100 Things I Love About Korea: #87 - The Year 2006

We started out the year 2006 with a visit from Sarah's parents.  Teaching at KNU's English camp enabled them to pay for their airfare and stay for about a month.
Not long after they left, I had to make an unplanned trip back to the USA to help care for my Dad who had major back surgery.  While I was gone, Sarah had to move our apartment without me.

But the move was for a good cause.  We were making space for our good friends Joe and Elena Wiley who were coming with their two boys, Brett and Ian.  That summer, we began what would be a long tradition of taking friends to DaeCheon beach.  On this go round, we had our good friends Mark and Naomi, and later the Wiley family.  This picture is one of my all time favorites of Emma.  They look just like an old retired Korean couple enjoying a day at the beach.

We also enjoyed lots of good fun doing small group at Belle's house. We went through books of the Bible and various books about life and Christianity.  But most of all, we prayed for each other and just generally supported each other and had a good time.   These are some deep and lasting friendships.

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: #85 - The Year 2005

Sarah babysat Suhyun (the daughter of our good friends YongGi and KyoungRan) for most of this year.  She is just a few months younger than Emma.  I don't think either of the girls remember these early play times, but they were tight from the very beginning.  It's hard to believe now, but Emma was actually much bigger than Suhyun then.  Emma used to take her toys and push her around, and Sarah and I used to say we wished Suhyun would just sock Emma good for once to teach her some manners!


For our annual anniversary mini-trip we stringed together a babysitting relay team, so that we could go away for a night.  Someone recommended a spa in Asan.  Little did we know, it was actually in old town Asan.  But we still had a good time.  We got away to a mountain for some hiking.  At the train station on our way home, there was some kind of protest (probably for Dokdo), and some of the protesters recruited us and outfitted us to join their ranks.


We also did some cooking lessons for our good friend Belle's son, EungChul.  This was his birthday "cake."  E.C. joined me on a trip to Bangladesh in 2010, and he will probably be coming to live with us in American in a few months.

One of our favorite special occasion treats was going to Outback for a little taste of home with the Bloomin' Onion.  (Outback Korea no longer serves these because they were having supply chain problems, but they were good while they lasted.)

100 Things I Love About Korea: #84 - Automatic Banking

No more check writing.
No more balancing check books.
Just stick your bank book in the ATM, and you get an up to the minute, accurately balanced bank statement.
Need to pay a bill or send money to a friend?  Just input their account information, press a few buttons, and it's in their account.  It's like magic.
Korea's electronic banking takes a little getting used to.  But it will be hard to go back to the dark ages of filling out checks and then flipping to the register and writing the info in those tiny little lines.
(Thanks to Ron Knickerbocker for reminding me about this - one more thing I'll miss about Korea.)

100 Things I Love About Korea: #83 Vietnamese Food

OK, I know that sounds weird.  Vietnamese food is not Korean, but I discovered it in Korea.  And I probably would never have tried it without living in east Asia.

Here are a few of my favorite dishes:

• Beef brisket noodle soup.  A mild, but steaming broth holds long white noodles and strips of pink beef (which cook right before your eyes).  You add in bean sprouts, onions, peppers, and sauces to your own personal taste.  Great on a cold winter day (like today)!
• Wol Nam Sam.  Imagine a huge party tray with thinly sliced vegetables, meat, and shrimp.  Then, you dip a small piece of "rice paper" a into a steaming bowl of water to soften it.  Then, like it's a tortilla, you fill it with all of the veggies and meat and add sauce.  Finally, roll it into a ball and eat it in one bite.  Sweet goodness.  (Best of all, since it's mostly vegetables, I can pig out and not feel guilty!)
• Vietnamese Shabbu Shabbu.  This is almost the same, except that about half of the vegetables and beef go into a boiling cauldron right at the table.  Then you spoon them out and eat it either as soup or in the rice paper wraps.  Can't go wrong with this.

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.

100 Things I Love about Korea: #81 - Pepero Day

11-11, AKA November eleventh, is Pepero Day in Korea.  Pepero are classic Korean snack cookies shaped like sticks and covered in chocolate.
According to one legend, middle school girls in the southern tip of Korea spontaneously invented this holiday on November 11 (because the one's look like the Pepero sticks).  They gave each other boxes of pepero along with the wish to be "as tall and slender as pepero."
But cynics say that the holiday is nothing more than a shameless marketing ploy by Lotte Confectionary, the manufacture of said snacks.  Either way, they get more than half their annual sales during the month of November, so I'm sure they're happy about it.
I love it because it's just good fun.  Who doesn't like eating chocolate covered cookies?  We all need another reason to celebrate life and taste a little more joy.

By the way, there are 10 different Pepero flavors.  Can you name them all?  What's your favorite?  Mine is almond - hands down.

100 Things I Love about Korea: #80 - Black Day

Finally, singles have a holiday all to their own.  Unfortunately, it's called Black Day.
In Korea, after Valentine's Day (for men) and White Day (for women), comes the singles' holiday - Black Day on April 14.

For all of the folks who didn't have anyone to celebrate with on the previous holidays, they can get a few other lonely friends together and go eat some jjajjangmyun (noodles with black sauce).  I'm not sure I support the idea that being single is a cause for sadness or mourning.  But I do appreciate that singles are included in the holiday festivities.  Another plus is that this holiday encourages folks to get together - even if it is to commiserate in their mutual singality.  

100 Things I Love about Korea: #79 - White Day

After the male-focused Valentines day, it's payback time for the women with White Day on March 14.  Men should now give a gift to any women who gifted them a month earlier.  Some traditions even have a triple return - where the men give the women something 3 times the value of the gift they received.
Traditional gifts are marshmallows or white chocolate, but nowadays, almost anything works.
Basically, this is just splitting up the big Valentine's Day romantic holiday into two separate celebrations.  I kind of like this.  As I said before, men need all the romantic help they can get.  Also, it spreads the intentional expressions of love out for another month.  (The candy makers don't mind all the added business either!)

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: #78 - Valentines Day (All for the Men)

Korea has scored major points in my book by focusing Valentines Day on men.  Every February 14, women are supposed to give gifts to the most important men in their lives.  Men are officially off the hook.
Don't worry women, your day is coming.  It's just delayed a month to White Day.  But breaking them up like this actually gives men a fighting chance to remember the holiday.
Also, the women go first, so they set the gift-giving standard.  That takes a lot of pressure of the guys.  You don't have to guess how big or how nice you should go.  Just match what you got.
So making romance easier on men ... yeah, we definitely need that.

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: #76 - The Year 2004

We arrived in Korea at the end of July in 2004.  Bill Patch hired me to be the pastor of small English speaking congregation at KNU, and to do this I also had to teach English at KNU.  Sarah also worked at the KNU hakwon (after school language academy).
When we arrived, we were blessed to come to a furnished apartment.  Jean Johnson (a church member and KNU professor) graciously stocked our fridge with a few bags of groceries.  Over the next few days, she also led us around Cheonan to do some initial shopping and money exchange.
We would not be paid for several weeks, and we soon realized that we didn't bring nearly enough money to set up house AND to continue eating until we got paid.  Alan Rosegrant (another church member and KNU professor) was aware that this is a common problem, and he graciously approached us with the offer to lend us a few hundred dollars to get us through the first month.  We humbly accepted.
Our upstairs neighbors Woody and HyoJin Morris were also a great help in getting to know the area.  They showed us around some and introduced us to the wonders of Korean bathhouses.  Their son Hansel was one year older than Emma, so they had lots of good times playing together.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #75 - Alameda

As far as I know Alameda is the first restaurant in Cheonan to serve western style breakfast food.  Not to knock McDonalds, but a McMuffin can only go so far in restoring the feelings of home.
Alameda is a small, owner-chef cafe near the Galleria.  Look across the street for the Cafe Bene and keep walking in a straight line.
The atmosphere is simple-chic, and the food is very good.  The owner serves as chef, and his girlfriend is the friendly waitress.
Sarah ordered the Alameda Brunch - with pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, and - oddly - a small garden salad.  Even giving it the bonus of being the only place to get Western breakfast in Cheonan, this was still a very good meal.  Everything was well prepared and well presented.
I ordered the grilled mushroom salad, and I have to say that it was the best restaurant salad I've had in Korea.  (I have to add that restaurant caveat because my sister-in-law makes a mean spinach-pecan-strawberry salad which may be the best I've ever had anywhere.)  The greens were varied and fresh.  The mushrooms were also varied and well seasoned.  There were even chunks of fresh cheese.
Even the music was great.  The only downside to Alameda is the price.  Plan on paying around 15,000 a person.  At that rate, it's a little to much to become part of our regular circuit, but when we get the hankering for pancakes, waffles, or knock-out salads, now we know where to go.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #74 - Fusion Food

Fusion Food can be almost anything.  Usually, it is mixing two ethnic foods together into something new - like Shanghai Spaghetti (a very popular pasta dish in Italian restaurants, with a spicy sauce and lots of seafood and vegetables).  But occasionally, it is mixing two foods that don't normally go together (like sweet potatoes or chestnuts on pizza).

A few weeks ago, Sarah and I stumbled onto a very interesting fusion restaurant: Carbone.  It has a funky urban vibe, and it was quiet even though busy.  

We ordered "Salad Pasta" and "Spoon Pizza."  Now, that's not pasta salad, like those twirly little noodles you might get at a church potluck.  That's actually lettuce salad over a bed of spaghetti.  It sounds crazy, but the creamy honey mustard sauce actually made it work.  The Spoon Pizza is a deep dish pizza with a soft crust and lots of toppings, and naturally, you eat it with a spoon.  

Good times.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #73 - Taylor Ford and Community Art at Church

Last week, I preached on Ephesians 3, and I asked Taylor Ford to do some art work depicting this beautifully image-rich passage - especially the prayer "may you be rooted and established in love."  She didn't finish in time to use it on Sunday, but here it is now:

Last year, we preached a series on Exodus during Lent, and each week we showed similar art from people in our church.  Taylor was a regular contributor.  Check out those drawings, collages, poems, and photos here:

• Exodus 1 (God hears the cry of the oppressed.)
• Exodus 2 (Moses is born.  Ash Wednesday)
• Exodus 3 (Burning Bush)
• Exodus 4 (It gets worse before it gets better.)
• Exodus 6 (Now you will see what I will do.)
• Exodus 7-11 (The Ten Plagues)
• Exodus 12 (The Passover)
• Exodus 15 and Isaiah 25 (The Exodus. Easter Sunday)

100 Things I Love About Korea: #72 - Neon Nights

I love cities at night.  With a high population density, Korea's downtowns with lots of tall buildings really pack in the neon.
Here's a cool time-lapse photo video of downtown Cheonan by my friend Andy Phelps, who is an outstanding photographer.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #71 - Mr. Pizza.

Shrimp Nude Pizza.
Potato and Bacon Pizza.
Golden Cheddar Crust Pizza.
Sweet Potato Crown Pizza.
Secret Garden Pizza.
Chestnut Pizza.
Bulgogi Pizza.
Roasted Garlic Pizza.
Crab, Lobster, Octopus Pizza.
Asparagus Steak Pizza.
The best pizza motto ever: "Love for Women."

Need we say more?

Well, Korea is the home of the original pizza after all.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #70 - The Slow, Unsteady Opening of North Korea

This is a repost from July 14, 2011.  I had hoped to be here when North Korea opens up.  I guess there's better than a 50/50 chance it will happen within the next 10 years.

Coca-cola and KFC have recently signed deals to establish operations in North Korea.  (Short article ... slightly longer article).  So far, they will be limited to hotels and tourist locations serving foreigners.  However, make no mistake about it, this is a step into the future.
Communism can only survive within a closed system.  Dictators maintain power by limiting information.  (And yes, all communist leaders are dictators of one variety or another.)  With external contact comes information.  With information comes power.  With power for the people comes the fall (slow or fast) of all dictatorships.  Once people know there is an outside world where life is far better, they demand to participate in that better-ness, and they rid themselves of their ineffective leaders.
This is how it went in Eastern Europe.  This is how it happened in Africa and Latin America.  This is how communism has slowly been transitioning to capitalistic democracy in China.  And this is the beginning of the end for North Korea.
Actually, this is not the first crack.  Mass starvation, mass illegal immigration, and mass corruption were the first real cracks.  Porous borders with China brought black market capitalism and information (in the form of cell phones and DVDs).  International aid workers were a steady drip, drip, drip of outside influence.
But now, now, after these subterranean foundation shifts, we see the crack going up the wall, and it looks like the Coca-cola trademark wave.

100 Things I Love about Korea: #69 - Konglish and North Korean Refugees

My good friend Nikki Muyskins originally wrote this article for Fulbright Infusion Magazine, March 2011. It was later republished on www.engagemagazine.com.  I offer it to you now for your reading pleasure.

As I was on the plane on the way to Korea for the first time, I remember studying some “learn Hangeul” print-outs that I had with me, desperately trying to get some of this new writing system to stick in my mind.  I had a list of “Konglish” words to sound out for practice, which I suppose was meant to build confidence, but did little to calm my nerves when I would tediously sound out a word like “pi-ja” and still be unable to make the connection to the English word “pizza.”  What match would I be for the language barrier, if I couldn’t even understand Koreanized words from my native language?  How would I overcome linguistic and cultural obstacles, and learn not only to adapt to Korea but also to thrive in this foreign land?

Thankfully, I encountered many friendly people to help me along the way, and I have gradually learned more and more Korean.  Sometimes I enjoy the convenience of English loan words, if, for example, I want to take a “tek-shi” (taxi) to the “bus-seh tuh-mi-nuhl” (bus terminal).  Sometimes I just get entertainment out of Korean pronunciation, like the lack of “r” in “ma-teh” (mart) or the “sh” in “shoo-puh” (super(market)).  Other times I feel frustrated with loan words like these, like if my students don’t understand my pronunciation of “suh-tuh-di room” (study room) or laugh at my attempt at spelling a word like “saen-deh-wi-chi” (sandwich) in Hangeul.  Sometimes life in Korea can give me so much “suh-tuh-rae-suh” (stress), yet I am grateful that our languages do overlap in some instances.  Otherwise, how would I ever navigate the “in-tuh-net” (internet) on my Korean “com-pyu-tuh” (computer)?

100 Things I Love About Korea: #68: Kakao Talk

If you have a smart phone, you can use one of the coolest new programs out there: Kakao Talk.  This is a Korean program, but it is available in English and Japanese.  Kakao now has some 10,000,000 users in 216 countries - so basically everywhere. 

I'm not a techie, but this is a cool app.  Here's what I like.

1. You can create a group chat, where everyone is chatting in the same window and can see everyone's comments.  I use this with the pastoral staff to set meetings and to solve issues that involve multiple people.

2. It recommends friends to you.  You don't have to go hunting and requesting friends.  As soon as someone in your phone contact list becomes a Kakao user, the system invites you to add them as your Kakao friend.  This is hugely convenient.

3. It's free - almost.  You have to pay for data transmission if you're not in a wifi zone.

4. There's no character limit.  Your messages can be as long as you want.

5. Virtually every smart phone user in Korea is on it.  That greatly reduces texting fees.

You can also share photos, videos, files, and links, but I don't really do all that stuff.  Like I said, I'm not a techie.  I use it for simple communication - kind of a hand-held modification of email, texting, and chatrooms.  You can download it for free at the istore or android market.

This is a repost from May 3, 2011.

How Many Camels Are You Worth? (Ephesians 3:14-21)

        Elna Baker’s older sister, Tina, was gorgeous.  

Elna was not.

Tina was the kind of woman that, when she walked by, people stopped whatever they were doing and stared in awe at her body.

Elna was the kind of woman that, when she walked by, people stopped whatever they were doing and made rude jokes about her body.

Tina got all the family’s beauty genes.

Elna could never fit into skinny jeans.

In America, every school makes a yearbook every year.  It has pictures of every student and teacher and a summary of the year’s activities.  When the yearbooks come out, all the kids go around signing and writing witty little messages in each other’s yearbooks: “Best friends 4ever,” and “Thanks for the memories,” and stuff like that.  One year, one of the most popular boys in the school wrote a message in Tina’s yearbook: “How come you’re so pretty and Elna isn’t?”  Another boy in Elna’s grade wrote: “I wish your sister looked like you.”

Elna tried to get even.  She left a snarky message in their yearbooks: “You will regret your comment in my sister’s yearbook next year when you beg to go out with me.  Of course, I will refuse.”  Except Elna never got to refuse them because they never asked her, ever.

When Elna was twelve, her family took a trip to Morocco.  When they were walking through an outdoor market, a carpet salesman saw Tina walk by and did the standard stop-whatever-you’re-doing-and-stare-at-Tina thing.  Then, he caught up to the family and said with his face all aglow: “Your daughter is the most beautiful creature on earth.  I will give you 1,000 camels for her.”  

Her parents smiled and said, “No thanks.”  

Then the man, looked at Elna, and his face changed.  He said, half walking away, “I’ll give you 100 camels for her.”

At the young age of 12, Elna processed this moment and said to herself, “There is a 900 camel difference between my sister and me.”  

More than a decade later, telling her story in Elle Magazine, Elna said, “The rest of my life can be described as a pursuit to be worth more camels.”  Despite love from her parents and the constant message from her church that her body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit,” the world was beating another message into her: because of the way she looked, she was worth less.

Elna’s pursuit to be worth more camels led her to seek her worth in writing, acting, and comedy.  But eventually it also led her to extreme dieting and to radical plastic surgery.  All to be worth more camels.

  

That’s just like us.  What do you do to be worth more camels?  Exercise, work more, get degrees, write papers, pursue awards, horde power, go on dates, dream of dates, travel to all the cool places, make witty Facebook posts, play political games, criticize others?  Where does your pursuit of camels lead you?  How is that working out for you?  Do you like who you are in this pursuit?  Would you recommend your way of life to your kids?  

Ephesians 3:

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

---

100 Things I Love About Korea: #67: Mama's Table

Fresh salads and real sandwiches.  That alone makes this place elite.

To top it off, the prices are reasonable; the atmosphere is comfortable and quiet; and the owners are very nice.
The salads come in three basic options: grilled chicken, smoked salmon, and tofu.  All of these are available as a small house salad or as part of a "brunch set" which also includes sausage, bacon, and whole wheat bread.  If you don't want all the meat, you can ask them to substitute them for more salad instead.  You can also get an Americano for 1,000 won more.  Total price: 8,000.  Not bad.
There are four sandwiches: salmon on croissant, grilled chicken on bagel, egg salad and bacon on whole wheat, and dry bulgogi on a bun.  All of them are pretty tasty, but my favorites are the salmon and egg salad.

If you just want coffee or a drink, they have loads to choose from.  But I always get a plain Americano with milk on the side.  Just 2,000 won.

Mama's Table is above the bath house or sauna Cara Cara in SsangYong Dong, 5 minutes from Korea Nazarene University.  (From the KNU main gate, walk up the hill.  Turn left at the fruit stand and NongHyup Bank.  The street will force you to make a right turn.  Mama's Table will be on your right near the end of the street.)

Thanks to http://joanninkorea.blogspot.kr for the pics.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #66: Hanword Viewer

If you live in Korea, someone has probably emailed you a .hwp document.  This is a document created in HanWord Processor, Korea's most popular word processor (popular because it was specifically made for the Korean market - instead of just translated into Korean).  However, most westerners don't have HWP.  To further complicate the problem it has zero conversion capacity.  It can't be opened in Word, Open Office, or Mac's Pages.   Most people either go to a Korean computer to open the document or ask the person to send it again in Word. 

However, I recently discovered a new option.  Hansoft is providing "HanWord Viewer" for free.  You can download it for mac or for pc.  I use a mac, and the viewer works like a charm.  It's the basic equivalent of Adobe's .pdf viewer.  

If you don't want to (or can't) download a program, you have other options.  HWP has created a free online site that will allow you to view any HWP doc and/or convert it into a pdf doc which you can download to your own computer.  I have used it twice now, and it works splendidly.  Go to www.thinkfree.com to try it out. 

100 Things I Love About Korea: #65 - Replay - Bath House With the Pastors

This is a repost from May 12, 2010.

Yesterday, I went to a meeting of Cheonan pastors.  After lunch, we  played soccer at a field across town.   I asked if I'd be able to make  it back for my 5pm appointment.  "No problem.  We finish at 4pm."
We had a nice game on a short field with side walls and a back net thing that kept the ball in play.  No big fouls and two goals (one off the goalie's butt!).  Nice day for a defender.

After  the game, everyone decides to go to the public bath house for a "quick  15 minute shower."  I enjoy the shower, hot tub, sauna, and postlude  shower.  Then one of the other pastors asks me to scrub his back - not  kidding - and remember, we're completely naked.  This is actually a sign of friendship and care.  It's common to see father and son pairs giving each other a good scrub down.  After a few minutes, he offered to scrub my back.  It actually felt pretty good.

After about an hour, we finally left, and I was 30 minutes late for my appointment.  But ... good times.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #64 - The Thunder-Farting Daughter-In-Law

The Thunder-Farting Daughter-in-Law is a traditional Korean story.  I have this beautifully illustrated in a children's book.  Needless to say, this is absolutely going to be one of the few books I mail home.

The story begins with EunMi, living together with her husband JunSeok and her father in law MinTaek. The father-in-law notices that EunMi doesn’t seem comfortable around him. She always has a sour look on her face, and she moves awkwardly. So he complains to his son, “Why is EunMi always so grumpy and grim?”
JunSeok laughs and says, “Oh, don’t worry about EunMi. She just has these incredible, horrible farts, so she’s holding it in around you.”
So the old man goes to EunMi and tells her to relax and let her true self out. She tells the old man to brace himself, and she lets out a fart that rocks the house. The old man is shocked, and he says, “Dang girl! You sure can fart! You’ve got something special there.”
Well, things seem to go on as usual for a while, with the addition of the occasional roof shaking fart. Then, a group of merchants travels through their area. EunMi meets them under a persimmon tree. The merchants are looking longingly at the lush persimmons, but they are all out of reach. EunMi offers to get them down for the merchants, and everyone laughs. So EunMi says, “Will you give me all of the silk on that donkey if I can get you all of the persimmons?” The lead merchant takes her bet. He thinks there is no way possible that this mild little lady can scale the tree and get all of the persimmons.
--- And here comes the best part of the story! --- Next, EunMi turns away from the merchants and points her rumpus up in the air at the persimmon tree and lets out a gigantic thunder-fart. The wind and sound from her nuclear fart shake the tree so hard that every last persimmon falls to the ground, and EunMi walks away with the donkey load of silk.
Back at home the husband and father-in-law are overjoyed, for they are now very wealthy. They slap each other on the back and say, “Boy aren’t we lucky to have a thunder-farting woman in our house! We’re sure glad she isn’t holding it in anymore!”

To see how I used this amazing story in a sermon, click here.  

100 Things I Love About Korea: #63 - Replay: DEBT FREE!

This is a repost from August 13, 2009.  We lived debt free for almost three years until we took out a mortgage to purchase our current apartment.

Yesterday, I sent in our last check for our student loans.  Once that check is received and processed, we will officially be debt free!  After four degrees and over $50,000 in loans between the two of us, this is a VERY good feeling!  Thanks Korea!

What's Our Real Problem?

100 Things I Love About Korea: #62 - 70 Years of Nazarene History

Korea, situated in the heart of the Far East, remained for centuries a strangely remote land, ethnically pure, and tied to its ancient traditions.  It has been aptly called the “Hermit Nation.”  Even the Church of the Nazarene passed it by as it established work in the country's more dominant neighbors, China and Japan.

But the beautiful Land of the Morning Calm was not wholly out of mind.  In 1936 Sung-oak Chang, a young Korean student who had gone to Japan to further his education, crossed paths with Rev. W. A. Eckel and Rev. Nobumi Isayama.  These men were able to help him become established in the Christian faith and encouraged him to return to his homeland and start a Nazarene church there.

He successfully launched a work in Pyongyang, the capital city of what is now North Korea, and then went down to Seoul, present capital of South Korea, to establish another church.  In the latter place he secured an assistant by the name of Huk-soo Sung.  The work was officially under the supervision of the Japan mission, but the relationship was apparently quite tenuous.

To read the rest of this post, click here.

100 Things I Love About Korea # 61: My Miracle Visa Story

In 2009, one of our beloved church members Gu SoYoung was dying of cancer.  While she was in hospice care, I had to leave the country to get my new visa.  Here's the story of how I miraculously got back in time to care for her and her family before she died.

Perhaps this is a bit overstated, but I feel like I've experienced a small miracle. Let me explain.

In the Korean immigration system, there are three steps to obtaining a visa. 1) The employer makes the official application at an immigration office in Korea. 2) The immigration office sends the employer an "approval number," similar to a confirmation number when you make an airline reservation. 3) The prospective immigrant (like me) takes that approval number to a Korean embassy (outside Korea) and files for the actual visa which goes in the passport.

The immigration office said that the time between step 1 and step 2 could be anywhere from 3 to 14 days. We heard through the grapevine that the average wait is 5 days. I left Korea on day 9 because my old English teacher's visa was expiring the next day. Every day in the Philippines I anxiously awaited my approval number. I checked my email several times a day. I asked Sarah to call the Nazarene district office. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Suddenly, on day 13, Thursday, my friend Chul-Hwan, the business manager at the district office, called me in the Philippines to tell me that the approval number had arrived! I was extremely excited, but I also started making plans to delay my flight. The normal wait for step 3 (getting the actual visa) is 3 business days. That would mean 5 days for me, since the weekend was coming.

Sarah, however, strongly encouraged me to ask for an exception.

Timothy Kim, a Korean missionary in the Philippines, called the embassy and asked for an exception. The embassy said that I was out of luck, that they don't make exceptions - 3 days, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Sarah, insisted that I keep trying.

To continue reading, click here.

100 Things I Love About Korea # 60: Pull-Out-All-The-Stops Preschool Performances

Every year Emma's preschool hosted an amazing end-of-year show.  They rented a huge hall and had act after act with rented costumes and everything.  They even hire a professional MC to get the crowd pumped up between acts.  It's way over the top, but it's one more reason why I love Korea.

Here is one presentation from Emma's annual preschool event.
The video is a little raw but we hope you enjoy the cutest peacock around.

100 Things I Love About Korea # 59: Replay - Icheon Pottery Village and Bath House

This is a repost from January 30, 2009.

This week, we did a little alternative vacationing.  I worked Tuesday (instead of taking the red-letter Lunar New Year holiday).  Then, on Wednesday, I took half a day off, and we all headed out to Icheon for a little overnight  tourism.  Our friends Adam and Elisa introduced us to this little gem, and we followed the same pattern this time.

We arrived in the afternoon, and after securing nice little two rooms in a "Love Motel," (which just means a walk in motel), we enjoyed a nice supper of galbi and an evening at Spa Plus, one of the best bath houses in Korea.  It also has a water park attached, but we've always been content with the bath house part.  This time, for all of us, our favorite part was sitting in the hot tubs outside while breathing in the cool winter air.  I also enjoyed the steam bath.  The steam got so thick that I couldn't see the other side of the room.

In the morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at Paris Baguette Cafe, and we taxied over to the Icheon Pottery Village. This is one of the coolest places in Korea, in my humble opinion. There is shop after shop after shop with all sorts of locally made pottery. We really, really enjoyed ourselves.

Sarah and Mom both had birthday cash to spend. Sarah got a nice, round white vase with muted leaves. Mom got a blue/green pot for a house plant.  We saw lots of stuff we loved but couldn't (or didn't want to) afford. We also got some cute little gifts for other folks.

Icheon is about 2 hours away by bus. If you wanted to go on a day trip, it would be a very full day trip (maybe not so bad if you don't have kids). If you spend the night, it turns out to be pretty relaxing (except that I was always worried that one of us would trip and knock over a table full of thousands of dollars worth of pottery!). All in all, it was a great little trip.

100 Things I Love About Korea # 58: Replay - Babo T-shirts

This is a repost from January 3, 2009.

So I finally followed that Facebook advertising link for Babo Shirts. If you're in Korea, you probably know what I mean.  If you're not, we get the same 5-6 adds every time we long into face book.  This is one of them.
Check out www.baboshirts.com. These are hilarious.  Be sure to scroll over the Korean T-shirts for the English translation. 
"Babo" means "fool" or foolish in Korean. These shirts make good gifts for anyone who is comfortable with their foolish side.

100 Things I Love About Korea # 57: Replay - Butterfinger Pancakes

This is a repost from December 27, 2008.   Butterfinger Pancakes is still one of the best restaurants ever.

About six months ago, our good friends Adam and Elisa took new jobs and moved to Seoul.  When we saw them about a month ago at the concert in a helicopter (yes, in a helicopter - a big one), we made plans to come visit them after Christmas.  This weekend was the auspicious occasion.
We came with no plans whatsoever other than hanging with them and eating at the restaurants of their choice.  They suggested a place called Butterfinger Pancakes for supper on Friday night.  Adam said that if we ate there for supper we would want to eat there the next day, too.  He's right.  We're ruined.  This place has some of the best food I've ever eaten anywhere.  There may be a bit of deprivation speaking here, but I was overwhelmed with the lush goodness of most of their food.
On Friday night, Sarah had some nut waffles - light, fluffy, crispy, excellent.  Emma had the mac and cheese, also very good.  Adam had the Fresco Burger, and Elisa and I split a Fresco Burger and a salad.  The salad was blah, but the Fresco Burger was outstanding.  It's actually a sausage burger topped with two kinds of cheese and bacon, then grilled on high quality bread.  It's a living heart attack, but oh so delicious!

On Saturday, we sat around in our pajamas until noon.  What a welcome reprieve from our busy end of semester and Christmas schedule!  It was so nice to sip some coffee with friends and have nowhere we needed to go and nothing we needed to do.  We also called our friends Mark and Naomi who are now studying in Canada.  It was great to have all six of us on speaker phone, almost like old times.
About 2pm, we returned to Butterfinger Pancakes for another mouthwatering meal.  Sarah had a very good grilled bagel sandwich.  Adam and Elisa had a large omelet, packed with goodness.  Emma had straight buttermilk pancakes, which come with your choice of butters and fruit toppings.  Em was a little overwhelmed by all the choices, so we helped her out and recommended blueberry topping.


I had - get this! - the cream cheese and mozzarella pancakes.  It sounds a little weird, but I figured: "When will I ever be able to try this again?"   The cheese is actually in the pancakes.  I topped it with a side of sunny side up eggs.  It was incredible.  I was practically moaning as I ate!  I've never had pancakes so light and fluffy, and the idea of filling them with cheese was a stroke of genius.  Elisa passed me her extra pancake - I think a gesture of generousity for the newbies who can't come back tomorrow - and I gladdly downed this perfect specimen of all a pancake should be - light, moist, fluffy, sweet, but not two sweet, buttery, but not greasy.  I'm not kidding, I think those were the best pancakes I've ever had.
So if you're in Seoul and you have some time.  Check out Butterfinger Pancakes.  The prices are surprisingly reasonable for a Western style restarant in Korea.  They now have locations at least in ApGuJong and KangNam, maybe more.  Just google them to see some blogs.  They don't have their own website, though.
Thanks, Adam and Elisa, for opening your home for some much needed rest and relaxation and for introducing us to a restaurant that has already become a legend in my mind!

100 Things I Love About Korea # 56: Replay - Doctor Fish

This is a repost from May 4, 2008.  Alas, the "Doctor Fish" cafe has long since closed down, but it was good while it lasted.

Friday night Sarah and I had our weekly date night.   Amazingly, we had a real babysitter this time - two in a row!  We decided to take advantage of this freedom and try something new.
A few weeks ago, we noticed an odd looking sign advertising a business on the third floor of the Yaoori/downtown area of Cheonan: "Books, organic tea, coffee, spa, doctor fish."  I asked some friends about it, and Ron Knickerbocker was able to give us the scoop.  It's a really cool coffee shop.  You basically pay a cover charge, and then you can have all the house coffee you want.  They have a small library of books and magazines to choose from (even one English book about touring in SE Asia).  They even have a few puzzles available.  It's a large room, so it's easy to find a quiet nook.  It would be a great place to read or for a small party.
But the really unique thing about this place is the "doctor fish."  They have two long tanks of small fish.  For the very reasonable fee of 2,000 won (about $2US), you can put your feet into the tank for about 20 minutes.  These little fish literally eat the dead skin off your body (in this case, our feet).
Doctor fish are most famous for Turkish spas which use them as a medicinal treatment, particularly for psoriasis.  However, apparently, the ones in Cheonan are Chinese knockoffs, not the real Turkish fish.  (Amazing, huh!)
So Sarah and I finished our coffee and gave it a try.  It was amazingly weird.  We put our feet in the water and about 100 fish attacked each of us.  They nibbled away with a furious passion to get at every last dead skin cell.  It felt kind of like being attacked by tiny piranha, but it didn't hurt.  It kind of tickled.
The weirdest part was seeing them swarm.  When Sarah took her feet out (which she did often at first), all 200-300 fish would swarm my feet.  Sometimes I couldn't even see my feet.  That was really freaky!  I took my feet out at first, and I laughed so much that the store worker asked me to be quiet several times.
Finally, I was able to talk Sarah into putting her feet into the water to take some of the pressure of me (more available food for the fish).  And about the same time, I started to get used to having hundreds of little fish eat on me, so I just relaxed and left my feet in the water.  By that time, they seemed to have cleaned me off pretty well, so they preferred Sarah's fresh feet with - um - fresh dead skin.
All in all it was a great experience - lots of fun and definitely one of a kind for us.  This was a great break from the date night rut: dinner and a take home movie.  Thanks Ron for the recommendation (and FYI, Ron said Bruce squealed like a little girl when he met the doctor fish!).   So if you're coming to Korea to see us, let's go check out the doctor fish.