L'Abri Newsletter, October 2010

Dear Praying Family,

Greetings in the name of our Lord! Cool autumn has come leaving the record breaking muggy summer behind. It is quite sad to think we have only 3 months left in 2010. However, I hope we recount our past 9 months to make the most of the rest.

In the month of September workers took a rest, maintained the building, and worked on study projects. The presentation that was conducted on the 25th at the workers’ workshop helped us a lot. InKyung presented “the theory of cognitive dissonance”, EunChol on “personal evangelism”, ChunSung on “call, calling, and vocation” and KyungOk produced the final Korean translation of the L’Abri Statement. We expect our projects to assist students who come for the help with counseling, career coaching, unbelief, and other matters.

Apart from study projects, male workers mowed the garden surrounding L’Abri. When I was living in the city, I hardly knew about gardening, but when I see a garden now, I recognize the work involved. Keeping the huge L’Abri in good shape is hard work but worthwhile for the sake of students. Students open their hearts to the beautiful scenery of L’Abri and well-maintained interior and learn more while they are at peace. MoKyung numbered all the books in L’Abri and started to create a database of the library. This will allow students and workers to find books more easily.

Last semester, we had a desperate female student who shared her progress upon her return and started going to church and living at peace with her family. There was another male student who renewed his faith in God. Upon hearing their good news we were ecstatic. We do care about souls of 100 people. But we lavish our time, effort, and love to save one precious soul.

Two families, who had shared their past with L’Abri some years ago, have moved into our neighborhood to take the next steps in their lives through rest and prayer for some time. We ask you to pray that God will pour the spirit of discernment and wisdom on us so that we may help them make the right decision.

InKyung and KyungOk took a break after the summer semester. Please pray for them to keep in good health and help students wisely while taking care of other business involving L’Abri. Thanks to your help, HaeJin was able to register for the fall. We thank you for your contribution and prayer and ask you to watch over her with an expectation of how God will use her. May God comfort them for not having seen their children in Canada for 3 years. We pray that God will allow them to pay a visit to Canada this year with financial support.

EunChol and EunHa help incoming students feel at home upon their arrival in L’Abri. With rich evangelical experience ever since middle school under his belt, EunChol shared several ways to share the gospel at the workshop. His teaching helped us better understand effective ways to approach students with complex and various backgrounds. Please join with us in prayer for them to stay healthy and to help students and for their dear daughters, GaHee and HanHee, to grow in wisdom and love for God.

MoKyung spent her break with her parents in Yongin. Please pray for her that she would be filled with God’s grace and be kept safe from cold and exhaustion for she has to cover many duties as a single worker.

We thank you for praying for ChunSung and SuYeon to get adjusted to life in YangYang. ChunSung will be ordained as a pastor on Ocotber 11th in Seoul. We ask you to pray for him to become a prepared clean slate for God to use. Please continue to pray for SuYeon to manage her life well in school, L’Abri, family, and church and teach JiHo and JiMin to become children of good character and of God.

Fall semester is divided into two mini-semesters; September 28th until October 23rd and November 8th until December 11th with two weeks of break in-between. During this term, let us pray together for students who will come to L’Abri to solve their problems, find the truth, and believe in Jesus through private tutoring, movie discussion, labor, seminar, personal study, bible reading, bible study on Colossians, and prayer.

Starting from this semester on, InKyung will personally teach leaders with his collection of past lectures. Beneficiaries include MoKyung, SuYeon, and 3 other sisters. May this be a time of growth and nurturing to L’Abri workers and local leaders.

The harsh world economic situation has affected all L’Abri branches worldwide. L’Abri Southborough experiences a sharp downfall in the number of visiting students and has not been able to pay its workers for some time. L’Abri Switzerland has been in a difficult financial situation for several years. May God send students and financial support to all L’Abri branches including Korea for us to eat and clothe ourselves and for students to come.

I was reminded of our eternal home when I learned of the death of the late Pastor HanHum Oak that I respect and the death of my husband’s colleague pastor who was hit by a falling tree in the typhoon on the same day. These incidents made me realize that we are only sojourners on this earth, and this place we stand on is not our eternal home. I pray that all of us hope in heaven although we stand on this earth in reality.

Lastly, we thank all of you who pray for us and support us financially from your own mission ground serving our one Father together although we are apart physically. Let me close the letter with Colossians 1:9-10 that we studied last week to give you comfort: “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

From L’Abri,

SuYeon

Translated by MoKyung Choi