Text Box: I apologize for letting time get away from me so fast.   In just a few days, I will head back to the States for a welcome vacation with my family.   Before I board Korean Airlines early this coming Sunday morning, I am taking time to reflect on this past spring in Korea.   Teaching continues Just when I was beginning to get into the groove of teaching here at Korea Christian University, the Bible chairperson handed me two brand new courses to teach this spring.   Both of them were missions classes and not in my usual teaching area of New Testament and Church History.    Although at least one other faculty complained to the department head about giving me courses not in my usual area, the semester’s schedule had already been written in stone and could not be altered.   My two new classes (in addition to teaching “Acts of the Apostles” and “New Testament Theology”) were “History of World Religions” (an encyclopedia course in scope) and “Cross Cultural Missions.”   I knew I could handle both of the courses, but they would require a mountain of preparation.  Perhaps that is why the semester seemed to fly by as quickly as it did.  Now, as I give the final exams this week, I am hoping that my students learned something in all these areas.   I know that I learned the most.  The second new course, “Cross-Cultural Missions” was especially helpful as I continue to learn what I need to be doing here in this very different culture of Korea.   Move to new place For anyone who has moved, one will recall the all the “joys” and “headaches” of the experience.  Did I say “joy”?  That word arrived about a month after the move.   Anyway, due to the expired contract with my apartment, KCU moved me to a new one.  On April 24, the movers came and picked up all my furniture, clothing, household wares, blankets, towels, etc.  Unfortunately, I could not enter the new apartment until April 26.   I stayed over at the Bible Correspondence Center teacher’s apartment for those 2 nights.   My furniture stayed locked in the truck until Saturday afternoon when it was delivered.   I have now finished my first 2 months in the apartment.   The size is considerable smaller than the former place, but other advantages, I believe, will outweigh the negatives.  For one, it is a lot closer to the University.  Campus is now only about 2 minutes away on foot.  The apartment butts up against the same mountain on which KCU sits.   This means when I look out the kitchen patio window I can see KCU’s main building in the distance.   Better still, when I look out the living room patio window or my bedroom window, all I see are the beautiful acacia and oak trees rising up the mountainside.   I have slept with the window open for several nights, and enjoyed the sweet aroma of the acacia tree wafting across my bed.   Church bulletin premieres One of the things we discussed during last December’s congregational meeting was to begin a church bulletin.   We have had one in the past, when Paul Whitehead was with us, but that was well over a year ago.   So this March, I introduced a new one-page bulletin for our congregation.   I asked members to contribute any announcements or prayer requests to me by Friday, and then I send it to brother Yang on Saturday evening.  He is able to print it by Sunday morning on BCC’s color printer.   Hopefully, the design is simple and user-friendly enough, that someone can continue to update it even when I am not here.  (sample copy on right) 50 Years for Korea Christian University The weather was perfect.   All the azaleas were in full bloom (unlike 2 years ago when it was still very cold).  This spring on April 19, Korea Christian University celebrated its first 50 years of Christian education.   To assist the event, Dr. Doug Foster (professor of church history at Abilene Christian University) came to help properly orient ourselves in history.  Dr. Evertt Huffard (Dean of Harding University Graduate School of Religion) was also here to encourage us as we enter the future.  He challenged us to take care of our current students, since they will be the ones who will be here to celebrate the 100th anniversary of K.C.U.   Both professors were also main presenters at an International Conference centering around “Churches of Christ and the Future.”   Since Dr. Huffard is an elder of the church of Christ at White Station, one of the main supporters of my work here, I asked him to speak to the HanMee Church of Christ on Sunday morning, and also speak to our Bible class.   Everyone received him well, and thanked him for his message from Philippians 3 about pressing on toward the goal.  ODDS and ENDS The next day after my move into my new apartment, 25 of us from HanMee boarded a bus for a church trip to the island of SukMo Do.  Some had talked about car pooling to save money.  Others knew that all of us on a bus together would be more fun, and draw us closer together as a church family.  The main drawback to using a bus was the rental fee.    Since the Lord has blessed me so abundantly, I offered to pay for half of the rental fee, and let the members contributed $10 each to cover the rest of it.    Needless to say, it was a good decision.   We had a wonderful time.  Because it was Sunday, we held our church worship service in a scenic setting after a delicious picnic.   In my brief lesson, I talked about the famous islands in the Bible.   I mentioned that even though islands are beautiful places, nowhere in scripture is the church described as an island.  Instead we are told to be “in the world, but not of the world.”   On May 31, I performed my third wedding ceremony in Korea.  Two of our church members, Chang Yoon Jeong and Yang Hyun Soon, asked me to officiate at their wedding.  I was honored to be asked.  Because their families live in Busan, we needed to travel there for the ceremony.  Busan is Korea’s second largest city, and a five hour bus ride to the south.   This time, however, we were thrilled to ride the KTX, Korea’s new bullet train.  This was my very first trip on this train, and I discovered that it was surprisingly comfortable and quiet.  To impress Vicki and my father, I called them both from the train, telling them that as I spoke, my body was moving at 180 m.p.h.  During the last week of classes before the final exams, Elmer Emperado visited Korea.   Since I went to the Philippines in May of 2007, this was his reciprocal visit to Korea this year.  Additionally, Elmer and I are both supported by the church of Christ at White Station.  So it is especially good for us to get together whenever we can.   I am always encouraged to see this good brother and hear of the great work that he is doing in Mindanao, Philippines large southern island.   In the late 1980s, Elmer studied at Harding University Graduate School of Religion, so he already knew a few of our Bible faculty here.   They were happy to see him after some 20 years, and helped me reveal to him some of the sights and tastes of Korea.  I can’t think of anything that Elmer did not enjoy eating while he was.   He even liked kimchee!   Please pray for his family and his work in the Philippines.    I have written too much for this one report.  Next time, I will let you know sooner what has been happening here.  The Lord still continues to do amazing things every place we allow Him to move.  Thank you again for all your precious support and prayers.                                      Spring 2008

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