The Interim and The Story

Hey All!

I'm currently sitting in a coffeeshop. Not all that surprising, I know, but the location is different than my normal Brookings locale. I'm in Indianola, IA, staying with my parents until my paperwork for my teaching visa to South Korea comes through. I'm waiting for my visa number to come back from my employer in Korea so that I can go to Chicago to interview in person at the Korean Consulate to confirm the visa. Yes, this is a wonderful hoop-jumping process but I also realize that the process protects all parties involved.

I'm thankful for the interim to get some rest but I'm also kind of restless. The time has also allowed for some processing. I have had several people ask me in the last week how exactly I landed on teaching English for a year in South Korea. Its a interesting story as I think about it.

I think it started the summer of 2007 as I returned from the Philippines. Sitting in the airport in Incheon while changing planes, I remember saying to myself that I would like come to Korea sometime and see more than just the airport.

I can't remember when it was. Either that fall or the fall of 2008, I heard a message on God's heart for the nations. I had been to another nation in the Name of Jesus but starting that night God became moving my heart to go among the nation and began defeating my prideful ethnocentrism.

Fast forward to the summer of 2009. I was beginning to pray in earnest for God to point me in the direction He wanted me to go following graduation from grad school in May. Deep in my Spirit I could sense God leading overseas, but financially and logically it didn't make much sense to go. I should wait until I had worked a few years in the states first.

The nagging call kept pushing on my heart as I was working on my thesis. My research proved how important my passion for physical activity and wellness were but there was not peace in my heart about applying for physical education positions after graduation.

Then in October, during a campus-wide human trafficking awareness week, the Holy Spirit moved and revealed a plan to send me overseas, specifically to South Korea. Some of the most intense and heavy human trafficking takes place in Asia. As I was falling asleep Wednesday night, wrapped up in the covers, I could hear cries, and I knew God was opening my eyes to what victims of human trafficking fell asleep to: cold, no comfort, only tears.

I was devastated. I cried and I begged God to show me what He wanted me to do. How could I do nothing while I knew so many were enslaved? There had to be a next step to training in being a warrior for the Gospel and seeing people of the earth redeemed and set free. The next night He unveiled His plan.

I was explaining to a friend what I had been experiencing during the week. He looked me straight in the eyes and asked me, "So what are you going to do about it?" I paused and then the Spirit revealed to me as I spoke to my two friends there: I wanted to go to South Korea to teach english for a year. To be immersed in an Asian culture, as training for whatever God had for me after that. (South Korea came up for a couple reasons: It was a place where I had a friend already so I knew how the system kind of worked, and it was a place where I knew my experience would be sheltered by the Body of Christ as S. Korea has a great church presence and many with English speaking services and congregations.)

I was convinced this was the next step, yet in late December I began wondering as my physical health started a deep decline. While the muscular dystrophy that ran in my family, had weakened my muscles and left me sore and fatigued most days, what happened was beyond the realm of that disease. It started with swelling in my knees and ankles. I went to put on some dress boots for a friend's grandfather's funeral right after Christmas and it was almost impossible to get them zipped up. Then the pain came. First in one knee, then both knees, then both knees and an ankle then both knees and both ankles. Even a wrist and elbow began to have some pain. I couldn't fully bend or extend either leg. I could only wear flat shoes because of pain and balance. I was having to wake up 30 minutes early to try to ice my knees and ankles and because it was just taking me that much longer to move to ready myself in the morning. Some mornings I would try to stand getting out of bed only to fall back losing balance, and every morning facing sharp pain just standing.

I doubted that Korea was a good choice anymore. There was no way I could teach standing for hours a day in a high pressure culture, feeling like I did. I woke the morning that I was to complete my final draft of my thesis to sumbit to my committee. I could barely move. It was the worst day of pain yet. I was tired of the excessive amounts of ibprophen I was taking to try to soothe the pain, but I had to take more to get moving to finish the paper. I managed to get to Cottonwood and start in on edits. Karissa came in and noticed the strain on my face. We talked and she told me about Dr. Allard who practices alternative medicine. At that point I was willing to try anything that didn't involve prescription pain killers (I don't react well to them).

After a few days of contemplation, I called to make an appointment. Karissa came too and we drove down together. I'll admit it was a little strange but after two appointments, I was no longer taking any more than 2 ibprophen a day. I knew I had the green light to move forward with Korea even with some residual pain.

So God continued to prepare my heart as I began getting in contact with recruiting agencies and working on gathering all the necessasry paperwork. Into the summer, the one agency I worked with had plenty of jobs, but after applying for each one, I would hear nothing until I contacted them again to apply for a different job. So I contacted the man in the states that recruited teachers for the school that my had worked for. After an inital interview, he said he would like to work with me but he did not currently have any openings.

Doubt tried crushing me. I wondered how long I was supposed to keep pursuing Korea before moving on to finding a job in the US. At the beginning of July, David contacted me again saying a position had come open unexpectedly. I interviewed, was offered and accepted a job at the Yeong Kang Academy.

So this is where I am now. Waiting for visa paperwork to be processed. Even this step has been a longer waiting process than I anticipated but for what has transpired, I know and am convinced that His timing is perfect and I can trust Him for all things. I am preparing for a year of work but also a year of training. To God be the glory! May His kingdom reign in Me!