2012 in Review

Happy New Year!

2012 was a wonderful year for the Edwards family. God blessed us many times over, and we prayerfully enter 2013, knowing that God will continue to be with us.

In honor of the new year, we have put together some pictures to capture 2012 in our family. Enjoy! 

We said good-bye to Guatemala, our home for the past 4 years.

Here are all of the children that Laura taught during our time in Guatemala

and message from two of Laura's Kinders. :-)

Finally, our GIANT to do list for our Korean visas was checked-off,

but we said good-bye to very good friends.

Nicole came to visit us in Guatemala,

and we had SO much fun!

Then it was back to the US for Brittany's wedding in Colorado!

It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding,

and she was a beautiful bride. :-)

Then we traveled to Mississippi for our Pre-Field Orientation. We met some wonderful people, including these couples in our small group. They are now all over the world, serving the Lord!

We also got to know the other new teachers at our school, and we had fun dancing to K-Pop together for the "Almost Talent Show."

Then we traveled to Virginia to visit Jonathan's family.

Our niece, Kassie, celebrated her first birthday,

and we traveled to New York to visit Jonathan's grandmother and do some sightseeing.

We took one day to sightsee in New York City,

and we visited the September 11th Memorial

and lots more sights!

Jonathan's grandmother celebrated her birthday while we were in New York,

and then it was time to move to Korea! Here's us with all of the stuff that we took with us.

Here's our new home!

Jonathan's class 2012-2013

Laura's class 2012-2013

Happy New Year!

God is good...ALL THE TIME!

~Jonathan and Laura~

Our Top 10

Top 10 Interesting things about (our experience in) Korea...

10. In our city, we can hear "Taps" being played at the Air Force base every night at 10:00 pm (reminding us that it's our bedtime).

9. At the movie theater on the Air Force base, they ask everyone to stand for both the Korean and the US national anthem before the movie starts.

8. Our heat comes up from pipes under the floor, making sitting on the floor the preferred seat in the room in the winter.

7. At some of our favorite restaurants, it is customary to remove your shoes and sit on the floor to dine.

6. Christmas is more of a couples' holiday, kind of like Valentine's Day in the US.

5. Koreans try their very best NOT to get a suntan because pale is beautiful. They even wear tight sleeves during the summer and carry umbrellas. Haha, Laura's in the right place.

4. There are A LOT of customs regarding age, but one is that the youngest person in a group of people is responsible for serving the rest of the group. For example, at our favorite restaurant, it would typically be Laura's job to pour the water into the glasses, walk up to refill the side dishes (which are SO YUMMY), and cook the meat on the grill.

3. "Red is dead." That is, writing someone's name in red is VERY unlucky, and it is akin to "wishing someone dead."

2. Peanut butter squid is a regular snack item at the movie theater.

1. There is a widespread belief in Korea that sleeping with a fan blowing on you can cause "fan death." The reasons behind this belief are many, but three common ones are...

            The fan chops up the air molecules in the room, making them un-breathable.

            The fan causes hypothermia in its sleeping victim.

            The fan sucks the air out of the room like a vacuum, causing the person to suffocate.

Ah, international life is never dull! 

And...before you think, "Wow, what a weird place!" Stop and think about what a visitor to the US would put on their top 10 list. (Hmm...black cats, broken mirrors, exposing yourself to harmful sun rays to look "beautiful," the number 13...) 

~Laura and Jonathan~

North Korea

Dear Readers,

Thank you all for playing last week! I think that I will include a picture every once in a while just for fun. :-)

This week, I want to share something that's been heavy on my heart for a while now. Our Korean/Middle School Math teacher shared the video below in morning devotions one day, and ever since it has stayed in the back of my mind.

Here we are in South Korea, teaching in a Christian school, having Bible class everyday, going to our local English church every Sunday, and not so far north of us, there are Christians in North Korea who fear for their lives on a daily basis. It is almost beyond my comprehension to think about the persecution that STILL goes on not so far away from me.

This makes me feel both overwhelmingly blessed and overwhelmingly sorrowful. So...this week I want to ask each of you to take a few moments each morning to pray for the Christians in North Korea. Pray that they would have opportunities to safely meet with other believers, and pray that God would place His hand of protection on each one of them. Also, pray for a CHANGE in North Korea. Pray that the doors would be opened for the gospel of Jesus Christ to freely be preached.

We believe in a God who CAN! God CAN open the doors of North Korea, and as the Bible says in Mark 11:24, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

~Laura~

Fun with Environmental Print!

This week we wanted to share a fun little game with all of our readers. 

Since neither of us speak or read Korean very well, we have been relying on educated guesses for things like brands at the grocery store, signs around town, etc. It's actually kind of fun!

Laura learned all about ENVIRONMENTAL PRINT in college, but now the idea is really hitting home, because it's how we function here in Korea. 

For those of you who are not Early Childhood people :), here's the idea. By using environmental print, a small child might be able to "read" the McDonalds sign, not because he or she can actually read, but because he or she knows that that symbol represents Mcdonalds from their experiences.  In the same way, we "know" what things and brands are here in Korea based on their packages, fonts, colors, etc.

So! Are you ready to play our fun game?

See if you know what these things are! :-) 

Post your answers if you'd like, and we'll tell you if you're right.

~Jonathan and Laura~

So... how did you do???

Happy Chusok!!

This week Jonathan and I are enjoying our Chusok vacation. This holiday is kind of like Korean Thanksgiving, and we have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off from school for it! 

We have enjoyed spending time with friends and relaxing at home. Then, yesterday we went to Everland with some of the other teachers. Everland is a "disney-ish" theme park about an hour away. Here are some of our favorite photos from the day...

Here we are at the entrance to Everland!

Happy Halloween!!

This was the Halloween tree at the entrance to the park.

Here is Laura with her friends Jessica, Nicole, and Gail.

The Koreans LOVED these crazy, outlandish headbands.

Jon is excited to ride the rides!!

While the others rode scary rides, Laura hung out with Gail and her son Isaac at the kids' area.

This was the alternative to climbing a giant hill.

Isaac, Gail, and Laura enjoyed the parade!

This was very cool! It was a sky ride over the park. We rode it at night to see all the lights!

This was the VERY COOL light show to end the evening. 

We couldn't understand the Korean, but it was still fun!

LOOK AT THAT ROLLER COASTER IN THE  BACKGROUND! That drop is crazy!

Peanut Buttered Roasted squid...

what else could you possibly want to snack on during your day at the amusement park??

Today and tomorrow, we plan to relax at home and enjoy the time together. Then it's back to school on Thursday! :-)

~Jonathan and Laura~

Getting Connected

Hello Everyone!

For our blog post this week, we would like to share some ministries that we have become involved with here in Korea. We are very excited to find other opportunities to serve outside of our school setting, and we ask for your prayers in these endeavors.

First, we have decided to serve as chaperones for the school's spring break mission trip. We will be accompanying some of our school's secondary students on a trip to the Philippines to work at Kids International Ministries. Here's a short video to give you an idea of what we will be doing.



Also, Jonathan has become involved with the girls' soccer program at our school, and he will be coaching the HS girls team in the spring. Right now he is leading an elementary soccer camp after school, and he also helped with a middle school soccer camp in Suwon this weekend.

I (Laura) will be singing with the Camarata Music Company in their performance of Handel's Messiah, and I have also been singing with the Songtan Central Baptist Church worship team for the past few weeks. I have also greatly enjoyed meeting the ladies of SCBC during a Community Life Group (Bible Study) that I host at my house.

God is good, and He is showing us ways to get involved and serve in this new place where He has called us!

The Friendship Festival

Today we went to the Korean American Friendship Cultural Festival. It was so fun! We enjoyed walking around and looking at the crafts and food and watching the performances. Here are some photos from the day today!

This was our lunch...pig's feet and stuffed squid!

This was our dessert. Some kind of rice puff with honey.

We went to see the new Songtan International Community Center. It is super nice.

Then we played at the park nearby. That's our friend Isaac. :)

Here is "the strip," where many of the booths were. 

This booth had stuff from Ecuador and Peru, and it totally looked like stuff from Guatemala. :) 

There were some interesting street performers, which we couldn't understand.

This was SO COOL! It was a group of Korean ladies drumming.

Here's their video (below).

...and Jon with a potato twist.

Yes, it was a very fun Saturday! Tomorrow we are going to church, working to get school stuff ready, and going up to Seoul to sing with the group doing Handel's Messiah.

God bless!

Laura and Jonathan