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Family Archives
What happened before?
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My Childhood in Thailand (Paul)
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I went to Thailand in 1976 with my parents and brother. It was a happy childhood, with lots of bananas and sun. While my parents had to learn the language and labor for the gospel, I enjoyed friendships and a more pleasant academic environment than what I was used to in the 1st semester of grade 1 in Korea. At least, no teacher tried to apply corporal punishment!
One of the things I remember is the year-around summer temperature, where we could swim any day of the year. I also remember the lizards and how some of my friends used to catch them for snacks. There were all kinds of kids in Bangkok, so I had a friendly introduction to various cultures, including kids from Russia. Being one of only 500 Koreans back then, and as the family of the only Korean pastor, we had a chance to meet celebrities like musicians, the national soccer team or a team of climbers on their way back to Korea after conquering Everest. The ambassador was also a frequent guest at various functions.
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I learned to swim by diving into the deep end of the pool. I was alone while my parents were busy visiting people. Thank God I didn't try to breathe water, and there were no social services! I'm teaching my son the same way.
WE GOT OFF TO A GREAT TRAINING START for missions (2/22/2005). Paul and Sarah successfully went through the checklist of about 40+ items, in preparation for training in Malaysia, and to relocate to Thailand. We successfully completed our training in Malaysia, even though we feel that we've just begun. We had an intense cross-cultural experience, as we had one room in a three-room condo that we shared with two other units (usually another family and one or two singles). We had to live together like one family, cooking and budgetting together, and even doing group assignments together. The children also played together but not without having to learn the painful differences between Korean and American ways. For instance, Lydia learned that older Korean boys expect younger girls to submit; she had not learned that in Southern California.
Sarah also realzed that she is much more Americanized than we had thought. Paul went in expecting huge cultural issues, but the fellow trainees seemed to give him a break for being an American. Sarah was expected to behave like a Korean woman because her Korean is pretty fluent. Ignorance can be bliss at times. Timothy had his first school experience in Malaysia; and he handled it better than we thought. After about three days of crying, he fell in love with the local preschool and the teachers. His only trouble was at the afterschool program with the Korean MK's; we ended up pulling him out after two months when we saw that things were not going to improve and he might suffer psychological damage.
KOREA was something else. It had been 10 years for Paul, and 15 for Sarah, since we had been there. Lydia and Timothy were first timers! We visited EMs in Hallelujah and Onnuri, as well as churches in Mogpo (where Paul's grandfather lived as a retired minister until he went to heaven on November 27, 2008). We also got to meet up with our fellow trainees from Malaysia, who were preparing to leave for their respective mission fields. Korea has changed a lot, and spending 4 weeks there has given us a solid experience and background for more relationship-building with individuals and churches.
We need your prayers, since Paul hopes to spend a significant time studying the language and developing "natural" relationships with the locals, as opposed to so being inundated with "ministry" duties that we barely have enough time to think (or pray)! Paul has been posting more frequent updates on his blog-- ask him about it. Also read a paper on God and Time he wrote for Carl FH Henry way back by clicking
here.
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