Text Box: Winter in the USA Since winters tend to be long and cold in Korea, schools have traditionally held their vacation time through most of December, January and February.   This time has been great for me and a chance to be with my family again in the States.   During my break at home, we were able to travel to Baltimore (spending 20 hours in the car with our son Brandon) to see my parents, brothers and sister and their families.  To the right, you can see one of those rare times where most of the Kinders are together. After returning to Memphis, Vicki and I later went to Gulf Shores, Alabama for Vicki’s not often enough “beach fix.”   Upon returning to Memphis, I came down with a bad case of painful stomach cramps, vomiting, and generally feeling worse than death.  It lasted for about 5 days.   Only later did I find out from the evening news broadcast that it was probably Salmonella poisoning from tainted peanut butter. Winter is always a good time to spend with many of you and share what is happening in Korea these days.   I reported to the Eastside Church of Christ in Baltimore (one of my supporting congregations) on December 24.  On February 18, the White Station Church of Christ saw many of my Korean slides during their Mission Sunday.   This generous family of God had hoped to raise $47,000 for missions.   By that same evening, they had received over $52,400 to fund various mission projects, both locally and globally.    Spring semester begins at KCU The main kickoff activity for Korea Christian University is the annual Orientation event for new students.  Over 350 incoming Freshmen, faculty and staff traveled about 90 minutes east of Seoul to a beautiful mountain retreat center.   We spent two days in getting acquainted, worshiping, listening to special lectures on leadership and what to expect from a Christian university.   The event finished with several group pictures outside the facility.  It is hard to believe that we squeezed over 300 people on a flight of stairs.  Check out the picture on the left. My courses this semester include Basic Christianity, Paul’s Letters and Gospel Studies.   This is the first time I have had all repeat classes, so I will be able to spend more time in polishing this material.  Maybe I can squeeze in more time for language study and work with our church here.     HanMee Church of Christ It is always good after being away to return to a congregation and see familiar faces.   Our congregation has acquired several new faces during my absence.  We now have about 30 people who regularly attend.  Perhaps I should leave more often.  Our next big step is to move our assembly into the bigger room at the Bible Correspondence Center facility. I usually don’t like to have to think too much for a few days after crossing 15 time zones, but the church scheduled me to preach the first Sunday upon my return.   This was only after being 2 days in the country.   Fortunately, I was informed about this before I left the States, so I had already prepared something to say.   This meant that my only task that Sunday morning was to stay awake while I said it.   New communion set for HanMee Due to the generosity of the White Station church of Christ, we are now worshipping with a beautiful communion set.   Our old set was cumbersome and ugly, as well as having lids which were difficult to manipulate during the service.   Our new set made from beautiful Oregon myrtle wood, though only slightly used, looks brand new.  The congregation here loves this new set and is very appreciative of our sister family back in the United States.   More calls to preach elsewhere A minister in one of our southern city congregations recently contacted brother Yang, the director of the Bible Correspondence Center.  He stated that he was nearly burned out, and would appreciate some help with his preaching.   If Paul and I can arrange transportation costs, as well as an accompanying interpreter, we will try to go there at least once a month to help.     Korean Language Study Even though I understand more and more of the language here, and am daily recognizing more of the formerly puzzling words on the thousands of marketing signs hanging on every building throughout the city, I am still far away for being able to teach or preach in Korean.  Luckily, I have found access to free language courses at the Korean Cultural Center.    I attended my first class last week.  It was fun to be in a United Nations setting, where I was the only American in the group.  The other students came from Pakistan, India, Germany, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and France.     I Need You As you can see, there is always more than enough to do here.   The latest census figures show that South Korea has a population of 49 million people, with its capital Seoul having about 23 million.  What can one person do in such a place?   With your prayers and the help of our Father, we will come to know. "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, "  Philippians 1:3-5                                   March 2007

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