Leaving the United States

Why I am going to Korea
Tomorrow (or today) night, I will be heading off to Korea for a year to teach English through the US Fbright program. Fbright is a government sponsored grant to go abroad to learn about a foreign country and educate the world about American culture. I will be teaching English in Korea for a year to high school students in a yet to be determined location.

The program is divided into 2 parts: (1) a 6 week training program on the Korean language and teaching English, and (2) the 10 month teaching assignment.

Fulbright is the context I am going in, but really, I'm hoping to connect with God and get tighter with Him while I am there. I was commissioned as a missionary for a year by my church, 21st Century Baptist.

What I Am Leaving Behind
Awaken Ministry. I will miss my high school ministry dearly... teaching and learning from them. Family. Dad, mom, Joe, Peter, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Friends. Too many to list, and sorry that I didn't say my final "see you laters" to a lot of you. I'm glad I got to spend time with the few I got to meet.

Expectations
I'm trying to be as open minded about the whole experience as possible. 2 factors will really impact how it goes: My host family, and the city I live in. I am really hoping for a laid back host family that doesn't expect to spend too much time with me. I also hope that I will be in a rural setting, far enough for the business of the Korean city life. Ideally, I'll be near a train station so that I can access Seoul for weekend trips. I have a feeling that high school students in the Country side would be much more kind and teachable... maybe not?

Travel: I definitely would like to visit Beijing, Hong Kong, Japan, and perhaps SE Asia or India. I will have to do some weekend trips to visit the few friends I have in China and Japan. Mongolia is also a must to visit the Choi family.

Church: I want to be committed and have a good system of accountability through church, but I know that I will be gone some weekends to travel throughout Korea. It's a good opportunity to visit different ministries all there, and get a sense of what church is like in South Korea. Really hoping that I can find a strong Christian bro/sis that's on the Fulbright program... we shall see!

Language: Please please please get better at Korean. I want to be confident and tighten up all the little grammatical issues I have. Hope being an English teacher doesn't make it impossible.

Serving: North Korean Refugees. Looking forward to being blessed, and being used in what little way I can.

Prayer Requests
(1) Good church
(2) Health: my back has been bothering me...
(3) Spiritual Accountability: Finding a good godly friend
(4) School/City placement: as God leads, to have an open heart
(5) Boldness and strong faith, and LOVE for people
(6) Travel mercies from LA to Seoul to Chuncheon
(7) Roommate situation: Will live with a fellow Fulbrighter for 6 weeks, haven't lived with a roommate in quite a while.
(8) Rest.....
(9) Clarity of God's purpose for my time in Korea (and beyond), and for me to be used to advance the Kingdom
(10) AWAKEN Ministry: That God would continue to fill the members of Awaken with His Holy Spirit (during my absence), and use my replacement David Taeho Cho to bless them and teach them.

Final Verse
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

Thank you for reading. God bless you!