It all began last Sunday afternoon when I departed on a bus from Pyeongtaek Bus terminal to the Uijeongbu Bus Terminal. I enjoy taking the bus in Korea. I am able to have more quiet and I can reflect, ponder, and pray. Usually, all seats are taken on the buses. On this longer ride (about two and a half hours, there was only one empty seat, and it was beside me! I actually enjoy when that happens. So I did some sleeping and reflecting and praying. Once I arrived in Uijeongbu, my friend, and director of the ICS-Uijeongbu, Linroy Kilgore, came to pick me up. He said that before he took me to the hotel, his wonderful and joyful wife, Nona, had prepared some delicious food (mainly Russian taste treats, and wanted me to come and enjoy Sunday evening dinner with them. We had an excellent meal with great conversation and laughs! Then off to the hotel for some rest to prepare for the three days of the NICS Fall Directors' Conference. It was hosted this year at ICS-Uijeongbu.
Linroy, Nona, and GGG preparing to enjoy the very delicious
meal that Nona had prepared!
Here are the array of fabulous dishes (mostly Russian recipes) that
Nona had prepared for my arrival.
This was my plate of yummy foods - most placed on my plate by Nona! I had to stop her from piling it higher! :-)
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It was great to catch up with fellow directors and principals from our schools in the Asia, Africa, and Middle East region. We had several days of delightful fellowship, work, and fantastic meals. The husband of one of the ICS-U teachers, Roger, is the head of their Member Care Group. He is an excellent cook and he had excellent breakfasts for us each morning and took care of making arrangements for our meals that were delivered or those we ate out. We even had a Korean BBQ outside the building the school uses for its gym. The fourth-grade teacher's husband is a pilot for Asiana Airlines and LOVES to cook as well. He grilled some very delicious bulgogi, duck, and hot dogs! We enjoyed a great time of fellowship and very tasty food.
Our chef for the BBQ, Mr. Lee, grilling
the bulgogi and duck!
Mr. and Mrs. Lee (the Grade 4 teacher) preparing the hot dogs!
One of our directors, Karl Nielsen,
showing some pictures he took when he
was sharing in this little man's class.
The BBQ spread! Ready to eat!
Some of the ICS-U teachers, their
families and some of our NICS
Directors loading their plates!
This was my plate of yummy food!
Eating and fellowship with ICS-U staff
and NICS Directors!
Some more of the ICS-U staff and their families with some of the NICS personnel!
Here I am with a beautiful family! Dawna Poirier is the wife of the Member Care gentleman, Roger, who was so helpful and cooked so many delicious meals for us. Dawna teaches Kindergarten at ICS-U. These are the three sons of Roger and Dawna. The family knows Mrs. Tina Cho, our Kindergarten teacher at ICS-P, and her family. Such a great family!
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Most of our time at this conference was taken up with some collaborative work on a set of standards that NICS is working on implementing throughout our network of international schools. It was interesting to spend some time in groups working on revising the rough draft of standards. Before getting down to work on these standards, each of the directors was assigned to go to one of the ICS-U classrooms to share something about their school, share something about themselves and their journey with the Lord, or share a book with the class. I was delighted to be in a 7th grade MS class! They were full of life and energy and were quite attentive as well as interactive. Loved their questions. One boy in the class, Hyun, captured my attention and we seemed to connect right from the start. Please pray for him. He is new to the school and comes with a very extensive list of discipline situations from his other schools. The teachers and administrators have already seen some improvement. He had some great questions for me at the end of my presentation and I am praying that he will come to know Jesus Christ.
Above is most of our group at the NICS Fall Directors' Conference. We were enjoying one of our evenings out for dinner. This dinner was at a famous buffet in South Korea. It's called Ashley's and the food is so delicious!
These were some of the main persons from NICS who presented at the Fall Conference along with the Director of ICS-Uijeongbu, who hosted the conference. The picture was actually taken at YISS. Left to right: Jesse Newman, Duane Jobe, Pete Simano, and Linroy Kilgore. They were shocked to see Pete Simano in a suit. He rarely wears one and he came to YISS in a suit, shirt, and tie!
Here are the three presenters at the Fall Conference at Uijeongbu as well as the workshop on accreditation at YISS. They are all Vice Presidents from the NICS Home Office. From left to right: Dr. Duane Jobe (Leadership Development), Ms. Lydia Zuidema (Academics), and Mr. Pete Simano (Leadership Development).
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We also were given a tour of the school and a little history. This was my second visit to the school and I continue to learn more each time. They have a lot of new staff this year but they are coming together and enjoying each other. I know they would value your prayer.
This is one of the lower elementary grades in the Performing Arts class that Mrs. Nona Kilgore teaches. They love doing all kinds of music and drama with Mrs. Kilgore.
This is the remodeled technology classroom! Lots of good things going on here - especially for a small school.
In the Library, the librarian had this display as you entered the Library. These are books written by some of the lower elementary school classes! They recently had a "Meet the Author" time in the Library where students and teachers could come and meet these up and coming authors.
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Thursday morning, I traveled with Linroy Kilgore and Jesse Newman (A VP from the Home Office) about an hour and a half south to Yongsan International School of Seoul where we would participate along with the Director of YISS, Ray Johnson, in a workshop on preparation for each of our school's Midterm Accreditation Visit. This was lead by Lydia Zuidema, (one of the VPs from NICS) and Duane Jobe and Pete Simano, (the two VPs for Leadership Development). Before our workshop began, I had some time to visit many of my former colleagues and friends from YISS. I always enjoy catching up with them, but never have sufficient time. :-( However, I loved the times I was able to spend with some of the faculty and staff as well as some of the students. When I walked into the ES cafeteria and the MS/HS cafeteria, I was greeted by shouts from students, "Mr. Garman! Look! Mr. Garman is here!" So much fun to catch up with a number of those I had begun building relationships with and hearing of their progress. Here are just a few of the pictures I remembered to take. I was meeting so many former colleagues and students that I just forgot to get photos. :-(
Here I am with Mrs. Jane Yoo, the elementary secretary! She was
so wonderful and such a huge assistance to me when I was at YISS!
Here I am with a group of ladies who are amazing in carrying out their responsibilities in the Business Office at YISS. They became great friends and were soooo helpful to me in carrying out many of my responsibilities involving finances. From left to right: Mrs. Hong, Min Ah, and Mrs. Won! We had a great reunion!
I saw numerous students when I was visiting, but I got a picture of this young man who is now in Middle School. I began building a relationship with him when he was in Grade 2. I believe God wanted me to meet him today. I had been looking for him and couldn't locate him. When I was heading to our NICS workshop, Max Park came up the stairs while I was heading down. So exciting to see how he has grown in so many ways. Thanks for praying for Max as you can.
This young lady is an amazing teacher of Grade 2 at YISS. her name is Ms. Kara Minor. Two years ago, Kara and I began investing into the life of one of her second-grade boys, Ahan. Ahan was such a delightful young boy in Grade 2. He and his family were Muslims. As soon as I saw Ms. Minor, she said, "I have some great news for you!" She went on to tell me that Ahan is now in Singapore in Grade 4 and he and his parents are now believers in Jesus Christ!! Mother was the first to be saved and then Dad and then Ahan! I was sooooo excited!! This lady continues to impact many young children for the Lord as she teaches! Thanks for praying for her.
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Around 4:30, I began my journey south to Pyeongtaek. I was eager to return to my apartment and get a good night's rest. The subway and bus worked well and I made it back to Pyeongtaek in good time and awakened and refreshed to head to ICS-P to lead our staff meeting and devotions before our guests, Lydia Zuidema and Duane Jobe, arrived to have a tour and time to meet staff and then spend some quality time with Charlie Mooney and me as we continue to work on our Emergency Preparedness Plan. They were both a big help to us on Friday. I drove Duane and Lydia back to the Bus Terminal in Pyeongtaek and then came back to school to finish some work that had piled up during the four days away.
It was fun to return to ICS-P and see students and teachers. It was also Member Care Friday. The Member Care Committee had prepared some creative signs for a very large box of assorted candies for teachers to enjoy! Our Member Care at ICS-P is wonderful! Enjoy the clever headings they placed on different sides of the box of goodies! :-)
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Thanks so much for your faithful love, care, encouragement, regular mail/packages, emails, phone calls, prayers, and gifts. They mean so much to me. I trust that you are doing well. Please enjoy a great week. I am praying for you. Please do not hesitate to send to me any prayer requests that you have.
Love, Gregg
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