Beautiful~Precious~Children♡

Pouring out what God pours in

This past week, the children enjoyed a good ol' American treat~~Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches!  We all had a great time making the sandwiches and especially eating them!  We also enjoying all playing the card games UNO and PIT.  It has been really neat introducing the children to our American culture.  

While I realize that although the words being exchanged with them may not always be fully understood, there are are deeper messages being communicated far beyond what our eyes can see...a deep, pure, everlasting love that stretches beyond all language barriers.  A warm smile, a gentle touch, a silly giggle... all channels for God's love to pour out of me to the children.  When I am surrendered to this place, to the place where I feel the Holy Spirit moving through me to love the children... perfect connections flow and I am in tune with their hearts...in tune with Jesus' heart for them.  And in tune with God's desire for more of His love to pour out upon them.  In this place I find I am able to convey God's tender reassurance that He has not left them as orphans.  He has not, and will never abandon them.  I know orphans hold a special place in God’s heart and He has not forgotten about them. 

~playing cards~

Sung No Won Orphanage

The plaque hanging in the entryway..."A life is more precious than the whole world."

 This is one of the orphanage directors, Chun Ok-Ja.  She was at there during the time me and Jamie stayed there.  

Me and Xae with the boys and director from L-R: Paul (Yong-Wu), Thomas (Jung-Hoon), William (Min-Wu), and Daniel (Gun-Ho).   

 The girls...Julie (Sun-Ah), Sara (Yoon-Jin), Sally (Young-Ji), Mary (Dong-Mi)

   

all the elementary aged children

LOVE changes everything!

Only LOVE can really understand the music and the beauty and the joy which was planted in the heart of all created things ~ As LOVE grows in us, we come to understand many things we never dreamed of before ~ We will develop the gift of understanding many 'unknown tongues' and learn to speak LOVE's own language.

The GREATEST LOVE anyone could ever imagine

has touched my soul

and transformed me forever!

To know I am deeply loved by my Heavenly Father changes everything!

LOVE....it's all for love!!!

Living the Dream!!!

“I will not leave orphans… I will preserve their lives….and comfort them

 in their distress”  ~John 14:18  Jeremiah  49:11, James 1:27”

“Art Therapy with Korean orphans at Sung No Won Orphanage…” This is an excerpt highlighted in my journal, October 7^th, 2006.  This was considered to be one of those impossible dreams, one with little possibility of actually going anywhere.

Or so I thought. 

July 25th, 2008… “I am living in Korea doing art therapy with children at Sung No Won orphanage!” 

My dream has become a reality!  This I realize was only possible by God’s all-surpassing power and protection over my life!  There is no other explanation for it!  I was once an orphan in Seoul Korea with my younger brother, Jamie.  But by God’s grace, my brother and I were preserved and adopted to USA to be raised and nurtured by a loving family.   I am forever grateful for my family, for they provided my brother and I a gift beyond measure. Twenty-seven years later, I embarked on a journey back to Seoul, with my son Xavier, to pursue a dream that was planted in my heart long before I could recognize it.  Today I am working with the children at Sung No Won Orphanage, the same home my brother and I were once orphans. 

God truly has surpassed all my hopes and dreams, beyond what I could have ever possibly imagined for myself, making what was impossible, possible.  Deciding to go to Korea was a risky venture, one that took every ounce of faith to pursue.   But, I felt something stirring deep within my spirit that I couldn’t ignore.  And as I trusted in more in God, He prepared the right people and circumstances to carve a path straight to Korea.

We arrived in Korea September 2007 and several variables fell into place effortlessly.  I obtained employment as English teacher at Kwanghee Elementary School in Seoul.  Xavier began attending the 4^th grade there as well. He was matched with a warm, kind-hearted English-speaking teacher, and joined the school’s soccer team.  Soccer has provided an excellent opportunity for Xavier to make some good buddies and feel more connected to school.  With time, he has made the adjustment rather well, and his Korean language skills have now even far surpassed mine.  (He actually translates for me sometimes!)

We also found a loving, Spirit-filled church family that has provided many friendships and opportunities. I now lead the Orphanage Ministry and encountering God’s power in a very real and life changing way, like never before.  Through times of prayer, I have felt again, a stirring deep within my spirit and seeing many visions.  One very clear vision is to serve in full-time missionary work with the children at Sung No Won Orphanage.

Sung No Won is an orphanage housing approximately 50 children ranging from infant to 6^th grade. The primary reasons these children are living in the home are because of abandonment or family instability resulting from poverty, abuse, divorce, etc. It’s difficult for orphans to receive love because of deep, lasting emotional scars of rejection and abandonment by their earthly parents. Their greatest need is to develop a trustworthy relationship with someone who can convey genuine love.  One moment spent with orphan children and you will instantly realize what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are those poor in spirit.”  These children are so lacking emotionally and spiritually, yet you cannot help but sense the presence of Jesus so alive within their humble, broken spirits.  Orphans hold a special place in God’s heart and He has not forgotten about them.  I believe God desires to pour out more of His love upon them, assuring them that even though their earthly parents have abandoned them, He will never leave them. 

“Freely I have received.  Freely I will give.”  ~Matthew 10:8

I believe that God had preserved my life and brought me back to this orphanage at this particular time to minister this unfailing love to His children.  The year prior to arriving in Korea, I received training in Art Therapy.  This training, I believe, was no coincidence, as it serves as a major vehicle to now connect with and build trusting relationships with the children at Sung No Won orphanage. My year studying art therapy had profound personal impact, bringing to the surface years of buried emotions and pre-verbal experiences associated with my own early loss and abandonment.  This paved an avenue to receive God’s healing in a powerful way, instilling a greater freedom and confidence to pursue my dream of being in Korea. Similarly, I desire to share this experience with others, releasing them to freely express their emotions through art and experience healing, so that greater dreams and destinies may be revealed.

When I shared with the children that I once lived at Sung No Won, and showed them a picture, there was a connection formed beyond words. I use a variety of art therapy activities and group exercises with them to foster trust and promote self-confidence.  Each child keeps an art journal with different themes each week related to personal interests and identity. I currently meet with four boys and four girls, all 5^th graders, the same age as Xavier, who has joined in serving the children.  What a truly rare and precious gift to serve with my child.  I have witnessed Xavier’s faith and character mature in countless ways.  He and the boys hit it off immediately with their soccer playing interests. He has connected to the children in the most beautiful way and they have no doubt developed a bond of brotherhood that will continue on into eternity.    

In addition to the orphanage ministry, I am also expanding using the arts with women at Ae Ran Won and adult Korean adoptees living in Seoul.   Ae Ran Won is a women’s shelter established to support unmarried pregnant mothers and their babies.  In Korean culture, strict Confucian values remain, harshly stigmatizing single mothers and their children.  The women are often ostracized from society, disowned by their families, and face educational and career discrimination.  Here, I envision developing a “Creative Art Zone,” where, women will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of creative pursuits, ranging from visual arts to music to dance.  The ultimate purpose is to support their grieving process, allowing them to freely express their emotions and receive inner healing and unconditional love.  Moreover, I conduct 

 monthly Art groups with Adult Korean adoptees, who were adopted overseas and currently, back in Korea, either to visit or to reside.  Korean adoptees have unique needs that are often overlooked.  This group provides an open space for adoptees to express their feelings through art and develop a strong social support network. There is something unique and special about doing art with other adoptees.  Here we began together, born in Korea, then scattered all over the world, to Europe, USA, and Australia.  And to now be reunited in the place of our birth.   Many rare and treasured moments are spent making art together; creating opportunities to connect and share and express through art, discovering new aspects about each other and ourselves, all the while, being stretched and challenged and inspired in the process.  I see now much more clearly all the circumstances in my life that have led me to this point in time.  

Despite my past abandonment/rejection, God has restored and brought healing, so that I may now share the same comfort and grace I’ve so freely received. God had a destiny for my life far greater than I could ever have ever imagined and I stand amazed at the way it is unfolding in my life!

“God shall supply all my needs, according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus.”   ~Philippians 4:19

 This next year I will be studying Korean language while raising funds to support this work. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I commit my life to God’s calling, trusting He has already made provision to carry out each of these visions.  Please also keep Jerusalem Ministry (the orphanage ministry I serve under) in your prayers. Refer to the website for more information: http://www.jerusalemministry.org/