3 Year Old Drum Prodigy at KNU International English Church

Check out this awesome little guy from my former church.  SBS, a Korean station, just did a short documentary on Kim Shin-Hyuk, the son of KNU International English Church's worship pastor (and her bass-playing husband).  Shin-Hyuk is 45 months old (so 3 and a half), but he already plays drums better than most high school drum students.
When he visited his grandfather in the USA at the age of 2, a trip to Toys-R-Us netted Shin-Hyuk a toy drum set.  He has played it almost constantly for the past two years.

Also, for any of my US peeps, this video gives a little peek of our church and worship space in Korea. Seeing my old church family warms my heart, and makes me a little homesick - because, yes, Korea is now part of my home.



And yes, he does play every Sunday after the worship service.  And yes, he does cry almost every Sunday when his mom finally drags him away from the drums.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #100 - KNU International English Church

I saved the best for last.  The only problem is that it's impossible for me to list all the reasons I love KNU International English Church.
Of course, the people are awesome and loving.
The community is multicultural in almost every way possible.
God is doing good things among us and through us.  People are being transformed by God's grace.
We are reaching out to our local community and to the global community through Bangladesh.
We are creative, innovative, resilient, and faithful.
I could go on and on and on.  Instead, I'll just share the my historical reflection from Sunday.  (I love you guys.  Thank you for letting us be part of your church, your lives, and your hearts!)

Transition in Context

Today, I want to do a quick review of the history of our church.  I guess 90% of us here today have only known this church with me as the lead pastor, but our history extends far beyond me.  

Everyone, please stand up.  I want to thank you for being here today to worship and to celebrate God’s grace in the midst of this transition.  God needs all of you.  Whether you are a new attender or an old member, I hope you will engage what God is doing here with your whole heart.  Volunteer, serve, show hospitality to each other and to new people.  God is changing the world through this loving community here.  Many people through the years have said this is the best church they have ever experienced, and they are right.  You guys are awesome!  Give God your heart here, and you and our world will never be the same.

---

OK, now, if you have started attending our church within the past three years, please sit down.  For those of you standing, you have seen some amazing things happen in our church over the past few years.  

• We’ve had baptisms of new and recommitting Christians once or twice a year.  In 2011 we had our first baptism service outside on the KNU campus, with 9 people from 4 different countries.
• After a season of spiritual dryness, we started doing 24/7 Prayer in 2010, and God has used that to pump spiritual life into our church every semester.
• In 2009, we established our partnership with the Village of Hope in Bangladesh, and since 2010, we’ve sent a total of six teams to care for our widows and orphans there.  Last year we began sponsoring the kids, and this has become an integral part of the life and mission of our church.  God is using our church here to draw KNU and other Korean churches into partnership with Bangladesh.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #99 - Annual Reports 2011 and 2012

Doubling up here to finish at an even 100, and I've already posted these, so here are the links.

2011: How our church is preparing to make space for God's Next.

2012 - Part A: Vision Sunday 2012 - 'Mission Impossible' actually happened here.

2012 - Part B: The Hard Part - We're Moving.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #95 - Annual Report 2009

Dedicating ShinHyuk Kim

This fall we are 15 years old. (So how old are we in Korean years?)  To get a feeling for how much we've grown, I thought it might be fun for us to look at some of our previous “firsts.”  

The first baby born in our church (Jenny Mitchel's daughter 2001).  (The next baby was Esther Kim in 2006.)

The first Advisory Council was elected in 2003.  For our first 8 years before that, we were just a hodge-podge group that worshiped together.

Our first mission trip (Indonesia, 2004).  We are now planning our fourth, and we're hoping to do one every year.

Our first year with regular heat in the winter (2005).  That may not seem like such a big deal, but it's easier to worship when you don't have to wear gloves and a hat just to stay warm!

Our first store room – a tiny janitors closet, which we were forced to get because we bought a drum set (2005).

Our first assistant pastor  - Hoom Jeong (2005)

Our first big attendance day: 79 (2005).  We were really excited about 79 people back then!

More than 50% of our regular attenders from outside the KNU community (2005)

First after church snack time – started just once a month (2005).  I remember our fellowship team feeling really concerned about trying to do it every week.

First website – a free blog that Susan Kim set up for us (2005)

First church members to get married (Anderson and Dianna Cheon, 2004)

First baptisms (2006)

First time to have organized children and youth activities (2006)

First time worshiping in Patch Hall and at a “normal” time (2006).  Before this, our worship services began bright and early at 9 a.m.  

First time to have more than one Korean on the Advisory Council (2006)

First time to have more than one returning Advisory Council member (2007)

First time to take in members and to be an official Church of the Nazarene (2007)

First church soccer team (2007)

100 Things I Love About Korea: #93 - Annual Report 2008

Preparing the Foundations

My first time to attend an annual meeting as a pastor, I forgot that I was supposed to give an annual report.  I had only been a lead pastor for about two months.  Near the end of the meeting, Cathy Williams asked if I had a report to share, and I said something profound like, “Uh, not really.”  Every year since then, I've tried to spend some time thinking of an analogy or a story that will help us put the year in perspective.  I've talked about zits and puberty, giant flies, Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon, and how God answered a prayer I prayed while walking across a basketball court.

This year, I want to tell a story about some of the times I've worked with my Uncle John.  If you think I'm crazy, you should meet my Uncle John!  One year for Christmas, the women wanted to have a nice formal dinner, so they asked the men in the family to “dress up” and to put on some “nice clothes.”  My Dad and Uncle John disappeared into the bedroom and came out looking like this.  (silly picture)  I distinctly remember them saying, “What?!  We're wearing ties!  What else do you want?”  (They also had the nice 80's afros going, too.)

Uncle John is also an expert concrete worker.  Sometimes during the summers or when I had free time in college, I would work with him doing the concrete work for new houses.  The concrete truck drivers said Uncle John was so good that he could do jobs by himself that usually took 10 people to finish.  When I helped Uncle John, I usually got all the jobs he didn't want – shoveling rocks, carrying steel, drilling into old concrete.  But I also learned a little about what it takes to make a good foundation for a house.

Step 1:  Clear and Level the Land.  Before you can do anything else, you have to get rid of all the trees and junk, and you have to make the ground fairly smooth and level.  No, I never got to drive one of those cool little bulldozers.  

100 Things I Love About Korea: #91 - Annual Report 2007

Ladies Retreat 2007

Tonight our focus is on telling stories, so I want to start by telling a story.  This story begins a few years ago.  During my first year here, we said goodbye to leader after leader, as people moved back to their home countries.  After about a year, I began to realize that we need more stability, and I also began to realize that stability was only going to come by having more Korean leaders involved in our church.  

I remember praying one day when I was walking home.  I was thinking and praying about this problem of rotating leaders in our church.  I thanked God for Dr. Cho.  (Some of you might not remember Dr. Cho.  He no longer attends here because he is preaching regularly in the Sunday evening service of another church.)  I prayed, “God please give us 25 people like Dr. Cho.  Give us 25 committed and passionate Korean leaders.”  I figured that would be enough to give us a stable core group, year in and year out.   

This year, we have seen this prayer begin to be answered.  This year more than 60% of the Advisory Council was Korean.  We celebrated this with great joy, and rightly so.  It is right for an international church to have international leadership.  Also, this was a great answer to our prayers and a great step of progress toward becoming a stable, enduring church.

Well, like they say, be careful what you pray for.  Sometimes God answers our prayers in ways we don’t expect.  And sometimes God’s answers bring their own challenges.

After we elected the 2006-2007 Advisory Council, I felt like we were “off to the races.”  Our Vision Team had just finished establishing our mission and vision statements.  Our people seemed to agree that this is what God was calling us to do and to be.   I felt like everything was finally coming together.  

Within the first few months of the 2006-2007 year, we decided to become an official Church of the Nazarene on the Korea National District.  We also welcomed our first official church members, and we went on a Work and Witness Trip to Indonesia.  And as a great surprise to me, the Korea National District worked out the details for me to be ordained here in Korea.  We were also experiencing our highest attendance ever, with an all-time high of 139.

I was ready for our church to explode with growth and momentum.  I was pumped and read to go.  But I was probably a little too pumped.  

100 Things I Love About Korea: #88 - 2006 Annual Report

Across the Rubicon and Setting Up Camp

Annual Report 2005-2006

Pastor Josh Broward

In 49 BC Julius Caesar had a decision to make.  He had spent the last few years serving in Gaul and extending the Roman rule across Europe.  The Roman Senate now called him back to Rome, and they told him to come without his army.  If Caesar had gone to Rome without his army, he would have lost power and possibly lost his life.

One little river served as the boundary line for Julius Caesar’s choice.  It was the Rubicon.  By Roman law, no Roman general was allowed to bring his army past the Rubicon.  

If Julius Caesar crossed this stream, he would begin a civil war.  As Caesar stood on the banks of the Rubicon, he looked at his companions and said, “Still we can retreat! But once we pass this little bridge, nothing is left but to fight it out!”   This was the point of no return.  This was the deciding moment.

Caesar and his troops crossed the Rubicon.  Then, he tore his shirt off and gave a tearful speech.  (Don’t worry – I’m not going to tear my shirt off!)  Caesar’s speech included the famous words: “The die is cast.”  This is referring to a game of dice: “The dice are already thrown.”  In other words, the direction has been set.  The decision has been made.  There is no going back now.  Caesar quickly took control of Italy and eventually gained control of the entire Empire.  But all of this started with a few short steps across the Rubicon.

This year our church has “crossed the Rubicon.”  Two little decisions stand as our Rubicon.  The first decision was moving to Patch Hall in March of this year.  This move has provided us with space to grow, access to technology, consistent temperatures, much-needed storage space, and convenient classrooms.

The second decision was much more important than the first.  When we moved to Patch Hall, we also decided to change the time of our worship service from 9:00 am to 10:30 am.  This was a HUGE decision for our church.  There were two factors in our decision.  First, we decided that we wanted to be a primary church, not a secondary church (a place people go before their “real church”).  Second, we decided that we wanted to reach out to people who didn’t usually go to any church, and we felt they would be much more likely to join us at a later time.  (Really, 9am is like the crack of dawn for a lot of people around here!)  So in this one decision, we identified ourselves as a primary church deserving of primary commitment and as a church committed to outreach.

This was our Rubicon.  We have declared our course for the future.  In a sense, “The die is cast.”  We have followed the Spirit and rolled the dice.  

100 Things I Love About Korea: #86 - 2005 Annual Report

Congratulations are in order for you church.  You have done well on several counts.

First, I feel like you need to be congratulated on surviving my rookie year as a senior pastor.  I came to you fresh out of seminary with lots of enthusiasm and not much experience.  You have been gracious to me and to my family.  You have welcomed us with open arms and open hearts, and I thank you.

Second, I want to congratulate you on gaining a better self-understanding.  In the spring of 2005, the Advisory Council set out to find answers to the question: “Who are we?”  We wanted to know who we are as a community.  

Jean Johnson and Patricia Clark studied our church history.  Two trends are clear in our history.  First is the trend of increasing size.  We have steadily grown from about 15 people (10 years ago) to over 60 people now.  The second trend is increasing organization.  In the beginning, what is now our church was more like a home Bible study.  However, as our numbers grew, our need for organization also grew.  In 2002, we established the Advisory Council and wrote a congregational constitution.  Now, as our numbers continue to grow, we are also continuing the trend of increasing organization.

Part of our new self-understanding as a church is expressed in our new name: KNU International English Church.  This is not just a name.  It is a statement of who we are.  

KNU: Not only are we located on the campus of KNU, but about 40% of our people are also employed by KNU or its sister institutions.

International:  Sometimes I hear people refer to us as a 외국 church.  That really frustrates me.  About half of us are Korean almost every Sunday.  We are not a weigook church, and we are certainly not an American church.  Our people come from all around the world.  We are an international church.  

English:  We are an English speaking church.  We have two common bonds.  We are all seeking God, and we all speak English.  English and God bring us together.

Church: We have outgrown some old labels like: “English Service,” “English Chapel,” “Worship Service,” and “Congregation.”  We are more like a church than ever before.  So it is time to claim our name and to expect us to live like a church. 

100 Things I Love About Korea: #82 - Our Advisory Council

At KNU International English Church, our church board is called the Advisory Council.  Down through the years, this rotating group of leaders has joined hands with me in leading our church.  Together, we have put our ears to the wind to see how God is leading us.
This year, God has blessed us with our strongest Advisory Council ever.  75% of this group has served on the Advisory Council in previous years, and they are well equipped to guide our church through this time of transition.
This past Sunday, I delivered my official letter of resignation to the Advisory Council.  I hope it will help you see why I love them.

Dear Advisory Council,

Now, with a heart full of both sadness and anticipation, the time has come for me to submit my official resignation as lead pastor of KNU International English Church, effective February 28.  I have spent 25% of my life in Korea, 75% of my adult working life, and 100% of my full-time ministry as a pastor.

This is my last opportunity to address you as the elected leaders of our church, so I want to leave with a few parting words of advice and some well earned thank-you’s.  Let’s start with the advice.

Passing through the Fire (Luke 4:1-13)

[Note: This is my last sermon in Korea, for a long while.]

Luke 4:1-13

 1Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,‘You must worship the Lord your God    and serve only him.’”

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say,‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.  11 And they will hold you up with their hands    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

Today is the first Sunday in Lent.  Lent is a season of repentance and fasting.  It is kind of like spiritual spring cleaning.  This is the time for us to take a fresh look at how we are living and ask God where we need to change.  During Lent, we fast to help us refocus our lives on God instead of on all of the other stuff in this world that begs for our attention.

In the past few decades, Christians have developed this tradition of giving up all kinds of different stuff.  Some people give up a food: meat, coffee, sweets, chocolate, spices, soda, etc.  Other people give up a normally innocent activity: watching TV, Facebook, internet, shopping, movies, elevators.  Some try to stop a negative behavior: complaining, gossip, using the snooze button on the alarm, not listening when someone is talking.  Some people try to add something instead of giving something up: waking up early, 15 minutes of prayer every day, writing a letter every day, giving compliments, or picking up trash you see on the street.  A few people try to get funny.  One year, Scott Norris said he was giving up fasting for Lent.  I read a story this week about an old lady who apologized for being a little shaky, “I’m giving up beer for Lent, but the whiskey is really killing me.”  

But for pretty much all of these fasts, even the funny ones, the people choose for themselves what to give up.  As I’ve been thinking about this sermon today and its timing, it struck me that there is another kind of fast going on here - one you didn’t choose.  It’s kind of like KNU International English Church is giving up having a full-time permanent pastor for Lent.  Yes, you’ll have Bill Patch, and he’s great, and he’ll do a good job.  And yes, you have a great team of assistant pastors, but they none are full-time, and none are the lead pastor.  Yes, you’ll hire a new lead pastor - maybe not by Easter, but eventually.  

In the meantime, it seems to me that the Holy Spirit has led KNU International English Church into a time of testing.  The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and people have debated why ever since.  It seems that Jesus needed to learn some lessons.  Jesus needed to settle some fundamental issues before he got started in his ministry.  The wilderness was his time of trial and testing between two important stages in his life.  In a similar way, this interim period between pastors is a time of testing for our church between two important stages in our church life.  

100 Things I Love About Korea: #77 - 2004 Annual Report (or Lack Thereof)

About a month after we arrived in Korea, it was time for the annual meeting.  I knew all about the nominations for the church board (or in our case Advisory Council), and I had that covered.

After we did the voting and reports from each outgoing board member, I was just about to close the meeting with prayer.  Then, Cathy Williams (bless her heart) said, "Um, Josh, aren't you going to give a pastoral report."
I said, "Oh, am I supposed to do that?"
"Well, traditionally speaking ..."
"Um ... well ... I just got here, so I don't know much of what happened over the past year, but I'll try to do better next year."

100 Things I Love About Korea # 49: Replay - Church Bake Sales and Auctions

[This is a replay of the post: "The Great Pie Auction (and Annual Meeting)" from November 7, 2007.  This was the original auction that started a tradition of hosting bake sales and pie auctions to raise money for missions.  I think our all-time-record is an apple pie (by Patricia Clark) that went for upwards of $300.]

Sunday night was the annual meeting at our church. Usually, these have been a lot of business, with one report after another, and not very much fun. This year we tried a different tact, thanks to the ideas and leadership of our new assistant pastor, Julene Tegerstrand.
We decided to make this a celebration event, focused on telling the stories of the year. We started with a catered dinner, which gave a reprieve for our fellowship team from the efforts of potluck. The dinner was in the beautiful new dining hall at the top of KNU's newest building. This setting has several great advantages for us: round tables, a large attractive room, audio-visual equipment, and an accompanying kitchen.
As people entered, a PowerPoint slide show was rolling with pictures from different events throughout the year. At each table were markers and a large piece of blank paper. The people at each table (at least those who cooperated) drew pictures of events within the church or their lives throughout the year. Then, the people discussed their pictures with the others at their table. Then, we had someone from a few different tables stand and explain their pictures.
The different leadership teams on the board issued written reports, but in the meeting, each team told one story of a significant event that happened that year with their team. Not all of the leaders got the message here, but for those who did, it made the reports more interesting. I tried to follow suit by telling a story of how our advisory council dealt with conflict and learned how to work together as an international team.
While the votes were being counted, we auctioned off 4 pies made by our resident Canadian matriarch, Patricia Clark. That was lots of fun, and it was my first time to serve as an auctioneer. The money all went toward our church mission trip to Tanzania (2008). The first pie went for 100,000 won (about $110). The last pie (a lemon marange (sp?)) was purchased by a coalition of westerners for a grand total of 200,000 won. There were laughter and cheers all around, as the bidding went up and up and as I tried to convince people to bid more. At one point, as I was pumping the bidding on the last pie, my mind went blank in mid-sentence, and I said rather questioningly, "150,000 won for ... a pie?" I don't know if I've described it well, but that was a hilarious moment.

100 Things I Love About Korea - #23: People: Kim IlHyang

Dear Friends at KNU International English Church,
I am so sorry that I couldn't fully commit the things I had to do.  I am in Seoul now.  As you know, I am pursing being a lawyer.   Unfortunately, I didn't get admission to law school.  So I had to go to plan B.  I'm working with my friend, helping her in her business.  This will help me to be fully independent of my family and acomplish my dream.  That's why I had to leave town all of the sudden.  I am working and studying now.
Meeting you guys in Cheonan was a total blessing for me. Just like you who are leaving for your country, my time at KNU was a precious journey to help me learn to live like Christ.  I belive you can expect blessings in your new ways too because God always leads us.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
- Il-Hyang

Because of the Prince of Peace - Philippians 4:1-9

"Prince of Peace" by Wendie Thompson

One of the most famous texts about Jesus’ birth is Isaiah 9, where it says, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us,” and then it goes on to list all of these amazing names, but one of these names for Jesus is “Prince of Peace.”  Something about that name has stuck in the memory of Christians.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  

This little baby, born in a shed for farm animals, was born as a royal peace giver.  This little baby - so innocent, so vulnerable, so fragile - is yet the Ruler of that Peace for which we desperately long.  Somehow, even though we struggle to believe it, this little baby is the answer to all our questions.  Jesus, Prince of Peace.

Now, hold that in mind, as we listen Stacy Keene tell her true story about how a coming baby impacted her world.  (Click here to listen.  You can skip to 1:00 and stop at 6:00.  Or you can read the text below)

So my first true love was my Grandpapa, and he really set the precedent for every other man I ever considered loving.  He was clever but modest, and brave but quiet.  So when I was an adult, and I found out the great news that I was pregnant with my first child, the first person I wanted to tell was my Grandpapa.

Except that he had just found out a week before that he had four weeks to live.  

100 Things I Love About Korea - #22: People: Wayne Arrellano

   How do you share what God is doing your life in just one page? It's quite hard. So rather than sharing what is happening now, I'd rather share the lesson I am continually learning.

   Unlike many of my friends and colleagues, I didn't grow up in the church, and although I had two parents, only one was biological but both were real. I knew nothing of God and in many ways I didn't know much about happiness. I'm half Filipino and half American. I lived in the Philippines until I was 7, at which point I moved to California and learned how to speak English. I mention this only to say that I never really felt accepted anywhere and so I never felt at peace. 

   I  eventually grew up to be a California Kid but it wasn't until I moved to the hills of West Virginia, when a very cute girl in my class asked me to go to her youth group did I ever step foot inside a church willingly.  From that moment on, life changed. I was sixteen years old.

   Among many things, what changed in me was this. (Cheesy, I know) I felt like I found a home in God's heart and in mine there was peace. This peace has become my most closest companion. 

   I had peace when I started living alone and had to pay rent when I was only a sophomore in high school. I didn't know enough about doubting God to be afraid or to be worried. God's peace was ever present in my life.
   When it was time to choose which university to attend...the inexpensive state schools or the very expensive private Christian schools and then finding a way to pay the costs, I had peace.
   When time came to decide what kind of future I wanted. And when the time came to decide if I wanted to answer a call from God to work with the youth in some form. I knew my answer when my heart felt that certain yet mysterious peace that can only be explained as God's. I like to say when I can sleep at night about a decision I've just made, then I know that is the right decision for me.
   And when time came to decide to come to Korea, and then remain in Korea, that's right. The same peace was there. (Actually, a funny story about that...as I was praying about what is up next, Pastor Josh asked to meet with me and so we went to the gym together to work out. During the workout, we made small talk but mainly we just focused on lifting weights and running on the treadmill. Afterwards, in the community shower, he shared the the reasons why I should stay in Korea. It was then I felt the peace I was so certain of...strangest place to find.
   Everyday I wake up knowing that I am right where I need to be. Despite the current circumstances surrounding my work, I know that KNU is where I belong right now. How do I know. In my heart, there is peace and a certainty that God is with me.
   And that my home and acceptance belong in God's heart and among God's people.  So, let me leave you with the Scripture I live by.  Philippians 4:6-7:

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And Luke 12:25:

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life (and there is a footnote that reads "or an inch to his height"). If I could do that, I would be a giant. 

God bless.
Thanks +Wynn Arellano!

100 Things I Love About Korea - #21 - People: Bruce Kim

Goodbye's are a regular part of our church.  To help us say goodbye well, I've been posting people's goodbye letters here.  This time, Bruce turned the tradition around and said goodbye to my family, but along the way he tells a lot of his own story too.  Enjoy.  

   I hate goodbyes. 
   I'd rather not get to know someone new than say goodbye. That's not the best quality in someone who decides to live abroad. When you leave your home country, you meet new people and they become as close as family members here on this life raft of expatriates. Then you or they go home and you never see them again except for facebook updates. When I meet someone new I usually ask how long they expect to live in Korea as if I'm anticipating their departure. I should stop doing that. I should meet a new person thinking he or she could potentially become a lifelong friend and not someone to say hi to and forget. It's certainly not the best quality in a Christian.
   My wife and I moved to Korea in 1997. That's before the Clinton impeachment, before 9/11, right before the Columbine shootings. The internet was embryonic. We've been attending this church since 1999 when we moved to Ssangyong-dong. My mom worked in the same Cleveland school as Pam, Bill and Gail Patch's daughter, and they recommended we visit if we wanted to see an English worship service. Back then, it was mainly the Mitchell family and a couple teachers. 
   We've seen hundreds of new faces come and go since then. It's impossible to remember them all. We've seen weddings, babies being born and people eulogized. It's so much more fun counting the babies. We tried to remember all the births of members since we started attending and we stopped at 21. We're in the middle of another baby boom. Soon that'll be closer to 30.
   When the Browards arrived in 2004, I liked them immediately. There was something infectious about their smiles, especially Emma's. In one of his earliest sermons in the old sanctuary, Josh mentioned his admiration for Daunte Culpepper, a pro football player known for explosive bursts of speed. Watching Josh re-enact his excitement complete with arms waving and jumping behind the podium, I remember thinking, 'I like this guy.' His energy was impressive, but then I realized that was just one facet of his devotion and commitment to the church and community. 
   Previous pastors for KNU International English Church haven't always agreed on the inclusion of non-English speakers in the service. Josh seemed to embrace the diversity here, and that's something I came to admire and greatly appreciate. Older members remember when the entire congregation would clear out during summer and winter vacations leaving the service feeling skeletal. 
   Now membership is consistent year round and the body of the church has filled out like a growing baby. That's healthy for a church spiritually, emotionally and financially to stand on its own. Josh and the leadership teams deserve credit for making sure this church became a home and didn't remain a supplementary service.
   I once read an article about how expatriates collect friends in a similar way to prehistoric people gathering new members into a tribe. I'll miss the Browards immensely. It was nice knowing they were here these past 8 years, going out for dinner together, playing cards, just being in each other's company even knowing this day would come when we would have to say goodbye. It was nice watching the kids grow up. It was nice going through childbirth with them. Josh set a good example for me as a father, friend and spiritual leader. I know he will do a great job in his new church assignment. I'm not sure how close I'll allow myself to get to know the new pastor's family. But if they're anything like the Browards it'll be hard not to love them.

100 Things I Love About Korea - #20 - People: Shannon Smith

This month our church members are sharing testimonies during the worship service.  This is Shannon's testimony from two weeks ago.

Anyone who knows me well will know that I am not a person who likes change. I came to Korea 4 1/2 years ago with the intention to stay here one year and go back to the U.S. I didn't want to come to Korea, but after living here a few months, I made many friends, learned to love Korean food, as well as love Korea's people and culture. As I said though, I hate change and I have experienced a lot of change while living here. Since moving to Korea, I have worked at 5 different schools, lived in 5 different apartments, and said goodbye to so many friends. It hasn't been easy for me. Part of the reason is because when I care about people, I care about them deeply, so it’s hard for me to let them go. It’s good because it means I genuinely love others, but it’s bad because it means I am often easily hurt. 

For most of my life, my self-worth and acceptance have come from what other people think about me. I am a people-pleaser. I often feel like I can't say "no" to people, because I worry about whether they will still love me or care about me. And even though I have been a Christian for almost 20 years, my relationship with God was the same. I never felt good enough or worthy enough for God to love me. No matter how many times I asked God to forgive me, I never felt like I was really forgiven. I believed God could heal and forgive everyone, except me. I walked around with so much guilt, shame, brokenness, and negativity. I felt so lonely, even though I was rarely alone. 

Most people didn't know this though, because I was too afraid to share it with others. I cried almost every day for months and it was even hard for me to pray. I just felt so heavy and burdened by all of it. I wanted to fix it, but there was nothing I could do. Throughout this whole time of struggle, I was so focused on what "I" should do, that I never really surrendered it all to God. I was never really honest with God about all of my angry and hurt feelings. Just like my fear of telling people about my struggles, I was even afraid to tell God. It wasn't until I simply said, "God, I need you. I need you. I need you", over and over through my tears that I began to really experience God's love and grace in my life. There never would have been anything I could have done to heal my brokenness and pain. I needed God to heal me. I needed God to reassure me that no matter what my past looks like, He still loves me and forgives it all. I needed God to give me peace where there was so much despair. And I needed God to give me hope that no matter what my future holds, He is with me and will never leave me alone. 

100 Things I Love About Korea - #19: People: Dianna Kriegh

This month our church members are sharing testimonies during the worship service.  This is Dianna's testimony from last week.

I came to Korea with a specific plan. I was going to stay one year, improve my Korean language skills while teaching, and then leave for a graduate degree in East Asian history. Soon after the 12-month mark arrived for me, I was telling people that I felt like God was laughing at me—good-naturedly of course—because everything I had said about where my life was going to be that fall was wrong. By that time I was living in Cheonan and teaching at the school where I still am today.

I knew before I ever arrived that God’s hand was guiding me in this and that he had plans beyond my own, and yet I’ve still found it extremely difficult to surrender my future to his keeping. Every fall I have once again pulled out my old grad school applications, reconsidered my goals, and begun the arduous mountain of paperwork necessary for entrance into highly competitive programs and the scholarships that would make them possible. Yet, every spring I have found that it’s not time to leave and as you can see I’m most definitely still here.

This fall the application process seemed more important than it ever has before. The Fulbright program, which brought me here to teach, is technically a graduate fellowship and a multi-national government grant, and it allows participants a maximum of three years in the program. At the same time that I was sure I had no choice but to leave I felt God calling me to become more involved and to invest more of myself in my students and my life here. As I was spending spare moments in the teachers’ office trying to write personal statements and essays for scholarships, I was also becoming involved with the students’ lunch-time bible study, being asked for advice and guidance, and connecting with parents who only see their sons on rare school holidays.

In the middle of all this I began to get angry with God. I felt like he was telling me to stay when both he and I knew that was impossible—even if I could stay in Korea with another teaching program I couldn’t stay at my school because it is and has been a Fulbright school for many years. As a result of this stress, by the middle of September my normal struggle with hormonal insomnia had turned into a continuous cycle of so little sleep that I watched my health deteriorate and everything in my life come to a standstill; nothing was getting done. 

On the last Thursday in September I had a meeting with Josh. I desperately needed an outside perspective on my problems, and I got it. I walked away from that meeting with advice that I was determined not to follow—the suggestion to just talk to my school about staying without Fulbright and see what they said. I of course knew that Josh had no idea how impossible his suggestion really was because it was Fulbright and not my school that would stop something like that from happening.

Less than 24 hours later a completely disconnected conversation with our school’s head English teacher led to a request that I stay past my Fulbright contract. By the following Monday, I was officially asked to sign a contract for three more years at my school pending Fulbright’s approval and promise that at the end of that time our school could return to the program. Throughout October things with my school continued to progress as we considered appropriate ways to approach Fulbright with our request and began filling out paperwork and tracking down documents for the change of my visa status that would necessarily come with the change in my contract.

I continued to have so many doubts and to worry about what would happen, but finally on the day after Thanksgiving I had a meeting with the director of Fulbright Korea. In the hour long conversation I had with her she not only agreed to allow my school to temporarily leave the program with the promise that they could return when I leave, but also she offered to help me obtain the Korean government scholarship for graduate school in Korea three years from now. Objectively speaking, there are still many things that could happen between now and July that could cause all of these plans to fall through, but I have faith that as God started this he will also complete it. I think I have finally reached the point where I can stop making my own plans, because I’ve learned to really trust that God’s are better.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #14 - Korea Nazarene Univeristy

(Today in the Korea Nazarene University faculty chapel, I am giving this short farewell address.  I hope to do the first few paragraphs in Korean and then switch to English with the translation on the screen behind me.  KNU is one of the things I love most about Korea.) 

Our family moved to Korea 8 years ago in 2004.  However, in a few months, our family will be moving back to the USA.  As I say goodbye, I would like to share 8 thanksgivings from our time here and 8 prayer requests for the future of KNU.

First, I’m thankful for the opportunity to learn Korean.  However, my biggest regret for my time in Korea is that I did not learn more Korean.  

So my first prayer request is that KNU will become more effective in helping our international faculty and students learn Korean.  (However, because I didn’t study enough, I have to change to English now!)

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Second, I’m thankful that KNU welcomed my wife, Sarah, as your first international exchange student in 1999.  

My second prayer request is that God will help KNU to see the great potential of KNU’s international students.  Your investment in them is an investment in God’s work around the world, but it’s also an investment in the future of KNU.

Goodbye Letter # 07 - Deborah Antle

Many of you don’t know me, but I arrived in Cheonan in November 2008 and taught at one of the high schools until January 2011.  I attended KNU International English Church during that time.  When I left Cheonan, I didn’t leave Korea.  I went to Gwangju (the little one in Gyeonggido, not the big one down south) and taught at another high school.  So, to me, I wasn’t really saying “goodbye” back then.  It’s time to say it now, though. In January, I’m going home to America and, as far as I know, I’m not coming back.

I’ve been attending a Korean church while living in Gwangju, but KNUIEC has remained, in my heart, my home church in Korea.  I wasn’t there at the beginning of the church, but I was there for many beginnings.  I was there when Josh quit working as a professor and became the church’s full-time pastor.  I was there when the youth group began.  I was there when the first babies of our "baby wave" were born into our church.  I was there when the church voted to start the long-term partnership in Bangladesh.  I was there when Shannon and Adam were voted in as our first Youth Pastors.  I’m grateful for the privilege of being part of you, and I’m SO proud of you!

My life is richer and wiser for having been a part of you.  I remember when, one Pentecost Sunday, we had about 10 or 11 people read Scripture in different languages, and something like 9 of those people were reading in their native languages.  That was an extraordinary moment for me, realizing I was experiencing the “many nations, one family” concept of the Kingdom of God, and I didn’t have to wait to be on the other side of the grass to see it.

God’s sending me back to America now, but I’m going back better.  Korea and KNUIEC will remain a part of me, for the remainder of my life here, and I’m certain that influence will stretch into eternity.  I truly, deeply, and eternally love you.

Your sister in Christ,

Deborah Antle