What a week!

I've survived another full Sunday in Daegu and will live to tell the tale. As an English Minister I am required to attend three out of four church services, one of which is the English Worship Service that I have taken on as my main ministry with Dream Church. Before you think I'm complaining about this I want you to know, as enthusiastic as I can be through words, that I have been challenged and inspired by the dedication and love for Jesus that these Korean people possess! What would seem to be legalistic and ceremonial from a western perspective - through the dress code of suits and ties to the fine polished layout of the church building, the atmosphere of passion for God in worship as well as the love people have for each member is truly moving. At some point in every service the Senior Pastor will lead the congregation in a "Blessing Song" where all the people move into the isles, hold hands and sing a song of blessing for one another. As I would stand there singing this song people will slowly cycle their eyes to one another, bow and smile. I was so amazed by this sense of community and value people had for one another.

My first day leading this English Worship Service was very encouraging for me. The fears of being eaten alive by some 50 young rambunctious kids has definitely been playing on me in these last few days of preparation but I think it went a lot better then I expected. What I'm learning with kids is...well...they have severe A.D.D and it is a miracle to keep their attention for more then 10 seconds. So what I'm learning is that I have to be somewhat like a clown, very EXPRESSIVE and LOUD so as to catch their attention. SungJin and I really felt led to have a worship time where the kids could learn new worship songs in English and have an encounter with God. It was awesome to see the kids get so excited about the songs and jump around in freedom. After this I shared a message about how we were created in God's image to bear his likeness of Joy, Peace and Love and about what happened when sin entered the world and distorted the way we were made. Although it was a simple children's message I couldn't help but be impacted by the reality that we are TRULY made in God's image and possess every characteristic of Jesus inside of us if we would just harness it. All in all I had a great time but so exhausted! This is a whole new ball game for me...

A highlight for me lately was attending a church members wedding yesterday that, as one of the Ministers of Dream Church I am expected to appear at. I was invited to ride with the Senior Pastor and his wife and share with them about my life journey of going from hockey dreams to unhealthy lifestyles to the beautiful intervention of God who brought me into YWAM DTS is Kona Hawaii three years ago. While arriving at this wedding it was a privilege to stand beside such an influencial and respected man as the Senior Pastor. He introduced me to various grey haired men and then we made our way to the buffet where I indulged in various Korean dishes. The food was so yummy! Through conversation I found out that he is a golf fanatic so he was very happy to find out that I also loved playing golf. His wife wasn't too impressed to find this out..apparently he golfs too much but I'm really pumped to go golfing with him sometime.

Anyways, I could go on but this is a tid bit of my life so far in Daegu. I've been here for a week yet it's felt like months. It's such a fast culture and I feel I can barely keep up to everything but I'm still adjusting and looking forward to new relationships and God stories.

Thanks God!
-Jer

A New Adventure Begins

Hey friends,
I've been in South Korea for a week now and am starting to settle down in a new environment and culture. The church has welcomed SungJin and I with open arms; this last Sunday I attended 4 of the churches services where I was properly introduced as the English Minister for Dream Church. Attending the Korean services was an interesting experience for me since all I could do was mindlessly gaze around the room and read my bible - thankfully I'll only be expected to attend two out of the four services! Although I couldn't understand the words of the songs the worship was very enthusiastic and I could definitely sense the presence of God through the atmosphere of joy and wonder - I'm looking forward to many more worship times like this.

My official church work for this next season in Daegu Dream Church will be to lead a Sunday Service for Children; including worship, teaching and group exercises with the intention of raising up these kids in the Lord while providing them with English competency. This will my first ministry experience with children so I'm praying that God will give me that practical skills and heart to teach these little kiddies biblical principals and english speaking skills. I have a feeling they will they'll be the ones teaching me..
During the week it will be my responsibility to run English Classes for the church members as well as the surrounding community. I have had some experience teaching English during my time in Taiwan but never anything to this degree so it'll be interesting to see how this looks.

Since here I've tried so many new foods including; octopus, sushi, different varieties of kimchi, weird fish, tofu and all kinds of foreign vegetables. I never thought I could ever stomach some of these fishy dishes and mouth burning spices but amazingly I've really enjoyed most of the food here.

This is all I have time for right now but just wanted to fill you in on some basics and let you know that I'm alive. I love living in new cultures..there is so much more I want to tell you about South Korea but I'll have to save it for another time.

Blessings.
Jeremy 선교사