An-nyong haseyo? (”How are you/Are you at peace?”in Korean).
We apologize for disappearing yet again. We have been scrambling to get things done in preparation for Korea. I think I might have failed to talk about it in my last post, so I will talk about it now.
Will and I are leaving for South Korea in September, with Mennonite Church Canada Witness (MCCW). We will be working with an Anabaptist congregation called Jesus Village Church, preaching and teaching, as well as developing resources for the Korean Anabaptist Center. We will be there for 2-3 years.
In preparation, since I have more time than Will right now, I have been learning the Korean alphabet (called Hangul), coordinating church partnerships, sorting through our things (to see what to bring, what to store and what to get rid of), and together seeing family and friends, filling out forms, and going to the Mission Seminar in Manitoba last week.
From July 13-21 we were in Manitoba, first in Tolstoi for 2 nights visiting Will’s sister and family. We had a wonderful time with them; Seeing the Assiniboine Park, Rafting, and visiting the old abandoned cabin in their cow pasture. We then were on our way to the Pinawa Retreat Center for the week. During the week, we had seminars, workshops, worship and wonderful meals as we met workers from all over the world. We were able to go rafting (again!) along a beautiful river, explore the old Pinawa Dam site, and go canoeing around all the little islands along the edge of Whiteshell park. We got close to lots of deer, as they wander around the grounds seeming unaware of the people around. We made some new friends, including a couple around our age who will be going to Korea the same time as us! Everything seems to be coming together well as we prepare to go.
Poor Will has been too busy to be thinking too much about going, as he is in school full time, and still working part-time. But we will both be finished up with all our work and school by the end of August, and we will move out of our apartment in Tavistock at that time.
We plan to keep our blog updated regularly when we’re there (unlike now!), so please stay tuned if you are interested in hearing our thoughts about ministry, life, language, food, culture, travel, friends, church, challenges, worship and Anabaptism in Korea!