Wednesday in Korea

Mornings in Korea are one of my favorite parts of each day. At 10a.m. each work day, Jae, Hannah, and I meet in our Church Office, one of us shares a Scriptural devotional, we talk about what we have to do for the day, and then we pray together. For all of us, this time has become one of the most vital, enjoyable, and important parts of our ministry. In it, God forms our hearts through His word and prayer to entrust ourselves and this Church to His will, purpose, and faithfulness. This morning it was my turn to share the devotional, and I shared about God's unrelenting commitment to loving and pursuing us, His people, in some of the most beautiful and striking passages in Scripture: Isaiah 53:1-5; 54:1, 4-10; and 55:1-3. As you know from reading many of my blogs, I'm a great sinner that thinks of myself and my own significance and plans far too much. The past few days I've been very weary over myself and my sin, wanting so desperately to be free of me. I was utterly shaken and awe-struck in viewing these Scriptures, as Christ took on our ugliness and shame, giving up His beauty, so that we could be made beautiful. The way in which God speaks to us, His people, in this passage is astounding. He speaks as a husband to a humiliated barren woman, that feels ashamed and worthless by the culture and everyone. But God redefines her by identifying Himself as her husband, saying such calming and striking words of compassion: "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood" (Isaiah 54:4). Shame and fear plague every soul that has ever existed. We constantly wear coverings in a desperate attempt to hide the ugliness inside of us. Whether it's fig leaves, fashionable clothes, external beauty, ministry, good works, friends, or whatever else, we are experts in trying to cover our shame and fear. The beautiful thing that God does is that He sees us completely naked and exposed in our fear and shame, and HE covers us with Himself. He takes hold of our ugliness, becomes it, and makes us beautiful through His Son, so that we no longer have to fear or face shame. How amazing to be reminded of this, and to know that though I tire of myself that God never does. He never will abandon, forsake, or get tired of any of His people. As He Himself says, "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you" (54:10). The beauty of Jesus is beyond anything I will ever be able to understand, communicate, or feel, and how sweet to taste of it this morning!

After the devotional and time of prayer, I spent a good portion of the day finishing the bulletin for our Launch Team Worship service this coming Sunday! I am in charge of putting all the information together for the bulletin, and then a friend and member of our Launch Team will design the bulletin to actually make it artistic and creative. It has been a really fun process, and we are so excited to begin worshiping as a body! Our first official worship service will be March 29th! We will not start off as a large church body, but we are really convinced that God is calling us to begin worshiping Him together, as a gospel-centered community with however many or few come. It really is such a blessing to be in this ministry with the Yoo's. They give me a lot of freedom and opportunity to serve, and I am so blessed to grow in relationship to them here.

For Lunch, after doing some work on the bulletin, Jae and I went out to eat at a wonderful steak restaurant. Each Wednesday Jae and I go out to eat to talk about how we're both doing personally and spiritually, which is such a source of growth and blessing. We had tenderloin steaks, salad, soup, and a little bowl of Ice Cream--not quite the authentic Korean meal, I know, but it was delicious! : ) The fellowship was also great, as we talked about the ministry, how we are both doing, and learning how to rest and live in the love of God in the midst of many different emotions and seasons of life. What a blessing Jae has been to me, as a brother, leader, pastor, and c0-ambassador of Jesus Christ.

This afternoon Jae and I went to pick out a movie for my Movies and Media Class that I have each Friday. This coming class we're going to watch a Korean movie (that thankfully has Korean subtitles), and it should be a great time, as always. The class is a whole lot of fun for getting to fellowship and talk to a group of Koreans and foreigners about different issues in the movies we watch, especially since it is such a great opportunity to share the love of Christ with nonbelievers who are coming. After renting the movie, I continued the final work on the bulletin, sent it to Dan Baker to help make it aesthetically pleasing, and then prepared for my Children's Bible Story Class this evening (the above picture shows the kids and I after class a few weeks ago--they're tons of fun!). Tonight, after first learning new vocabulary and playing some games, I shared about the story of Joseph, which is such an incredible story! Each week I am teaching these kids--most of which are nonbelievers and have never heard the Bible--about how these stories all show how the Bible is God's story of how He rescues His people (the awesome thing is that most of the kids can even recite and remember this definition for what the Bible is!). The stories of the Bible are fun, alive, and contain beautiful truth that God can most definitely stamp on the hearts of children. It was such a blessing to tell them about how Joseph could forgive his brother's, because he saw God and His purpose to rescue His people in the coming famine. Great story that illustrates the gospel so powerfully.

For dinner I met with a member of our Launch Team, whose English name is Isaac. We ate at a great mexican restaurant (I really do eat Korean food, by the way, and really love it--just didn't eat it much today), and had a wonderful time of fellowship. We talked about Isaac's struggles with his job, as his business (like many in Korea) is plagued with cheating and unjust practices that make it really tough for him. Many Korean professionals are overly burdened and in bondage to their job, as there working hours and requirements will often go well into the night and leave little to no time for Father's to be with their families. Isaac spoke a lot about these difficulties, though he isn't married yet, and how it is causing the divorce rate to sky rocket, leaving Korean families in a worse state than ever before. Isaac was even asked by his Christian boss, as the boss asks all interviewees, whether or not he values work or family more. Isaac was the only one who said family out of 12 people, and his boss ridiculed him for it. There is brokeness everywhere, but thankfully God's grace can and does extend to any and all people and places. I pray that God uses this ministry to really bless and comfort people like Isaac, to reveal to them the grace and love of God that saves and keeps us always. It was a joy to share fellowship and the love of Christ with him tonight, and to get to know him more.

Please be praying for Jae Yoo. After getting home at around 10p.m, he called me and has been having some severe back pain. Before I left him tonight, his back pain was beginning, and it later was so bad that he couldn't move for around 30 minutes. His wife Hannah and daughter Hara had to drag and carry him to a medical clinc to get him an acupuncture. He's still in severe pain after receiving treatment, and it would be great if you could be lifting him up to God in prayer. Pray that God would guard and heal him quickly, even as he is beginning to preach this coming Sunday and has a lot on his plate. Pray that all of us would rest in the peace and purpose of God for our growth in Christ at all times in all the trials, joys, and struggles we face.

So long from Korea, and may God's presence and peace fill your hearts and lives this day and always.