New places, new faces -- same Christian family

This morning I was privileged to go visit a Korean Church, complete with a meal afterward. I loved it. The people were so very friendly. They were warm and inviting, and made it easy to feel welcome to their service.

I went with Chaehun (he's a Korean student at GBS presently), Andrea Balti, and Megan Walsworth.
I think it's safe to safe that we all enjoyed it very much.

We were each(not Chaehun...like he needed it!) provided with a device that allowed us to listen to the translator through headphones. I thought this was cool (even though it reminded me of the device Ms. Beulah uses at Kenwood to boost her hearing aid), because it allowed us to understand, yet not disrupt their normal service.

This particular church had a great praise team, and a choir that sounded absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed the worship service, and was a bit surprised by it honestly. I guess I have unknowingly stereotyped most Asian cultures as being more sober and reserved in their worship style, but I thoroughly enjoyed being wrong. They were very expressive about their love for God, and there was quite a bit of clapping, etc.

After the service they have a time of fellowship and food together, which was great. I was excited to get to try the food, even though Chaehun told us it was good, but still not "real" in his book. I figure none of us knew the difference anyway, and to me it was way better than anything that came out of a food court! I won't even try to tell you the name of anything we ate, because I've no idea, but I can kind of describe it. The main course was a bowl of rice, bean sprouts, some beef, soy sauce, and green onion. Then there were plates set out between every four people or so that you shared, and on them there was some cabbage stuff. One lady described it as a spicy, pickled cabbage. Whatever it was, it was good. I liked all of it. One point of interest to me was that they don't drink anything with the meal, but instead waited until they'd cleared the plates and then passed out cups of water. I'm ok with that, but my mother would've choked to death.



During the meal, Megan and I were able to talk to several different people from the church. One man tried to recruit us to teach S.S. to some of their children, this is due to the widening language gap between their different generations. It's hard to express and explain a concept to children if they don't really speak your language obviously, so they're wanting fluent English teachers for the kids.
Another man that we talked with was very nice, and told us his home is always open to us. His wife, Sunni(sp?), is actually talking NT class at GBS this semester. When he told us we could come over anytime, he also said that she'd be happy to cook us some real Korean food, and when I mentioned his volunteering her services to feed us, she said that he was a very good cook. ;-D

All in all, I really enjoyed myself, and would love to interact with these people more, and get to know some of them better. I loved the opportunity to worship with some of my Korean Christian brothers and sisters. God's family is so big and diverse...I just love it!

Here are a couple pics I managed to snap on my phone...



Getting ready to dig in!



This nice lady was trying to show us what to use the spoon on, and what/how to use the chopsticks. (Nothing quite like trying to use chopsticks while surrounded by Koreans...)



This is Sunni...



...and Chaehun.

A little sharing of my heart...

Does anyone besides me ever just really want to give up? Sometimes I just get so tired of feeling like a failure, or loser, or whatever other choice phrase you care to use. I know that God created me in His image, but man is the devil ever good at getting me down from time to time! All too often I'm tempted to second guess God and how He decided to create me, quirks and all.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my Savior. This is just me sharing about an area of my life that God's obviously still working on. Some days I feel strong and confident, and like I can conquer the world, but more often than not, I struggle with questions about my future and all my short comings.

Today is pretty much one of the later days. But God's still there, and He's given His Word to reassure me.

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created
him; male and female He created them...God saw all that He had
made, and behold, it was very good."
(Genesis 1:27, 31a)

Going out to K. R. and family...some of my biggest lurkers.

I took some pics recently of the Martin sisters. Here's the album link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=156728&id=526240420&l=49cc707751

Oh, and here's the link to the other album I said I'd post, My Concrete Jungle:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145098&id=526240420&l=058c6b8fcb

I finally got new contacts

along with several other odds and ends I needed(including, but not limited to, Skittles). I also bought new dry erase markers, but they weren't the kind I wanted. Oh well, I didn't feel like checking more than two stores...

So I finally snapped a few pics of my cousin, Ashley. I also got some of her and Joc, then a couple with them and their roomie, Stephanie.
I'm not gonna load all the pics on here, but here are a couple, and you can see the rest at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=155885&id=526240420&l=94b0288cdb





















Anyway, school seems to be going well thus far, but really it's hard to say because it's not like we're all that far into it. We've had several fun moments and events already though. Friday night we had the GBS Got Talent show, and that was a blast!
I laughed so hard that night, but I was also struck with the fact that in amongst our funny songs, poems, and "mad skills" we are privileged enough to hear things such as kids singing music that praised God, and kids simply sharing a Scripture reading. We are so blessed to be able to live our faith out in every day life without fear imprisonment, or other forms of persecution! I hope we never forget to be thankful for that.

Along with classes, revival, and the activities of campus connection month, we finally had our first meeting(since returning to school) of Main St. kids club this afternoon. I thought it went quite well. We had the good problem of too many kids and not enough snacks with us, so I had to run back to the dorm to get our back ups.
Thankfully we have a bunch of new workers this year, and I'm hoping that they'll all stay, because we're thinking about branching out from the two main streets we walk and adding a third route. We may also try to incorporate a second class during our kids service for the tweens. Not sure about that yet though.

It's a funny thing, working with kids...especially inner city kids. I can't put into words how much I love each one, and want to see them allow Christ to be their Savior. I missed these kids over the summer. They challenge me, and test me, but I know I need it. They've taught me so much this past year, and I'm excited to see what they have in store for me this year.
My favorite part of kids club is walking to pick them up, and then walking them home. This is because it's when I get to interact with them on a personal level. I get to become a friend to them. We chat, and laugh, and even play tag(which totally wears me out) on those routes, but it's then that I feel the most connected to them, when I'm in their neighborhood, walking their streets, going into their homes.
It's then that I see how important what we do is, and how important it is to show them that they can change their future. I just can't get away from how much God loves them. I pray that this year I can be a better example of His love for them.

Here's hoping you're all doing well, and enjoying God's goodness!

By: Unknown

Ever wonder what will be remembered about you once you're dead and gone? Or to be a little less direct...once you've "passed away" or are "no longer with us"? (My little brother actually told me today that Lenny had "passed away"...and yes, sad but true - Lenny is no more. We're not exactly sure what caused his untimely demise.)

I assume most of us hope to be remembered in a positive way, perhaps for something we did, something we inspired, how we lived, or a culmination of all three and then some. (I don't suppose most people strive to be remembered in a negative fashion, but then again there are some coming to mind that might have been aiming for just that...I've no idea for sure.) All in all, though, people want to be remembered. They want their life to have meant something, or touched someone...

...so what will people remember about me? What legacy am I leaving behind? Will my life have mattered and changed anything at all?

I know God has a plan for my life, and I fully intend to follow it. Right now I don't know the exact specifics of that plan, but He has given me a peace about being at Bible college. I know this is what He desires for me at this point.

I know that if I stay true to Him I can leave behind a beautiful legacy, and I can change at least my little part of the world. In fact, as I sit here a thought just occurred to me, what if people don't remember me, but instead remember God's grace and mercy in my life? That would be an amazing way to "go out".

My new hope is to be Unknown for God.