Oct / Nov report, 2005

Text Box: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET TO ASIA?   OPPORTUNITY:  Study for missions to Asia in Korea (the gateway to Asia).  Asia now has one half the world¡¯s population, and our fewest number of missionaries.   Korea Christian University in Seoul, Korea is a great place to train for work in missions in any country in Asia.  Study Asian languages and cultures while here in Asia. COST:  No tuition for any course taught at Korea Christian University.  Several college and graduate level courses are taught in English, including Chinese and Japanese languages.  Housing in the school dormitory and board will also be provided at no charge. REQUIREMENTS: A student who comes to K.C.U. in this capacity will be required to teach one English course per semester while studying,  as well as make himself/herself available for interaction and counseling with students. If you are looking for a practical way to immerse yourself immediately in the language and culture of Asia, this is the time and place for you. Please prayerfully consider this opportunity. For further information, contact Dr. Don Kinder at doninseoul@hotmail.com, or call 1-901-685-2653.   Text Box: HanMee Church of Christ Our congregation continues to assemble every Lord¡¯s day.   Our meeting place is on the seventh floor of an office building in southwest Seoul.  This is also the space used by the Bible Correspondence Course office during the week.  So we are paying BCC approximately $100 per month for the use of their facility. Though we are not numerous, we are making small strides to engage every member in some activity.  We are now putting together a sign-up sheet on which members can volunteer for specific duties for a month at a time.  These are the typical necessary jobs of any congregation (ex. Lord¡¯s Supper preparation, child care during services, fellowship meal cooking and cleanup afterwards).  Nearly every church in Korea provides members and visitors with a meal following the worship service.  We are no exception.   Brother Sang Yong Yang¡¯s wife has continually brought us delicious dishes, like BulGogi, ManDoo, and occasionally spaghetti.  (If you seek recipes for any of these, please ask Vicki, not me). This has been a great time to get to know each other a little better, and allow those who wish to practice English a chance to do so.  Last month, we baptized a young man who had been coming regularly with his girlfriend. His name is SungHo Choi.  His picture (with Paul Whitehead) is on the right.   You can also click here to see his baptism.   Another milestone was reached in our history last month when we first began publishing our weekly bulletin.   Click here to view a recent one.  Keep praying for us as we continue to grow and honor the Lord in all we do. Counseling at the International Zone Part of my duties with Korea Christian University includes being at the International Zone 12 hours every week.  I am able to choose my own schedule so as not to interfere with my class or preparation time.   There are five of us who staff the Zone throughout the week, and greet students who stop by, help with their English homework, practice simple English conversation, or provide counseling for those who seek it.  One young man, Hyung Sik Kim, began coming by quite often in the semester and continued to do so through the final week.  Last month he told me and another professor that he was very lonely, had no friends, and even though a theology major, had stopped believing in God.  He had even tried to kill himself by jumping off a building the night before, but providentially, someone came along at just the time and prevented him from carrying out his plan.  In my conversations with him, I tried to encourage him about the value of his life and his need to seek professional help.  I alerted several Korean faculty members about him, and informed them of my discussions with him.  Since that time, this student seems to have improved.  One never knows how the Lord can use a person.  Keep praying for Hyung Sik. Classes at KCU As you well know, just when one job is finished, another begins.  As I wrap up this semester, and begin the tedious process of test grading and entering scores into the school¡¯s computer, I receive the announcement of the courses I will teach in the spring.  My new classes will be ¡°Gospel Studies,¡± ¡°New Testament Theology,¡± ¡°General Epistles,¡± and ¡°Understanding Basic Christianity.¡±  As I have mentioned in previous reports to you, the latter course is required of all freshmen who enter K.C.U.  Thus, it is always my biggest class, and the class that affords the most opportunity of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The great majority who come to K.C.U. are not from the church of Christ, and some have no church background at all.  Please keep praying that the Lord can use me here as an effective spokesperson of His grace and will. The Case for Christ I continue to study weekly with SeokHyun Ko.  He is the person I met while hiking in the mountains north of Seoul a year ago. This man approached me as I hiked, merely to say ¡°Hello¡± to a foreigner like myself.  We struck up a conversation, and I invited him to attend an English Bible study group I was teaching at the time.   This year, my schedule has prevented me from continuing that group study, but I have stayed in touch with SeokHyun.   We meet once a week for an evening meal, either in his neighborhood or mine.  During the meal we discuss chapters from Lee Stroebel¡¯s excellent book, The Case for Christ.  I always give him photocopies of a chapter to read before the following week.  If you have not read this book yet, I highly recommend it.  The author is a former journalist with the Chicago Tribune, and writes in a very engaging style. The book chronicles his visits around the nation with a dozen famous scholars in various disciplines, and allows the reader to overhear each interview, as he asks the most direct and pointed questions from his own skeptical position concerning the identity of Jesus Christ.  Many of these questions you may have had yourself.  Finally, the author is persuaded that Jesus really was the One he claimed to be.   This book, I am convinced, will bless any Christian, and be a great help for anyone seeking to know the truth about the carpenter from Galilee.   One night last month, SeokHyun phoned me and said that he had a severe headache and could not have supper with me that night.  My first thought was that here is the typical excuse from a person losing interest.   You can imagine my surprise when he then said, ¡°Even though we can¡¯t have supper together, can you still come to my part of the city and bring the next chapter for me to read?¡±   I told him, ¡°Of course, I can do that.¡±  So I took the bus, then connected to a subway, and made it to his neighborhood.   We talked about 5 minutes.  I handed him the chapter copy, and promised to see him again next week.   As I leave Korea this month, we have just now begun the chapters which examine the credibility of the empty tomb and the evidence for the resurrection.   This understanding is crucial for any believer.  Indeed, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if there were no resurrection, we are fools for following Christianity (my paraphrase).  My hope, as I leave Korea for a few months, is that SeokHyun¡¯s insights and faith will truly take seed and begin to grow.  Please pray for his continued search for a real Savior. New Proposal from KCU I continue my work as the Director of K.C.U¡¯s International Exchange programs.  Through several conversations with our President, Joon Kee, we are putting together an ad which will run soon in the Christian Chronicle and Gospel Advocate journal.  We will also send a similar announcement and flyer to many of our brotherhood colleges and preaching schools. Our proposal is that Korea be used as a stepping stone to missions anywhere in Asia.  In this regard, Korea Christian University will offer any of its courses free of charge to a visiting American student who wishes to pursue Asian missions.   The best way, we feel, to prepare for Asian missions is to study Asian languages and culture within Asian itself.  K.C.U. teaches both Chinese and Japanese languages, and is an ideal place to immerse one¡¯s self immediately in Asian mission in a practical way.  In return for the free courses, as well as free room and board, K.C.U. only asks that the visiting student teach one English course per semester and be available for interaction and counseling with our Korean students.  Watch for our ad to appear soon.   Here is a sample below.                                                Christianity means a changed life Earlier this week I ran head on to the reality of what Christianity really means and does not mean to those professing to be Christians here.  I had known for a long time that Korea¡¯s culture of recent decades has been that of bribery and dishonesty.   Perhaps the total devastation following the Korean War in the 1950s forced many people into a survival mode.  Thus, people fought not only for their food, but also their place in society in less than honest ways.  This has been the typical explanation of the culture in this developing nation.  Even though Korea probably is now the most wired nation of any in the world, and boasts its rising ranking among world economies (now number 11), the morals and ethics seems to lag far behind.  A few days ago, a female student came to my office to see me.  Earlier I had filled out a recommendation form for her, so that she could go as a counselor to a Christian camp for children in the States this next summer.  Her request on her new visit was that I change my boxes on the form.  In her words, ¡°You gave me too many ¡®good¡¯ marks and only a few ¡®excellent¡¯ ones.  Please complete a new form for me with all ¡®excellent¡¯ marks and just one ¡®good¡¯ one.¡±   I had never had this request of me in my life.  Needless to say, I was a little upset with her, though I tried to proceed in a friendly manner.  In her presence I filled out a new form, checking the other boxes.  However, at the bottom of the form I wrote, ¡°I doubt the honesty of this student.¡±  I handed it back to her and asked her to choose which form she wanted to mail in, this new one or the previous one. She looked at the bottom of the new form, and said she did not understand the meaning of my words.  I told her that I felt she was asking me to lie for her.  As a Christian, in the sight of God, I could not do that.   To further visually illustrate my point to her, I took back the new form and crumpled it as she watched in disbelief.  I wished her well, and then told her goodbye.    For the next few minutes, I wondered if I had been too harsh with her.  Would my words and actions affect how she viewed Americans in the future?  Would she think I was just crazy?  Yet, this student also claimed she was a Christian.  So she needed to know that Christianity does say something about our morals in every situation of life.   Well, the next chapter of this encounter occurred later that afternoon, when she sent my phone a text message which read.  ¡°I am sorry, Professor.  Forgive me.  I made a mistake.¡±   I thanked God that her response seemed to indicate that maybe she had learned something from me, and maybe even had come to see that Christianity does mean a changed life, in all of life. SEMESTER FINISHES Tomorrow is the last day of the semester.  Two days after that, I head back to the United States, where I look forward, not only to being with my family, but also hugging many of you as well.   God bless all of you in this busy holiday season.  Thank you, as always, for your interest, your mail, and most of all, your prayers.  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               Home
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