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“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.”
Yes, the rice fields are ripe for harvest, but more importantly, our classrooms full of students are "ripe for harvest!" It is so exciting to hear from teachers how students are asking many questions about God and Jesus Christ through daily classroom lessons and discussions as well as the MS, HS, and ES Chapels. Please join us in praying for a plentiful harvest of souls for His kingdom this year at ICS-P. Our kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Tina Cho, came to me this week about one of her boys who is really struggling with English. His mother is Buddhist and talked with Mrs. Cho about many things relating to Christianity. She asked for books and material that tell about God and Jesus Christ. She and her husband want to learn more about this "Jesus" that her son is learning about and what it means to pray to a living God. Here is a picture of this little boy on "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" at ICS-P. Oh, his name is Roy.
Roy on "Pirate Day."
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Since I mentioned the "International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day" in the elementary school, I want to share some of the photos from that day. Some of these students already know Jesus Christ, but some do not. As you think of us, please pray that many will come to know Jesus Christ. We are having some excellent times in ES Chapel, as well as in MS and HS Chapels. Students are questioning and many who have professed to be believers are taking a bolder stand for the Lord. Pray that our teachers and administrators will continue to live out a biblical worldview each day pointing students to Jesus Christ.
Grade 5 Teacher, Mrs. Gross, with one
our Elementary cherubs who went all
out with her costume!
Grade 1 Teacher, Ms. Hunter!
One of the Dads (new to ICS-P this year)
with his son and daughter during arrival
time at ICS-P. Both went all out with their
costumes!
Three Kindergarten Pirates!
Another young Kinder Pirate!
I love the eyes of this Pirate from Grade 1! :-)
Another Elementary Pirate!
Victoria, the Pirate!
Here is a duo from Grade 2! They made
eye patches!
This was the scene in the Library with our first-grade students during their Library time on Pirate Day.
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I would like to ask you to pray for two young men who I met last year at the church where I fellowship. At Dae Kwang Church last year I met Chris Haynes. Chris and I established a great rapport almost immediately. Chris shared how he graduated from ICS-P but was a rebellious young man. He continued to struggle and try to avoid confronting Jesus, but he said that because of teachers at ICS-P who would not give up on him, he saw Jesus Christ. Chris came to know Jesus personally after he graduated from ICS-P and continued to struggle. We started a great relationship and even though he is now studying at Appalachian Bible College, we connect almost weekly for accountability times. Recently, Laurie and Don Myers, some dear friends of mine from Greencastle, PA contacted me and told me that they may be making a trip to ABC to meet with the president of the college. They knew of my relationship with Chris and wanted to surprise him with some special snacks that he would enjoy. I found out from Chris what snacks he likes and told Laurie. They were able to go to ABC and meet with Chris! I received a private message on Kakao from Chris almost 5 minutes after they gave him a bag filled with Nibble with Gibble's Chips! He loves potato chips and it made his day. The assistant to the President of ABC went to get Chris to tell him he was needed in the President's Dining Room. Chris was extremely nervous and thought he was in trouble. :-) When he arrived, he was introduced to Laurie and Don who told him that they were my friends and they wanted to encourage him with some snacks. Chris was thrilled and so surprised. Here is a picture of Chris with Don and Laure at ABC. As you can tell, he was quite happy! :-) Continue to pray for this young man as he studies and also struggles with some physical problems. I love seeing his growth as a believer in Jesus Christ!
Chris with Don and Laurie Myers after receiving his special goody bag of Nibblishous Potato Chips! He was so happy! (Saturday, I received a private text from Chris. Please pray for him this week as he has a lot of reading to do for quizzes plus an extemporaneous speech. Because of a physical condition he has, he often struggles with reading for long periods of time - especially English.)
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Another young man from church I would like you to pray for is Tommy. Tommy is married and has a little girl. He is struggling right now. I believe he is going through some deep depression and doesn't want to open up about it. This past week he has suddenly started to talk with me via private messages. In his words, he says, "I am lost. I don't know who I am." He has promised to be at church this Sunday. Please pray that he will come and that I will have the opportunity to spend time with him. he is such a fine young man and is a believer, but is struggling with who he is. Here are a couple of photos to remind you of Tommy and to pray for him.
Tommy and GGG had church last Spring.
A recent photo of Tommy and his daughter! He sent a couple recent photos to me this week.
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We had a visit from another staff member from our NICS Home Office, Missy Parks, with us at ICS-P. She is always a great encourager for all of us. Monday she spent the day in a workshop with our local Member Care Team. They loved it! Tuesday she was able to spend time with our new staff individually as well as any other staff member who wanted to spend some time with her. We were all refreshed and rejuvenated by Missy's visit!
GGG and Missy Parks outside the school office. Missy is showing
me she knows where South Korea is! :-)
Another photo of GGG and Missy Parks in front of the NICS/OASIS
world map outside the school office.
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I continue to be impressed with what our new teacher of Art, Ms. Kathy Lee, is doing in our Art classes. Here is an example of one of the pieces she was working on with our 3rd and 4th-grade cherubs. She inspires and encourages children and teens to be creative in all they do. She is quite an inspiration to our students and staff.
Photo of the special work of art created by our 3rd and 4th graders with inspiration and encouragement from Ms. Lee!
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It was a great School Picnic! Quite a few of our new families came out + many returning families came as well. Everyone seemed to have a great time playing, talking, and eating delicious food together as a community. It was so much fun to meet many of the new parents. One little problem for GGG happened as we were finishing the picnic with a tug-of-war activity. Mr. Greener had divided those who wished to participate (students, teachers, and parents) into two teams. I did not participate in the first two tugs, but could not resist when the one team had lost two times in a row. So I joined the team that had lost two times and of course gave everything I had - both yelling encouragement and pulling with all of my strength. We were the winners of that tug, BUT my back was in great pain when I let go of the rope and stood straight up. I immediately got down on the floor and started my crazy exercises that help me to restore my back. A number of teachers and parents had never seen these strange exercises from the Director and came running to assist. :-) I told them I just needed to do these exercises and I should be OK. I finished them and was able to stand up. I did not play in another tug-of-war and felt a little pain, but I believe it will be OK. We will see on Sunday.
Welcome sign for parents to our 2017 ICS-P School Picnic!
Mrs. Haselman and the ICS-P Kitchen Staff along with some
parents getting the picnic buffet tables set up for our families!
Families begin to gather and mingle
with other families while waiting for
the games, activities, and food!
This appears to be two students chatting with each other, but the
person on the right is our Grade 4 teacher, Ms. Johnson, who is
talking with one of her students from last year!
Mr. Greener, our Athletic Director, asking all families to come together at the center of the gymnasium to receive directions for the first icebreaker with all families and staff.
One of the games was to have volunteer students, teachers, parents
to drink a large bottle of water within two minutes. Here are a couple
students, a couple parents, and a couple teachers racing to drink the
bottle of water the fastest!
Parents, students, and teachers cheering on the contestants!
With 17 seconds to spare, our School Principal, Mr. Mooney
was the winner! Matthew, the student on the left, tried valiantly
to guzzle all of his water very quickly, but found that it caused
him to throw up, caring many of the spectators in front of him! ;-)
Because of the air pollution, we weren't able to be outside, so we
brought the Bouncy Castle inside for the younger children to enjoy!
One of the relay games Mr. Greener had for the students!
Ms. Dather started a game of Ninja Man
with a group of the older students. They
had a great time!
And here is the first tug-of-war match. The team on the left lost
this match and the second. Then GGG joined the losing team and
they ended up taking the third match and GGG ended his tug-of-
war playing days...at least for now. :-)
Then it was time to eat! Here is the beginning of the line for the very delicious food. All families brought some tasty treats and the school provided a couple of the main foods.
Some of the many taste treats enjoyed!
Some more of the yummy goodies!
The fruit and dessert table of treats!
One of our kitchen workers was in charge of the beverage table!
Some even brought a blanket for the gym picnic!
Mrs. Laura Edwards and daughter Samantha enjoying a mouthful
of food! :-)
And Cora the Conqueror enjoyed her first ICS-P School Picnic!
Our head kitchen staff, Mrs. Okamoto, made some popcorn and later made some cotton candy to the delight of the children and many of the parents!
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Well, if you have read this far, I thank you very much. I hope you will continue to pray for all of us at ICS-P as we continue to impact lives for His kingdom. As always, I want to thank you for your faithful love, care, encouragement, emails, regular mail, prayers, and gifts. You can pray for us this week as we finish our Quarter One MAP Testing and then prepare for a one week holiday. I know teachers and students are happy about that. ICS-P will not have school the week of October 2-6 as Korea celebrates Chuseok (one of the biggest holidays in South Korea) and Foundation Day. I hope you will enjoy this final week of September.
Love, Gregg
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