Ending of another term

UGH.  Don't spit it out Toni!

The Korean love sign!

On a perfect day with blue sky and warm temperatures the semester has come to an end.  The class rooms are silent, grades are in and our seventh term is now history. My, how times flies!  It seems only a few weeks ago we looked out our apartment window for the first time on a snowy February morning and gazed at the Korean signs below wondering if we did the right thing coming here.

On reflection I do think I am more relaxed now then I was then.  I enjoy my students more and spend much free time with them and some of the Korean faculty.
 
When my final class ended, many of the students pulled out their cameras and smart phones and wanted pictures.  So I posed with different groups of students and enjoyed the cheeful moment.  It took several minutes to get all the pictures and then I walked out with 4 of my students.  I wound up having lunch with them since Bonnie had another lunch engagement.  That impromtu lunch was one of my happiest moments here.  I realized our small group sitting on the floor in that Kroean restaurant was from 4 different countries: China, Thailand, USA, and North Korea.  Yes, I said, North Korea.

What a great group! We took pictures, which I have not seen yet, and talked about their countries and future plans.  The North Korean was especially interesting.  She literally escaped from the North through many means I will not share with you and wound up at KNU.  She has become a Christian and is now a Christian music major. When I saw her sing recently in a concert, chills went up my spine because I know her story.  She was praising God in music!  Her mom and dad are both dead.  Her dad literally starved to death.

I wish I had time to speak of the other students I had lunch with that day, but all of them represent a bright future for the world.  I know there are terrible things going on in the world with so much hatred and prejudice, but on this day it was so awesome to be at the same table, sharing the same food and even the same language with them and knowing we all cared about each other.  I have been so blessed to see some of the real hope in the world at work because the kingdom of God is on earth being represented by such fine students.  My hope is to visit their homes someday.  North Korea may be difficult, but we can only pray and hope for a unified Korea!

We will now travel some during the summer break.  I go to Vietnam again, and Bonnie and I may go to China to visit Yellow Mountain, NanJing, and other places before she flys home to stay in the USA.  Next week we go to Singapore to visit our daughter, Julie, and hopefully be there for the birth of our new grandson.

Saying goodbye is never easy!  North Korea and Chinese
in fellowship.  "Peace on earth and goodwill toward
humankind"  Jesus makes this work!!

God is good.  We have seen and experienced much more than I have ever dreamed.  The future is a mystery, but we can trust in the One who brought us to Korea.  For now, we enjoy the silence of the dorm and the campus as most of the students have gone to their homes.   We live in peace knowing God is at work in each of us.