Sorry it has been so long! We've been doing a lot of things this week and I'm still processing everything that we have done. Definitely some interesting experiences! We went karaoking for a friend's birthday and then spent the night at a public bath house called Jjimjilbang. I was dreading this part because, as you may know, nobody wears clothes!! Actually, I was freaking out! First you go into the women's section and everybody gets a uniform to wear and sleep on mats on the ground. We went to the sauna rooms and then go ready to go into the pools. This was the scary part, but we just stripped and jumped in. Thankfully it was the time of the night when it was least crowded. But I can't believe that we actually did that! It was definitely a cultural experience and my friend said that I was officially becoming Korean!

Over the weekend, we went to a canal and took pictures. We also went to a Buddhist temple and climbed a mountain. There were lots of people worshipping Buddha and a famous zen priest. It was really sad and scary to see that they were worshipping something false and realizing that they wouldn't go to heaven. It was a hard climb up the mountain but the view was totally worth it, as you can see from the picture! You could see a lot more of the city than the picture shows.

On Sunday, a lot of songs were about God's power and one was about all of creation giving glory to God. All I could think about was the mountain that we had climbed the day before. It was so incredible to be able to worship God up there even at the same time the Buddhists were bowing to Buddha. It was a good reminder of God's power.

As a group, we've been learning about living for the kingdom of God because it can't be shaken (Hebrews 12:20-29) Even though there are many people around us who don't believe and it seems like problems in this world aren't stable, God is neverchanging and the kingdom can't be shaken. I've been learning how important it is to serve the Lord with joy. So much of service can become routine and you can question if you're really making a difference or not. But it's important to give the glory to God and not try to do it for your own satisfaction. It seems difficult to witness or make a difference because we don't speak Korean. But I don't have that excuse in the US and how often do I witness to people?

Please pray for more patience and a good attitude for me. I have found myself complaining about my middle school class because they don't always listen to me or act interested in what I'm teaching. I need to continue praying for them and try to relate to them better. Also, pray for unity of the Taylor group and that we'd would serve without complaining! :)

This week is our 4th week of teaching our classes! We are also continuing to help the disabled ministry everyday. Thanks for reading!

Hello!
These last 2 weeks I have been going to the early morning prayer service with Sul, my host person. Even though it was really early in the morning, it was good to worship and pray. Each day the pastor preached through the books of Thessalonians. He emphasized the truth that Christians have hope and joy because of the coming of the Lord and that we need to encourage others. What has been really faith-stretching though, is the prayer time. I experienced someone speaking in tongues for the first time and it was really powerful. It seems like they have such a genuine relationship with God. Even though they don't know what they are saying all of the time, they experience God closer when they are speaking in tongues than they would praying normally. After the prayer services, we eat breakfast at the church. The breakfasts range from eating cereal to eating seaweed to eating squid!
Earlier this week we were invited to the US military base. We had lunch there and then they gave us a tour of the war museum. It was cool to see the section on the Korean war because my Grandpa is a Korean war veteran. Koreans keep telling me how grateful they are for that.
When we aren't teaching or preparing our classes, we are spending a lot of time hanging out with our Korean friends. This weekend the girls in the group went to an underground mall to go shopping. It was mad chaos because everything is so cheap! It is normal for people to push and shove their way around. Then we watched a movie at the theatre.
As our 3rd week of teaching rolls around, please pray that the kids we are teaching would remember the Christian teachings we have for them, and not only the English material. Also pray for strength of the team. Sometimes we feel discouraged when we feel like we aren't teaching effectively. Also, some in the group have started to feel homesick.
This week will be another busy week!

Good news- A Korean complimented me on my chopstick skills!! (Usually the waitresss will take one look at me and hand me a fork!)
It has been raining almost everyday here! And when it rains, it pours! We walk everywhere, so it has been interesting trying to escape the downpours. My students thought it was hilarious when I taught them the expression, "It's raining cats and dogs!"
My classes have been going pretty well. The 3-4 graders are very energetic and love to speak English and play games. In my middle school class we are learning the fruits of the spirit, speaking skills, and idioms. They love to teach me Korean words. The only issue is that the air conditioning hasn't been working for a while, so it is hard for the kids to concentrate for long periods of time because it can get hot.
This weekend, our group went to Insadong, which is a traditional Korean market with lots of street venders and food. We walked around for hours and bought souvenirs!
In the mornings, during the weekdays, some of us are helping out with the day-care ministry for disabled students at the church. We play with the disabled students and help feed them. There are about 20 of them; some are physically handicapped and some are mentally handicapped. It is a very good program where they are taught job skills, everyday skills, and Bible songs and stories. The church even has 2 social work pastors to help with the ministry. I was very excited about this! The students call me Betani (with more accent on the last syllable).
We are very busy with all the activities going on and having a lot of fun. Also, before I did this I didn't realize all the preparation that goes into teaching! Thanks as always for your prayers!

Hello everyone!

A funny thing happened recently while we were visiting Yonsei University. Everything is high-tech here- even the bathrooms. They have remote control like things with millions of buttons in the bathrooms to flush toilets! Well, one of the girls on our team pressed on of the buttons thinking that she was flushing the toilet and an alarm sounded all over the floor. A man came running into the bathroom to see if she needed help! It was hilarious!

We've had the chance to do lots of sightseeing in our spare time! Today we went to the Seoul Historic Museum. There were lots of artifacts from Jeonsei dynasty and interesting videos. We also went to a giant mall called Lotte World. We went iceskating in the mall (see picture). Yesterday we went to a traditional Korean restaruant where you sit cross-legged on the floor and there is a grill in the middle of the table. You are supposed to cook your meat yourself and add sauce to it. It was delicious!

Here are a few pictures!




We are eating out at a Korean restaurant with some Korean friends





The Taylor group (Emily, Paul, Erica, Danielle, Teresa, and I) with 2 Korean friends- visiting Yonsei University








Anchovies and yes I ate it- eyeballs, bones and all!








We are at the Korean baseball game



Sul, my Korean host, is making Kimchi (fermented cabbage) for breakfast!

the view outside of my apartment

Classes

Yesterday was our first day of classes. I teach a 3-4 grade class and then a junior high class in the evenings after school. The first day was rough because I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what level the kids were at or how many students I would have. The other teachers (5 others from Taylor) and I were also really nervous beforehand because it was very new for us! The kids are very quick to learn and already know a lot of English for their age. I had to improvise a little because they finished all of the activities I had planned very quickly! Korean parents are very strict about education and make their children go to after-school classes and tutoring sessions later in the night.

So, far, I have 4 junior high girls and they seem very nice but they are very shy. They do not like to talk. They opened up a bit when I asked them questions. I'm trying to incorporate a Biblical message or Scripture into each class, so I taught the 3-4 graders an English prayer and have been teaching them Bible stories each day. They really seem to like that. The junior high girls are a little harder to plan for because I don't want to make it boring for them.

Today, my 3-4 grade class went a lot better because I was able to engage them the whole time and they seemed to understsand the material and have fun. I'm still working on making the junior high material seem interesting!

I do have a few prayer requests:

*flexibility and discernment for our team:

-in some of the classes, the students have a wide range of English ability and it is hard to teach with such a large difference in levels; we need to know the best way to help each student

-there are a lot of changes being made in the classes because we are finding out that some of the textbooks are too easy or too hard and we have to get new ones

*Students: One of my students in my junior high class named Soo-Hyun hasn't been going to church. Her mom put her in my English class in hopes that she will become interested in church and the Bible. Pray that she would gain a new interest in reading the Bible and wisdom for me to know how to help her.

Church

Going to our church this Sunday was an amazing experience! They have thousands of memebers and it is at least 6 stories tall. We went to the main traditional service and they made us stand up in front of thousands of people! Then, just in case people didn't see us, they put us up on the big screen as well! The church then provides a lunch for everyone. After that, we went to the youth group service for 2 hours. The songs were very inspiring even though we didn't know all of them; just seeing how energetic they were to worship God. Just knowing that hundreds of youth were worshipping God, even though we didn't know what they were saying was encouraging and uplifting. God listens to many languages at the same time because it all comes from the heart.
The preacher spoke about how Christians need to bring hope to the world by submitting to God and not only focusing on being sucessful by the world's standards. He said the kingdom of God goes being culture and nationalities. I thought is was very fitting because we were listening to the sermon being translated and sitting in a room full of people of a different culture!
Then they divided up into small group Bible studies. Church wasn't over until 5:30 in the evening! Even though it is a huge church, they really take time for community and don't get tired of praying or studying the Bible.
We have been so busy, that it has been hard to process everything that is new. But we are learning a lot!

Arrival

I am safe and sound in Korea! We left on Tuesday around 4 in the morning and arrived in Korea around 6 pm the next day (there is a 13 hour time difference). We were very tired when we arrived but had a good time having dinner with all of our host families at Mr. Pizza. I tried potato pizza and it was pretty good! I am staying in an apartment with a lady named Sul. She is very nice and speaks English.


Today we went to the Yum Kwang Presbyterian church for a meeting where they told us more about what we will be teaching for the classes that start on Monday. After that we went out to eat at a Korean restaurant. Our Korean friends thought it was hilarious that we kept having trouble eating noodles with chopsticks. Everyday we are trying something new! We went for a walk in the market. Then I sat in the cafe of the Church until Sul came to take me home. While there, I had some good conversations with people; they are so friendly and love to practice their English. I've also been learning a few vital phrases in Korean! This weekend we will be sightseeing and making friends at church. On Saturday we will get to go to a Korean wedding!
The Koreans are very hospitable and keep asking us what our first impression of Korea is. They want to make sure that we feel welcome.
Please continue praying for overall health and safety and preparation for the classes that we will start teaching. Pictures to come soon!