Today was my last day on the antibiotic for the kidney infection. I've been feeling better, too, so I'm hoping it is cleared up now. Today we had a very relaxing family day. We were tired out from being in Seoul on Friday and Saturday. It was not exactly a pleasure trip, however - let me explain...
We met a friendly elderly couple last November and they invited us to spend Christmas with them (pictures in Dec '08 posts). At that time they shared with us a few things they were concerned about with their teaching contracts. They had taught in Korea twice before and had had wonderful experiences. This time was completely different however, and things they shared with us made us quite concerned for them. There appeared to be some illegal activity involved on the part of the school & hiring agents. By January, it was becoming very apparent, and the couple approached the agents about it. By February, the school forced them out of their apartment by shutting off utilities.
They had nowhere to go and very little money since they'd not gotten their full pay from the school , so they contacted us and asked if they could stay with us until they could go home to New Zealand. God provided and somehow expanded our small 375 s.f. house to accomodate all 7 of us. Since they had no money for return airfare, they tried finding a job to earn the money. After much searching, we finally found one for them through a different agent. They were initially hired, but the employment lasted only 1 week, due to extenuating circumstances beyond their control. They came back to us and stayed until we could get their visa and return tickets home.
That is why I was in Seoul with them and the kids. We went to the Embassy on Friday for the visa and then spent the night and saw them off at the airport on Saturday morning. All in all it was a good experience. We very much enjoyed the time that Dave & Laurette were with us - they were like live-in grandparents. We had several friends praying for us and for things to work out for them. It has been a huge lesson in learning complete trust and faith in God's provision in every area of our life. That is why when we came across this song on the playlist, the words struck deep and were very meaningful to us..."God will make a way where there is no way."
So, I want to apologize to those of you whom I've not replied back to emails and such lately. I haven't done much communicating with friends the past month. I hope to slowly get to each of your emails and reply back soon, so please don't erase me from your contacts yet!!!
We met a friendly elderly couple last November and they invited us to spend Christmas with them (pictures in Dec '08 posts). At that time they shared with us a few things they were concerned about with their teaching contracts. They had taught in Korea twice before and had had wonderful experiences. This time was completely different however, and things they shared with us made us quite concerned for them. There appeared to be some illegal activity involved on the part of the school & hiring agents. By January, it was becoming very apparent, and the couple approached the agents about it. By February, the school forced them out of their apartment by shutting off utilities.
They had nowhere to go and very little money since they'd not gotten their full pay from the school , so they contacted us and asked if they could stay with us until they could go home to New Zealand. God provided and somehow expanded our small 375 s.f. house to accomodate all 7 of us. Since they had no money for return airfare, they tried finding a job to earn the money. After much searching, we finally found one for them through a different agent. They were initially hired, but the employment lasted only 1 week, due to extenuating circumstances beyond their control. They came back to us and stayed until we could get their visa and return tickets home.
That is why I was in Seoul with them and the kids. We went to the Embassy on Friday for the visa and then spent the night and saw them off at the airport on Saturday morning. All in all it was a good experience. We very much enjoyed the time that Dave & Laurette were with us - they were like live-in grandparents. We had several friends praying for us and for things to work out for them. It has been a huge lesson in learning complete trust and faith in God's provision in every area of our life. That is why when we came across this song on the playlist, the words struck deep and were very meaningful to us..."God will make a way where there is no way."
So, I want to apologize to those of you whom I've not replied back to emails and such lately. I haven't done much communicating with friends the past month. I hope to slowly get to each of your emails and reply back soon, so please don't erase me from your contacts yet!!!
2 comments:
I just caught up reading the past few days. I'm so glad that you are feeling better. I'm glad the move went well and uneventful. I'm sure John will eventually warm up to the 13th floor. Tell him at least it's not the 20th! :) The flowers are interesting...
Here's to making the new apartment home and a new chapter in the journal called Wonju.
PS I love the Music!!!
I'm thankful to see that you have a little more room in your new home and to hear that the new job is going well for John so far. We're thankful that the 3-4 inches of snow we had here on Sunday morning was just winter's last little hurrah! Sam enjoyed making one last little snowman! The last little bit melted today! Love, the Baers
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