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.