Merry Christmas to you and your family!!
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Sunday: After Church and choir last Sunday I met my wonderful friend and former SYME student Joshua at the very busy Seoul Station. He was coming from Busan to meet a group of colleagues who were going with him on a 3 - 6 month mission journey to Kenya. I am so excited for this young man who is so eager to serve the Lord. He has been helping his father in the family business and I was delighted to hear that both Joshua's mother and father are so supportive of him going on this trip as he prepares to serve the Lord. Thanks for praying for Joshua.
Joshua and GGG at the Christmas tree in Seoul Station!
_________________________________________________Monday: When I arrived at my office at YISS on Monday morning our elementary secretary had the following gift on my desk. Mrs. Yoo has been such a blessing to all of us in the elementary school! She is so efficient and so caring. I was very touched by her note to me with her gift. I am so thankful she is at YISS.
During the day on Monday I was encouraged by Grade 1D as they came by my office to sing some Christmas Carols! They were so cute and loved singing for me. I posted the little video I took of them singing on Facebook should you care to see it. Here is a picture of them in a crazy pose (at my request) following their singing.
Monday evening brought a Christmas gift from my excellent friend and former SYME student, Yeongmin. He asked me to meet him for Christmas dinner at a new restaurant. (Yeongmin is the king of finding new and wonderful places to eat!) He found a really nice contemporary French restaurant called July in a hilly section of Seoul. We had a very yummy and elegantly served meal and some excellent conversation! Please continue to pray for this dear friend to come to accept the Gift of salvation.
Yeongmin and GGG at July!
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Tuesday: Another busy day which climaxed in a wonderful Christmas concert by the 2nd and 3rd grade classes under the direction of Ms. Shauna Weir. Shauna is such a natural teacher and she did an amazing job with these cherubs as they presented a Christmas musical called The Tale of the Drowsy Shepherd! They did such a beautiful job! I was so proud of them! here are a few pictures of the evening.
The Angels with all of the Grade 2 and 3 singers!!
These are the Shepherds during dress rehearsal with the singers from Grades 2 and 3!
Here are the Sheep with all of the singers!
Manger scene with the singers!
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Late Tuesday afternoon I was notified that a package arrived for me. When I went to pick it up in the Business Office, I found this amazing surprise package of yummy taste treats from my good friends, Douglas and Deborah Goshorn-Stenger! I will be enjoying these for some time and I love each of them. Thanks so much, Douglas and Deborah!!
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Wednesday: This was Fun Day where students could dress in Christmas colors, etc. Students and teachers had a fun time with their various costumes. Here are only two of the pictures.
On the left above is Ms. Weir as a Christmas Tree and Pranav in his Santa suit. On the left is Ms. Regnier, our KA teacher, in her Christmas reindeer outfit!
Each morning around 8:02 one of the elementary administrators gives what we call "A Few Words of Wisdom" over the P.A. system to all of the elementary students and teachers. We share a brief thought that directs students to live out one of the one character traits we continue to emphasize through our Guardian Way! It was my week to make these announcements and I like to use the kids to help me with the announcements some times - especially if there is a quote from a country other than an English-speaking one. Wednesday's announcement used a quote from Mexico so I asked one of our students in Grade 3, Catarina, to help me. She was so cute and so excited! She kept asking me for a week when she was going to be helping me. She did a super job and many of the students commented later in the day how they really listened. (They always pay more attention when one of their friends is announcing.)
Pic on the right is GGG and Catarina preparing for our morning "Words of Wisdom!" On the left we posed for another picture together!
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Thursday was also the day when our Elementary Chaplain worked with the 22 Guardian winners for Quarter Two on the yearlong art project to show our theme for this year: "Faith Expressing Itself Through Love!" Each teacher selects a student from her/his class who has represented the Guardian Way Honor Code effectively to come and work on this special project. I always love to stop by and watch these special students at work. Below are some of the Guardian winners working with Mrs. Franck on the Guardian Project for 2013-14.
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Friday: Friday was a half day at YISS and the last day of Quarter Two. We had our Elementary Christmas Assembly in the morning. Mrs. Franck used the theme: "Christmas is a Season of Love" to share the true meaning of Christmas. There were puppets, music, a performance from our ASA group POP Dance, and a story (read by GGG) called One. The entire assembly centered on the power of ONE person making a difference, and that ONE came at Christmas to change the world!
Including only one pic from the Assembly. This is the group of Quarter Two Guardian winners on stage! They are such a fine group of students!
I also had to say "Hasta la Vista" to two dear boys who came to YISS a year and a half ago and could speak very little English. They have grown soooo much and all of us are sad to see them leaving for an assignment in another country. Last week I mentioned Joshua and Chloe who are moving with their family to an assignment in Ireland. I also showed a picture of Gabriele who is moving with her family to Saudi Arabia. On Friday, Gabriele's parents made a point to stop by my office to thank me for all YISS and I have done to make Gabriele feel like part of our YISS family. Lots of tears and they want to return to YISS soon - if possible.
Here I am with Fabian and Hugo at last May's Kinder
Graduation. Such special friends! I will miss them!!
Gabriele's parents during their visit to my office! They
wanted the picture in front of the framed painting in the
background. They have a similar one that will be with
them in Saudi Arabia!
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Saturday: I had a special time at lunch on Saturday with my awesome friend, Gunmo, and his special friend, Song, Soo Jin!! I know Gunmo would appreciate your continued prayers during this time. It was in December that his mother went home to heaven in a traffic accident a number of years back. It was through Gunmo's mother that he came to accept Jesus as his Savior. This is another young man who really wants to serve God with his life. Gunmo will resign from his current job at the end of December and will spend some time thinking and praying about his next step. Thank you for praying for my friend.
What a beautiful couple - inside and outside! Here
are Soo Jin and Gunmo at lunch at Suji's. Soo Jin
means "elegant and valuable." I love both of their smiles!
All three of us enjoying coffee and great fellowship
at the end of our two-hour lunch! What a great time!
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I must share one tragic event this past week. We were informed by Ms. Everett (grade 3C teacher) that the father of one of her students, Jenica, had a heart attack while he was doing his morning walk. He fell and hit his head. He remained in a coma all week until Friday morning when we received a call that Mr. Deva Prasad was officially pronounced dead. Mr. Prasad was only 42 year old and leaves behind his wife and two daughters. I know Jenica is struggling right now and the family would value your prayers. The family are believers and we are grateful for that. Please pray as the family is flying the body back to India this weekend.
I trust that each of you will enjoy a very meaningful and wonderful Christmas - remembering the birth of that ONE, Jesus, who was born so that we could have eternal life. Merry Christmas to you and your family. This may be my last blog until the New Year since I will be traveling to Pennsylvania this Christmas. I will leave on December 23 and return to Seoul on January 4, 2014! Thank you for your love, encouragement, prayers and support during 2013!
Love, Gregg
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