Hello from Handong! :D

Wow!

So much to say!

God's spirit flows throughout the halls and around the buildings here :) I have come to a new understanding on how BIG and how Awesome God's family is!! It is truly amazing, and beautiful, and glorious all wrapped together in one!

This is truly the most international environment I have ever experienced. I am meeting people from Taiwan, China, Mongolia, Russia, South Korea, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Philippines, Indonesia, Netherlands, Nepal, Palestine, and this is only in my incoming class! Hopefully I will meet more soon! :D (I'm probably forgetting a few somewhere...)

He is so big! My heart is stretching everyday to learn and know More of Him!

Korea is beautiful! It has a big focus in industry and agriculture! I took the train from Seoul to Pohang and it was an epic trip! At one moment you would be rushing through a giant city filled with people and tall buildings, and the next you would be in the mountains surrounded by green houses, orchards and rice fields.

So many gardens!! The mountains of Korea are lush and green! And the trees here are absolutely incredible! They are so diverse and mixed! My dear friend Jimmy would have loved this place!

These people are hilarious. So funny! So kind, warm, congenial, and friendly! I am learning Korean from so many people and enjoying every second of it!

Kimchi is good! It is spicy, and I have to be careful how much I take! But I like it :) It seasons my meal just right! Every meal I get to try something new, and my chopstick skills are increasing! It is an adventure every mealtime :D

The other day I was sitting in Twelve Baskets eating my Korean meal, and there was a sextet practicing their classical music. It was so beautiful to simply sit and eat and listen to the deep cello, the soft flute, piano, violins and clarinet! I am so moved by these people and this place.

Today we took the Honor Code Pledge. The President of Handong gave a speech and the first and last words out of his mouth were "I love you!". (He was part of the reason why I came!)

These people truly believe in God, and they aren't afraid to let God mold them into the leaders that this world needs. It is inspiring, it is moving, and it is challenging! I feel this calling to be more for God. To truly live life to the fullest! To live in Integrity and Honesty in all that I do!

Today at the Honor Code Pledge. President Kim said something that really struck me, other than him loving me so much :p. He said "We have to be the history makers!"

Wow! Let's do it!

Why not change the world?

"Be a Legend Sam!" - Jimmy Brazell

On the Plane heading to LAX :)

Some interesting gardens and fields. They put a black tarp over some plants to either protect it from the sun or create a water run off. It's very interesting!

Apartment buildings and mountains! :)

Rice fields! Yum :)

Looking over the rooftops to the mountains :)

Pohang! Which is where I am going in 20 minutes! Must run! Hopefully I will take more pictures of Handong Campus and community life! So much fun :)

Love you guys!

Say hello to Sweden :) Mini update of my adventures!

Hello from Strømstad Sverige! (Sweden) :) I have... alot to update! I always seem to be quite late in my updates but alas oh well... Right now I`m sitting in the basement of a local church here in Strømstad watching the rain drizzle outside and drip off a few apples still clinging to their tree. The weather here is in an interesting state, I currently reside in that funny place between Autumn and Winter. I suppose Autumn has come and gone, the colors have left, but Winter is still waiting to pay me a visit.

Strømstad is a little town of 10,000 folks on the coast of Sweden not more than 20 minutes f rom Norway. You would think that there is almost no difference here in Sweden compared to Norway, and you would be correct... almost. The culture is similar, the houses and lifestyles are similar, excpt the language. I can not understand a word of svenske... It`s so crazy. Norwegians and Swedes can communicate pretty well and the languages are similar, but its still crazy...

So I don`t have much to say about this team week so far, as it is only the second day. However I will update next week on the last three weeks and finally get around to uploading my Bergen trip pictures and the pictures that I took when Autumn was here almost a whole month ago back in Skien :p And hopefully some videos I`ve taken here around Norway. This next week, I`m putting a huge chunk of my time away so I can get around to this :) There`s so much to say and show! God has been doing pretty awesome things!

As a rough preview of the upcoming update I will talk about the team week following Bergen. Instead of going out, my team stayed back at the base and did alot of local projects including visiting the local refugee camp where several immigrants are trying to become citizens. Very cool experience :) We also had a crazy teaching week, and God has really been right beside me speaking to my heart. More on that! And ofcourse my adventures that will take place this week here in Sweden. I`m very excited bout friday... We get to take a boat to the island Kester which only has 200 people, a small church, and not a single car. I heard it`s absolutely beautiful, and will be working with the youth there so I`m very excited!

In other news I`m actually coming home for Christmas! So I will be back in town by the 14th of December, and then back again to Norway for New years :) I do hope I`ll get the chance to see all of you! I`m sure plans of a campfire/bible study party will fall together in time hehe, atleast I hope so! And... I recently found out that my mini outreach country here in Europe is Germany! So I will visit Germany for two weeks in mid January! I`m Very, excited to say the least :D.

I do hope you all are well! I`m praying for you guys, especially this week. Hello to Venture people, I`ve especially been praying for you guys! I hope your school year is going incredibly awesome!

Talk to you all soon! :)
Go Under the Mercy
-Sam