ago the other 'normal' teacher (non coordinator) made the choice to go to seoul and not come back until monday morning after he had class... putting the admin in a tight spot. Some have the mentality of I'm leaving I couldnt get let go this late in the game... he's mentally checked out the first 2 months he was here... that was dec of last year.  well anyway... So the guys i am living with are not focusing on the here and now which makes it difficult for me not to think of home and what is going on. So I have a difficult time staying focused with people all around me discussing 'going home'. 

Why am I here? its a poster i have posted against my wall. To focus my attention on the main goals of why I am here. to be a missionary for christ. Who are you serving? What is your god, what consumes the most time in your life? Who should be my role model to impress? These are all questions we should all strive to answer daily. Sometimes its just difficult.  Mentally I have started a list of things that I want to do when i get home.  And yes taco bell and olive garden are at the top... los cebollas... :)  But i must remmeber why I am here... so that we can all go home. To sacrifice time out of my life to help someone else get the direction to our true home... This is a random post... please continue to pray.

God must laugh... and he must laugh hard. When we tell him what we are going to do with our lives. 

Leading of God

the emotions of life have carried me in many directions. but i know that God has his people where He needs them for a reason. It is by Faith that Abraham was lead out of his comfort on many occasions. And it was by faith that the righteous will be saved even before the ten commandments were given to acknowldege what lawlessness was.  So now I am here in Wonju, South Korea in faith. Days go by when all i can seem to acknowledge is the devil cowering over me screaming to me that i am failing in my mission. That my students are only there for english and that I am not upholding the christian name of the school. That I am not doing my best. That nothing i am doing will return fruits for God's Kingdom.... i will continue this thought in a moment.

When I moved home from College, I hit a large low in my life. i was removed from all of my social surroundings. Removed from the ability of filling the God shaped hole with my friends. I had to fill it with some thing. I was with my family but there was an aspect of my life that had disappeared and i didn't know what to fill it with. it was not that I had lost an aspect, but it was that God was revealing to me that I had been trying for several years to fill that void with somehting other than what He wanted me to fill it with. So i began a stronger walk with the help of several new friends. And that gave me a spiritual boost to carry on over the past severalmonths. 

An interesting and loving thing that I have noticed about God is that he is Kind and gentle and does things with a purpose. I am in the middle of 'no where' wonju s. korea. which is great cause i want to learn about myself and life and not fill myself with the busy aspects of this world. God does not try to change us all at once it takes time to mold clay (all though he may choose to start over on many occasions due to our stubornness).  God pealed away my friends from college, but allowed me to fill the void with other earthly things.  

Now again as time rolls on I feel him peeling other aspects about my life away to make me a stronger crusader in his ARMY. There is almost no one to hang out with here in wonju, (not only in the aspect of WOMEN, but also to buddy buddy with.) I am being forced to rely solely on Christ as a chumming buddy, or someone to hang with. Now i guess this is somewhat how the prophets (elijah and others) may have felt when they were standing on the 'promises' of God trying to tell the people there lives are a bit off course. Don't get me wrong, i am not here all alone but there is a difference in fighting a battle when you know your buddy is got your back, and when you have to constantly look around for someone to trust. (The people are trust worthy) It's just different, I guess. 

Now back to the top. Now I remember someone telling me that if you did not sense the Devil pressuring you in such a way then you weren't working hard enough or your faith was to weak for the devil to care about you. This may not be the case. Maybe some people are just ignoring the still small voice and accepting defeat. But the race is long and it will tough.
I know that the Devil is pressuring me every class period, attempting to keep me unprepared, trying to get me to live in a 'lonely' environment. To have a pitty party "oh you are all alone". But What is really happening is that Christ has gently peeled away my close circle of friends to allow my self to look to Him more and less to myself and others. To stop looking for the approval of others, and to look up for my approval. I am here for another... um along time... LOL. I must remember to keep the prayers going and the scipture rolling.  Please Remember me in your prayers. Escpecially in your morning devotions. My night class is my most difficult class, but I believe it will be my most rewarding. I miss you all dearly! 

Peace. 

Count it all Joy

I was listening to a book (MP3) that my father gave me about relationships with God. It came to a point and stated that the devils who drive is to cause a ruckus in our lives, and steal our joy. If he can succeed in doing that then he has won at least half if not more of the fight. Our morale is broken and we are easier to defeat in the spiritual battle for our mind. We are more apt to listen to his evil council.  

I also have heard pastors discuss about when they talk about writing a sermon, what ever the topic their sermon is about then there week is filled with problems on that topic. I wish I could free write my next sermon becuase of the ups and downs of Joy that filled my life this past week. SHort and sweet so sorry... It's sleepy time.

Slacker!

Some say culture shock lasts for about a month and then you get over it! Well it's true. I am starting to recover and Wonju is starting to feel like home. I am taking Korean Classes 2 times a week for about an hour in exchange for Bible studies 3 times a week - fair trade! But i want MORE! I will have to study on my own more. 

This is the end of the term for my students. I have been a little frustrated with some becuase they do not come as regularly as they should and i htink about half or more than half have dropped the class. I know this is my first term but i am a bit angry with myself for not doing a better job. It's a high learning curve. 

I am missing the social environment i used to have back home and the group of people i hung out with during orientation. I talked to my director alot about it, and told me i coudl come to Seoul and stay at his place anytime. I would love to do that on weekends but lately i have been to busy. Next weekend my I am preaching! I am terrified. If anyone has any Ideas what to talk about I am all ears! I want to talk about Joy! My main story will be about Horatio Spafford. He wrote the lyrics to 'it is well with my soul'. When i was younger i heard it from adventures in odysse. (FYI you can get those from the ABC - good for children). It was a story similar to Job who lost everything... but still hung on to God. Sometimes the Devil does that to me... I feel as though i am all alone, but the biblical teachings that my parents and teachers tought me come back to me.  Poems like "footprints in the sand" keep me chugging along. 

Last weekend was teachers retreat. It was a highlgiht for me because i got ot meet alot of new people. It was the goal of the Admin to get us to understand 'back to the basics' Go back to the manual and read it (I haven't read it all the way through yet); I have bad atitude sometimes to 'wing' it. Sometiems it's good, other times its not so good. 

The video part one was played at the first meeting, I didnt' realize what that would do for me 'socially' I would walk down the streets of the english camp (which looks like virginia beach) and people would point and say "bad teacher" or hey look it's chris... I'm so lost, how do you know me? But it worked out. I tried to be as helpful as i could to the admin team, who knows maybe that's where i'llbe someday. I dunno.  But for now my main prayer request is that I do better reaching out to my students and finding the time for bible studies. I will write mroe later... I need lunch...

Never let go.... David Crowder band

At times we fall. We fall hard away from God. The devil does all he can to lead us away from our purpuse, the plan GOd has designed for us.  He uses people, things, events, etc. Anything that will take us and our time away from giving God the glory he deserves. When I first arrived here i was on fire. Ready to serve. I stayed devoted and true. But as the schedule builds, so does the desire to be selfish and want time to do what I want to do, to spend my time the way I want to spend it. "oh i have 15 mintues" lets read the news.... (maybe you should read your devotions) naw... i'm not feeling it.  Then as a multitude of poor choices build, you feel under valued, like a cheap toy from a forgien land. But I must continue to be faithful.... The support from home is one of the leading sources of strength. Please continue! A good friend sent me the song by David Crowder band, Never let go, but i found a version that I think i enjoy that much more, "You never let go" by matt Redman. We may let go, but God never lets Go. And that hope from God and the love of my friends and support back home is what keeps me going. Thanks for all you do. And NEVER LET GO.

Bank Accounts Cell phones and farts!

God is truely amazing. When i first came to Wonju - South Korea, I was very unsure of my placement. I wanted to be in Seoul. I saw Seoul as a location where they held the best of the best teachers. This may be true to some extent, but a wrong assumption in so many ways. I learned that the schools in the outskirts of Korea get to select the teachers they want. So essentially they get to go shopping through all the new teachers.  And I was selected. I don't know why i was one of the few chosen - or the only one chosen to go to a small school. But I am slowly learning why God has put me here. 

 Today alone i have had 7 students accept my invitation for bible studies. All of my religion students and 3 from my english class. I am excited for the blessings that God has shared with me through this oppotunity! And there are still students who said they wanted to have bible study but were not in class tonight. I ask that you pray for them. And also pray for me as I try my best to lead them to meet our savior. I find myself thinking of Paul in alot of my blogs. How alot of his letters were telling the churches how he had learned the hard way and how if they dont' change certain ways then they will be lead astray.  

I am grateful to hear all that is going on back home - any news is truely good news! So posts are good! The work at the Ridgetop SDA church and the sanctuary sounds promising. I have to go and catch a phone call from a friend. God Bless and thanks for the prayers!

Enthusiasm

When a job is tough - stick it with enthusiasm. This is a journey that has forced me to learn such a lesson as this. Kids that can't speak the same way...try your patients. They are forced to do more then the average kid at extra ciricular activities and are drained by the time you get them, and as are you! Enthusiasm gets the job done. Then you crash on the couch in between shifts.

Teaching

Hmmm... teaching. It was not my first choice of profession. But as it seems God has found it to be something i enjoy. This is not where I would have guessed being if someone would have told me years ago. But I think the main reason is becuase He was working on me all this time, and still is. 

my first day of teaching was really rough. I was not as organized as I would have liked to be. But who is when they are trying something for the first time. You can't prepare for everything life throws at you. You have to try and do what you can and then let God do the rest, and adapt to what he has done for you. My goal was to make sure to pray at the begining of every class. The entire first day. I forgot. :( But God reminded me and I think because i felt so negative about forgeting the first day He will continue to remind me during the next year how crucial it is to pray in class. I am slowly warming my students up to who I am. I want to be able to remember there names with out any problems, but that will take some time. Especially with 2 classes with 20 people and only seeing them for an hour a day and sometimes only 4 days a week. 

    On weekends we have a voluntary class they can come to. Friday Night Program and other programs on sabbath. Pray that God can use me to encourage them to come. So that I can build relatinships with them. It's my 3rd day today and I feel like God has used me well thus far. Keep praying that my mind is open to his leading. It is interesting to look back at Bible Stories like Joseph and Moses. What did God do to them before he used them in his service? He led them out into the wilderness. To a place where they were totally dependant on him. It took moses 40 years to unlearn what the egyptians had taught him. And Joseph had to wait roughly 20 years to understand why God took so long and allowed him to suffer as he did. He has to take us out of our comfort zones so that we will fully rely on him and allow him to mold us to what works best for him, not us. 

    When I look back I see that this also happened in my life. Luckily it didn't take me 20-40 years to see progress. But i know God is not through with me yet. When I look back to before October I see that God took me out of my element. He took me away from southern back home and forced me to go out of my element. To talk to people i was unsure about, to speak and act in a way in which I could attempt to represent Christ to someone other than my family and church. He was preparing a way so that I could grow to build stronger relationships to lead others to Christ. 

     Please also pray for a friend of mine - we'll call him BOB for now. He's told his family that he does not want to be SDA anymore. And in Korea drinking is not seen as an issue. It's part of the culture here. Last I heard he came home drunk and his parents are worried about him. Please pray for the conviction of the HS in his life. 

Thanks for your prayers, 

miss you all - Chris

Wanju

I have now officially arrived at my school after a long stint in Seoul. I currently reside in Wanju. I start teaching tomorrow and am a bit nervous for what is in store. Understanding the culture and the people around is a bit difficult and transportation is not as easy as it would be since it is not downtown. I was told the town has about 300,000 people and from the looks of it very few highrises. The transportation is based on buses and much fewer taxis. The nice aspect is that my insitute is accross the street. So walking to work is the only option. Alot of uncertainty fills my mind.

Patience and answers to prayers

Not everyday you get bumped from the back of line to to front of the line in life. But this is how my life has gone in the past week. Upon recieving my flight itenerary from Seoul, Korea, I considered the thought that I should potentially pay extra dollars to ensure solid leg room for a long flight from Nashville to Seoul- The flight usually takes roughly 24 hours including layovers. However, I chose not to do to the cost. Calling ahead I discovered that 6 inches of legroom cost around $100 USD. Not something i needed to invest in. The patron on the other end of the phone also told me to check with the counter when i got to the counter. Well after some last minute prayers at the desk later on before departure I found out that i could enjoy more leg room due to an exit seat becoming avaliable. I thanked God and considered it an answer to prayer and figured that that would be it! No more 'promotions'. And come on how often does a promotion in class happen on any flight? I journeyed on to my Next stop in Denver, however due to strong head winds my plane was delayed over a half hour and then had to wait for an arrival gate to open. Which pushed me deeper into delay. However, God has a plan all setup.... I was bumped to a spot on another plane as soon as i walked into the terminal and placed in an coach plus which essentially gave me that 6". Once i arrived in San Fran. all the passengers unloaded from the plane and made there way to their destinations.  I got my gate number and started looing around... 95 ... 95 ... I saw all the way up to 86... then 87.... and it stopped.... I realized that i had to find the international terminal. Luckily I carried lots of books and electronics on the plane with all my heavy dress clothes! So i marched around the U shape from one point to the other.... and then made my way to the gate. When I arrived about ten to twenty minutes later, i set my stuff down, just as this happend my name was heard over the jumbled microphone. "Armandout C." I reloaded my pack up and carried it to the counter. When i Arrived they wanted to see my passport and information. They verified that my bags would make it on that flight... Then the thought came to me... "ask for mre leg room" Not neccisarily asking for an upgrade but an exit seat, an isle seat anything but where i was....in the middle of the 777. The supervisor looked up at me and then over at the worker, said something in Korean which i couldn't mimik.... The next thhing i know I was handed a 'golden' ticket! I was suppose to fly coach.... My ticket now said BUISNESS FIRST CLASS!  The next ten hours of my life were filled with bliss and amazing service. Mark 10:29, 30 Matt 19:29 This was read to me soon after I arrived in Korea. And I can list multiple stories from my journey in the past several days that this has been the truth - New friends, new experiences, new food, and total reliance on my God and Savior! God Bless and thankyou for your prayers. Please continue to pray for the people in Korea and the work that is here. The people are truely hungry for the word. My classes have not started yet but training is such that it keeps us all in check. !

Travel/Orientation

God works in mysterious ways. There were several neat things he has done for me this past week. Even though i am still not sure what time it is. He managed to bump me up to better seating throughout my flights. Everytime the better. One of my close friends in chattanooga gave me a book entitled "the shack" I have not finished it quite yet but it has been an interesting read. IT's whole story thus far is breaking down the stereo types that we put around God and all he can or can't do for us, and how we communicate with him. 

Not alot of exciting things happening quite yet. I arrived late thursday night, learned i am about 15 hours ahead of my world, got rough sleep, and am having a hard time adjusting from jetlag! The Korean people are extra ordinarily accomidating and nice. Very enjoyable to deal with. I dont' have a camera yet so no pictures, but i have a friend who is oging ot go to the market with me where i can barter for a good camera price! So i'm excited for that.  Thanks for your prayers.  time for bed.

New Beginings

Friends and Family, 

   This is one way in which i will be communicating with my friends and family back home in the states. Hearing from you will encourage me as I am working in His service. If you wish to contact me through VOIP, download the program Skype and add "troutthethird" as a contact. 

    I will fly from Nashville 7:30 Am Wednesday the 18th of February, And will arrive about 4:30 PM on Thursday the 19th local Korean time. The following week will be training and then it's off to teach for the next year. The company I am going through with will allow for great perks throughout the year including breaks every two months to enjoy the sights of Korea and maybe other places near by outside the country. Thanks for your contacts and prayers. 

Chris