As I arrived at school on Monday, I noticed a bulletin board that the school nurse had prepared. It brought a huge smile to my face and made me laugh out loud. The Korean cleaning lady outside the nurse's office must have though I was crazy as I stood in front of the bulletin board and laughed and then shed some tears of joy and remembrance. Here is what I saw:
You are asking what would make you laugh and cry about this? My mother drilled into each of her four children (and our Daddy) that we should wash our hands frequently! This began when we were children and continued until she went home to heaven. When my parents dropped me off at Wheaton College in September of 1967, one of her last admonishments was, "Don't forget to wash your hands often!" :-) (I won't tell you what one of her parting gifts to me was that year. Some day you can ask me and I will maybe tell you.) Throughout my adult life I would continue to receive clippings of "Ann Landers' Columns" and "Dear Abby" any time they mentioned the importance of washing your hands! We would give my mother "good" grief about this but she said that we would thank her some day! :-) I find myself washing my hands many times throughout my day at YISS! I know my mother loves Ms. Han, our school nurse! I know my mother is telling Jesus, "Look a that good nurse! She knows the importance of clean hands!" :-) Thank you, Mother! I miss you and Daddy!
Throughout this last week, I was filled with joy and excitement in many other ways!
1 - I received an email from one of our graduates from last May. You may remember Eugene. He graduated and went to Emory University, one of the world's leading research universities. Its mission is to create, preserve, teach, and apply knowledge in the service of humanity. Eugene was one of those who came to YISS as one who did not believe in God and left as a strong and growing Christian. He wrote me a long email about his beginning as a freshman "international" student at Emory. I am in the process of asking Eugene if I can share his writings with you. I was so impressed with how God is using him and all that he is learning and experiencing at Emory. He also wrote about several students from YISS who are not believers but how he has continued to Skype with them and how they "continue to be more inquisitive about God and Christianity." Eugene was writing to me, as well as several staff members at YISS, to express his gratitude of our investment and encouragement in his life. I am so full of joy and excitement concerning Eugene. Would you pray for him as you remember him?
2 - Mrs. Franck, our elementary chaplain and coordinator of the Walk-A-Sock-A-Thon, came to my office and gave me the final totals for the Walk! First, I need to tell you several things. You need to remember that there are almost 400 elementary students at YISS. They were only allowed to collect and save 100 Won coins for the Walk. They were not asked to have anyone pledge so much for them. They were to be creative and save 100 Won coins. Now remember that a 100 Won coin is not quite a dime when compared to US currency. One more thing! Part way through the weeks of collecting coins, the PTO at YISS told the kids that for every 200 Won the children collected, the PTO would put in another 100 Won! Here are the final totals:
Children: 7,724,300 KRW
PTO added: 3,862,150 KRW
Grand Total: 11,586,450 KRW (Korean Won)
We are thrilled with such a great total! Kids are so excited that so much can be raised to help children without clean water in Nepal through such small coins! The amount raised will provide 2 more clean water devices for the Mountain Child as they help the children of Nepal!!
3 - Harvest Fun Day! One Wednesday each month we have a Fun Day at YISS in the elementary school where children can dress according to a theme for that day. They love it and there is always a lot of joy and excitement! October 31 was the Fun Day for October and it had the theme of Harvest Time. Children could dress as those who are involved in reaping the harvest during any period of history. I posted more pictures on my Facebook page, but here are some for your enjoyment:
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Along with the joy and excitement there seems to always be some stress and unrest! This week had its share of that as well! :-)
1 - After School Activities: This past week began the Swimming After School Activities and then on Friday the remainder of the After School Activities began. It is always a bit stressful to make sure everything is ready and that all of students have returned their Liability Forms as well as paid for their activity. So I was busy contacting parents for forms not turned in, making sure fees were paid, making sure locations were ready, and all the bus lists were correct. God was working through it all and He brought great satisfaction at the close of the week and we had a great start to Quarter Two activities!
2 - I was asked on Wednesday afternoon if I would be willing to be the person in charge at YISS on Thursday and Friday since the following administrators would be away at a large East Asian conference for educators: the headmaster, High School principal, Middle School Principal, Elementary Principal, Elementary Assistant Principal, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Chief Financial Officer, and Admissions Director. SO for two days I was Headmaster again! :-) Stress at first since I found out on Wednesday evening that because of the SEOMUN (Seoul Model United Nations) conference for high school students from 6-8 international schools would be hosted by YISS Thursday through Saturday. Plus the Sports Conference that YISS belongs to was having its Volleyball Tournament Thursday through Saturday and YISS was hosting the Girls' Volleyball from about 6 - 8 international schools! This was all happening at a school which is limited in its facilities' use due to the expansion construction going on. I learned that we would not have use of the Elementary Gym as well as two other rooms that we had arranged for After School Activities!
3 - Thursday evening I went to bed fighting a sore throat. It was in full soreness on Friday morning and I did not have a very restful night! Unrest and stress were in full bloom on Friday morning! In the middle of the afternoon, I also was informed that one of our 4th grade students fell from the playground equipment at lunch recess and had to be taken to the hospital. We discovered she had a broken arm.
Through all of the joy, excitement, stress, and unrest, I have learned (very slowly at times) that Jesus always brings satisfaction! Through the hectic week, I look back and thank the Lord for the great satisfaction He brings through the mixture of joys and exciting things as well as the stress and unrest! Our students did well at the SEOMUN conference! Our girls; volleyball team is did very well at the tournament! After School Activities went very well! I received several comments from the instructors about the great kids and all of the instructors were so flexible and no one had any concerns with location changes. Elementary teachers were amazing and so flexible and creative when we had to change arrival locations for Thursday and Friday mornings and ask for extra duty help! The school nurse was amazing with the care of the student who broke her arm! I am thrilled to see what is happening in Eugene's life at Emory! I am still working on being satisfied with my sore throat and chest cold issues, but there will always be thorns! Joys, Excitement, Stress, Unrest, Satisfaction!!
Oh, a few more items that happened on Saturday brought me joy and satisfaction! I had to go to the doctor who has been working on my toe problem for a check up on Saturday. The weather was perfect - simply gorgeous! I decided to walk home after my visit to Dr. Kim. (My toe is doing well!) On the walk home I was stopped first by a young man who had a small film crew with him. He politely asked me if he could ask some me some questions. I said yes and while his crew filmed us he asked me questions and I answered. We had a great discussion and he was excited to hear about YISS and what I am doing in Korea.
Above is my new friend, Kim Jung San. He is a Korean musical actor and had many questions about YISS and God. Please pray for him!
I walked a few more blocks and was stopped by two boys who had clipboards and wanted to ask me some questions to practice their English. They were so cute and kept smiling and writing feverishly on their papers on the clipboards.
Here are my two friends after our interview! I am holding the two laminated cards they gave me at the end. It had John 3:16 on one side and the Lord's Prayer on the other. They told me about Jesus and they were excited when I told them that I put my faith in Jesus when I was 6 years old. What a beautiful Saturday!
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Thank you so much for your encouragement, love, prayers, and support! Please enjoy a great first full week of November. I am praying for my many friends who suffered loss during the recent nasty Sandy storm. Don't forget to get out and vote! I sent in my absentee ballot about 3 weeks ago. Happy November! It's Thanksgiving time! I want to learn to be more thankful each day - not just an official holiday! Thank you for all you do for me!
Love, Gregg
P.S. - Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour (Thanks, Margie!). Now we are 14 hours ahead of most of you! Hope you enjoyed an extra hour of sleep!
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