Relationships at Christmas!!!

This past week was a week of renewing relationships, building new relationships, and enjoying sharing the Reason for Christmas with our students and their families!  I enjoyed many evening meals or lunches with old and new friends!  I loved seeing our students involved in fun Christmas activities and even experiencing at least four of our elementary students come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior!  So many wonderful happenings!

Please enjoy the photos of the past week!  I will try to keep my comments brief and let the pictures talk.  Thanks for continuing to pray for all of us here at ICS-Pyeongtaek.

Monday evening I enjoyed a Skype visit with David and Victoria Baek!  This dear couple is full time with Word of Life on Jeju Island.  They are tremendously involved with a local church that has many very needy young people and young adults.  Both David and Victoria have fallen in love with this group and have seen so much fruit among these young people who have fallen in love with the Baeks and have seen Jesus displayed through their love and care and ministry.  Please pray as they   travel to the USA in early 2018 to raise additional support for their awesome ministry.  If you know of any church who would like to hear about their vibrant ministry, please let me know.  I will give you contact information.  They will have many needs while in the States, such as housing, churches, a vehicle, etc.

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Tuesday evening I enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship and a very delicious dinner at the apartment of our High School Science teacher, Mr. Ray Febus and his wife, HaYoung.  I enjoyed a very special evening of food, fellowship, and lots of great storytelling with Ben Coyner and the Joe and Dale Amos family! Ben is Guidance Counselor at ICS-P and Dale Amos is our ELD Coordinator and teacher.

            My first plate of very tasty food on Tuesday evening!

Ray and HaYoung preparing our feast!

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Below are only four samples of the classroom doors that were decorated for the Student Council's Door Decoration Contest.  The students and staff did a great job!  The first one "School Alone" was the top winner for the Elementary Family Groups.  This is the Golden Doughnuts group.  Ms. Hunter even had a video  (starring some of her family group cherubs) showing similarities with the original production of "Home Alone!"  Sooo good!  The Secondary winner is the fourth picture here created by the 11th-grade students.

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Wednesday evening I was invited to the apartment of Mike and Alicia Nicholes, full-time missionaries with Word of Life.  Mike is also the pastor of Dae Kwang Church where I fellowship.  I enjoyed a great time with Mike and Alicia and their four children!

                  Alicia and Josiah preparing to eat dinner!

Mike and Charis, Titus, and Michaela ready to eat our yummy pasta and salad dinner!

The four Nicholes' children with the stuffed animals I gave them!  

GGG with Josiah and Titus.  Josiah is doing really well with his artwork and presented me with this drawing that he was quietly working on after dinner while the adults talked!

  My first and only plate because there

      was just too much!  Sooo good!

Homemade Apple Pie for dessert!!   :-)

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Wednesday through Friday our Librarian, Mrs. Lee, had set up all of the books that were donated for the ICS-P Library Used Book Fair.  Students were so excited to be able to purchase some great books for only 500 KRW (about 50 cents) or 1,000 KRW (about a dollar).  A number of parents stopped by as well.  Mrs. Lee was pleased with the number of people who came and the funds raised for new books for the Library!  I was able to get just a few pictures.

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In Chapel this past week we were treated to a special prelude by the HS String Quintet!  Here is a picture of them tuning up for their prelude of Christmas songs!

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In Elementary Chapel, we took a respite from our Walk Thru the Old Testament to present the Christmas story.  I shared a mini-movie entitled The Legend of the Three Trees.  Students enjoyed it very much.  I closed with an application that Christmas and Easter should be celebrated every day.  I encouraged students to ask questions when they returned to their classrooms concerning the Baby Jesus in a manger and also Jesus as he died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins.  

On Thursday, I received these messages from our Kindergarten teacher and Grade 2 teacher:

Mrs. Cho in Kindergarten wrote, "The angels are partying in heaven. Four kindergartners got saved. (Ellie, Eliana, Hannah, Angie) Yesterday's chapel with Mr. Garman was powerful as well as our Bible lesson this morning. A Christmas blessing!

Ms. Dather in Grade 2 replied to Mrs. Ho's message, "That is awesome!   Mr. Garman's chapel definitely was powerful.  I had 4 boys stay in class with me for about 15 minutes during their special today because they were asking about what it looks like to live as a Christian, if you have to ask Jesus into your heart every time you sin, and other deep questions.  They had all said they have asked Jesus into their hearts already but were really concerned about all the questions.  We ended up praying together."

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Thursday after school dismissed, my dear friend, David Kim, came to the school to talk about his future plans.  David has been a great friend since I came to Korea and we enjoyed a great time of sharing memories, eating some tasty Mexican food at El Gitano, and praying.  Please pray for David, his wife, Annie and their three kids as they seek the Lord's direction for their next avenue of ministry.

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Friday was our last day at ICS-P for 2017.  Quarter Two ended and students departed for the Christmas Break.  Throughout the busy week of Final Exams and Christmas events, the Elementary students enjoyed Operation Christmas.  The teachers planned various events including art, crafts, book readings, singing, Christmas games, etc.  Here are a few pictures of the Elementary Fun Activities this past week.

Grade 5 enjoyed giving some oral presentations.  This group is listening and observing as one of the students shared up front and Mrs. Gross looked on giving encouragement!

          A quartet of girls making poinsettias!

Grade 1 with their poinsettias!

Grade 2 and their poinsettias!                            

                        Gingerbread people in Kindergarten!

Kindergarten cherubs with their Gingerbread persons!

Grade 5 poinsettias!                                     

                        Grade 4 with poinsettias in their hair!

Kindergarten students with their teacher, Mrs. Cho, came to my office after "losing" their Gingerbread Man!  They wanted to know if I had seen him! :-)

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I had another delightful Christmas surprise on Friday!  My dear friend, Gunmo Kim, called and said he would like to come and see me before I headed to the USA for Christmas Break.  So excited to see this young man!  I have known him since August of 2008!  He and his wife, Sujin, are doing well.  Sujin received a very good score on the Korean National Teachers' Exam.  Now she has interviews on January 3 and 4 and is very eager to teach Kindergarten in Korean schools.  I know they would value your prayers as she studies for the interviews.  Here we are at Puffin restaurant preparing to enjoy a delicious late lunch!

I enjoyed the Chicken and Veggie Risotto!

Gunmo enjoyed the Spaghetti & Meat Balls!

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Last Saturday, I shared a photo and my experience of meeting a new friend and brother, Matthew Moore.  We have been texting each other back and forth all week and both of us were excited about meeting this Saturday - before I left for Christmas Break.  We had a great lunch on Saturday at a favorite Chinese restaurant near the Camp Humphreys' Army Base.  We continue to learn more and more about each other and both of us are thrilled that we are able to share our struggles and joys with each other and spend time praying, laughing, eating, and having lots of joy.  I forgot the pictures this week so here is a picture of Matthew and me from last Saturday! :-)

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Once again, I want to thank you for your faithful love, care, encouragement, emails, mail, prayers, and gifts!  I trust that you and your family and friends will enjoy a truly meaningful Christmas and a tremendous New Year in 2018.  

Love, Gregg

A Fantastic Week of Friends, Fellowship, and Food! :-)

It was a busy first full week of December here in Pyeongtaek!  It was broken up on Wednesday with a Snow Day!  (In Pennsylvania, it would not have even been a delayed start; but in Korea the school buses usually don't run when there is a little snow!)  We had a few of our teachers who were struggling with colds, stomach bugs, etc. this past week.  So glad that we were able to interview a possible substitute teacher on Monday.  She has already been used to help us out a lot this past week since we have lost two subs recently because of their souses being reassigned to other Army Bases.

On Wednesday, our Snow Day, I went into the ICS-P office to do some work plus my dear friend from SYME days, JiSang, called to say that he was able to restore 99% of the data I had recently lost on my personal computer!  There were some very important documents on that computer as well as MANY photos from almost 10 years of my life in South Korea!  I don't know how he did it, but God used him to do it.  I know he took many extra hours to do it and I don't really know how to thank him the way I really want to.  He came to the school on Wednesday and went through everything with me.  I have this really awesome device that I can now keep A LOT of data on and not worry about losing it again!! JiSang is just simply wonderful!  We went for a Celebration Lunch and continued to have some great discussions and fellowship.  I hope you will continue to pray for this delightful young man as he seeks to serve the Lord.  I am so grateful that he is one of my "adopted sons!"

Jisang and GGG enjoying their delicious brunches at JJ's Diner on Wednesday!

        JiSang enjoyed the All American Breakfast!

GGG enjoyed a tasty breakfast with Sirloin Steak, eggs,

and hash browns + Wheat Toast!               

Two appetizers: Onion Rings & Chicken

                            Wings.

A sign on the wall I had not noticed   

before at JJ's Diner!  :-)         

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Thursday and Friday were busy days as students were preparing for final exams as well as finishing their Christmas Door Decorations (photos to come next week).  Our CFO, Mylene Haselman, is tremendous at organizing special events and preparing the yummy food as well as decorating for a special event!  Our Member Care Committee was also busy planning along with Mylene and the kitchen and office staff our ICS-Pyeongtaek Annual Christmas Staff Party, which took place on Saturday evening, December 9th!  What a tremendous event! This year, in addition to our teachers and staff and their children, we had four pastors, their wives, and children in attendance.  We had the most children ever from what I heard.  34 children present!  It was a very special evening of enjoying awesome friends, fellowship, and food!  I learned a new game to use to exchange gifts!  One of the highlights for me was reading a book entitled The Story of Baby Jesus to all of the kids - young and old!

Sock Exchange gifts on the left,  Teachers' door prize gifts and children gifts on the right and under the tree!

        Some of the staff preparing to enjoy the Christmas feast!

Some of the yummy food that had been

prepared for the evening!         

        Roast Turkey and Roast Beef!

My first plate of delightful taste treats!!                    

The Dessert table!!  Oh dear, I should have stayed away from those yummy cream-filled treats in the center!! :-)

Mr. Song enjoying Cora, the Conqueror!

First Grade teacher, Ms. Hunter in her Christmas Costume! :-)

GGG and Ms. Hunter!            

Seven participants in the Christmas Costume Contest!  Such fun and creativity! 

Santa Richards and his Member Care helper, Laura Edwards distributing the children's gifts!

I loved reading The Story of Baby Jesus to all of the 34 kids!!

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On Saturday morning, I was going to go to a different coffee shop, but for some reason, I decided to go to Starbucks and go at a later time than usual to do some writing.  God wanted me at Starbucks on Saturday!  I was in the middle of drinking some coffee and typing on my renewed computer and I saw a young man come in and sit down after ordering his coffee.  After a couple minutes, I decided to ask one of my normal questions when I see someone who looks American in this area near the US Army Base at Camp Humphreys.  I asked, "Do you serve in the US Military?"  He responded with a "Yes" and I then said, "Thank you for your service, sir."  He thanked me and asked me what I did.  I told him I was at ICS-Pyeongtaek.  He immediately said, "No, thank you for your service.  Teachers make so much difference in the world today."  When he found out that I was the Director of the school, he was beaming and asked if he could come over to my table and chat. 

I discovered that this young man (we later introduced ourselves and I found out his name is Matthew Moore) will return to the USA in early January and he wants to become a teacher!  We talked and talked for almost 2 hours.  We both discovered that we are believers in Jesus Christ.  He is a recent believer and is so excited about finding a mentor especially as he returns to the States and seeks a good college to study education.  Please pray for this wonderful young man as he seeks to follow the Lord.  He asked me if I would be his mentor and accountability person even after he leaves Korea.  I told him I would be honored and delighted.  Matthew has already texted me and we are planning to meet this coming Saturday for lunch.  I had told him I was leaving on Sunday, December 17 for Pennsylvania to enjoy a Christmas in the States.  Pray for Matthew and me as we meet this Saturday and continue to be in touch with each other.  I am so excited to see how God is going to use him!

GGG with my new friend, Matthew Moore, at Starbucks on Saturday!

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OK, that's it for this week.  This coming week is going to be full of dinners almost every evening with dear friends at ICS-P and Dae Kwang Church + a Skype visit with my wonderful friend David Baek, also a former SYME student; now serving full time on Jeju Island for Word of Life!  Thank you so much for your prayers this week - especially for our students in MS and HS as they take their final exams.

As always, thank you for your faithful love, care, encouragement, mail, prayers, and gifts of support.  Please enjoy a fantastic week!

Love, Gregg