Island Adventure

As many of you may have heard, I went on an island adventure with the sixth grade students last week. We went to Cheju Do, (chay-ju doe). If you were to look at a map of Korea, you would see a rather large island off the southern coast of the peninsula. That's her. It is a beautiful place that many describe as a Korean Hawaii. The island was created by volcanic activity. There are some amazing formations of volcanic rock around the coastline.
We spent four days touring around the island. We took a submarine ride which was very interesting. We hiked down into a cave that consisted of a cavernous tube that had formed in the molten hot magma. Don't worry, the magma has cooled off considerably. In fact, it was about 90 degrees in the sunshine and about 65 degrees in the cave. There was freezing cold water dripping from the ceiling of the cave. I was hoping that I wouldn't encounter any vampire bats and I don't think I did, but it was pretty dark in there.
The trip was partially described by Sarah in the previous post. Each night, we would head to the youth hostel for a worship service and message. I played a set of Roland electronic drums for the worship service every night. I didn't have a monitor and I couldn't hear much of what I was playing. I was told that it sounded pretty good overall.
I was really upset at the way some of the kids acted during worship. When I talked to our chaplain about the situation he said, "Maybe it's because they're tired?" I said it was not from being tired. After a couple more suggestions he asked if it was the "darkness". I said, "That's the one." I was appalled at some of the behavior I witnessed. The way I see it, I have the next four months to do my part to help these kids before they hit junior high. At one of my low moments, the students began nominating their fellow students to receive a song of blessing. It was great to watch. After that, they sang a blessing to the teachers and gave out hugs. I got hugs from two very sweet kids. God reminded me of the scripture that Pop Dan assigned to me before we left: Psalm 27. You know the song, "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I'd see Your glory." I can be brokenhearted for these kids, but I don't have to despair. God is firmly seated on His throne and I will see His goodness in the exuberant Earth.

Speaking of, we were thrilled to tears to hear the great news from the Butler camp!

The island adventure was fun, but very exhausting. I had to sleep on mats on the floor without my wife. It was miserable and wonderful depending on my immediate circumstances. That reminds me of the kids' memory verse this week. I Thessalonians 5:16 -17. Read it, it's a good 'n'.

Love to all,

Micah