Week 2

This past week's been a lot of fun. I love the feeling of having something to look forward to everyday.

Monday, the elementary girls went to some big 시장. I stayed home with the two junior high girls 나영 and 지윤. I also spent some time with Cathy and the babies.

this is a terrible photo.. but it's me and the two junior high girls about to take a nap! 

주연 쌤 and 나영

은우, handsome boy

현섭

Cathy imitating 예은 

Cathy's baby

when she woke up

Cathy abusing 현섭

working

when a giant bear started a fire outside. 

Tuesday, two of the college girls, 소희 and 지영 took me and Cathy to eat 뼞찜at a restaurant down the street.. So.. Good.. Then we played two-on-two badminton. 소희 and I beat Cathy and 지영 so they bought us ice cream. Hehe

지영 and 소희 

i made this photo extra large so you can see it in detail.

crazy swing cafe they took us to

the best part was the unlimited toasted bread and whipped cream...

유미 쌤 gave me this bread and a note.. it made me so happy..

On Wednesdays, there's a program from 3 to 5 for the elementary kids. Women from a christian entertainment service group take turns coming every week to teach the kids games and share their testimonies with them. The dorm moms play with the kids and it gets so competitive.. It's fun stuff.. The dorm moms are hilarious.. Especially the dorm moms for the boys. I almost cried in last week's testimony.. The lady was in her thirties and she was really funny. It was the type of funny where she 반말-ed to everyone from the very beginning and made fun of people.. But it worked. After games, she sat us all down and talked about how she started doing what she was doing now. She told us that not too long ago, she was a teacher at a school. One day she had come home really tired from work and her younger brother called her cause he really wanted to meet up to talk and eat. She told him she was too tired to go out, so she just convinced him to just talk to her on the phone that night and to meet up the next morning. They talked for an hour about his dreams and about his life. The next morning, she woke up to a phone call. It was the police telling her that her brother was hit by a car on the way to her house. The car ran away and her brother didn't make it. She struggled for many months with guilt and grief. She said that one day, she was praying, asking God what she should do with a heavy heart. God spoke to her, telling to stop being sad, that she had grieved enough now. He told her that from now on, she should just live her life to the fullest, making other people happy. He told her to quit her job as a teacher and start going around to people who are having a hard time an make them happy. She quit her job right away and now she goes around to hospitals entertaining the elderly and children who are sick and to this children's home, making them a little bit happier.. She told us that there are people in Korea committing suicide and hurting themselves because they have no dream and no visions or their lives. She said that we must have a dream and we must find a passion or else we will be unhappy. She said that it doesn't matter what it is but we must use it to make life better for other people. She was really honest and straightforward, but i think it made some of the kids really think. It was also encouraging because she talked about God in a way that made Him so real to them. She heard His voice, followed, and found healing. That's the way it goes.. Him being in her life was a natural part of her story.. I want to do that for them as well. Be able to share. I've shared parts of my testimony with some of the girls before we fall asleep and I really wonder if it affects them. But I realize that I can only do so much with my own strength. God has given Jerusalem Ministry so much vision and promise that I can't help but believe that seeds are being sown through our words.. Not because I have the ability or the favor but because God wills it and His Spirit lives in me.. I am the builder of His Kingdom here on earth.

히은

Thursday, Cathy's back was hurting a lot, so 소희 and i went to the doctor's with her. The clinics here are so good by the way.. She paid almost nothing and got treated right away for her backaches. Funny things happened but I cannot share them with you here.. Anyways, America needs to learn a little bit from Korea's health system. Afterwards, it started raining like crazy.. And to thank us for waiting, Cathy bought us 알밥 from a restaurant down the street. So good.. Later that day, it was two of the upper elementary girls' open flute practice. It's for the parents to just sit in on one of their lessons and to talk to the teacher and things like that. I was going to go with 주연 쌤 but she ended up having to take half the girls to the dentist. I walked to the girls' elementary school with 미혜 and acted as 의진 and 미혜's mom for the day. I took a trillion pictures then they have me a tour of their school.. It's just like in the dramas.. I bought us some ice cream and chips and we walked back home together. Then 은비, one of the high school girls who wants to be a beautician cut my hair for me!! Cathy was brushing my hair and 은비's brush broke.. It was a sad moment.. Shout out to Joanne!!! Who understands my heart..

알밥

field

의진이 took this photo..

의진

미혜

this boy was one of the other students' younger brothers.. he was so funny.. 

camera shy

classroom

Friday was our weekly JM meeting. We met at Jee's tele-ahdjfnsi something.. It's like a one room apartment with everything in it.. Jee cooked us a beautiful meal and we talked and prayed for a while. Then we went to Outback Steakhouse for Mijeong's birthday dinner. Mijeong is so amazing.. The first day we met her, she asked us why we're here and where we are in or lives.. We were at this tiny 김밥집 next to church. Somehow i started talking about my parents and healing i need.. About unforgiveness in my heart and she encouraged me so much.. With her own experiences with her family and she spoke a lot of truth that i really really needed to hear.. In her way. Hahaha we've only been here for less than 3 weeks now but I feel so close to her, Jee, John-Michael, and Sky.. Like I've known them for months.. I'm realizing how much I need that older voice in my life. I went through a lot of pain in the past because of spiritual leaders and I think I let it get to me. I didn't even realize I have such a skewed view of leadership. I'm experiencing so much healing and renewal of joy from the people here.. I can't even express how blessed I am by New Philedelphia.. They're so welcoming and so genuine in their love. I feel like we have deep conversations with every person that we randomly sit next to.. And people come up to us saying "I just wanted to get to know you guys better!" and they talk to us about our dreams and speak so much life into us.. It's like heaven.. Hehh..

Cathy and view from Jee's tele-alskdjf

Mijeong! 

On Saturdays, we usually stay at the home, but some of the staff planned a trip to the beach for us.. And of course, God blessed us with the most amazing California weather after days of rain. It was a two and a half drive to the sandy beach.. I think it's the west side of the peninsula? The place we went was called 꽃지. Beautifulbeautifulbeautiful.. The bald man, the pale glasses man, the straight gangster boss lady, two of the college boys, cathy, and I went on an authentic Korean day trip! This was what I was waiting for.. I was so sick of looking at buildings.. We 출발ed and drove for about an hour and then stopped at those crazy rest stops to pee and get snacks. Cathy and I would've been happy just staying there.. Good food and an ocean view.. We got back in and drove a couple more hours through the countryside to the beach.. We pitched a tent on the beach and boss lady stayed there. The rest of us went swimming. The water was amazing.. So warm and you can wade really really far and still stand.. Cathy and I felt scandalous even though we were wearing tee shirts and shorts cause girls in Korea go into the water with all their clothes on.. Like jackets and everything. Very good. The bald man is a good swimmer and he would swim all the way out to the buoys and come back. We wanted to try so he went with me and Cathy to touch buoy number 15.. We were about 3 meters away when they yelled at us on the loudspeakers. We had to swim back. They cooked us ramen with a little stove and then we rode the banana boat.. So. Much. Fun.. Cathy was a wild animal. HAHA we washed up and drove to a nearby restaurant to eat crab.. Ugh. It was amazing. The whole day was perfect. I missed long drives and full ice boxes and karaoke in the car and sunshine.. It was really good cause we got to spend time with the people who work here. They're fun old people.. I wish I knew their names..

At the rest stop

tent

Cathy

Pale glasses man and two boys making us ramen

Cathy

Sunset 

dinner

after dinner coffee

Sunday, we went to church and then i met up with 지원, my second cousin. She's 2 years younger than me and she's studying music composition at a school based in Seoul. She's on break right now, so came out from
Daegu for the weekend to meet me. The last time I met her was ten years ago when she and her brother visited LA. We loved them so much then, so it was so nice seeing her again. We had dinner and we rode a cable car up to Namsan Tower. We had ice cream and enjoyed the amazing view. It made me love Seoul a little bit more. Then we walked to Myeong Dong and walked around a bit. I loved spending time with her.. I think we like a lot of the same things so we get along well. I'm excited to see her again in Daegu!!

Namsan Tower 

walking..

지원

ice cream and obnoxious boy in the back

top security locks.. so your love lasts..

it was so hot..

the best 

seoul 

This was so much.. I really have to split them up a little bit..

Prayer Requests:
1) For the workers here to really meet God.
2) For Cathy's back and mine as well. For complete healing!
3) That the girls would see and understand God's love for them through us. Well, not only the girls but everyone here. Everyone who works here loves the children and most of them work here because they want to. But God is definitely not in every relationship and really sad things happen all the time.
4) That Cathy and I would continue learning and continuously serve with all of ourselves.. I've been really drained the whole day today and i felt really ineffective. I want to make use of every moment.. Praying, reading, loving on these girls.. We're discovering so much about ourselves here.. Pray that we'd realize more about our dreams and that God would establish His purpose for our lives here. We need to be focused and energized!
5) For Jerusalem Ministry. For John-Michael, Jee, Mijeong, Sky, Karin, us, and the other part-time volunteers.

Thank you!!

hannah

facetime with emo 1 and halmoni! 

josh looking normal.