We had some snow on Monday and Tuesday mornings causing some delays for students coming to school. If you get an inch or 2 of the white stuff, it is like getting 6 inches or more in Pennsylvania. Roads can be hazardous, especially in the morning, because there are no snow plows out clearing the roads. We did well since only one of the buses we use was not able to travel on the roads on Monday. By afternoon, most of the snow had melted off the roads so there was no problem heading home. (Oh, my health is good with the exception of my disobedience to my dear friend and chiropractor, Dr. Madeira. He told me some time back that I was not to shovel snow! BUT I love shoveling snow and had to this past Monday and Tuesday morning since the facilities' men do not arrive early like I do and it needed to be done before buses and parents arrived with children. So I am still having some pain in my lower back. Please don't tell Dr. Madeira!) :-)
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Two interviews were also conducted for the Guidance Counselor position. We have made an offer to the one lady who is very qualified. Please pray that she will be able to give us a positive response sometime this coming week. We also had made an offer to a young lady with a Master's a well as a Doctorate for the Music Teacher position. She is excited but had a couple questions before making a final decision.
There is one person who is being considered for the position of Director at ICS-P to replace me. We had a chat with him and his wife this past Wednesday and our leadership team believes he would be a very good fit for ICS-P. Now they have to continue the process with the NICS Home Office as they will make the final decision on the position of Director. Then the candidate will need to decide about the contract.
Thanks for all of your prayers on behalf of us as we seek to find those that God has for us for our open positions. We just added the position for a Physical Education Teacher (K-12)/Athletic Director. So far we have no candidates for that position. If you know anyone who would be a good fit, please let me know.
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GGG and Yeongmin with our first plate of strawberry treats at COEX last Sunday!
Some of the tasty treats at the Strawberry Festival!
Below are more pictures of some of the MANY delicious items from which to choose at COEX's Strawberry Festival!! Oh, they were sooooo good!!
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Many of you have been praying for Charlie and April Mooney and their family, especially Cora the Conqueror. Thanks so much. Cora celebrated her 1st birthday back in January. On Monday, they had to take her quickly to the hospital in Suwon because of some concerns. She needed to have an IV and stay in the hospital until Wednesday. However, she is back to her normal self and smiling more each day. She is such a joy! Oh, and one other exciting happening in the Mooney home. Gavin, their son has been struggling with lying. A week ago he and his Dad spent some time about his most recent lie. Through the conversations, Gavin came to the point when he asked the Lord to forgive him and he accepted Christ as his Saviour! Awesome! I want to share with you a collection of photos of this beautiful family. I hope you will enjoy! Thanks for all of your prayers!
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Friday evening, I traveled to Itaewon to meet an alum of YISS. His name is Eugene Mok, and I have been so impressed with his maturity and growth in his walk with Jesus Christ! What a great time we had at "On the Border" eating some delicious food and some fantastic conversation. Eugene is a freshman at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and has already gotten involved in a great group of Christians and also meets with his smaller Life Group for accountability and Bible study and outreach! Not only is Eugene an excellent student, he is demonstrating at a HUGE university the love of Jesus Christ daily. Please join me in praying for Eugene as he seeks to serve the Lord. He shared with me that he has met two young men who he continues to meet with and share his faith in Christ. Would you please join me in praying for Eugene to have many opportunities to talk with these two young men about the Lord and that they would see the light of Jesus shining brightly from him. Their names are Nidhal, a Muslim young man, and Tim, a young man from Kazakhstan.
GGG and Eugene preparing to enjoy their very tasty food at "On the Border" on Friday evening!
Eugene enjoyed these double-stacked Quesadillas!
I thought I was getting a smaller portion of the single
Chicken Quesadillas, but I got this large portion!
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Before I went to meet Eugene for dinner in Itaewon, I stopped at a Starbucks in Itaewon to enjoy some coffee and work on some writing projects. While writing and drinking my coffee, a group of men came to the tables near me to sit down and enjoy some coffee and conversation with each other. One of them, who later told me his name is Waled Yosif Zina, was posing for some fun pictures for the other guys. He was doing one pose and I started to smile a big smile. Waled looked at me at just the time I was smiling at his pose. He laughed and then later came over and asked my name and we chatted a bit. God seems to give me these unique meetings in order to continue making friends and building relationships. We weren't finished talking and the other guys in his group were leaving so we exchanged names and I hope we can meet again. Thanks for praying for Waled and additional opportunities for me to meet him and share more.
Here I am with Waled at Starbucks just before he had to leave.
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I close this week asking for your prayers as I travel to the USA for the NICS Annual Leadership Conference at the NICS Headquarters in Southaven, Mississippi. I am scheduled to leave on Tuesday evening, February 20 and after a transfer in Atlanta, I am to arrive in Memphis, TN around 9:20 PM on February 20. Then try to sleep and be ready to go at 8:00 AM on Wednesday morning! We will have meetings until the morning of March 1, when I will leave bright and early to head back to Seoul; getting back on March 2 in the evening. I will also be involved in the NICS Job Fair for Teachers in Southaven on Saturday, February 24th. By then, I am praying we will have the majority of the positions filled for ICS-P. Thanks for your prayers.
I also wanted to share with you a gorgeous photo of a sunrise at the BWI Airport back in January. A dear friend and supporter, Paul Duvall, shared this photo, which he took when he arrived at his work for Fed Ex at the BWI Airport. I love sunrises and sunsets! I could sit and just wonder about God's amazing creation for a long time at these special times. I was filled with so much wonder for my Creator as I viewed this beautiful sunrise captured by Paul! I hope you will be filled with wonder and awe of the majesty of our God.
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I wanted to take a minute or two to let you know about my friend, Tommy. I met Tommy at Dae Kwang Church a little over a year ago. We seemed to connect right away. Tommy is married and has a precious little daughter. He started coming to the English-speaking service because he had spent a large portion of his life in America and then married a Korean lady in the Pyeongtaek area. He wanted to come to the English service because of his English. He started coming very sporadically. Pastor Mike and I would continue to contact Tommy and he would promise to come. He continued attending the Korean service but maybe once every two months or so he would come to the English service. I continued to contact him and we would meet for dinner. He was going through some depression and I continued encouraging him and praying with him. Since Christmas, he has been coming to Dae Kwang almost every Sunday! Three Sundays ago he began playing percussion with our music worship team! I was so excited! He is loving serving in this capacity. Our relationship[ continues to grow.
Today after our Sunday morning service and fellowship time, Tommy left to go to the Korean service with his wife and daughter. I helped clean up and then left to go down the stairs to the parking area. Coming up the stairs was Tommy with this precious little girl in her Hanbok! He told me his wife was already going into the Korean service, but he wanted to bring Eunsu, their daughter up to meet me. What a wonderful surprise! I was so happy to meet Eunsu. Please continue to pray for Tommy as he serves on the music team and that we would continue to build a great discipleship relationship. Here are a couple pictures from this morning on the stairway as I met Eunsu!
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As always, thank you very much for your faithful love, care, encouragement (shown in so many ways), emails, mail, prayers, and gifts. You are such a blessing to me. Please enjoy a great week!
Love, Gregg
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