Hello friends and family-I know it has been quite a long time since we've posted anything but I want to assure you that it is our hope to continue our blog about our journey as missionaries in South Korea. I am determined to get postings up on a regular basis.
We do want all of you to know that we are in the process of trying to adopt (a very challenging situation living overseas) and we have a new blog up and running that we invite you to follow as well.
I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who supported us both prayerfully and financially as we traveled to and from America for the duration of Beth's dad's cancer and recent passing. We could never have been able to be with him and family without all of you.
Please keep on keeping us in your prayers!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Dear friends and loved ones: As many of you already know, our family has been serving as missionaries in South Korea at Wesley Mission School since February of 2007. It is is our privilege to serve God in this beautiful land with equally beautiful people.
For those of you who are not familiar with what we do, we work in partnership with a local Korean church in providing after-school care for the village children whose parents work. For a Christian church to provide this service in an area that is only 30 to 40% Christian is a huge outreach opportunity. Our students come not only from Christian, but also from Buddhist and traditional Confucian families. Here, they get homework help, English classes, an evening meal and get to experience the Love of Christ in a real and practical way. We also teach English phonics and Bible at a kindergarten in the mornings.
The worldwide financial crisis has hit hard here in rural Korea. Our supporting church has been wonderfully generous with us, but with rising costs, our small stipend no longer covers our basic needs . We are hoping to recruit 200 people to donate $50. In planting a tiny seed in our ministry, this faith-gift will allow us to continue in our work here for an entire year.
We are contacting to request your support in the form of a tax-deductible donation of $50.00. However, please note that any donation no matter how big or small, is always welcomed. Those who donate can receive a receipt for tax purposes if requested.
We are believing God to work through you to enable us to continue His mission.
I thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to whatever support you can provide. If you have any questions please feel free to email us at pickett77@hotmail.com
Yours in faith,
I know it's New Year's Eve here, and I should post something about how great this last year was, and how I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in '08, but this blog is really James' thing, so I will let him do that. I do, however, want to share my overflowing joy at the fact that it has been snowing for over two days now. James is a snow scrooge and if he mentions that it's snowing, he is sure not to be happy about it, so I am writing to say that Abby and I are most happy about the arrival of snow.
So just in case the previous video wasn't long enough, here is our Christmas week in Seoul, for your viewing pleasure. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a very blessed New Year.
The principal and staff of the local elementary school took me out to lunch today. I've been filling-in as their English teacher for their summer term and they wanted to say thanks. We went to a little restaurant (they're ALL little) that I had walked past several times but had never been into. It was delicious! Apart from the 12 side-dishes and the ubiquitous kimchi, we had Galbi (beef short-ribs, heavily marinated, that you cook yourself on a grill that is embedded in the table) and Naengmyun (a partially frozen noodle soup). They tasted fantastic and the soup was very refreshing on a hot summer day.
