Thank You

I would like to thank all of my supporters.

I have a wonderful network of loving individuals who encourage, support, and build into me. I greatly appreciate all that they do for me and will be forever indebted to them.

When things are trying and difficult I am especially grateful for those who come along beside me in prayer and in the sharing of wisdom.

Thank You, Love, Michael.

Independence Day

Friday morning the photos went up. The train station occasionally has photos on display; an odd little display of Asan City related events. Pictures of the natural spas, the former president who hails from our little city, and other paraphernalia that surrounds small town culture around the world finds a place in the hallway of the train station.

Friday's photos were different. A black and white well aged photo of a very sad older woman graced the end of the hallway. Then there were the four emaciated teenage boys. The picture of the two criminals being taken away in chains with wooden buckets over their heads so the townspeople couldn't identify them. The one of the convicts on trial before a royal Japanese court. A hanging head, the body severed, hung on display to warn others of the cost of rebellion. The naked young women forced into prostitution by the ruling colonizers. The piles of dead young men, who had fought for freedom moments before this picture was taken. These were the snapshots chosen to celebrate the Korean Independence day, which was Saturday. The photos were taken down by Saturday evening.

No parades graced the streets; fireworks noticeably absent. Only sad memories and grateful appreciation for the right of self governance. Only a few waving flags and this small photo display to mark the day of Independence. Only a day, a Saturday, no school holiday this year to mark the event. Only a few photos of the brave to celebrate.

I had a great visit to Seoul today. After a 2 hour metro ride I met up with some friends from back home we are also teaching in South Korea.

I didn't make it to the Kimchi museum, but I explored some new parts of the city. We ate free samples at a huge grocery story for lunch (and paid for a pizze) and we ate dinner at a really fun trendy restaurant. I had Thai food. I love all Thai food. I think I should be there and not here!

I'm sorry for blogging less than usual. This has been a difficult week. The other new missionary left this week. Our schedules were flipped around for the final 3 weeks of classes this quarter.

Last week I was teaching 9 - 14 year olds. This week I'm teaching 4 - 12 year olds. It's a pretty radical shift.

I will fly to the Phillipines near the end of the month to secure my proper visa. I'm thrilled to get a chance to travel to the Phillipines. The United Methodist church there is very strong.

This morning I gave a speaking test to first grade students who speak English very well. The test revolved around healthy eating and living. Each student managed to work Kimchi and Rice into every answer. "What do you eat for breakfast?" "Kimchi and rice." "What is a 'balanced diet'?" "Kimchi and rice."

It was super cute, and I honestly believe they really do eat Kimchi and rice with every meal. I also found out that they make training-chopsticks for little kids. They are chopsticks with small finger straps to teach the kids proper finger placement.

I'll try and update more regularly. Thanks for reading.

It's been a difficult week. One of our teachers is leaving. She came to Korea the same time I did and we are close friends.

While our teaching schedule isn't difficult and the culture is loving and accepting (we once got stuck in a town about 30 miles away after the public transportation had shut down and a Korean family saw us in our situation and offered to drive us home ... 60 miles round trip!)there are certain difficulties.

Our students have a lot of school related stress. Parents put a huge emphasis on grades and academic performance, but our kids are still kids - they would rather be outside running around and having fun. They feel pulled in many directions and often come to class tired, unhappy, or worse.

Our school is new and doesn't quite have its act together. There is always a sense of deep confusion regarding teaching policy, visa issues, and power structure.

We didn't recieve any training before we started teaching, but we got yelled at by korean teachers every time we made a mistake. After 2 months and a trip to Thailand to obtain my English teacher's visa, I'm still on a tourist visa. Although I have all of my paperwork in, the school can't seem to get it's act together and I will have to travel overseas again in a few months for another visa trip*. The Pastor is the director of the school, but beyond that we have no idea who holds what positions. Different people yell at us for different things, but we never know if they are actually our superior or not.

Add into that some very serious internal issues with the foreign staff and you have the recipe for some stressful weeks. I'm very sad to see my friend leave, but can't wait to see what God has next for her life.

Please continue to keep all of the foreign staff in your prayers. Love, Michael.

* I'm not complaining about traveling to different countries. I take full advantage of every opportunity God gives me to see new and interesting places. I plan on visiting General Board of Global Ministries missionaries in Mongolia in October if that plan can be pulled off. Nonetheless, having the proper visa would be best for everyone.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'm back in Korea. School's back in session, but a lot of parents have vacation time this week and only half the kids were at school on Monday and Tuesday.

It's been a crazy week. I had to take another teacher's classes for 2 days, which was a lot of fun. It's always a crazy experience calling role for kids you don't know. The names here are all fairly similar and I can't quite pronounce the sounds yet. So it was a confusing day.

We finish up the lesson books for this quarter at the end of this week and next and begin reading stories with the kids. I will find out on Monday what stories we will be reading.

Thailand Adventure

This is me at the feet of the reclining buddha. Five days in Thailand is more of an adventure than I had imagined.


The Bangkok Christian Guest House is a beautiful missionary retreat center in the heart of Bangkok. The BCGH is so central that it is on Silom Rd; better known as the Red Light District of Bangkok. Now, Bangkok has somewhat of a reputation for being a shady city, but the Guest House is in the shadiest part of the shady city.

It was quite an experience. There were hookers on every corner and you never knew if anyone was a guy or a girl. I tend to be an open minded person, but even I was overwhelmed by the surroundings. It was a great jumping off point to the culture.


This is one of the go-go bars on the street. Guys On Display. G.O.D. Really. This is real.


Even at the most beautiful buddhist temples there is a gay and lesbian presence. This was quite a shock, coming from South Korea where they don't even know what gay is. When I was waiting at the airport (11 hours) I read a book in the bookstore about Ladyboys, the gay/transgender population in Thailand. It was a really fascinating book. Apparently they come from all over Asia to the one place where they can find acceptance, Bangkok Thailand.




Lumpini Park, right down the road, was crawling (heh ... literally) with gila monsters. It was so cool to get right up close to them and get photos.



A fellow TFC grad doing mission work in Thailand, Ruth, met up with me in Bangkok for Sunday evening worship at Christ Church and dinner. It was fun hearing about the country and culture outside of the tourist trap I was experiencing.







This is beautiful Wat Pho. THE Thai tourist attraction, it houses 3 huge golden statues of buddha. Including the reclining buddha. It was ok ... much too tourist-y for my likes, but on this particular trip I was nothing more than a tourist.



A truly tourist event, a Tuk Tuk ride. At less than a dollar, it's a fun way to get from point A to point B ... as long as you have a strong death wish.


During this trip I made my first visit to a Hindu Temple and Muslim Mosque. I had seen Hindu Temples in India, but none of my teammates wanted to go inside of them.


M.R. Kirkut was a prime minister, foreign dignitary, and member of the royal family. His home is now a museum. It's off the beaten path and not exactly a high tourist destination. This stunning woman and her husband were being prepared for a professional photo shoot in the home. I told her that she was very beautiful and asked if I could take her picture. She quickly agreed.


When we got to our hotel I opened the Thai newspaper, I immediately recognized the man standing in the picture and then saw the woman I had talked with. The caption highlighted the prince and princesses who attended the birthday party of the King.

I met the prince and princess! What a crazy event.

Thailand is great.

We went to an English speaking church this morning. It was superb. I miss the sense and vibe of liturgical worship. We ate lunch at the church and met engineers form Germany, Billy Graham Association evangelists from Holland, and two of the pastors from the church (Irish and British)... all in one lunch. It was great.

The internet is slow, but I'm having a good vacation. Thanks for prayers. Life is better now, and when I have time I will explain better.

Love, Michael.

I'm going to Thailand tomorrow. Originally the trip was to go and pick up my visa. Korea has weird rules about English teacher visas, one of them being that the visa can only be issued outside of Korea. All of the paperwork and processing happens in Korea, but the actual visa can only be issued overseas. So, I had to take half of my vacation days to make a business trip somewhere outside of Korea. So, I chose Thailand because it was the cheapest flight I could find and a country I wanted to visit. I figured it would be a perfect chance to sightsee.

Two days ago I found out that my English teaching visa was put on hold because of problems with the school I'm working for. So, I will not be getting my visa this week. At least I will get another opportunity to visit another asian country in the next few months. Where should I go next?

I'm really excited about going to Thailand. Although I'm disappointed that I won't be getting my visa, that does free me up to do 2 more days worth of sightseeing! I probably won't blog during the week, but I plan on taking pictures and blogging next week!

Comfortable in my own skin

I'm a big person. I'll give you a moment to absorb that.

In America everyone (except mean middle schoolers) is polite enough to never mention another person's weight. Overseas everyone comments on my size.

I usually just say, "Thank You." When I'm greeted with, "You're so BIG!"

The other day the pastor was introducing me to a group of visiting Americans. He said, "This is brother Michael. He's handsome ... but, SO BIG!"

I wish you could hear a recording of this statement. His voice zoomed into the heavenlies like a 90s horror princess realizing the killer is behind her. SO BIG!

Indescribable. The Americans audibly gasped, it was such a rude statement by American standards.

So, I'm working through the process of being comfortable in my own skin.

I'm getting used to the gawking masses at the swimming pool. I'm laughing off falseto exclamations of my gigantic size in public places. I'm framing pictures where I'm thrice-and-again the size of my asian friends.

I'm accepting that God loves me at any size and called me to the mission field with the full knowledge that I will be huge anywhere I go in the world.

I'm getting comfortable in my own skin.