I'm taking more pictures to convince myself I don't need a new camera.

My older kids are TERRIFIED of cameras. This photo shows one of my older kids hiding under a desk. This is what you get when you hide from the camera.


This is one of my favorite kindergarten students. His last name (and, of course, his nick name) is Quwock. Just say it once, it's really a lot of fun to say.



Obama is watching you.



And, last but certainly not least, I finally convinced my wonderful homestay family to gather together for a picture. My little sister, Moon Sing Oo, is NOT happy about getting her picture taken. Don't they just look wonderful?

More Pictures

So, part of my job is that I occasionally get to give an English name to a new Kindergarten student. These are the three students I've named so far. On the left (the girl with the face you can't see) is Becky, named after my dearly loved sister, Rebecca, of course. To her right is Graham, named after Jonathan Graham Pound (there are WAY too many Koreans named John - and I only got to name one boy this class). And the boy on the right is Ricky, named after Ricky Zambrowicz.



So, little Ricky is my buddy. Everything he does is super cute. The book we are reading has the phrase "I am angry" at which point all the kids put up little devil horns ... these are Ricky's devil horns. I really think that this kid is going to change the world some day.




"Swine Flu: The Musical"




This is the bus that picks me up every day for Kindergarten, and in the background is Onyang Oncheon Methodist Church. The church has just unveiled the blue prints for its new multi-million dollar building program. The new church, high on a mountain, will be a little bigger than a regulation sized soccer field. "Mission Central" will also include the international school, home for the elderly, sports complex, kindergarten, soccer field, and amphitheatre. I will come back and visit in 10 years just to see everything completed.



This is actually a picture of a picture. The kindergarten teacher gave me the print, but I didn't have any other way of uploading it - but it might just be the cutest picture ever ... so I'm putting it up like this. These are 4 of my guys - dressed in their traditional Korean garb. This is why I'm here.

They made crowns out of leaves

My Mission Tree

I can't help but view missionary service as a tree. It's a living, breathing, growing thing - I wanted to outline a few verses that shape my understanding of missions.

The Roots:

I love reading the Old Testament through the eyes of a 21st century missionary.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Isaiah 58: 6-8

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

I can't see myself in any ministry that doesn't involve the proclamation of the word of God through humble service, social justice, and "coffee conversation." I love the roots, the spindly things of scripture that point to the coming mission and redemption of the world.



The Trunk:

The trunk of my mission tree is the beatitudes (Matthew 5), the rest of the sermon on the mount(Matthew 5-7), and the 5 times the Great Commission is recorded(Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21-23, Acts 1:8).

Jesus turns the world on its head with his teaching of the Upsidedown Kingdom. And, in all the splendor of his resurrection he gives his disciples the communal call to "go and tell the others." To move beyond the four walls of their hiding place. 10 of the 12 disciples were murdered for proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom where the slave is a brother and a king.

The Branches and Leaves:

These are verses that help "flesh out" the great commission. They help give me a concrete understanding of daily life as a missionary.

Acts 8:26-40
In this passage Phillip shares the faith with a Eunuch, a person that the Old Testament VERY CLEARLY speaks out against. Phillip tears down any remaining wall with signs that read "No __________ allowed." All bets are off - ALL may enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

1 Corinthians 3:5-9

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

This verse helps me to understand that we all play an important role. Even if we never get the chance to "convert heathen" every moment of every day counts for something.

I hope this gives you a better view of my thoughts on missions.

Michael.

Did I mention ...

Oh, and I also had a root canal last week. I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. The dentist took one look and sent me to get x-rays. Within 15 minutes my face was numbed up and surgery was underway. All in all it took about 45 minutes. It was a relatively pleasant experience. I had a computer screen infront of me that showed a TV show of my choice and that could be used to show me picture of my teeth.

The best part, (as if I wasn't already gushing at the pain free experience) was the cost. $34. I had a root canal for $34. Isn't that amazing? I'm already recommending to my friends that they fly to Korea and visit me to get dental work done!

Apology and General Update

Ok, I know it has been FOREVER since I've posted. And I apologize for that.

Everything is going well.

I've been too afraid to write this, for fear of jinxing myself ... but, here goes:

I haven't had any major problems in any of my classes this quarter.

I've had a few little mishaps and a couple of ill behaved children, but all in all my classes are MUCH better this quarter than last quarter.

Perhaps next quarter's classes will be even better.

I've made a great group of English speaking friends one town over. It's been really comforting to spend time with other Americans, to just hang out and enjoy the evenings. We play billiards, cards, or any silly game we can think of. It's funny how enjoyable it is to spend time with other people who enjoy the same sports, politics, and movies/TV as you.

My Korean is starting to fall into place. I'm starting to string sentences together. I'm understanding more and more. Sadly, my speaking skills are very limited. Because few Koreans know a non-native Korean speaker, most people aren't very good at understanding Korean with a thick American accent! I had the same problem in Russia and I'll get over it. Sometimes it's easier to just speak in English and gestures ... but I know that ultimately it will be better if I use the Korean that I know.

My homestay family situation is working out well. I'm really happy with them and I've been told that they're happy with me, too.

In the last month or so I've met a number of American who went to Christian colleges. It's always good to have other people who understand your background.

The Korean teachers that I work with tell me that I look much happier ... which in turn makes me feel even happier.

I'm trying to discern the next steps in my life. I'm still in the application process with the General Board of Global Ministries to be a career missionary, but I honestly have no time line. I'm just praying that something will open up eventually and enjoying the time I have now.

I think that I will try and do a missionary internship over the summer; visiting one or two of our United Methodist missionaries. Perhaps next school year I will look into an English teaching position at a Seminary or Methodist University here in Korea or I will look into an English teaching job in the middle east.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Drop me an e-mail at mairgood@tfc.edu

Some photos.

Heidi and I went to the same college. Here we are touring Gyeongbeok Palace. We intentionally take a day here and there to forget all of our cultural sensitivity training and we become AMERICAN TOURISTS!!! We talk loudly, we take pictures of everything, and we complain! It's a lot of fun and a great stress reliever.


Autin Kurth and I went to an Italian restaurant in Cheonon for dinner one night. Here I am smiling over the "appetizers." They gave us a plate of pickles, an empty bowl(for what? the pickle bones?) and an empty bread bowl with a napkin in it. Just like the old country.


This is a picture of the subway in Seoul. One odd feature of riding the subway is that no one touches anyone else, ever. No elbows brush against each other, no one bumps into anyone else. It's the weirdest sensation to have so many people in such a small place and to never be brushed up against. (I'm really bad at this, considering I'm 3X the size of a normal Korean.)


This is my homestay mom. She won't let me take pictures of her. This is the best I could do. She's obviously trying to run from my camera. She's very pretty, and one day I will get a good picture. I also can't get a picture of her daughter or husband. Maybe we will go and get Christmas photos taken together.


This is where I live. My homestay family and I live on the second floor of the creative arts school they run. It has a piano conservatory, an art room, and English classrooms. It's really beautiful. My bedroom window is directly above the main door. My bathroom window is to the small window to the left of my bedroom window.

Chusok

I had to fight back tears when I entered the sanctuary. It's been 4 long months since I've seen a pipe organ.

Chusok is the Korean thanksgiving. It's a time of family, friends, and culture. The English sermon, one of a handful I've heard these many weeks, naturally surrounded the holiday: naturally focused on family, friends, and culture.

These are touchy subjects for me. While a four month absence from my family is routine like crest on my toothbrush every morning, (I haven't been with my family for more than a month stretch at a time since I turned 18.) and I've played the leaving behind friends game too often to count; this has been a difficult transition.

So as I worshipped at the first protestant church in Korea, my heart was heavy and my eyes were damp.

Still no word from my friends in the Philippines. We read from Job in worship. We sang Jesu, Jesu .

"Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors we have from you.

Loving puts us on our knees,
serving as though we are slaves;
this is the way we should live with you.

Kneel at the feet of our friends,
silently washing their feet;
this is the way we should live with you."

I'm still processing a friend's suicide. It happened months ago now; but it still stings when I hear his name. I've never felt such a void when it comes to people in whom to confide. I don't have anyone here to really help me process and deal with things.

The sermon was about the brevity of Christ's earthly ministry. I'm reminded of
John Piper's quote, "Don't waste your life on the American dream of retirement, live dangerously for the One who died for you in his thirties." I was overwhelmed to worship in the church Henry Appenzeller died to plant. So many missionaries sacrificed so much to get us where we are now.

We shared in communion. Breaking bread together is becoming a growing part of my personal theology. Hearing the words from the United Methodist liturgy was refreshing.

"We have failed to love others with our full hearts."

We finished by singing Here I Am, Lord. I haven't made it through the chorus of that song since my senior year in high school when I got very sick in Russia. When my body had been ravaged by dysentery and I honestly didn't know if I would wake up in the morning, When I really thought I might die in Russia.

I knew I was all in.

The chorus is the cry of my heart, but when I try to sing it the words can't wrestle their way out.

If you lead Lord, I will follow. The words twist with tremendous weight and pain; but the pain explodes into the deepest sense of joy I've ever imagined.

I imagine I'll die doing this - probably not here in Korea, but somewhere - that I'll die following Jesus. With tremendous weight and pain; but the pain will explode into the deepest sense of joy I'll ever experience.

I always end up mouthing the words, my throat caught with bitter joy my vision blurred by the tears or reality.

Here I am Lord, send me.

I've known for years that I was called to be a missionary.

I fought against my call for a long time. When I couldn't stand because my body was being ravaged by dysentery, thousands of miles away from my loving family when I was an exchange student in Russia, I calmly, politely, and firmly told God to remove my name from the list of future missionaries.

I've come up with dozens of lists explaining why I'm not "missionary material."

I don't end every sentence with, "praise the Lord!"
I'm awkward.
I'm painfully bad at foreign language.
I don't look good in any hat, let alone a pith helmet.
I'm obedient primarily when it's convenient.
I don't pray long wingbag prayers.
I like talking to drunk athiests more than sober Christians.
I'm not comfortable "converting people" from a religion that gives them joy and inner peace.
My theology wavers back and forth depending on the week.
I sin every day and I have since I became a Christian.

Usually the lists are much longer, more detailed, and more painful.

God continues the call. Every fact I throw at God gets a quick response ... "So?"

God calls us to mission as a body, as a people, as God's people. We are called to go to the ends of the earth. I wonder some days, how close I've come to "the ends of the earth." How much further do I have to go before I find the end!?!?

Some days I'm glad to be called to missionary service. Some days I'm terrified. Most days I can rejoice in the call.

God,
You call all of us in separate directions. You place a vision in our hearts and throw the wind behind us. You don't guarantee "success" (whatever that means), a safe voyage, or a long, healthy life. You promise your faithfullness, and I pray that we may each feel that promise in our lives this day.
Amen.

School Pictures

This is Wesley Mission Language School. It looks a little like a Frat


Just look at how excited we are to learn!



In celebration of Swine Flu Awareness Month we do hourly temperature checks and anti-bacterial hand washes.




All my older kids refuse to have their photgraph taken, so enjoy these pictures of my little kids. Aren't they adorable?


This is my classroom. It's a good learning environment.