JEHOVAH-ROHI...

It has been such a long time since I've written and I have so much to tell!  I really need to start writing more frequently so that I can fully convey all that God is doing in my life here in Korea.  I guess a good place to start this would be where I left off... two weeks ago!

Two weeks ago I spent a saturday in Jinju... a city that is 1 1/2 hours from Changwon.  Bird and I travelled there by bus.  Our first bus, a city bus, took us to the bus station.  I have never seen so many people on one bus and I have never experienced such a crazy driver!!  I felt like we were on the bus from Harry Potter 3!  :)  Everyone was falling over as we took turns at high speeds.  As we safely arrived at the bus station Bird and I were quite excited to board the big bus with big comfy seats and nap the whole way to Jinju.  Well, we bought our tickets and hopped on to the usually seat-assigned bus.  Much to our dismay we found the bus completely full and our "seats" would be on the bus floor.  Ah well... what can you do?  :)  While in Jinju we spent a little time at an orphanage and then we made our way to the Lantern Festival... a festival remembering the Japanese invasion.  During our time at the fair I was surprised by the following:

• A "clown" (more like a cross dresser with face paint) tried to shove some homemade ?candy? in our mouths.  Good thing our mom's taught us not to take candy from strangers!!  I ended up with the ?candy? in my hand and, after tossing it in a bush, spent the next 10 minutes trying to rub off the stickiness.  gross. 
• At one point I smelled the worst smell ever... reminder: I've worked in an ER... I KNOW bad smells.  We soon after found the source of the stench... A man sitting with a microphone surrounded by 5 people.... burning their flesh.  Each person had a small, burning, green tube thing stuck to their skin somewhere.  I asked my students about this later and they informed me that it was a pain reliever... silly me thinking it was causing them pain!
• Woks of silk worms.  I guess this is a treat in Korea.  My students tell me they are quite healthy and delicious.  Maybe someday I will work up the courage to try them.  Bird got a little closer to these worms than she'd have liked when someone spilled their cup of worms down her leg.  awesome.
• I LOVE traditional Korean music, costume, and dance!!  I really could have watched these performances for days.  I look forward to the next festival so that I can see more!
• At nightfall the entire river lit up with giant dragons, warriors,  and other characters.  There must have been at least 50 different giant figures all down the river.  It was very beautiful to look at!

The next day I went to one of the English church services here in Changwon.  Typically the English service is separate from the Korean service but once a month the services are held together with headphone translators for the English speakers.  I truly enjoyed the singing... the Koreans in their language and us foreigners in English... How awesome to have us all singing to the same God!  At one point I got a little distracted from this awesomeness.  My distraction came in the form of a typo.  The words to the songs were on the screen in both Korean characters and English.  We were singing a song about being whiter than snow and on one of the slides, a frequently repeated slide no less, they had accidently typed an "s" where there should have been a "w".  In the word "whiter".  Needless to say this had all of us foreigners in stitches and unable to continue the song.  I enjoyed meeting new people in the service and had lunch with the foreigners.  At lunch as I was getting to know people I found that at a table of 10 strangers in South Korea I was sitting with someone who had graduated with me from Liberty and someone who had graduated from my high school!!!  SMALL WORLD!!!  

Something I am so excited about here are all the opportunities I'm having to share my faith!!  For example, a very well known Korean who was famous for her motivational speeches committed suicide last week.  This lead one of my students to pose the question, "what is true happiness and where does it come from?"  I can't tell you how excited I was at the obvious opportunity the Lord provided for me to share the joy I've found in Him.  Each student in my class said that they were still looking for happiness and the things that they thought would bring them happiness didn't.  God orchestrated the conversation so perfectly!  i was able to share about the unconditional joy that I've found in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  There was a lot of skepticism from the class in my answer... leading to a discussion about the existence of God.  I was the only one in the room who believed He even exists.  I challenged them all to observe me day in and day  out and realize that I truly do have real, unchanging, happiness and joy that can't be found in anything on this earth.  Hopefully these seeds will develop further throughout my time here.  God is so good! 

Last Friday I experienced a South Korea must.  Norre Bong.  AKA:  Karaoke.  Here you are provided a private room for your group only.  This is great because it allows you to sing several times. :)  The room was decorated with a gourd mural, old lady wallpaper, port holes, and shadow box flooring complete with the seven dwarves, flowers, and rocks.  Beautiful.  I had a great time singing with friends!

Although I know the goodness of God and see His blessings in my life daily, I still have my ups and downs.  I was really struggling with not having the spiritual accountability, encouragement, and fellowship that I'm so used to having.  My parents and I have been praying that God would provide me with a friend that was like-minded in faith and practice and who also had a strong desire to glorify God in the big things and the small things.  Last Sunday I visited the other English speaking service in Changwon.  I asked one of my students to go with me so that I would be able to find it and that I wouldn't have to go alone.  She gladly came.  I'm so thankful for Soona!!  At the beginning of the service all the visitors had to stand up and introduce ourselves.  Great.  After our introductions there was a time for greeting us.  At this time a blonde came running at me and hugged me saying that she was excited to meet me because she had arrived here in Korea the same week I had.  We started talking about how we were adjusting and we both had talked about how we both missed true christian fellowship.  At this point we both started crying... we knew that God had answered our prayers and had provided each of us with a like-minded friend who desired to live for God while teaching English in South Korea.  God is so good and so faithful!  Since meeting Jessi I have felt so blessed and happy to have such a great friend to hold me accountable and encourage me throughout my year in Korea.  The message that Sunday was about our thought life.  The pastor of this church is a baptist minister from Ethiopia and he preaches from God's Word.  For this I am so thankful!  After the service there was a time of praise and prayer.  At this time I truly felt the joy of being a part of the family of God!  I met so many people striving to live for God and glorify Him in their lives.  They were mostly English teachers.  Far from their families.  Far from the comforts of being "home".  How great it was to fellowship with so many people who are experiencing the same things I am experiencing!  I left the church feeling so encouraged, refreshed, and challenged to live a life for God and to see Changwon as my mission field.  Being a part of the family of God is such an amazing blessing that I will never take for granted!

That Sunday afternoon I was invited to go to a professional soccer game with one of my coworkers.  It was so great to get to know her and her family outside of the work place.  I am so thankful for such kind coworkers and the opportunity to spend time with them!  

This past week has definitely had some spiritual challenges, but these challenges have lead me to seek out God's truth so for these challenges I am thankful.  

Have I mentioned that I love my job!  I work with some amazing people and I have a boss that is very giving and helpful.  I also have the best students ever.  I am loving getting to know each one of them and about their families and culture.  Through them I learn so much about Korea!!  

From the mouths of my students:

• "We don't hunt deer to eat the meat.  We hunt deer to drink the blood and be strengthened."  Dad! If you're a real hunter you will come shoot a deer here in Korea!!  :)
• From one of my male students: "Last night I saw a very tall and strong foreigner.  I asked him if I could feel his muscles and he looked at me very strangely.  Is this not ok to ask?"  No.  No it is not. 
• While reading a news article one of my students had trouble with the vocabulary.  The word she needed explained?  Sex.  I guess once a health teacher always a health teacher!

Interesting apartment experience:  LAUNDRY.  So I had some issues with my Korean only washing machine.  Added to my confusion was the fact that the drain hose from my washing machine drains onto my bathroom floor.  Sudden flood in my bathroom was a little shocking.  Good to know for next time... I'll make sure there's nothing on the floor.

I guess I should start wrapping this up...you may be asking why JEHOVAH -ROHI.  The Lord is my Shepherd.  I lack nothing.  God has truly been my shepherd through this experience and I am so thankful.  I am listening to a sermon series in Psalms by D.A. Carson and was especially blessed by his message on Psalm 23.  I am so thankful that the Lord is my Shepherd and am humbled by what that makes me... His sheep. 

Praises:

• Jessi!!!  This week has been so much better because of her and I know that will be true of this entire year.  I am so thankful for this sister in Christ and her passion to serve God and challenge me in my own walk.
• Soona!  My Korean student who is also a believer.  Her testimony just astounds me.  Her family abused her for years because of her decision to be a christian and attend a christian church.  She has helped me out with so many different things.  She truly is a blessing in my life.
• Smyrna Church!  I am so blessed to have a church family here to help me grow and encourage me through all the challenges that lie before me.  
• HEIDI AND MARISSA ARE VISITING NEXT MONTH!!!  I can't even put into words how excited I am to have such amazing friends that will come out here and visit!  I can't wait!

Requests:

• Finances.  I won't get my first paycheck until November 9.  Funds are starting run a little low so I am having to be VERY careful.  But I trust God to provide as always has.
• That I would stay faithful and that I would have wisdom and discernment in the many decisions I am having to make while here.

Thank you for reading.  Thank you for praying.  Thank you for your many notes and messages... I truly love hearing from each one of you!  Love, Kristen

Sitting on the bus floor.

Bird managed to still get a nap...

Flesh burning pain relief.

Lantern Festival

Clown??!!

Precious girl at the orphanage.

Cool drum in Jinju

Play that drum!

Fortress in Jinju

Cool Dance and Costumes!

Norre Bong!

Sangin

Shadow box floors.  Yes... you do have to remove your shoes.

Awesome Norre Bong wigs.

STX Soccer

Coworker Julia and her family.

Parked car.  Seriously.

Top of a mountain right near my apartment.

Hiking. :)