Spring Break! Refreshment! Birthday Celebrations! Sorting & Semi-Packing! More Celebrations! Easter!!

What a week!  Yes, it was a week of Spring Break for our ICS-P students and teachers, but along with some rest and refreshment, I enjoyed some special celebrations of my birthday!  I also began what I don't especially like to do - sorting things around the apartment in order to begin clearing out some things not needed as well as what I will need to pack for my journey back to the USA this coming June.  I also needed to do some work at school since we are still looking for two more teachers for 2018-2019.  And the week ended with a special Easter breakfast and service at Dae Kwang Church!  I trust that you have enjoyed or will enjoy a very special Resurrection Sunday!  Happy Easter!

I will try to keep my words brief in this post and just post a lot of photos that I hope you will enjoy.  I continue to value your encouragement and prayers.  Thanks so much.

On Monday, I relaxed and had a very special treat from one of my new friends.  I met Billy at Dae Kwang Church several Sundays ago, but last Sunday I discovered that he works on the base at Camp Humphreys in the Food Court for Arby's!  I LOVE Arby's Reuben Sandwiches and Curly Fries!  Billy and I had already connected since the name my mother always called me, and wrote it as a greeting in the MANY letters she wrote to me - especially when I was a student at Wheaton College.  She would always use the following in her letters and cards to me: "Dearest Billy". :-)  It was her name for me.  When I was growing up and in trouble, she would say, "Wilhelm, come here!"  Why Wilhelm?  I have no idea!  Why Billy?  I have no idea! :-)  But I loved it! 

OK, so Billy and I have a connection.  Since I cannot get on the base unless accompanied by someone who is in the military or working for the government in some capacity, Billy offered to bring me a Reuben Sandwich and Curly Fries on Monday in the late afternoon for supper.  I was so excited!  I was planning to be near the Humphreys' Main Gate at the time Billy got off work so I met him and he brought me my delicious surprise!

Billy #1 and Billy #2 outside the Humphreys' Main Walk-In Gate.  Billy #2 delivering my very yummy Reuben Sandwich and Curly Fries!!

Photo of the very tasty Reuben and Curly Fries!!

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On Tuesday, I had breakfast with our Academic Principal, Mr. Charlie Mooney, and we had a great time talking about his family and children, as well as school stuff.  We were both excited to learn that we have two applicants through NICS for our Art teacher position and the Middle School Math/General Science position!  Because of Spring break, the process is slowed down a bit, but we plan on a couple interviews this coming week.  Your prayers would be appreciated.  These are both excellent candidates and we would love to see them at ICS-P! 

At breakfast, Mr. Mooney, was telling me about Cora the Conqueror and how she is now starting to crawl!!  I think she is happy about this! :-)

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I also went to the school office on Tuesday to take care of some things and print out application material for the two candidates.  I also took several boxes of books to school that I plan to put out for teachers and their families or the school Library.  I have many more to bring, but this was a start.  I also began sorting books, files, etc. in my school office.  I did some more of that on Wednesday as well.  Things are beginning to move along.  With Quarter 4 beginning on Monday, it is going to be two very busy months with so much happening and so much to do.  Thanks for praying as you think of the school and me.

Thursday was a special day of celebrations!  My dear friend, Yeongmin from SYME days wanted to take me to dinner and a movie on Thursday for my birthday.  Mine was on March 24th and Yeongmin's is April 4, so we made it a joint birthday celebration.  He paid for dinner and the movie and then we went to a big department store for Yeongmin to select a cologne that he needed!  We enjoyed a great time.  I hope you will continue to pray that Yeongmin will come to know Jesus as his Savior.

Yeongmin and GGG at Cine de Chef restaurant and movie theater.  Here we are enjoying a very delicious meal with lots of conversation and laughter!

Our appetizer salad!  Everything is edible on this plate,

                       and it was very tasty, too!

Yeongmin had the Lamb Chops!!

I enjoyed the Salmon!

                            Yeongmin's lemon dessert!

I had this Christmas Tree dessert, filled with strawberry cream and ice cream!

This is the first theater that our seats were fancy sofa beds!  It is really a wonder that I did not fall asleep, but I stayed awake for the entire movie and the sofa bed was quite nice!

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On Friday, I did some more sorting and prepacking and then headed to Seoul to meet some dear friends I met when I was working at Yongsan International School of Seoul.  Mr. Ryan Kim and his wife, Ting Ting Chen, and their son, Joshua had found out I was leaving Korea at the end of the school year.  They wanted to treat me to dinner for my birthday.  It was so good to see them again!  Josh had just returned from a mission trip that he and some of the YISS students were on during the Spring break at YISS.  We enjoyed a very delicious dinner and some excellent conversations and laughter and joy!  We hope to see one another at least one more time before I head back to the States.

Here I am with this wonderful family!  Ryan, Ting Ting, Joshua, and GGG.  Getting ready to eat at this restaurant called Gyeongcheon Aein 2237!  What is the "2237"?  The owner of this chain of restaurants displays Matthew 22:37-40 on all of its marketing material.  This passage reads: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."  

     The beef steaks ready for grilling!

Our griller grills the meat at our table.

Still grilling!

   Ready to eat!  We had three different

cuts of dry aged beef steaks for our meal!

Some of the side dishes!           

They brought these individual Tiramisu cakes along with them, then placed the candles and sang "Happy Birthday" to me!  Such a great time with some great friends!

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I got on the last bus back to Pyeongtaek from Seoul with 15 minutes to spare and got back to my apartment by 11:30 PM.  I headed to bed since on Saturday morning I planned to Skype with my nephew, Noah Cutting, who was on Easter Break from Cedarville University.  We always have a great time catching up.  I also had to be ready to meet my dear friend from SYME days, Jun Seok Kim and his family!  Jin Seok and his wife, Eunsun, drove from their apartment in Seoul to Pyeongtaek to meet me at Outback Steakhouse for my birthday lunch and also to catch up with their son, Eunwoo, who is now 10 months old!  I always love seeing this wonderful family and Saturday was a grand time!  Please pray for Jin Seok as he has to do a lot of travel to several countries for his company beginning in May.  He hates being away from Eunsun and Eunwoo, but enjoys his work.  I know they would appreciate your prayers.

Ready to enjoy the birthday feast at Outback with my dear friends: Eunsun, Eunwoo (in his carriage), Jin Seok, and GGG!

These were the three dishes Jin Seok and Eunsun ordered and we shared them!!  Soooo good!

Jin Seok and Eunsun gave me two new

           neckties for my birthday!!

Eunwoo loves these shoes.  I gave them to him about 100 days

after he was born!  Loves chewing on them, too! :-)      

Eunwoo showing me one of his shoes!

 I gave Eunwoo a New York Yankees'

outfit! :-)  Jin Seok does NOT like the

                     Yankees! :-)

Here I am tickling Eunwoo's feet!     

More tickling!  This little man has captured my heart! :-)  There are more pictures of him and his family on Facebook - if you are interested!

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On Sunday morning at Dae Kwang Church, we had an early breakfast for everyone and then an excellent service celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus!  I believe we had two new families join us this Sunday!  It was a packed house for the small rooms that we are able to use at the larger Korean church.  There are plans for the Pastor of the Korean church to give us use of a much larger meeting room soon.

Some of the Dae Kwang Church people Sunday morning at the Easter Breakfast!

These were hard boiled eggs wrapped

   with the design of a chicken.  The 

 Korean church members had placed

these on the table prior to our arrival.

Some of the children going through the    

buffet line that had lots of yummy goodies!

                       More tasty treats on the buffet line!

And some more goodies!                               

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I will stop for now!  Your prayers will be appreciated as we return to school at ICS-P on Monday morning.  Road construction around the school has begun in full force and I have heard from one of our teachers who went into the school on Saturday that there are large road construction trucks and equipment using our parking spaces in front of the school.  Please pray that they will be gone by Monday morning as we have very little space to use for parents to drop off and pick up their kids and even fewer parking spots.

Thank you, as always, for your faithful love, care, encouragement, emails, mail, prayers, and gifts of support.  Please pray for our students and teachers as they return on Monday for a busy final quarter!  I trust that you have celebrated, or will celebrate, the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!  He is risen!!

Love, Gregg

WWW Complete! Teacher gets Married! GGG Turns 69!! Spring Break has Arrived!!!

What a week!!  Our final week before our Spring Break!  I know our teachers, staff, and students are ready for the break!  It seemed like it was non-stop from Monday through Friday with our Week Without Walls program and then Saturday was a special wedding, as well as my 69th birthday!  Celebrations for that event began on Thursday evening and will continue through Spring Break!

Our elementary teachers put together an amazing Conquerors' Camp with the theme of "Galactic Starveyors" taken from Colossians 1:15 and 16.  Each morning all the students in Grades K through 5 met in the cafetorium which teachers and staff had redecorated to fit the theme.  Mr. Thornton, our HS English teacher, and three of our high school students had written a mini-drama which they acted out each morning after Ms. Hunter led the kids with some special songs for the week! Each day Mr. Thornton took on the role of a scientist by the name of Professor Lamb.  Each day the storyline continued to the final day culminating in a special science object lesson sharing how Jesus had died and shed his blood for our sins and that He rose again.  Each day there were times for extended Bible lessons based on the particular theme for the day.  There was a period devoted to a Missions' emphasis!  There were art and craft projects based on each day's lesson.  Afternoons were spent with special gym activities, snack times, project times (where students created items that they were going to share with people within the school community or in the community surrounding the school.  Throughout each day, we had student helpers from Middle School and High School who were involved in building relationships with the younger elementary students as well as learning what it means to serve - especially when it sometimes got very hard.  I am now reading through the reflection papers that each of the MS and HS students wrote after their involvement.  It was great to see how they grew throughout the week.  Many were not excited about spending all day with children!  But by the end of the week almost every one of the student helpers said they learned to love their involvement with the elementary kids!  There were two fifth grade students who came to Mrs. Gross and me to ask questions about salvation.  We had the joy of leading them to the Lord as Savior!

Elementary Conquerors' Camp Opening Chapel!

    Ms. Hunter leading the cherubs in

     singing with motions and dances!

Professor Lamb (Mr. Thornton) creating a flame of firs in his hand!

The Professor and his three assistants. They did a great job of telling the story throughout the entire week!

Another day with the Professor and his assistants!

           Arts/Crafts' time to go along with each day's Chapel.

A Middle School helper with a kinder cherub!

A High School helper with two kinder cherubs!                  

 A Middle School young lady with one more kindergarten student!

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In addition to the ES Conquerors' Camp, there were other groups of MS and HS students who were involved in community service projects at various organizations throughout our community.  One group of HS students went to China to help a missionary there.  They returned safely with a great report.  I continue to hear many excellent reports from students, teachers, and adults who were in charge at each of the facilities where we sent students to serve!  Thanks for your prayers.

In the afternoon several of our teachers and a group of HS and MS students took groups of our elementary students to the gym for some fun physical activities.

 Some of our MS/HS students went to the Elder Care Center across 

    from our school to work with the residents.  I loved observing

   them interact with the residents as they colored with them, told

 stories, played games, etc.  The residents had a great time and so 

                                         did our students

Our HS Student Council VP working with this dear lady on a coloring activity while talking together!

Another HS student with this dear lady.                   

I got to meet this delightful resident who is 104 years old!!

Our music teacher, Mrs. Kim, helping

one of the residents with some coloring.

GGG and Abel having fun with these two ladies!

Two of our girls were amazed at the skill of these two residents with 

this game of Chenga.                                   

Our fifth-grade students brought some little projects to the teachers

                      thanking them for their excellent work.

Our first graders made some crafts and snacks for our bus drivers!

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I want to share with you about our students who make up our Senior Class this year.  There are 11 of them and they have been receiving notifications of acceptances at many colleges and universities!  Some are still hearing from various colleges.  Now they need to make some decisions. Below is a photo of the bulletin board display that our Academic Principal, Mr. Mooney, put together this past week to show the variety of colleges and universities our seniors have been accepted.  I am excited for this special group.  Many are growing so much in their faith and I know they would value your prayers as they make decisions.

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As many of you know, I reached my 69th birthday on Saturday, March 24th.  However, the celebrations began earlier than Saturday and will most likely continue this next week.  A number of my Korean friends have already made plans to meet me this week to celebrate.  They are always so good to me.  My first celebration began on Thursday evening with my dear friend, Gunmo Kim.  Gunmo was the first Korean SYME student I met when I arrive at STME at the end of August 2008!  Our friendship has grown stronger and stronger!  He wanted to take me out for my birthday dinner on Thursday so he met me at ICS-P at 4:30 on Thursday and took me to a new restaurant (for me and him) in Pyeongtaek.  It is called Seoga & Cook.  We had such a great time together, as always.  I am so thankful to the Lord for this special young man and his wife, Sujin.  Sujin wasn't able to be with us because she has started her kindergarten teacher position and wasn't able to get away from her school.  Here are some pictures from our time on Thursday!  Please pray for Gunmo and Sujin.  Gunmo is taking graduate classes on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings following his work, and Sujin is putting in long days as a first-year teacher in the Korean Public School system.

Gunmo and GGG at Seoga & Cook preparing to enjoy a very delicious birthday dinner!

This is the yummy meal we shared!!  Soooo good!

Gunmo had brought several copies of the Prayer I prayed at his wedding on November 28, 2015.  He wanted me to sign it and date it.  He is planning to frame it and place in their home.  He brought several copies in case I messed up on one or two of them.  I was able to sign the first one to his satisfaction! :-)

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Then on Friday morning at our Staff Meeting time, the staff surprised me by starting to sing "Happy Birthday" to me and told me that there was a large Cheesecake in the Teachers' Room with chocolate and caramel sauces + some cans of whipped cream!!  For each staff member's birthday one of the other staff members brings in a birthday treat that they have found out is a favorite of the person for all to enjoy!  A big thanks to Mr. Edwards for the very yummy Cheesecake from COSTCO + 2 cans of whipped cream!!

After I completed Staff Devotions and then did my usual greeting of students and parents as they are being dropped off at ICS-P in the morning, I went to my office to find that the Office Staff had brought in a very large cake for me.  They had the number "69" posted all over my office along with a couple mini-posters about what was happening in 1949 around my birthday of March 24, 1949!  Then they sang "Happy Birthday" to me!  I had already had our Facilities' Man, Mr. Song, grab the microphone from the Student Council Vice-President when she was making morning announcements to the entire student body.  He then proceeded to sing, as only Mr. Song can sing, "Happy Birthday to Mr. Gregg" to the entire student body! :-)  It was a great morning!

Mini-Poster on my computer!

GGG with the wonderful Office Staff!

                         GGG with his cake!

Blowing out the lone candle!  (Much better than 69 candles! :-) )

Another mini-poster on the wall in my office!           

Student council VP and Mr. Song right

  before he sang "Happy Birthday" to

  me over the public address system!

The birthday spread in the Teachers' Room!

Part of my first piece of cheesecake!  Almost forgot to get a photo! :-)

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To top off my early birthday celebration on Friday, one of our very shy 4th-grade students, Lucy, came to my office.  Lucy is such a beautiful young lady, but very shy.  She many times will not even respond to me when I greet her.  She came in and with one of the largest smiles I have ever seen from her, presented me with a mini-poster that she was working on in one of her WWW classes.  As I read it, I began to tear up and she continued to smile broadly.  She let me give her a hug and we talked for a little bit.  I am posting her mini-poster below.  This is a treasure I shall keep for a long time.  It is on my dresser in my bedroom now.

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Topping off the week on my birthday, no less, was the wedding of our Art teacher, Ms. Kathy Lee.  Kathy informed us back in January that she would be getting married on March 24th.  She came to me after telling all of the staff to ask if I would honor her and her husband-to-be, Han Sung Hoon, and give the Prayer of Blessing at the wedding.  So on my birthday almost all of the staff at ICS-P attended the wedding of Kathy and Sung Hoon and I prayed a blessing prayer for the new couple.  Here are a few pictures, but you can find more on facebook.

The newlyweds prior to the ceremony in the Bridal Parlor!

The beautiful bride prior to the service!

Kathy and GGG in the photo room before 

the ceremony!                    

Some of our wonderful teachers with Kathy in the Bridal Parlor prior to the service!

Some of the kitchen and cleaning crew with Kathy prior to the wedding!

    Sunghoon and Kathy beginning the ceremony with the Pastor!

Following the pronouncement,  Sunghoon and Kathy bowing before

Kathy's parents!                                 

My new friend, Sunmin Song, a 2013 graduate of ICS-P.  Sunmin was the MC for the ceremony and translated my prayer from English to Korean.  He is planning to go to Southwestern Seminary to become a pastor and follow in his father's footsteps.  What a joy it was to meet this fine young man!

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We are still searching for the following teachers for 2018-19.  If you know of any possible candidates, I would be very happy to hear from you or them.  Our needs:

1 - Art Teacher (K-12)

2 - Either one of the following: Middle School Math/General Science Teacher OR a Physical Ed. Teacher/Athletic Director.

Thank you very much for your prayers and any leads you can send my way!  As far as I know, the NICS Home Office is still looking for a Director to replace me at ICS-Pyeongtaek.  Appreciate your prayers.

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Thanks, also for praying for Ben Coyner and his surgery on March 20th.  He has given us good reports so far and it appears that the surgery was successful.  Here is Ben's most recent update:

Ben’s Hospitalization Prayer Updates

**This photo is an older photo from immediately after my surgery this past Tuesday. It shows the drainage tube that is being monitored a few times per day to determine when I can be released from the hospital**

Praise God that I feel very well and have been able to spend quality time with visitors over the past several days.

The size of the surgical incisions requires a tube to drain fluids from my neck. Because fluids are still draining from my neck, I need to stay longer—maybe until Wednesday or Thursday. The doctors have ordered a lab analysis on the fluids that they’ve collected to see if there is something unusual that is draining now.

Praise God that there is no bad news. I’m also blessed to have received approval for additional insurance coverage for my extended stay in Severance Hospital.

I will be praying more for healing and happy memories for this week.

Ben’s Prayer Requests:

1. That fluids will stop draining this week to allow me to be discharged from the hospital

2. That I be able to catch up on my graduate studies

3. That I be well prepared for the final quarter of the 2017-18 ICS-Pyeongtaek school year and assist the graduating seniors and other high school students to make good progress for the end of the year.

4. That I reflect God’s Love, Grace, and Compassion with the many people that I encounter every day, remembering how grateful I am that by God’s Grace I have the ability to speak and sing praises.

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And now Spring Break begins!  I am hoping to get some rest + begin working on sorting stuff and doing some pre-packing during the week as well as meet with some friends.  Maybe I will get away for a day or two.  We will see.

As always, thank you so much for your love, care, encouragement, notes, emails, regular mail, prayers, and gifts.  I hope that you will enjoy this last week of March as you prepare for a wonderful Resurrection Sunday on April 1!!

Love, Gregg