Here are a couple things America’s founding fathers had to say about families:

“Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerate, their political character must soon follow.” – Elias Boudinot (Founder and President of the American Bible Society.)

“Religion in a family is at once its brightest ornament and its best security.” – Samuel Adams (Said to T. Wells, his daughter’s fiance)

More details and pictures can be found on the Neelys’, Wilkeses’, and FEW blogs!

We did it! Thanks to many generous contributors, Lenspiration accomplished it’s End-of-the-Month Challenge fundraising goal of $1000 by midnight, November 30! Visit Purchase with a Purpose to read the facts and events of the campaign.

It was July 8, the long-awaited day. For the first time in history, West Virginia would be home to a Family Encouragement Weekend! Six o’clock was starting time; 4:30 was dinner time; and the doors had opened at 3:00. Since 3:00, a thousand last-minute preparations were made. The church was ready. The chalk easel was set up. A feast was prepared in the kitchen.

Eventually four o’clock rolled around and we still  had no one. Major Mike made a run to another church on the same road to check and see if attendees had parked there instead by mistake. He returned alone.

Now, of the many invited, the ones to RSVP seemed to be those of a dependable nature—Surely there had been a major mistake on the directions! Or was there? Whether the answer to that question was yes or no, we were convinced, (partly from our own experience attending family conferences) that this was a time of intense spiritual warfare. We knew that somewhere out there the families were fighting: fighting the clock, fighting the enemy, fighting their own human nature to be able to come. Four fifteen. . . . Four twenty. . . . A miracle was about to happen.

But already we had seen many miracles:

A mere two weeks and two days before, a location had been provided. Without internet, we began making the invitations by phone, once reaching four different very-busy pastors within the space of about  an hour. Jonathan took careful notes to make a site map during the first trip to the church, Michael agreed to help on registration, and James tackled design projects on the schedule, hotel locations, and maps, while Esther, David, and Mom thought through every detail concerning the menu, orchestra and guest arrangements. During Robert and Kendalyn’s visit, Robert solved our internet connection problem—without the service fee! (Later, after his return to Chicago, the dreaded problem did resurface but the Lord intervened and it was taken care of by a couple of diligent non-professionals ) Wise advice from the Wilkes Team poured in and the Neely Team found a way to print the name tags for three cents each. At about the same time a $500 check from another church came as a surprise gift. God was clearly at work!

And truly, at that late notice, every single RSVP was a miracle but the list of families grew; by ten, by two; some from Parkersburg and Morgantown, then Maryland, North Carolina and New Hampshire!

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Yes, many miracles and one solid week of work had  brought us to this day and we didn’t expect the Lord to stop working. Yes, no one who waits on Him is confounded. . . . That evening, in direct answer to prayer, the house was full!

Despite the short notice that there would be a West Virginia  FEW at all, a total of nearly 100 people came to affirm the importance of the family and learn how to build strong family relationships.

But when the afternoon activities were over, and we were once again seated around a small table in the mall asking final questions and making our last comments, Andy and Renae again extended their invitation. This time, since they mentioned it again, I figured I should reconsider.

After some discussion, we could only think of two disadvantages: they lived three more hours south of Osan, and neither Adam nor I brought anything for staying the night. But as I thought about it, neither of these were technically a problem. Trains crisscross the entirety of South Korea, and what’s wrong with sleeping in you’re clothes for a night?

However, the deciding factor in making the decision came after Adam made a comment that completely changed my perspective: “James, instead of focusing on what would be best, fun, or most convenient for us, we should focus on what would be most encouraging for them.” This brought great freedom! I often need to be reminded to think of others more than myself. So, considering that it would truly be an encouragement to Andy and his family, knowing that they have very rarely had any American guests during their time in Korea, and knowing also that it would indeed be an incredibly fun adventure, Adam made a few phone calls to make sure it was ok with the folks back in Gimpo, and then we headed for the car!

The rest of that evening and most of the next day was truly a blessing from the Lord! Fellowshipping more with the Andy and his family, traveling down to southern South Korea, being a part of an American Sunrise Service on Easter morning, touring the little town of Waegwan, and eating together at an authentic Korean-style restaurant, are all memories I will not soon forget! Thank you Andy and Renae (and little Jeffery too!) for your on-the-spot hospitality and excellent example of Christian generosity!

Though executing smaller excursions can make long-distance travel less daunting, there was one factor that time couldn’t rectify: getting on post. As a civilian, it is impossible to enter a military base without being accompanied by a service man.

So that’s why I was so amazed when I received this e-mail a few short days later from a friend of Robert’s: “Hi James! Robert told me you’re in Korea! I’m stationed here [in the Army] about 3 hours south of Seoul. Let me know if you need anything OR if you travel south! Take care!”

Only God could have worked out something like this. No previous contact, no detailed planning, nothing whatsoever preceded his initial contact!

So by the 23rd, I was on the metro to visit Andy and his family at Osan Air Base. Another one of my dreams had come true, and I couldn’t help but think of Psalm 37:4: “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Really, this is only the beginning of the story. God had an even bigger blessing in store at the end of the day. . . .

After a full day of work in Chicago on Wednesday, I was not able to get a nap in before taking off at 1:00AM on Thursday morning. A few hours of light sleep on the 13 hour flight was all there was to Thursday, and by the time I touched down in Incheon, South Korea, it was 5:00AM Friday morning. Even though to me it felt like evening was beginning, I was advised to stay up all day so my body would adjust to the time difference more quickly. So, with that in mind, we started our day!

Friday is a busy work day for the IBLP Korea office, so I spent the morning observing, learning, listening, and trying to understand how things work around here. I am beginning to see a glimpse of the bigger picture (or should I say a incredibly huge picture!) of the awesome potential and opportunity there is in this country!

By the early afternoon, I was really getting tired, so I went on a walk with Sam and Matthew Waller to the grocery store. A Korean grocery store. The language, prices and even many products were, well . . . foreign to me. I’ve got a lot to learn! On the way back, we took the “scenic” route down winding streets and park trails, all of which brought back assorted and abstract memories from Mexico, West Virginia, and, of all places, the Washington DC Zoo (not the animals, just the “feel”).

After a superb supper, I was ready to hit the sack. But there was one more thing to do before the day was over: a game of soccer in the neighborhood playing field! Now the “field” wasn’t more than a turf-covered, basketball-court-sized fenced-in area, but it certainly worked for the purpose! It was my first interaction with the friendly Korean young people in the area.

I hope that every day of the next 6 weeks will not be this extraordinary, but I am greatly looking forward to being part of the many exciting things God is doing here!

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” – Colossians 3:1-2

It was so neat to see God put together all the details. That very morning I happened to read Matthew 20:27 which talks about being a “servant” of all. The Lord also brought my attention to the section a couple verses earlier in the chapter, where the sons of Zebedee with their mother approached Jesus and asked for “special seating arrangements.” What was his answer? This “is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.” (Matt. 20:23).

HQ Valentines Banquet 2011 from Chad … on Vimeo.

The night before we had been rearranging the tables to accommodate the new number of guests that were expected for the banquet, but we came up one chair too short – and we had already packed the seats in as tight as possible! At that very moment we received a call from one of the couples saying the wife would not be able to attend. How often do problems get solved that easily?

Then, during the evening of the banquet, soon after we had begun seating each couple, one couple came up to us with a special request to be seated at one of the far tables. Scrambling through our charts, we worked out a last-second switch to accommodate them. In the middle of getting this all worked out, two other guests asked to be seated early. I thought all our careful plans to seat the guests table by table were being totally thrown off, but the Lord gave me a peace that this had all been “prepared of my Father.” It was then that I suddenly realized where these two guests were supposed to sit: directly across from the first couple at the far table! Everything could not have worked out more perfectly.

This was just one of the many ways that we saw the Lord pour out his blessing on the entire event. There is joy in serving Jesus!

Leaving Singapore, we drove across the bridge into Malaysia. What really impressed me about Malaysia was the miles and miles and miles of palm trees! Evidently, Malaysia is the second largest producer of palm oil in the world (next to Indonesia.)

We stopped for lunch at . . . McDonalds! The menu was similar to a U.S. McDonalds except you could shake up your french fries with a nice, zesty Asian-style spice. I thought it was pretty good!

Mr. and Mrs. Teh were wonderfully kind conference coordinators and made us feel right at home. There were many people from Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia at the conference and they were a great joy to meet and talk with. It was exciting to see families on the other side of the world who love the Lord and desire to serve Him with all their heart!