Samgwangsa Temple

We are coming up on Buddha's Birthday, and we read that one of the temples in the city has one of the best displays of lanterns in Korea. You can read about it here.

So on Friday night we headed to the temple because we thought it looked pretty cool. Unfortunately, we walked out of the house without our camera, so we only got pictures on our phones. Had we known what we were about to see, I probably would have gone back to get it. It was seriously an incredible sight. There must have been nearly 10,000 lanterns. The entire temple grounds are covered in lanterns - we didn't even see them all!

Winding Down the Year

Let me start off by saying, GOD IS GOOD!!!! We have almost made it to the end of our first year as teachers(we only have 5 weeks left!)!!!! That being the case, we though it was time for a brief update about school and summer plans.

Of our five weeks remaining, only 2 of them are full weeks. This coming week we have Friday off for Buddha's birthday, and our last two weeks of school are short as well with each Thursday off. You can tell it's getting close to the end - kids are antsy, as are all of us teachers! We will be very busy with end-of-the-year activities over the next few weeks with field trips and school events, so be checking for updates!

Our new facility is coming along really well. We walked through it about 10 days ago, and the gym floor has been laid, the cafeteria is almost finished, and the classrooms are really shaping up. We are also anticipating the laying of our new turf field within the next 2 weeks! It is a very exciting time to be here! We have begun planning for Summer School from July 29 - August 16th with 5 other teachers and really looking forward to those few weeks.

Our classes are both wrapping up well. Justin's class is down to 17 students, and he has already begun to talk to them about coming to visit him next year. My three students have all turned four by now, and luckily I will still be around them a lot next year since I combine with the Kindergarten-4 class so much. We have both met a few parents of incoming students next year and can't believe we're already talking about a new year! This year sure has gone by quickly. When I think back to our first days here, I laugh as I remember how stressed we were at times (for good reasons!), and how in just 9 short months we now feel so comfortable in our settings - a blessing for sure.

We are also greatly anticipating our full summer! My dear friend and old Co-worker from TU, Tanya, will be arriving in just over 2 weeks and will be exploring Busan with us until June 9th. Shortly after that my parents will be coming, and we'll be spending a few days in Jeju - the so-called "Hawaii of Korea." We then will head to Thailand for 9 days, riding elephants, exploring temples and other Thai things. We will then welcome Justin's parents to Busan for a week, followed by a brief visit from my Grandma and her husband, Tim. THEN we have Summer School!  We know how busy it sounds, but believe us when we say that we are equally excited for each of these things! We are blessed to have so many people who want to visit us and are able to do so. It will be a privilege for us to show each of them our home and life here.

You can be praying for safe travels for our family, friends, and ourselves as we gear up for summer. You can also be praying for wisdom as we begin even now to think about what comes next for us after next school year.

As we talked about in church this morning, may you be overwhelmed by the greatness and glory of Christ as you live your life for Him! 

Lotte Giants

The Lotte Giants are our local baseball team. For a school staff outing, a big group of us headed to a game this weekend. One of the best things about going to sports games, or even to the movies here, is that it is acceptable to bring in your own food and drinks, whereas in the States you can't even bring in a water bottle most of the time! It was a beautiful day, and we won 4-3.

view from right field

unfortunately the guy getting tagged was on our team...

and he's...............

safe!! (insert applause)

Dianne - here is your future job!! 

delivering a new pitcher to the mound...because he might get too worn out running.

No, we did not come up with this idea on our own. They hand out bags just so everyone will do this. Why? We have no idea.

 We had to share a bag because our section didn't get enough

Justin with the bag on his head

A sea of people with bags on their heads. Korea is awesome. Enough said.

A Sneak Peak at our Garden

Growing up, my Mom had a vegetable garden every year. I used to love picking green beans (and eating half of what I pulled off the plants), cucumbers, green peppers, and everything else she planted. I have always wanted to have my own garden, and we have begun our first one! While it is quite small and only consists of 3 vegetables as of now, we have thoroughly enjoyed watching our plants grow over the last several weeks. We will keep you updated with pictures as our plants get bigger and we can finally enjoy eating fresh veggies!

A Red Sunflower

beginnings of our cucumber plants

We have two of these hanging baskets with flowers - you can't tell, but there are a few tiny green spots in there

our sunflower is growing fast - and a second one has popped up

cucumber plants!

we think this is a green pepper

flowers are coming!

Farewell CJ and Elise

As we sat in our taxi after a farewell party for some of our good friends (one of my dearest in Korea) I was awestruck by the Body of Christ and the hope that we have in our God. What, to some, could feel like a permanent goodbye was not that at all. While we are incredibly sad to see these friends leave Busan, I am thrilled for their next adventures and am comforted in knowing that those of us in Christ will spend eternity together.

This is the first goodbye that has been a really close friend. We knew this would happen...that people come and go here a lot. What we didn't know was that in just less than 9 months time we would have such solid friends. Elise is someone I strongly admire. Her strength, joy, and faith have been a constant source of encouragement to me since we met in the fall.

Today was a pretty emotional day. Elise, Laura, Nikki and I have been doing a Bible Study together for months and have grown very close. For the past few months we have put off talking about this day. And there we sat today in Church, our arms linked together, waiting for the farewell prayer for Elise and CJ. As soon as we all got up front to lay hands on them, the tears began to flow. Honestly, I'm not sure I could even tell you a word that was spoken in that prayer. It was such a sober moment. We know God has great things in store for them as they head to Abu Dhabi after a few months of travel and time back home in Canada, but they were be greatly missed in Busan.

I am thankful for "forever friends."  Today was not a goodbye. It was "See you later."

Laura, Elise, me and Nikki at our final lunch together. 

I will love these girls forever.

Matthew 18:20  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

BFS Talent Show

Friday night was our school talent show at the Shinsegae Cultural Hall. We thoroughly enjoyed it and were so impressed by the talent in our school. Below you'll find two videos from the night. The first one is one of Justin's students - Sharin - dancing. She got her hair done just for the show and was so cute! She hardly looked like the Sharin we know. The second video is of Tae Hyun - a second grader - singing Edelweiss. Tae Hyun was in Justin's class at the beginning of the year but eventually moved down to second grade as it was a better fit for him. He stole the show, for sure. I have watched the video of him over and over, and I still love it just as much as when I saw him in the show.

We didn't get too many other pictures, but we had the pleasure of hearing a lot of talented musicians from our school.

Sharin 

Tae Hyun

Tae Hyun getting ready to go on stage. 

PRECIOUS.

Redeemer ICC

Our Church in Korea has recently changed names from ICC (International Community Church) to Redeemer ICC. With that, we now have a new website, complete with sermons (right now there is only one, but more will soon be available).

We are VERY excited about what is happening at Redeemer ICC. If you get a chance to listen to the sermon that's on the website, I encourage you to do so. You'll get a good taste of what we hear each week.

Click below for the new website!
Redeemer ICC Website

Enjoy!

1 Peter 2:9      But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.