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Chun Gil-Jo, talented, friendly drycleaner of Handong campus!! (Our dorm washing machine broke JUST before my trip to Canada and I had nothing clean to wear...Gil-Jo went out of his way and cleaned 2 giant bags of laundry and brought them to me late on a Saturday night as I had to leave for Seoul and my flight early the next morning! WOW! A true servant of the Lord!)

Kim Kyung-Hee, the other worker at the Handong campus drycleaners. (located in dorm #6) Very kind and single (as Gil Jo keeps hinting to me....ha!ha!)

"His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them." (Mark 9:3) I always think of this verse when I go to the drycleaners....

"OHH-LA-LA!"

Masterpiece by the Master of Peace!

Enjoying pizza with the Walker family, celebrating Deron's job offer at California Baptist University!!!

Goodbye to Deron Walker and family!!!

How sad to hear that my good friend, Deron Walker is leaving Handong! (But at the same time I rejoice with him and his family! Reminds me of the verse: "No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping.." in Ezra 3:13) Here is my good friend's farewell to Handong:

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

It is with bittersweet joy that I write this good-bye letter to you informing you that this will be my last semester as a Handong Global University faculty member. Concisely stated, my stay at Handong has had its ups and downs, like life itself, but I will focus on only the positives. Ultimately, my family will be returning to the United States this summer because I have accepted a full-time, tenure-track position, as an Assistant Professor of English Composition, at another one of God's outstanding universities, California Baptist University (CBU).

All of my family members, close friends, my pastor back home, and I, after great deliberation and prayer, have come to the unwavering consensus that the CBU offer represents God's will for us. We all firmly believe that this offer presents our family with the best opportunity to serve Jesus Christ in a way that fully utilizes our intellectual and spiritual gifts. Therefore, I will submit my resignation to Handong University upon the conclusion of this semester in order to join the faculty of CBU this fall.

CBU is a small but steadfast Christian university with a heart for missions and the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. It is a place of expansion, growth, vision, and endless long term possibilities for both ministry and professional development. While we are, of course, somewhat saddened to be leaving the wonderful students of Handong University (the best students I have ever had) and many excellent colleagues and close friends, we are looking up and ahead at very exciting prospects, indeed.

At this time, I would like to express the deepest sentiments of admiration for what Handong University has meant to us as a family. I will always remember HGU, first and foremost, as a university with first-rate students. I enjoyed teaching them not only because of their outstanding intelligence and classroom diligence, which is considerable, (top 10% of their high school class), but, more importantly, for their sweetness of spirit. I often felt that the students of Handong modeled the fruits of the Spirit (kindness, patience, etc.) and solid Christian character even better than the faculty of HGU. I will always cherish and miss the students of HGU with the love of Jesus Christ.

Next, I would like to say that I will miss many colleagues and friends as well. I am thankful for their presence in my life, too. I will always remember HGU as the place where I was able to conduct the research study that enabled me to complete my Ph.D. For this, I will always be grateful and eternally indebted to Handong Global University. Many Spirit-filled current and former faculty members, especially in the DLE, were instrumental in collaborating with me to complete that project. Most notably, I wish to thank (composition raters) Denver Sasser, Paul Steimetz, Chris Smith, (classroom teachers) Sandy Chi, Joyce Thompson, Andy Brown, (other contributers) Julia Murphy, Mike Stockton, Grace Kim,and Mark Buzby. I hope I have not left any names out. Their selfless dedication and volunteer spirit made a very complex project work smoothly. Most remarkably, these saintly colleagues did everything I asked of them cheerfully, with lots of Christian love.

There were many other wonderful American, Canadian, and Korean faculty members who have meant a lot to my family. They are far too many to name. I will always remember Handong with great fondness, and appreciate it immensely as a solid stepping stone both on my career path and spiritual journey through life. In many ways, it has been an excellent training ground for me both through trial and triumph. HGU has made very impressive growth since my wife and I first attended church in the one-building institution that HGU was back in 1996. Praise the Lord.

It is now the singular goal for my family for us to make the most of the time we have left here. We wish to live Handong life to the full in our final days on campus. We hope to make the best of every opportunity to fellowship, teach, learn, grow, and serve God. We are also very hopeful that we can stay connected to the many fine friends and colleagues we have met along the way. California Baptist University has indicated that they are very interested in recruiting students from East-Asia, especially Korea. We are hopeful that exchanges can be made in both directions, synergy from like-minded Christian ministries across oceans harnessed, and relationships and connections established to the glory of Jesus Christ and the furtherance of His kingdom on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Finally, we pray that Handong Global University will make even greater strides to fulfill its vision as "God's university." It is a mighty creed! We pray that it will be blessed, purged, sanctified, so that its influence might increase exponentially to the glory of our Lord. Christian universities with visions for serving our Lord sacrificially are sorely needed in our time. It is my prayer that God will continuously raise up His people to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. Maybe the greatest lesson I learned at Handong University was that my life will be far more fulfilling as I am dedicated to the education and discipleship of God's young people on His campuses than if I labor to educate students at a secular school. This is another valuable lesson that I have learned through my experiences at HGU. Thank you HGU, one and all.

Love to all in Christ,

Deron Walker, Ph.D.

The Handong shuttle bus arrives on time at "6-way intersection", downtown Pohang. (What a wonderful FREE service for students AND PROFS! :-))

A fine group of our international students "chilling on a Wednesday afternoon".

Sweet!

Jeannie Chang (far left!) and her team in front of the Handong chapel.

Roger Lenk, principal of HIHS, HIC worship leader and elder.

Yesterday's Afternoon Chapel

Yesterday, Roger Lenk, the principal of HIHS (Handong International High School) spoke on the unity of the brethren. His main text was Psalm 133:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

It it like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard,

down upon the collar of his robes.

It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

I ran out of lead for my mechanical pencil during the sermon. (Like God was saying, "Listen carefully instead of scribbling down what you hear!") Basically, Roger stressed that we are to show brotherly love by loving each other's uniqueness (Psalm 139), not to give up meeting together (Hebrews 10) and to bear one anothers burdens. (Galatians 6:2, Philippians 2:4)

Was excited to hear from Roger that his son, Daniel, (currently studying up in TaeJeon) will be a full-time student at HGU next semester. Awesome!

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Holy Action Figures!

You better buy them before they're sold out!
Site's 12-inch dolls spread the word of the Lord -The Hartford Courant - April 14, 2005
Jesus, Mary and Moses - they're bendable, they talk and they're coming soon to a website near you. Called "Messengers of Faith", the new 12-inch dolls are the product of the Canton-based www.one2believe.com, and each doll comes with a voice chip. "My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior, "says dark-haired Mary. The Moses figure recites the Ten Commandments. David recites the 23rd chapter of Psalms. The company plans to add Esther and Ruth - and other biblical characters requested by customers, says JoshuaLivingston, company spokesman. Early word of the product recently brought 300 e-mails from people who want to pre-order, Livingston says. The dolls should be available in late May and cost $24.99 each. "The response has been incredible," says Livingston. "I wasn't sure how it would cross over into the mainstream," but from the e-mails' content, he believes the response is genuine. A few negative e-mails questioned Jesus' Nordic coloring. Says Livingston: "We worked with a company that has a relationship with many of the larger companies in America, and we used their input into how [the dolls] should look. We're extremely happy with that." The dolls are meant for ministers and parents to use to teach Bible stories, Livingston says. The website's parent company, BeverlyHills TeddyBear Co., also produces Shrek keepsakes and Precious Moments collectibles. The talking biblical-character idea has been three years in the making, says Livingston. The company intends to add boxed gum and mints with inspirational messages printed on them. Copyright (c) 2005, The Hartford Courant (Sent through email by Timothy Hooker)

Hidden Messages...

Just thE other day, i waS sharing with my stUdentS the fact that Language Often contains ideology, whether one is aware of it or not. people usually View newspaper articlEs aS fact rather than a statement of the reporter's beliefs and prejudices hidden under laYers Of words and meanings. it's Unbelievable really when you come to realize the hidden messages that could be hidden in a text. (like this one, for example....)