Hi Everyone! I hope you are doing really well! I am thinking and praying for you. I hope the first lessons continue to go well! Please share how you are doing! I am doing well! I will do a little pows and wows at the end! Feel free to share yours.

On Sunday, I was able to go to an English church service for native speakers in Pohang. I am so thankful to have this service. The sermon was on the 10 commandments (I guess we are studying them for the next 10 weeks) and the pastor brought up these verses from Psalm 119.

18 Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.

19 I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.

And I find comfort sometimes when I read in the bible about being 'a stranger' or going to the 'ends of the earth '. It reminds me that I have a really awesome home awaiting me in heaven and I will try to live my life out here until that time. But sometimes I feel like I don 't fit in – and probably quite obviously stick out (lately) – but I remember that the psalmist recognized that as Christians we are not of this world. We are something different. And so by seeking God, we can know what to do. I just wanted to share that!

Pows: The only sort of sad thing is that my students are so busy and studious that they don 't really have time to practice conversational English. (I am at a science high school). So they haven 't given me my official schedule yet and I haven' t gotten to teach yet. I am hoping at least a couple classes this week, but I don' t think it will happen. I want to teach – but I am sure there will be opportunities soon. The good thing though is that I have a lot of free time and I haven 't had that in a long time. So God is teaching me to learn to be content!

Wows: My host family is great! I am really starting to feel like part of the family – we tease each other and they take really good care of me. I am spoiled!

Praise Music~

Hey all,

If you are a-itchin' to hear some Christian praise (or just music in general), go to imeem.com for streaming. Sign up is really easy and free. Here is one of my favorite groups (other than Chris Tomlin and Jaci Velasquez...): Starfield http://profile.imeem.com/qhVnzg/playlist/r6CpkGkg/

I also wanted to share some lyrics with ya'll

(Chris Tomlin - Made to Worship)

You and I were made to worship

You and I are called to love

You and I are forgiven and free

You and I embrace surrender

You and I choose to believe

You and I will see who we were meant to be

:-) I miss you all, have a great weekend. And I look forward to reading all of your post, so feel free to post away! --Diane

Pyeongchang News - Jeremy

Hey, all!

Well, I've arrived in Pyeongchang. If you want a full blown out account of my first days here, check out my blog: koreanexperience.blogspot.com.

But as for the church scene here, my family is Methodist-Christian ("Jesus is #1!" they say), so I went to Church with them on Sunday. There, I met the pastor's daughters. One is a student at Seoul National University, so her English is top-notch and I can even joke with her. She makes it back into Pyeongchang nearly every Sunday, so I'll have someone to talk to. Other university students also can speak English well, so I will have English speaking friends to hang out with on the weekends, and to hopefully learn Korean from, though we'll see.

The church seems to be very active, and they were welcoming. Though I can't understand the sermon, I sing the songs and bow my head for the prayers, so there is a communal worship. I have been blessed here.

Hope you will all find a way to stay active and healthy in your faith!

Jeremy

Holler holler, pop your collar

Hey guys!
Just checking in and seeing how you all settled in. Please post (via the comment option) cell phone numbers, other contact info, and prayer requests here. Also, if any of you have trouble finding churches, please let me know where your homestay is. I can ask around for you. I think it's important to get hooked up with a church community because we weren't meant to go through this battle alone (granted, we have one another). And even though there may be a language differences, praise God that fellowship and worship goes beyond such barriers (like how it's gonna be in heaven!!!). I pray that we will all get a taste of heaven this year in Korea, wherever you are. I don't have a cell phone yet, but once I do, I will let you all know. Post away, por favor!!! :)

-Diane

On our way...

Diane, thanks so much for creating this space for all of us! I love the picture and verse you chose- it was perfect. I just wanted to say Happy Yonsei Day to everyone and that I am praying for everyone's placements, schools, etc! Thanks so much for everyone's support during orientation! I know it is just the beginning of the year.

In Him,

Jenna

Philippians 2

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."