I'm so unbelievably desperate!!!!
... to go to South Korea, that is. Ok, for those of you who've been asking what this is all about, I'll try to explain in my own phrenetic way:
It all sort of started in a roundabout kind of way with Hillsong's tour in the US a few months ago. Good grief, when was that, exactly, anyway? Ever since I moved to Florida (March of '02), God has steadily been working in my life, namely to bring me back to Him. I've become increasingly hungry for His presence, His word, His will in my life. So anyway, back to the Hillsong worship event here in Central Florida... God made it plain to me that night that He wants me working for Him. No longer for man, no longer for myself. Only for Him. He's effectively lit a fire under me, and I am powerless to stop it's growth--rather, I find myself fanning the flames... as most of you know, I'm really really really passionate about worship. I want to stir up passion for worshiping our God all over the world. I want people to overflow with enthusiasm in every moment of their life, and be unable to contain their praise to God. I feel called to do this. I prayed a LOT and talked with my family and my pastor and all that, and it seems like God is pointing to HILC, to prepare me for what He has placed on my heart to do. To get there, a number of things must be accomplished, first of which would be to pay off my debts. (Sidenote: this is important to me anyway, because the Bible states that we should not owe anyone money. **Rom. 13:8**) Well, my last contract just expired, as most of you also know, and I am currently jobless (though I think I may have one tomorrow, Axium really liked me--anyway!). Six months ago, I would have been completely flipping out over the fact that I don't have a job. But as I grow closer to God, two things (actually a TON of things, but 2 KEY things) are happening as a result: I come closer to understanding His ways and His timing, and I am becoming more and more filled with His peace. So basically, I'm not seeing this as a major problem--I'm seeing it as an opportunity. An opportunity to evaluate my life and it's direction, and opportunity to turn it around and head the way He wants me to... God will show me where He wants me to go... and He is showing me in an increasingly loud way.
A while back, I told y'all about BigChurch. Well, a few weeks ago, I stumbled on another similar site, after having some difficulties with BigChurch. ChristiansConnecting is a great site where I have met quite a few Christians (one of them being the Pastor Scott y'all see me talking to, heh). One of them is Aaron, or "Mac". Mac is such an awesome man of God, and he has answered God's calling to serve. He is now the Athletic Director of ICS-Pyontaek. ICS-Pyongtaek is "International Christian Schools - Pyongtaek, South Korea". It's a school that gives an English speaking, American Styled education to students in foreign countries. They have "military brats" as well as native Koreans attending the school, and in a nutshell, they prepare students to attend Christian colleges in America.
When Mac first emailed me, I almost didn't email him back. I thought to myself: "What on earth? The guy is in S. Korea? What am I supposed to talk about with some random guy in S. Korea?" Then the Holy Spirit took over in His gentle way and said, "um, Jack--tell Me again why I had you sign up for this site in the first place?" and my sheepish reply was "yeah... um... because I wanted to meet and establish lasting relationships with other Christians, to strengthen my spiritual family... etc..." and He patted me on the head and said "That's right, dear... so what are you waiting for?"
And thus, I replied to Mac. Let me tell you, it's probably the single smartest move I've EVER made. EVER. In my WHOLE. LIFE. From our very first conversation, I heard that still small voice whispering to me... telling me that it really is possible to serve God, in the ways I have dreamed of doing. Not just doing community work, but actually going out into the world, and LIVING 24/7 for His purposes. DUDE!! I am so incredibly fired up!
When Mac found out my current (or "then current") vocation, y'know what he said to me? He said, "Are you really? No way! The kids over here have been dying to have someone come teach them drama. We've had several prospective parents and students touring the school asking about drama programs, and we just have to tell them we don't have one at this point." It is at this point when God was like: "Babe, can't you see? I'm totally all over this." And thus, Jack was all agog.
So I started doing some heavy-duty looking into ICS. You need a teaching certificate... hmmm, don't have one of those. Sometimes they make exceptions for people who don't have one... like if you have a bachelor's, etc... well, almost had one of those, but in my brainless wonderment, I transferred to a 2 year school to complete an AA so that I was guaranteed admission to any state school I chose regardless of enrollment issues... and WHAMO, my credits got SERIOUSLY butchered.
Hmmm... so I report back to Mac.... heh, "Jack went back to Mac"... lol, sorry. So I tell him what's up, and he says to just email the principal. It can't possibly hurt. So basically I'm waiting to hear back from the principal now, while exploring options to get a BA REALLY fast, i.e. testing out with CLEPs and GREs.
So yeah, basically I'm fanatical about going there now... I no longer think of it in terms of "if I get to go"... it's all "When I go" etc. I know with certainty that God will show me the way. I just hope He doesn't make it too difficult, lol. It's like I told the principal: "If you need a janitor, and will have me, I will come. If you need a daycare worker, I will come. If you need a personal assistant, drama teacher, volleyball coach, hall monitor, science teacher, choir director, anything... if you'll have me, I will come. I just want to help and minister to others, to serve the body of Christ, to stir up passion for worship, to go out into the world and spread His awesome and life-changing news....."
So, in conclusion, I hope I've been relatively clear, or that you can at least make out what on earth I'm talking about. Please pray for this situation. PLEASE. I'm so desperate to go...
One of the coolest things about all this is that I know that HILC and S.Korea are both in God's plans for me... you see, S. Korea will actually help me get to HILC (giving me service experience and bringing me ever closer to Him, obviously, but also with finances. You get paid a small amount, but the cost of living is ridiculously low, and I'll be able to send the rest back to the states to pay off loans!!!)
Ok, I'll end this insanely long post now... let me know if you're still confused, lol.
Worship Him, ALL the time!
-Jack-
