An Unlikely Opportunity

This post is going to make some people a little uncomfortable, but I hope you get something out of it in spite of that.

On Friday night a friend of mine invited me out to bar hop with one of his coworkers. At first I declined saying that I needed to be careful with money and wanted to steer clear of temptation. But not long after hanging up the phone, I just gave into the fact that it was a Friday night and I didn't have anywhere to be the next morning. So I called him back and agreed to go. While I was getting ready to leave I made the decision before hand that I would be cautious and ever mindful of what I was drinking and how much I was drinking. I wanted set up mental boundaries that quite often work for me when faced with a difficult situation that I am aware of before hand.

We went to one place and it was relatively empty, but the music was good, then we went to a second place that had the reputation of being very foreigner friendly so we sat down ordered some drinks and just chatted and ate peanuts. It was rather warm in there which is usual because Koreans hate to be cold, so if it is even slightly cool outside it will usually be warm inside. I had a shirt on that was racer back, which means the shoulders are bare, and a sweater. I shed the sweater and was more comfortable, but we still moved our group over to a table near a window. As I sat there talking to my friends the guy at the table next to me leaned over and asked if the tattoo on my right shoulder was a Bible verse. I confirmed that it was and quoted it for him when he asked what it read. For the next 20 minutes this man, whom I assume was an American in his late 20's early 30's, tried his best to convince me that Christianity is just brain washing and that God is evil, and that he can't possibly love people when there is so much suffering in the world. He asked me so many questions about why I believe what I believe and I did my best to answer. He asked me if God loved people why there were so many people starving. The only answer I could think to give him was because of me. He looked at me very puzzled so I proceeded to elaborate upon my statement. I told him that I was the reason people are starving. Because if I loved them, I would feed them. His response was a mere roll of the eyes. He then asked me about the Crusades and the Catholic Church's recent outbreak of child molestation cases. I tried to explain that these things break the heart of God and that even though it may seem like they are in the name of God, that he despises it and will bring justice. He told me that the only reason I am a Christian was because of where I was raised, had I been born in the Middle East I would be Muslim. I told him he was probably right and that I was exceedingly grateful for that fact. He asked me to explain cancer to which I couldn't give a reason, but that with all of my being I believe and speak and live the truth that God is love. I told him that I do screw up and that my mistakes have negative consequences on many more people besides myself. And that being a Christian doesn't mean I claim to understand the reasons behind everything God does and allows. I wish I could say that the conversation ended with him understanding Jesus better. But I think this conversation taught me so much more than it taught him.

After reflecting on the conversation of that night I have realized that there is unparalleled value to the education I received from a biblically-centered college. During my years at TFC I learned not only the truths about God's Word, but an effective manner in which to present those truths. I was put into positions in my classes that taught me to think about my answers to questions like, "If God is love, why is there suffering?" or "Where is the proof that God exists?". I even participated in a panel that put 3 believers against 3 people pretending to be unbelievers in a mock philosophical debate. I am eternally grateful for the experiences and understandings I gleaned from my classes, relationships and studies at Toccoa Falls College. I also realized after some pondering that had I drank, "one too many" I would have been completely ineffective for Christ, and perhaps worsened this man's view of Christianity, if that was even possible. Instead, I cautiously choose to accept the invitation, and strictly monitored my alcohol intake and because of this I was able to have this difficult conversation with a clear mind.

Please don't take this experience to mean that I am now an avid promoter of bar evangelization, but do understand that I am an avid promoter of moderation and thoughtful behavior. I am thankful for the unexpected conversation that was had because I chose to go out with the contingency of sobriety. I look forward to more opportunities the Lord gives me to speak His truth to a lost world.

Please pray for Casey that the Word of God would not return void, but that a seed would be planted in His mind. I could tell he had been burned by Christians before and was frustrated. Pray that the Spirit would move powerfully in this man's heart and that he would have no other explanation than Jesus.

A Lesson on the Lord

I'm so excited to blog about this... Every Tuesday and Thursday evenings for about an hour I tutor one of my coworkers in English. She is the same co worker that the Lord allowed me to speak to a little about my relationship with Him a couple weeks ago. I had been reading my Bible in Isaiah while waiting for her to get off the phone with a parent. She finished her conversation and told me she would be back in a minute. When she returned she laid down the textbook we had been using in our lessons, took a seat and said to me, "before we start, I'd like to listen to you tell me about your relationship with God." I was floored. A huge smile appeared on my face and I was so overcome with excitement I didn't even know where to begin. I quickly composed myself and told her my testimony. Then I told her about how the Lord brought me to Korea and how certain I am that I am supposed to be here. She listened so intently. I showed her the Scripture the Lord gave me regarding Korea and explained what it meant to me. I then told her about a Skype Bible Study I do with my sister and friend on Thursday mornings and showed her 1 John and told her a little about what we had been talking about in our study and why it is important to study the Bible. She was so interested so I continued and told her about how I can't imagine my life without Jesus, and the hope and joy I have because of His sacrifice and love. I told her that I want to share Him with other people and explain to them that we are all sinners and that Christ was perfect and that He died for our sins, but then he rose from the dead and is alive. And that when we believe in Him we become Christians and are able to have a relationship with God. We covered so much in our conversation. We talked about love and I showed her 1 Corinthians 13, and we talked about Jesus's teachings and we looked at the Sermon on the Mount. Then I asked her some questions about where she was in her life. And she told me some stories about going to church a little as a child, and how she's met people who live for Jesus, and that she wants to be that way. She said she does have a Bible, but isn't consistent in reading it, and I just encouraged her to pray that God would give her the desire to. Sometime later I looked at the clock and we had been talking for the entire hour. It was so awesome. As we were packing up I told her that I would be praying for her, and she seemed so appreciative of that. Then she said to me, "when I look in your eyes, I see God." I nearly burst into tears. I couldn't believe that the sin that had been plaguing me for so long was now over and that when someone saw me, they saw Jesus. I felt so humbled in that moment. I was so thankful the Lord would use me. Beautiful is the only word I know to describe our conversation. She is searching and I see the Spirit stirring in her. I'm excited for more conversations and I told her that I am very open to questions and conversations.

Her name is Anny (pronounced Annie) she is 29 years old and single. She very soft spoken and calm. I can tell she really wants the Lord. Pray that she would be consistent in her pursuit of Truth and that the Lord would use any means necessary to capture her heart.

Kids are kids

I've been able to go to Seoul every weekend since I've been here. Every Saturday I visit Myeong Jin which is the orphanage I volunteer at. This past weekend we were dying Easter eggs and the kids were decorating them. During the fun one of the youngest boys, Tae Han started pitching a fit. After a little observation I realized he was upset because someone had the crayon he wanted to use. I laughed a little and said to a friend, I love that kids are kids no matter where you go. Any 4 year old would have a tantrum if they wanted something and couldn't have it immediately. I think this is one reason I love working with children. While the language may be different, the behaviors are roughly the same.


I want to also tell you a little about my school in this post. For the most part things are very similar to my experience teaching last year. One thing that is different though is that I have a couple classes that last 50 minutes but most of them last 25. Which means I have a lot of classes to teach in one day. I don't mind it because it makes the day go by quicker, but it's slightly frustating because I feel like I don't have enough time to really concentrate on the lesson and I've been struggling to learn all of the kids names. But it works out somehow.

Slightly ammusing stories... they aren't quite funny status.

I've always known my handwriting isn't the greatest, but to the average native English speaker there is no trouble reading it. However, when I write in a thick tipped marker on the white board and there are students learning to read English, there is all kinds of confusion. I wrote the number 50 on the board and my students were confused asking me, "Teacher, what is so?" I was like, "huh?" Then I realized my 5 was actually an S. Also, my "h" looks more like an "n" and one poor girl didn't even recognize my "r". I took a handwriting class in college when I was an Early Childhood Education Major, but evidently it didn't stick. One other bit of confusion happened when I was explaining emoticons. I was asking the students if they text messaged, all of them of course do. Then I asked them if they ever used the smiley faces, and again, yes. I then drew a smiley on the board and told them this was an emoticon when used in texting, or on the computer. I wanted to give them examples of other emoticons and so I drew what I thought was an angry face. Almost immediately one of the boys shouted, "Handicapped!" I lost it, I didn't know why he thought my drawing looked handicapped, but the other students joined in and said "yes, handicapped." After I composed my self, I tried to explain to them it was an angry face, but they wouldn't have it. I think they were encouraging me to stick to teaching, because drawing is not my strong suit.

Anyway, please pray that I would keep studying Korean consistantly and diligently. I bought a beginner's textbook and workbook, and so I'm trying to learn on my own, with help from my co-teachers when needed.

Who's Getting the Glory?

So, I've been here a week and a couple days. It's Friday and I'm excited about the weekend. I've been reading a Psalm and a chapter in Isaiah every morning and I've also been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I've been longing to go deeper with the Lord and really make my time with Him intimate. As I've been reading Crazy Love I've been convicted about many things including, who gets the glory? This morning I listened to my preacher from home's sermon from last Sunday. It was about being made in God's image and the theme of, glorifying God because I'm made in His image, stood out to me. On my walk to work I was listening to my ipod and joyfully singing along in my head to different songs of worship. When I arrived at work, I was in a good mood and ready to start the day. I had a brief conversation with the woman that works at the front desk, but who is also a teacher. Her name is Susan, she is Korean and married to the director of the school. She's very sweet and asked me if I had plans to go to Seoul this weekend. I smiled and told her yes, that I am going to the orphanage and to church. She said, "Oh, you are such a good person." I casually said, "Aww, thank you," and walked into the teachers room to begin preparing for class. After a minute it struck me. I had just robbed God of His glory. It seemed so easy to take credit for the "good works" I do, but it's not me that should be recognized for them. Isn't my whole purpose to be pointing people to the Savior? Shouldn't I be focusing all of the attention on Him? It broke my heart when I realized this because I had been praying earlier this week for opportunities to minister and have conversations about Him. And like He always does, He gave me just the opportunity I was looking for, and not only did I not seize the chance to dote on Him, but I actually accepted the praise that was rightfully His.

I am remorseful that I acted selfishly. I am thankful that the Lord uses my failures to teach me. I am grateful that He will give me other opportunities.

I hope this updated spurs you to think about ways you could be glorifying Him instead of keeping the focus on your self. We are nothing apart from God and we should be demonstrating, in actions and words, that He is the only one that is good, and that the good others see in us is because of His great love for us.


Pray that I would be more focused on glorifying Him and that He would grant me more occasions to share Him with others.

Also, I'm in a wedding in June and am taking my summer vacation time then, I will only get 2 paychecks between now and then. Pray that I will be able to save money so I can book a flight. It gets expensive going to back and forth to Seoul every weekend, but I know I'm called to this ministry. I need to limit the unnecessary expenses. I really struggle in this area, but know that with God all things are possible.

Sorry there are no funny stories in this one, but this is my heart this week.

UPDATE::

Ok so today after work I needed to get some things from the store, so in order to familiarize myself with the area better I opted to walk. First I walked around the block that my school is on. After I was all the way around, I ran into one of my co-teachers as she was walking to the subway. I started walking with her and we chatted about life and experiences and just general stuff, well then we started talking a little deeper about relationships and things of that nature. As we're talking there is a PERFECT "set up" for me to talk about the Lord and my relationship with Him. At first I hesitated, but then I was like, "Kristin, what the heck are you doing? You asked not 5 hours ago for a chance to talk about the Lord and here it is." I'm certain that was the Holy Spirit. So I told her about how I'm a Christian, which she already knew, but also that I couldn't survive this life without God, she really seemed to get me. I continued talking, and she just listened. Shortly after that we had to part ways, but the joy I felt and the overwhelming love actually brought me to tears right there on the sidewalk as she walked one direction and I walked another. I prayed that the Lord would plant a seed and that we would have more conversations about Him. Seriously guys, He is good and incredibly worthy of all the glory.

4/1 This theme of Glory keeps coming up in my life. During my Skype Bible study with my sister and friend it came up when we were talking about 1 John and Matthew 5:16. Then again today as I was reading Francis Chan's newest book "Forgotten God". I guess I know what to be praying about.

Round Two

Greetings from Korea! I'm finally here! It feels as the same as when I left. Granted I've only been gone 8 months, but a lot can change in a short time.

I arrived in Korea at 5am local time and then had to wait until 6am to take the first bus from the airport to my new city, Daejeon. While I was waiting for the bus I met a girl named Brenna. While we chatted I learned she is from New Orleans and is also going to be teaching in Daejeon. This is her first time teaching and I was excited to give her a few pointers. We had a good conversation for the first hour on the bus, but the last two were spent napping. After arriving in my new home I met my director, Mr. Lee, and he took me to my apartment. I'm once again on the third floor and the building seems very similar to my last apartment. My new home is smaller than my last, but still bigger than I expected. I have more appliances than I did at my last place which is nice. I'm most excited about the air conditioner. It was a hot summer last year without one, and I'm thankful for this electronic blessing.

It's colder than expected and it was fun that my first day back it snowed. I spent most of Wednesday unpacking and sleeping. I hung out with a friend from college, that is also teaching in this city, for dinner, and he showed me around the area a little; then I went to bed. This morning I woke up and went to the store for some food and other essentials. I went to school at 1pm and met my co-teachers and observed some of my classes. Today was a light day so I finished around 6:30 and headed home for some Korean dinner.

I'm headed to Seoul this weekend for church and to visit with some friends and to go back to the orphanage I love so dearly. Every time I think about it I get so giddy as if I'm seeing a friend I haven't seen in a while. I can actually feel the excitement welling up.

Don't really have any funny stories yet, but I'm sure there will be some in the near future.

Pray that I get acquainted with my surroundings quickly and that I will settle in well with my students and school.

Quotes from the Kids

So I was trying to think of something funny to blog about and this is what I came up with. We have a quote board at work where different teachers right down funny things that the kids say. Sometimes I feel bad, but sometimes it's so funny, and when learning a new language we all mess up and it's funny. They laugh at my Korean all the time. So read and enjoy...

The students learned the proper responses to different things that happen. One of the things they learned was sneezing. The teacher gives the prompt and the student is supposed to say the correct response.

"Achoo" - Erik Teacher
"That's ok" - Kevin

"What is 11 + 12?" - Teacher
"Twelben" - Rachel

"I eat hermit crap." - Ace

We had pepero day and I gave all the students these chocolate covered bread stick things. Well one boy licked all of the chocolate off of his and proudly announced...

"Teacher, my pepero is nude!" - DJ


I was asking my students to name the parts of a bug's body. I was trying to get them to say thorax and told them it was the middle part of the body. They pulled out their electronic dictionaries and began yelling the words they read...

"Breast!"
"Boob!"
"Chest!"


"Santa's not coming this year." - Joy
"Why not?" - Erik Teacher
"Because oil is too expensive." - Joy


"How long have you been bad tempered?" - Erik Teacher
"Since you arrived." - Jane

"Are you cute" - Teacher
"No, I'm beautiful" - Holly

"Teacher, I want to change my name." - Sarah
"To what?" - Kristin
"Bling-bling" - Sarah

"Jun-Young, we voted, you have to bring all the snacks for the snack party." - Harry

"What are two things we get from trees?" - Kristin
"Christmas and Mother's Day" - Jason

"Hey guys, what did you get from your girlfriends for Valentine's Day?" - Kristin
"Jun-Young can't get a girlfriend." - Harry
"Oh, why not?" - Kristin
"Because of his face." - Harry
"You're not very nice." - Kristin
"I am being kind, because I made him aware." - Harry

Promotion, Prospect, and Purple Fingers

I guess it's been a while since I've blogged. Two months in fact. My sincerest apologies to my adoring fans. Ha. I will start where I last left off. I was able to go to the States for a week long visit and it was marvelous. I saw my family, met my nephew and my best friend came down from PA to see me. I felt like I hadn't missed a beat, I owe a lot of that to modern technology. Without facebook and skype things would be drastically different. It was a very refreshing trip packed full of catching up and gearing up for the last leg of my Korean adventure.
When I got back to Korea I was rather quickly thrust into my new position as head teacher. A role that I was nervous and excited about taking on. I've never really thought of myself as a leader, but I saw it as an opportunity to be stretched, and it has proved to be just that. My first day back to work my best friend e-mailed me with the most beautiful and heart warming letter of affection. I was completly caught off guard but clearly see the work of Christ in our lives and in our relationship. It is truly incredible when things are done in His way and in His timing. I feel as if blessed isn't a strong enough word to express the favor the Lord has shown to me in the past few months and even year. And although long-distance is hard and at times frustrating, I trust the Lord to cultivate this relationship into one that is pleasing to Him.
Many people have asked me what is next for me. I've never been one to make plans, I just kinda go with the flow. Initially I was going to stay another year in Korea, but in light of the recent developments in my relationship with Jud, I've decided to reconsider, and do my best to factor him into my plans. I'm currently looking for a job in the Pittsburgh area in order to be closer to Jud and try my hand at the Northeast, pray for me, cause I feel an adjustment coming for this Southern girl. I've also had spurts of fear about not being able to find a job, but then I remember that He will provide. So I'm doing my part, and waiting to see what the Lord will surprise me with next.
Here is a funny story to end with. Yesterday I was sitting at my desk making some samples for an English Village we are going to have at school. It will include a bank, police station, store, and library. The kids will go to the different places and participate in different activites. Well one teacher thought it would be a good idea to do fingerprinting at the police station. So I was gonna make a sample to show in a meeting. I found an ink pad on a shelf in the teacher's room and decided just to use it. I got a scratch piece of paper and fingerprinted my fingers, then I went to the bathroom to wash it off. I expected it to rinse off easily however I was sadly mistaken. I scrubbed and scrubbed and to my dismay every one of the fingers on my right had was stained purple. All I could do was laugh and be thankful that I was done teaching for the day. So the moral of the story is, don't use ink you find on a shelf to fingerprint yourself. :-)


I teach a class of first graders and they speak little to no English. We usually have fun, but sometimes kids disagree for silly reasons. Well not being able to understand what the problem is makes it difficult to resolve and so as I was helping some girls with their assignment two boys were having a fist fight behind me. I turned around and they are just wailing on each other. I had already warned them twice about not hitting and staying seated, so I promptly grabbed their hands and marched them to the front desk. While we were standing there and the two boys were explaining to the "desk teacher" a.k.a. secretary what the argument was about the bell rang. So she scolded them and sent them home. Later I asked her what the problem was and she told me that Tredjor had put the tip of his umbrella on Peter's shoe. Peter got mad and hit Tredjor in the chest. Then Tredjor explained that the umbrella on the shoe could not have killed Peter, but Peter's punch in the chest could have killed him, so he hit him back. Then he proceeded to use the analogy of a cartoon he had seen to better explain the situation. We both kind of laughed about it, but I was a little concerned. I know kids fight, and I've seen it before, but this was serious. After some thought I came to conclusion they learn this from their fathers. I have seen grown men in suits fighting on the subway. It makes me sad that children are taught from such a young age that this behavior is acceptable or appropriate for dealing with conflict. Pray that the little ones will have a better example of how to resolve problems.