On Friday morning, after a yummy breakfast with the Kuhns, I headed to ICS-P for the beginning of the school day. It was such a great day of meeting teachers and staff, mingling with students in grades K-12, getting some questions answered by the current Director, Bob Newman, and the Business Manager, Mylene. It was so much fun meeting teachers and students and just walking through the school and the new gymnasium! Then it was time for lunch! I soon found out from teachers and students that they love the food prepared by the kitchen staff, but especially love it when they prepare Beef Tapas for lunch! They were soooo yummy!. (I am so sorry to disappoint many of you, but I did not get pictures of the food or any event during this visit. I was just enjoying taking everything in on Friday.) After lunch Bob Newman took me in his car to visit two possible apartments. I enjoyed seeing both apartments, but I believe I have decided to stay in the apartment that Bob Newman and his wife have lived in this year. It is a very nice apartment outside the main city but still with good access to the main subway and bus station at the AK Plaza in Pyeongtaek and another quaint little town, Anjeong-ri, near the main gate of the US Army's base, Camp Humphreys. I will get some pictures once I move into the apartment. One of the wonderful provisions for me came from Bob Kennedy. He said that he and Cynthia, his wife, are planning to leave their furniture, dishes, pots & pans, washer & dryer (American made), microwave, TV and Apple TV, linens, other miscellaneous items PLUS the car!! All of this for only $2,200!! I was overwhelmed and thanked the Lord. I have been doing a savings plan each year and last year's total of savings in the envelope in my apartment in Seoul totaled 2,386,000 Won, which is almost the exact amount needed! I am so grateful!
I had a delightful evening at the Appreciation Dinner and Parents' Meeting. I was one of the servers and enjoyed every minute of it. I love serving others - especially in an eating situation. I was able to interact with volunteers and parents as I served. They began to see my humor and seemed to enjoy it. One of the Korean parents commented to me that she could not believe that the Director was serving her! Another parent commented as he and his wife departed, "I wanted to leave a tip for your excellent service." Another parent said, "It was so exciting to see your real heart!" I am grateful to the Lord for giving me the gift of service and allowing me to do that in a culture that usually does not like to be served by older people.
After the dinner, I was introduced and shared a bit of my background and testimony and what parents could expect from me and that my main desire for the first few months was to observe and build relationships; not come in and make major changes all of a sudden. They seemed to appreciate that. Thanks so much for praying for me and continuing to pray as details are worked out for moving my things to Pyeongteak after finishing responsibilities at YISS. Pray for me as I decide on dates when I can get to the USA this summer after spending a couple weeks with the current director at ICS-P to find out answers to some more questions and continue to discover what he sees as the future at ICS-P. I will be writing more later as I prepare to move, etc.
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During the past week at YISS, I had some delightful opportunities to share with some students. One of them was an email I received from Ryan in 4A. They were working on persuasive writing pieces and Ryan wrote a persuasive piece on Let's Play Dodgeball. He actually did a great job and I was so proud of him and his excellent writing. He was not complaining or saying negative things about why it has never been offered, but presented compelling reasons for having the activity while doing it in a very positive way. I was very impressed and went to the 4A classroom to share publicly with his classmates what a good job he had done. I also informed the class that Ryan's letter came a little too late since all of the after school activities had been decided for Quarter Four. I wish I had my camera ready to get a picture of their expressions after I said that. BUT I then went on to say, "However, I am pleased to report that Mr. Resende (Physical Ed. teacher) and I had already included Dodgeball as an activity for Grades 3 and 4 in Quarter Four!" You should have heard the cheers and seen the expressions. I again complimented Ryan on his excellent piece of persuasive writing and encouraged students to learn from Ryan's excellent example.
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I was also involved in a Bible Class Interview conducted by the Grade 4 team! Students in 4th grade have started studying the prophets Elijah and Elisha. They were looking at the calling of Elisha and how he completely left behind his old way of life to follow God and be a prophet. They then looked at Luke 14, where Jesus tells His disciples and the crowd to count the cost before deciding to follow Him. The teachers wanted students to interview modern-day followers of Christ to see what challenges and blessings they have had in their walk with following Jesus. Students were to select a YISS staff member who they wanted to interview. My name was selected by two delightful students, Max and Joan. They came to my office on Wednesday morning to interview me for about 20 minutes, which ended up being about 35 minutes! What a delightful time I had as they asked me questions and furiously wrote notes on all that I said. At the close of our interview, I asked both Max and Joan if they had accepted Jesus as their Savior - explaining what that meant. Both said they were still working on that. They asked some more questions and told me that this assignment was helping them to clarify their beliefs. I would ask you to pray for these two beautiful students, Max and Joan. They are both very special to me. Both are excellent students and I believe they are ready to commit their lives to following Jesus.
Here I am outside my office with Max and Joan after our interview about the cost of following Jesus. Two very special students!!
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Since I missed the Mystery Reader Day during the Read-A-Thon because I was in Mississippi for the New Directors' Training and Annual Leadership Conference, the Grade 3B teacher. Ms. Corbett, invited me to come on Thursday afternoon to be the Mystery Reader for her class. She wanted me to share some books that were special to me and would be of interest to her students. I had a great time of sharing a few of my favorite books and then I read this year's Newbery Medal Winner, Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena. It is about a boy who continually asks his Nana, "Why everyone else had it better than he does?" and other similar "Why" questions. His Nana begins to open him up to a brand new way of thinking about what is out there. The kids enjoyed it and want me to come back and read some more. Ms. Corbett was going to send me some pictures of my special time in Grade 3B, but I haven't received them in time for this post. Maybe next week?
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You may remember last week's post concerning "Josh," a second grader at YISS, and the prayer request concerning his relationship with his parents - especially with his mother. Josh's Mom stopped by last week to let me know that she decided not to take the business trip she was planning this week. She was going to go and take Josh along, but she said to me last week, "I think it is better for me to stay home and rebuild my relationship with Josh." I was thrilled and later I saw that she had posted some pictures of a special fun time that she enjoyed with Josh. I told Josh the next day that I saw the fun pictures and it looked like he was having a great time. He told me that he was! Keep praying for Josh and his Mom and the entire family! Below is a photo of the grade 2 Publishing Celebration from several weeks ago. I thought I would give you a photo of Josh so you can be praying for him.
I love this picture of some of the second grade boys surrounding the little boy in the chair. He is reading his story to them. "Josh" is the boy standing on the left of the reader.
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You may also remember Alliot, a YISS student who left YISS 2 years ago to begin his high school years in a public school in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. Alliot and I began our friendship when he was in the elementary school at YISS. We continued to get together and chat about many things including God and Jesus. Alliot was asking many questions of me when he was in middle school about God and Christianity. Last summer he made a point to come and visit me when he was back in Seoul with his family. We always have some excellent conversations. We have chatted privately on Facebook where he asks many questions about Science and God. This weekend he sent some private messages to me on Facebook that just excited me so much!! We are now planning to meet via Skype because he really misses our chats and continues to "seek God." Here are some of the messages he wrote to me this weekend:
"Mr. Garman, I truly believe that God brings people together! As I have said before, I've talked to a gentleman named Solomon and have got to know God a bit better. He has moved to fulfill the perfect plan that God has set for him, but I have met a new person! I got to know this man by the name of James as my friend's father. I was at Joanne's choir concert and met him in the waiting room. He's a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and I was talking to him about football when I mentioned Solomon as God has sent him on a mission to play for the Dallas Cowboys as he is over the age of 40 and it would be humanly impossible for someone of that age to recover from a football injury he suffered in college and play representing
I think that God purposely put me in this environment where I went to YISS, a Christian school, and arranged my life so that I can meet all these great people, including you! I would love to talk with you about this as well. We can potentially Skype if you have an account or call through Facebook one day. I will also be praying for you.
I believe God set my life this way so that I can seek Him!"
Would you please pray with me for Alliot as he continues to seek God and His Son, Jesus Christ? I am so excited that Alliot is so eager to continue seeking God! Here is a picture of us last summer when he called me to have a meal and talk together while he was home.
Here I am with Alliot at The Flying Pan Blue in Itaewon enjoying our food and fellowship.
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I will close for this week. Thanks so much for being so faithful with your encouragement, love, notes, emails, prayers, and support. Please enjoy a great week! It will be a busy week this week as we end Quarter Three and prepare for our Spring Break. You can also pray for the GWAM (Guardians With a Message) during Spring Break as they go out to various countries, including South Korea, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China, with over 190 middle school and high school students + 45 YISS staff to do service projects and present Jesus Christ to children, teens, and adults.
Love, Gregg
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