Teachers and Students Return to Begin Quarter Three at ICS-P!

Yes, teachers returned to ICS-P on Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the students' arrival on Wednesday.  I should say that most of the teachers and staff returned.  ICS-P has had its share of celebrations and struggles during the Christmas Break.  I returned to discover several updates about some of our staff.  Many of them you have already been praying for.  We also had our share of sickness going around among the staff.  I am continually thrilled with how our staff community gather around those who are struggling to care for them and pray for them.  What was particularly exciting for me was that one of our new teachers, Mr. Wolfer, initiated a special prayer time at 10:30 on Tuesday in his classroom for any faculty and staff to come and thank the Lord for what He continues to do as well bring our requests before Him.  It was an exciting time as numerous staff came and stood around, some walked around, and some sat, but all were thanking the Lord and praying for our many needs!  It was a very exciting time!  Another exciting thing that came from this was that we have started a voluntary time on Mondays at 7:30 AM, beginning tomorrow, where any staff who are free can come to Mr. Wolfer's room and pray for our school!  Perhaps you want to join us.  If so, here are the updates and some of the praises and prayer requests:

1 - Jon and Tina Greener:  Jon and Tina returned from Montana this past Friday and Jon is ready to return to school on Monday.  Please pray for both of them as they are suffering from jet lag migraine headaches.  They had a special time with family and friends at the memorial service of Jon's parents, who were killed in the head-on collision in Montana.  Jon did not have time to report to me before he left to go to Montana for a couple weeks about the exciting news from the week of the ICS-P Conquerors' Basketball Winter Camp.  Yesterday he shared with me that one of high school girls accepted Christ as her Savior and seven of the high school campers confessed sin in their lives and vowed to follow God with all their hearts, souls, and minds from 2017 and beyond!! Please join us in thanking the Lord for these decisions!

____________________ 

2 - Charlie and April Mooney:  As you may remember, Charlie and April gave birth to Cora Elizabeth on January 3.  Charlie shared with me right before teachers were to return to school this past week about some sudden changes.  I will let him tell you in what he shared with staff:

"I wanted to give you all a brief update on Cora. A few days after her birth, we and our pediatrician suspected she might have Downs Syndrome. Because we wanted to understand what her health care needs are, we decided, on our own, to take her to Ajou University Hospital for genetic testing to confirm DS. We're thankful we did so. While there, they found associated medical complications that were urgent, including low blood platelet counts and a heart defect. She was immediately admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). She will be there 1-2 weeks and we are not permitted to remain with her. We may only visit her twice each day for 30 minutes, and she is currently being kept in an incubator. Her sickness and separation have been heartbreaking for us, so we ask for your prayers.

Regarding her likely diagnosis of DS itself, we are not asking for pity or condolences. This is just another way that God makes beautiful children. We haven't lost anything, as Cora is the way Cora has always been. We just want our friends and family to know so they can join us in a life of caring for and loving our sweet daughter through whatever needs she may have.

Please join us in praying for Cora's restored health (a naturally repaired heart and increased blood platelet levels). Also pray that April and I would find the strength needed to run this marathon of medical care for a while. Also, join us in praising the Lord for the circumstances, which lead to the discovery of low platelet count, as any kind of sickness could have been fatal.

She has been in medical care for about 24 hours and she is already improving. We are hopeful."

Then on Saturday morning, Charlie shared the following 2nd Update about Cora:

"We saw her doctor at the visit this morning, and he informed us that her blood platelets had risen significantly. They still have a long way to go, but she is out of the critical zone. We may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. She is responding very well. He has also stated once again that the hole in her heart is not something to worry about at the moment. They'll just need to keep monitoring it to see it if will close on its own. The testing results for Downs Syndrome will still not arrive for two weeks, but that is not a concern of ours, as long as she is healthy and home. We're in love with who Cora is right now, regardless of that diagnosis.

For now, Cora remains in the incubator in the NICU, but April and I are feeling much better today with this good news.

Keep praying for her restoration to full health. We can't wait to have our baby home."

This is the most recent photo of Cora. 

I know that Charlie and April would appreciate your prayers.  Charlie does a lot at ICS-P to assist in making things operate smoothly!  I have missed him this past week!

_________________________

3 - Ben Coyner:  Many of you have been praying for Ben, our Guidance Counselor.  Last Sunday evening he wrote the following update:

"Last week I completed all of my radiation and chemotherapy sessions! Hooray!! 

Unfortunately, the radiation sessions have caused a lot of damage to all areas of my mouth and throat. As a result, I have constant mucous secretions in my mouth and lodged mucous/pain in my throat.

This has limited my general productivity and my ability to speak clearly. More importantly, it is a struggle for me to sleep more than a few hours at a time (if I am put under major sedatives).

I am dependent on using a suction machine that I use throughout the day to make it easier for me to breathe.

I agree with my family that I am not physically able to leave my home without access to the suction machine and easy access to all of the gargles and bathroom.

I was hoping that I would be OK by tomorrow, January 9 (Monday), but it now seems impossible for me to leave my parents’ home.

The doctors said that my side effects are fairly common, and that they should go away in a month."

So, Ben was not able to join us at school all week, but he was quite busy from home working on preparing Grade Reports for students and their parents as well as continuing to work via home with our seniors and their applications, etc. for universities and colleges.  I know Ben would value your prayers.

______________________________________

4 - Chris Haynes:  As most of you know, Chris had just received his I-20 the other week allowing him to go to the USA to study at Appalachian Bible College.  We had some great talks before he left on Wednesday morning.  As soon as he landed at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC, he emailed me to tell me that a ticket agent had destroyed his ticket so they prepared a new ticket for him.  It said "Seat 10 B." When he arrived, he saw that he was in Business Class!  He had asked me to be praying for him to have a restful flight and he was so excited about this special seat he was able to get at no extra charge.  He arrived safely at ABC and has begun his studies.  He was a bit worried about meeting his roommate, but he emailed me to say that they have hit it off very well and have many similar interests!  He is tired, but very excited.  I know he would appreciate your continued prayers as he begins his studies.

A picture of Chris and me before he left for ABC.

____________________________

5 - Meeting with Pyeongtaek City Hall Officials:  On Friday, several officials and an engineer from the Pyeongtaek City Hall had made an appointment to come and share with us about the road that was going to be constructed in the little village around ICS-P.  They have met with ICS-P administrators about 4 times, beginning last year before I arrived.  The piece of road that is being constructed will replace the very narrow road that comes around the school and the ICS-P Gym.  This is the first meeting that they had at the school.  We usually need to go to City Hall.

They have been wanting to construct the road in such a way that it will cut off a portion of our gymnasium, which City Hall had approved.  We have been sharing with them that this is not really acceptable.  They have been open to working on some alternate plans.  This time ICS-P invited our village chief (the man who is the head of our little village) to the meeting.  He brought documentation about what the original plan was for the construction of the road with the signatures of city officials approving it.  In that original engineer's document, there would be no damage to the entrance to our gymnasium. The officials from City Hall suddenly changed the discussion and said they needed to go back and redesign the construction.  We are very thankful for the village chief's presence and input on Friday and would ask you to pray that the City officials will not destroy the existing structure of the gym.  I will keep you posted.

____________________________

6 - ICS-P's Tight Budget:  I would ask you to pray specifically for our financial needs at present. Because of some families leaving suddenly because of being reassigned, we need to gain more students in the next couple months in order to not have a deficit near the close of the year.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated.  I needed to share with our staff last Thursday that there will most likely need to be a reduction in everyone's salary until we can gain more students or find some donors other than ICS-P parents to donate to the school.  I know that God is in control, but sometimes it is very difficult to just wait.  I would ask for your prayers as our staff think of creative ways that we can increase enrollment or increase donations to assist us with our very tight budget.  Thank you so much. I know the Lord is in control, but it is just hard to wait.  Your prayers and any gifts to ICS-P are very much appreciated.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

_______________________________

7 - Promotional Video:  I am excited about a new video that has been produced to promote ICS-Pyeongtaek!  My dear friend, Jordan Ingram, was in South Korea for a convention back in October. He and his wife, Meredith, stopped in Pyeongtaek and stayed with me.  While they were here, Jordan took many hours of film footage of our kids, teachers, education programs, activities, etc.  Jordan is a professional

______________________________

We had another excellent worship service at Dae Kwang Church today!  One of my former SYME students, Justin Lim, came again this Sunday and he invited me to lunch.  We had a really special time at a new restaurant we both wanted to try.  It is called Casa Brasil Grill!  It is a Brasilian Steak House Buffet near my apartment.  We met some new friends and enjoyed some excellent fellowship and laughter.  The owner's son enjoyed my teasing joking with him throughout our meal.  The family is from Brasil and has started this business in Pyeongtaek.  His son is Luan and he really enjoyed talking with me.  Please pray as I get to know Luan and his Dad.  Pray for both as Luan's mother and sister are still back in Brasil.  Luan is excited since he gets to go home to see his mom, sister, and girlfriend for the first in a two years.

Justin & GGG at Casa Brasil Grill on Sunday!

Luan, Justin, & GGG beside the buffet table with many salads, pasta, and rice dishes!

   This is where we enjoyed our Brasilian Meat Buffet!

The chef bringing one of the nine steaks we enjoyed.  This one was the Garlic Beef!  Very yummy!

I actually forgot to get a good picture of one of our plates.  Here   

is the best one with some of the yummy salads and the Garlic Beef!

After one finishes eating as much of the meat and goodies on the buffet, they came out to serve us this tradition yummy Brasilian dessert, Cinnamon Pineapple!  Sooo good!

____________________________________

OK, I will stop for this week.  Aren't you happy? :-)  As always, thank you so much for your love, care, emails, regular mail, encouragement, prayers, and support.  I trust you are enjoying a wonderful 2017!

Love, Gregg