Text Box: It seems the winter here has continued longer than usual (based only upon my vast experience of two previous winters).   It may be because I came here two weeks earlier for pre-semester meetings.   Anyway, most days have been in the 30s and low 40s.   Frigid mornings always make for good wake up weather on the way to school. My Classes So Far Once again the school assigned me to teach ¡°Basic Christianity¡± and ¡°Acts of the Apostles.¡±  Basic Christianity is a required course for every student at KCU, and of course, is my largest class.   At last count, there are 52 students in the class.   As I have mentioned in previous reports, even though KCU is a Christian University, very few of the students come from church of Christ backgrounds.   Some have no belief.   So the challenge always before me is to present material that is not only true, but also is in a manner interesting enough to engage the minds and hearts of my students.  The challenge is compounded by the language barrier.   I keep interjecting Korean words and phrases into my lectures whenever I can, but basically the class is taught in English.   Among all the students at KCU, the freshmen have the least ability and struggle the most with the language.   You can tell my delight when occasionally I see students nodding in agreement when they have gotten the point, or at least have understood the phrase in English.  (I keep telling myself that the head movement is not the precursor of a student falling asleep).   Both of these courses, ¡°Acts¡± and ¡°Basic Christianity¡± are vital to help shape new Christians as well as develop better leaders for our churches here in Korea. International Zone  This is the second semester of KCU¡¯s experimental ¡°International Zone.¡±  As a reminder to those who may have forgotten what this is, it is a specially designed area on the 4th floor of the main building where students can come and practice English.   Three American faculty members and a student from the Philippines are there on a rotating basis as volunteers to assist students who come with English questions, or just want to practice speaking and listening in English.   I am there a total of 10 hours per week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons).   Our first week the largest number of visitors came (curiosity seekers mainly), and since that time the numbers have fallen off considerably.   Yet, there are many who keep coming by on a regular basis.   During my time at the Zone, I present the students with not only English conversation practice, but 3 special events to help improve their English.   On Mondays, I do a one hour English Bible study.  Then, on Wednesdays, we spend an hour looking at recent English movies (with English subtitles).   I stop the movie frequently and we talk about the unknown words or ideas in the subtitles.   Our movie this month is ¡°Vertical Limit.¡±  On Fridays, I bring my guitar to campus, and I teach English songs.  Of the three events, the Bible study is the most well attended.   One of our constant visitors is a young Christian named Yoon Suk Hwan.  His English name is James Yoon.   He hopes to study in America some time, so he is really taking good advantage of opportunities to practice English at the International Zone.   He speaks English well enough to be asking serious questions about the Bible and church practice; things such as infant baptism, instrumental music and the role of the Holy Spirit.   All of these issues, as in the States, are also controversial issues among believers here.  M.T. Meeting Last year when I first heard about this 2 day retreat with students, I had no idea what it was.   At that time, one of the faculty members told me that M.T. stood for ¡°Member Training.¡±  That still left me with a blank look on my face.  I have since discovered that this 2 day, 2 night retreat is the same as a ¡°Majors Retreat¡± in the U.S.   Each group of students in a particular major, along with faculty in their division, leave Seoul and go to a  location about an hour and a half away from the city.   Here the students have a chance to become better acquainted with other students in their major, meet the faculty and participate in individual growth activities.  All in all, the event is a fun, refreshing time, as well as an enhancement of the student¡¯s skill in their major.    Attempted Robbery In the past, I have reported to you that the rate of crime is quite low in Korea, compared to other developed nations.   By far, the biggest crimes here are the white collar crimes; such as money laundering, embezzlement and so forth.   Street crimes are nearly non-existent, which is why I feel safe to walk any street of Seoul in the day or night.  However, I had my first jarring brush with crime when I returned to my apartment one evening.  I put the key in the lock.  It didn¡¯t turn.  Unusual!  So then I flipped the key over and inserted it the other way.  Still no movement in the lock.   More than unusual!   At this point, I removed the key, and looked more closely at the lock itself.  I could not believe what I saw.   Someone had tried to insert something (perhaps a screwdriver) to force open the lock.  The exterior of the keyhole was definitely enlarged and misshapen.   Suddenly, it dawned on me that I had been the victim of an attempted forced entry, and a possible burglary.   I was also stuck out in the hallway, and could not enter my own apartment.   I then called brother Yang, a long time friend who directs the B.C.C. program here in Korea.   He called a locksmith for me, who happened to arrive in only 10 minutes.   Brother Yang then came about 5 minutes after that.   The locksmith had to drill a hole through the lock to open it and let me inside the apartment.   After going inside, I went from room to room, and saw that nothing had been disturbed.   Staying in one of the extra rooms of the apartment these days is brother Kang Kee Young, the CBS producer who worked with me during the days of the radio broadcast of ¡°Bible English.   I called him at his job and informed him of the news.  He was very surprised and apologized for the ¡°bad people in Korea.¡±  I told him that every country has its share of bad people.  Brother Kang suggested that I telephone the police to, at least, report the incident.   I let him know that I would.   The police arrived in 5 minutes.  Although, the two officers who arrived had no idea who the thief might have been, they did tell me that this was the first report of a break-in, or attempted break-in in our neighborhood.  They also said that they would watch this neighborhood more closely in the future, and send a squad car down my street more often, as a way to let a potential thief that he/she was being watched.   I thanked them for coming out to my place so quickly.  I am also appreciative of brother Yang, who continues to help me in many ways.  I also thank God that the break-in was not successful.  My only loss was the expense of about $60 to replace the lock.   The new lock is a very modern one with one tiny circle for the keyhole.  The new key is shaped like a small pencil, so the lock will be nearly impossible to open without it.  Preaching at East-West and our New church This month I have had opportunities to preach at not only our new congregation, but also to preach on one occasion for the East-West Church of Christ.  This congregation was established by the late Haskell Chesshir, an early missionary to Korea.   Ironically, the current local preacher for the East-West congregation, Won Young Hee, was out of town attending an opening ceremony for a newly constructed building of a Korean church of Christ.   The new building is in Memphis, Tennessee!!  I told the East-West congregation that I was envious of their minister who was now in my city. Our newly planted church continues at around 25 members at this point.  We are looking into ways to better advertise and to stay in touch with the visitors who are coming our way.  The picture shows our group following a recent fellowship time.  Keep praying for us as we continue to grow.   Next month, I will report to you more about what our church is doing, as well as (hopefully) provide you with an audio sample of our church in song.   Until then, May God bless you and your work for His cause wherever He places you.    I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.                                                                                 Philippians 1:3-6                       March 2005 Report

Home