We made it to the University of the Nations, Jeju, South Korea campus.
Packed and ready to go! As a declaration that we are going as a family and that God has called Olive and Valor for this season in South Korea and has great plans for them in the Nations, both of them got to pick out their own suitcases for the trip! They were so excited!
Grandpa dropped us off leaving the house at 3 am for a 6 am flight!
We had 4 flights, two hour car rides and a bus ride to arrive at our final destination of Jeju island, South Korea. The total travel time was 30 hours! That is definitely our families longest trip. The kids were so tired when we finally arrived!
We had a great week of family time learning about South Korea culture.
In South Korea, it is very common for people to sleep on the floor with sleeping mats that fold up during the day, to save space as houses are smaller. Our family gets the joy to experience it for these three months! The kids actually have a bedroom in a loft area upstairs. Valor likes making a chair during the day.
Jet lag was hard in the beginning and we were adjusting to all sleeping in the same room on the floor in a new place! One of the first nights, we were all awake at 3 am. One of the kids went to the bathroom and we realized there was a light sensor triggered every time someone went to the bathroom and it woke the whole family up! We all got in Mommy's and Daddy's bed and tried to go to the bathroom without triggering the light sensor. Daddy was always too tall and triggered the light! It was a very fun night as a family. Daddy fixed the trigger so we can go to the bathroom without waking everyone else up at night!
There is a beach about an hour walk from the YWAM base and we were able to walk there multiple times the first week! It is beautiful! The beach is called Hamdoek Beach.
(I had to protect my hair as Dan groomed the top and it looks so nice!)
We also have been learning about South Korean food and how to eat with chopsticks! It has been a fun experience with many culture misunderstands, like when Mommy put the whole egg into my soup instead of cracking it first! Oops. These cultural misunderstands happen and to be expected as we travel and learn about other people's ways of life. it is part of a missionaries life. Also at Korean restaurants the silverware are in a secret drawer on the side of the table! Olive is doing great with food as there is not a lot of gluten.
On another family day before the all the team arrived, we were able to hike a famous mountain on the island called Seongsan Hchulbong. It was a beautiful view of the island of Jeju. And the kids did great! It was a lot of stairs to the top.
Afterwards, we got hamburgers, french fries and ice cream!
Dan and I, also had the opportunity to go out for our 16th wedding anniversary!
We love reading Grandmas weekly letters and Valor has learned about Korean fruits from natives! This one is a Korean melon.
As a family, we have been playing many games at night before bedtime. It has been very fun. And of course the kids like snacks at night.
And wow has God answered prayers in the area of friendships! Olive and Valor have made friends from all over the world. Friends from South Korea, Indonesia, Tawian, Japan, Hong Kong, and Argentina.
Lucy and Chloe are two of Olive's good friends. They learned a South Korean board game.
Lastly, as Mommy and Daddy are interpreting classes and doing homework, our kids have been part of an amazing children program! The teachers have invested and taught Kingdom principles to the kids. Almost everyday, they come running to us at lunch or free time sharing what they are learning. A few days they have shared in tears as God has been moving in their hearts. They have learned about how God designed each one of them through a program called Design by Design, talked about being a "Third Culture Kid" and sharing times where God spoke to them through times of prayer for other nations! We just had a classroom Museum after 3 weeks and here are some of the activities they have done! We are so thankful for the children program and the teachers they have!
Syra is from Argentina and Wendy is from Gabon.
Destiny by Design: This was actually Olive's example on the board! This is an activity where they discover more about how God made them. For soulprint, Olive has an upward, big picture, heart and spontaneous personality! Valor was almost opposite, he is inward, detailed, heart and planned personality! This was just one of the activities they learned about!
They have an hour center time everyday to meet with Jesus! They can paint, read the Bible, listen to the Bible, pray for others etc. When we learned that Dan's Uncle Tim passed away, Valor drew a picture of Great Uncle Tim and asked the whole class to pray for his Grandpa who was close to him.
Intercession for the Nations: Valor was so excited to share that he got a picture of a plane (with the red tail) and drew it on the paper for Brazil, sharing he felt many missionaries will fly to other nations from Brazil and many others nations will fly to Brazil. Olive got the idea to get plants for the Philippines saying the country will grow back like plants from a earthquake where many building came down.
They each got to share their countries: Olive decided to do the Deaf Nation and Jamaica. Valor did his presentation on United States of America and drew a hamburger.
Thank you so much for your continual prayers for our family in South Korea!
