I never meant to be away from the blog for so long. I went back to the US over Christmas and was able to spend time with many of you in fellowship, rejoicing the birth of Christ, but even now Easter has come and passed. Winter is always a difficult season for me, this year was no exception to that trend. I am quite thankful that Spring has officially arrived in Korea.

This morning I was able to join a small grouping from my church here in Seoul, to visit Yanghwajin, which is the area in Seoul where foreigners who passed while living in Korea were buried, specifically missionaries and their families. It is an amazing experience to hear the largey  unknown stories of some of the first missionaries allowed into Korea, and how they tackled spreading the Gospel by first meeting the needs of the nation. Did you know that the bible was being translated into the Korean language, in both Japan and Manchuria, before the first protestant missionaries came to the peninsula? The Korean language bible actually opened the Korean language to become the common written and read language of the people.  I specifically said protestant missionaries, because the Roman Catholic church had sent missionaries prior to the protestant churh. Many of the Catholic missionaries and Koreans who began to confess Christ, lived under severe persecution at the hand of the Korean king. The hill known as their place of execution, Jeoldusan, is practically next door to Yanghwajin and has been converted into a memorial by the church. It was an amazing experience, that I would recommend to anyone visiting the city.

For me personally, I left feeling a great sense of unity with the laborers the Lord sent here over a century ago. It has been a struggle, since I arrived, to see the transient nature of a majority of foreigners here in Korea. Moving to Korea is not a result of a whim or wanderlust. I did not arrive with the plan to teach for a year or two and then travel back to the states. I have no plans to leave unless the Lord should call me to go elsewhere. So for everyone I met to assume that I was planning my exist, though I had just arrived, was hurtful. But for almost everyone, that is the truth attached to their time here, they came knowing they did not want to put down roots. That mindset and transient nature changes what biblical community looks like. There is a hesitancy to grow deeply with others that has permeated most of the English speaking churches. It is not rooted in being mean-spirited, but it is odd and uncomfortable to be in a community of believers where a majority of people don't talk to each other, and it is a struggle for those of us that are used to a close and family like intimacy in the church among it's members. So pray for me as I, with my strong introverted nature, continue to fight against this trend at the church the Lord called me too. I long to know those the Lord has placed in this body, and I pray for both conviction and strength to trust and openly share who I am with them in return.

In honor of springtime arriving in Seoul, here are some pics:

Cherry Blossoms at Seokchon Lake

Cherry Blossoms in detail

Lotte World Tower 

One of the surviving original Korean Bibles.

This last one is more of a personal celebratory pic! Spring means being able to return to playing outside. I think being able to play freely outside is one of the most restorative practices for the students in my class.