Karaoke Kristin

If you like karaoke, then you'll love Korean Karaoke. There are these places called Norabong all over the city. You go to one and you rent a karaoke room by the hour and then you and your friends have your own private karaoke party. It's like your in your living room except with a nice sound system and an endless number of songs to choose from. My coworkers told me about Norabong and Christian went with some of his coworkers, but I hadn't had the chance to go yet. So Saturday night Erik and Monique, and their friends Mark and Cassie and I went to dinner and to a Norabong. When we got there they gave us the first room and so I'm sure everyone could hear us. There is a big three-sided couch with a table in the middle, and of course a disco ball as well as plenty of room to dance. My first number was Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. I rocked it! There are two mics so we had some duets as well. We sang everything from Yeah! by Usher to Your Song by Elton John to Africa by Toto, that was my pick. All in all it was a really fun night. And they don't call me Karaoke Kristin for nothing. ;-)

Sunday I got up around noon and wandered the city before church. I went to two different markets looking for whatever fun antiquey things I could find. Then I went to church. I always love church and look forward to it every week, but I thought this week was especially good. We began by singing Blessed Be Your Name which is a personal favorite and then spent some time in prayer and then Pastor Eddie began his sermon. This was the second week in a two part series on the Armor of God. Last week he talked specifically about how each piece of armor protects us. And this week he talked about the offensive piece. He focused on the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and prayer. He spent time explaining that words are powerful. God spoke the world into existence. And he mentioned how the enemy is bound when we verbally proclaim truth in the name of Jesus. This I know from experience. He also warned us about the temptation to neglect our prayer life. He recalled the Garden of Gethsemane and how intimate and intense Jesus' prayers were. It all just really resonated with me and forced me to evaluate my spiritual life and discover what pieces of armor I'm leaving out. Another interesting point that he made is that out of all the pieces of armor mentioned, none of them protect your back. It seems valid to consider the importance of not turning your back on the enemy. After church Christian and I started our first week of orphanage training. It's kinda funny because we've been going to the orphanage for over a month now, but still need to go to the training classes, but it's good because it will help us build unity among the other people that are going to be serving, as well as understand what Korean orphans need from us. The church volunteers in three orphanages around the city and is building a relationship with another that is specifically for infants. Throughout the training we are required to read the book, The Five Love Languages of Children, by Gary Chapman. I'm so glad they chose this book because I think it will be beneficial in understanding how to best love every child, not just the orphans. I'm hoping I can learn ways to love my students as I teach them English. I'm really excited about all that is going on in this ministry and for the passion I see in others for the same things that God has made me passionate about. The Body of Christ is beautiful!

Be in prayer for this ministry. We need volunteers that are committed. Many of the orphans have been abandoned and therefore have a hard time trusting adults. We need people that will come and stay. Also pray for me and Christian. Josh, the leader of the ministry and the one that Christian and I have been working with at the orphanage is having to work on Saturday and so it's just me and Christian and the kids on Saturday and I'm a little worried about the language barrier. I want to do a craft with them, but I just don't see how it's gonna work. I'm gonna go prepared to do one and just see how it goes. I know that being there and playing with them is enough because sometimes that's all we end up doing, but I'd also like to teach them a little more about Jesus if I can.