Christmas Concerts, Compassion Club, and COLD!

This past week was a very busy one!  Many of you have been praying for Mollie and Jenny, two Middle School students who were hit by a speeding car at a dangerous intersection at the bottom of the YISS entrance.  Thank you so much.  They are doing much better!  The doctors keep saying they are miracles!  They are still in the hospital and have a long road of recovery ahead of them - so your prayers are still very important!

I am going to try my best to just tell the story of this week through pictures.

SNOW AND COLD!!

This was the view outside my office window at YISS

when the snow came on Wednesday afternoon!  We 

had to call an Early Dismissal.  Bus drivers came from 

their buses with brooms and shovels to begin clearing

the roadway leading out of the school!

Another view of the shoveling crew!  You can see some 

of the beautiful trees with snow looking out into Seoul.

The YISS facilities staff were shoveling almost night and 

day - at least it seemed like it.  Almost all of it was done

the old fashioned way - by hand!

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CHRISTMAS CONCERTS CONTINUE!!

Kindergarten cherubs singing the first of 

three concerts we ha on Tuesday during 

the day at YISS.  They were so cute and 

sang so well!

This is one of my buddies in Grade 1A after 1A's concert.  He is 6 going on 35! :-)  He is so cute and talks like a little man!

Here is 1A singing their little hearts out for their concert!

This little boy from grade 1 was crying after the concert because neither of his parents were able to come to his concert.  Mrs. Birmingham, Elementary Assistant Principal, and Ms. Lee, one of our Teaching Assistants, talked with him and then I asked him if I could get a picture.  He ended up smiling.  My heart was aching for him.  I am so thankful that I had parents who made it a priority to be at our special events during our school years.

Here is 1B and 1C singing their concert!  They were 

the third concert for the day and they also did such 

an amazing job!

Thursday evening was the Middle School and High School concert.  It has been really cool to see the creativity the music teachers have displayed in selecting a location for their concerts since the auditorium is still under expansion construction.  They chose to have a Madrigal Dinner Concert in the cafeteria!  The Middle School Choir, High School Choir, Advanced Choral Ensemble, 8th Grade Band, High School String Orchestra, and the Drama Class all combined to give us this Madrigal experience.  My camera is broken and most of the pictures taken on my cell phone did not turn out.  This picture is one of the high school drama class students doing a monologue from Julius Caesar. His name is Jared and his awesome voice reminded me of my brother, Jared's voice and personality.  There were several drama students gave monologues from Shakespeare.

In between the wonderful Madrigal Christmas selections 

by the choirs, there were Madrigal dances.  The speech 

teacher had taught these dances to her students and in full

costume they danced for us.  They then chose audience

members to come up and join them.  I was so glad I was 

not selected!

This is part of the Advanced Choral Ensemble who sang beautifully - especially since all the vocal music was done A cappella.  The lady seated in the left of the picture is one of the PTO volunteers.  She must have designed and made 50 costumes for the musicians to wear.  It was a grand evening including a roasted chicken dinner served by some of the high school and middle school students.

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COMPASSION CLUB'S "BUNDLE UP" PROJECT!!!!!!

 Above are two of the chairs in my office at YISS covered with some of the many scarves and hats that were sent from the USA for our "Bundle Up" Compassion Club project!  I want to thank my dear friends, Ken and Judy, from Delaware who sent two large boxes of handmade scarves and hats.  Judy has already started making some for next year.  Thanks also to my sister, Gae, who sent me some of the scarves and hats she had knitted as well!

This is the classroom that Compassion Club uses each week.

Here some of the students are sorting the many clothes that

were donated to them for distribution at Seoul Station.

Here is one of the recipients of a bag of warm clothing at Seoul Station.  Seoul Station is a very busy hub for trains and subways in Seoul and many homeless people use the underground tunnels in the winter to try and stay warm.  This delightful crippled man was so happy to display some of the clothes from his bag.  I believe this is one of Judy's scarves!

I saw this man and he already had one of our scarves 

but we had some men's coats so I was helping him find

one that fit him.  I wish I had a new York Yankee cap 

with me to replace that Chicago White Sox one! :-)

The man on the right was on the cold ground when we met him.  He was proudly wearing some of the clothes that were in his bag.  One of the children had given it to him already but when he saw Ms. Weir (the teacher who leads the Compassion Club) and me, he kept smiling and saying thank you!  The other man was there helping him and he also had a bag of clothing.  Ms. Weir is in the middle.  The scarf modeled by the man on the right is one of my sister's creations.

One of my Discipleship boys, Joshua, was delighted 

to give one of his bags to this precious gentleman.  

This delightful couple knew Ms. Weir from previous years of the "Bundle Up" Project.  They were so thrilled to see her again and continued to say "Thank you" and "Hallelujah" and kept holding on to Ms. Weir.  

When all of the clothing bags were distributed,

we took all of the children and the parents who 

came along to Dunkin' Donuts at Seoul Station

for Hot Chocolate, coffee, and donut holes!  We

had a real special time listening to the children

share their experiences of the very cold morning!

Although it was a frigid day, our hearts were warmed!

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I am also in the continual process of ending Quarter Two After School Activities and organizing Quarter Three's activities.  We had to cancel Wednesday and Friday activities last week because of the snow!  That means I have some work to do to reschedule those activities missed.  Thanks for praying!

Once again, I had the privilege of sharing in the OASIS assembly with those students who are from many different religious views.  It continues to excite me to see some of these children come to know Jesus.  The Christmas concerts are especially thrilling because these kids and their parents are singing the story of the birth of Jesus and what that really means!

We finish Quarter Two this next week so teachers and principals will be extra busy completing comments and report cards.  I have the opportunity to travel to Chiang Mai, Thailand for six days over Christmas break!  I am excited!  I have never been to Thailand and it will be country #38 that I have visited.  Many have told me what a beautiful country Thailand is.  I am hoping to ride an elephant and maybe eat some roasted rat.  My sister, Gae, says it is very delicious. Hmmm, we shall see!

Please enjoy a great week!  Please know that you are very special to me and I appreciate so much your notes of encouragement, your prayers, your love, and your support.  Thank you!!

Love,  Gregg