He Causes the Rain to Fall . . .

Friday afternoon I faced a dilemma. I had committed to help build a bonfire for the HIC outing to Chilpo Beach, but as I was finishing up some work in my office, Prof. Kim, my Department Chair, walked in and sat down. With a serious look on his face, he explained that the law student meeting planned for this evening was a very important meeting -- the first of the semester. He appealed to me requesting again that I come to this meeting, as he had done yesterday at our faculty luncheon. He very much wanted to introduce me to the Korean law students.

You see, the undergraduate School of Law is made up of both UIL majors (those studying U.S. and International Law) and Korean Law majors. The students studying Korean Law are planning to become lawyers in Korea or possibly Civil Servants with the government. According to Prof. Kim, the Korean law students have not associated very well with the UIL students in the past. He is hoping that my presence on the UIL faculty along with the addition of Prof. Chang (who, though he is a Korean national, earned two law degrees at Cornell Law School in New York) will help to bring the undergraduate law students together.

The pressure was on! I'm beginning to understand how Koreans try to persuade you to comply with their requests. What was I to do? I told Prof. Kim that I would go and speak with the young man from HIC (the international church on campus) to whom I had committed my help in building the bonfire. I said that I would explain my situation to him and see if I could still help prepare for the fire and come to the law student meeting a little later on. I was trying to figure out a way to be in two places at the same time.

The Lord intervened, though. As I was helping Kris load firewood into the back of the church van, it began to rain. About half-way through the loading process, Kris got a call on his mobile. It was Pastor Dave informing him that the bonfire outing had been cancelled due to the rain. Kris and I had had a good time talking while working together. But now, I was at liberty to take the walk across campus to my hermitage, change my shirt and head back to Nehemiah Hall where the law student meeting was just beginning.

When I arrived, I was heartily greated by Prof. Kim, and my TA, Mr. Mok. I was pleasantly suprised to find that the students had even prepared a place at one of the tables for me with my name in Korean, no less!



It reads "Cordell, Professor." I was tremendously encouraged by the Korean law students who sat with me at our table. Each one introduced himself and spoke of how they were seeking God's guidance for their futures. One young man who introduced himself by his English name "David J. Sparrow" even quoted one of his favorite Bible verses: "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." He said he was confident that God would direct him in through his education and into his career.

All in all, the evening was a true blessing. I'm completely exhausted and needing to get my rest. But, it is wonderful to see how God does indeed direct our steps and enable us to live a balanced life as we yield to Him and seek to serve others. So, good night. May you rest well and rise tomorrow to learn more of His faithfulness that is new every morning!

Striving to Live a Balanced Life

One of my biggest weaknesses, according to my family and friends, is my tendency to say "Yes" when asked to take on a new task. Their counsel often comes in the words: "You need to say "No" more often!" I am now -- just a little shy of three weeks into my visiting professorship -- beginning to face making decisions in response to requests for my service.

It happened Tuesday evening this week. The UIL (U.S. & International Law) student organization held its first meeting of the semester. That's Prof. Kim, in the picture above, presiding over introductions of the faculty. Being the only American professor teaching in the UIL program I'm being asked to serve as an advisor to the students who are hoping to continue their legal studies in the States after graduating from HGU. Such a request, though, is not out the ordinary range of duties for a professor and I don't anticipate that it will require a great deal of my time outside of normal office hours. At this point, advising students is within the balance.

The following day, however, I was invited to yet another meeting of the undergraduate law students. This one -- combing both UIL and Korean Law students -- is planned for Friday evening. Supper will be provided! Only one problem, though. I had already accepted an invitation to attend a gathering sponsored by HIC (Handong International Church) at Chilpo Beach this Friday evening. There's going to be a bonfire! I was even asked to help prepare and tend to the bonfire.

Those of you who know me well know how hard it is for me to resist a request to help build a fire. So, you know where I'll be this Friday. Even though Prof. Kim suggested to me at lunch today that it would be best if I could attend both events at least for a short time. Evidently the Korean faculty here has developed the ability to be in two places at the same time. I, on the other hand, have not. Looks like I am clearly in need of Ninja training. I'm pretty sure that this will lead to imbalance in my life, so at this point, I'm resisting.

The requests this week, however, didn't end there. After Student Chapel Wednesday afternoon, the Church Administrator for HIC approached me and asked if I might consider becoming a Life Group leader. The leader's duties include hosting a small group Bible Study, prayer and worship time at least once every other week. They would leave it up to me to define the make-up of the group such as spoken language ability, age, gender, interests, major field of study, etc. I'm praying about this one. Its within the scope of my primary gift -- pastor-teacher.

Then comes the final request -- presented to me at today law school faculty lunch meeting. I was informed that the Korean faculty is in the process of writing a textbook covering an introduction to Korean Law. Here's where I come in -- they're intending to publish this book in English. None of the faculty, though, speaks English as a first language -- except . . . me. So I've been "asked" to serve as the general editor of the textbook project.

This one is more difficult to decline. Its within the board scope of my employment contract, so it looks like I'll doing some editing later this semester. I'm not certain when the project is scheduled for completion, but I got the distinct impression that they would like to have it done before the beginning of the new semester next year. The one redeeming aspect of this project is that I can only do the editing work on chapters that have first been submitted to me by my colleagues. I'll have to wait and see what I'll get.

After all these requests for my service, I was quite please to accept Prof. Kuyper Lee's invitation to take a walk after lunch today along with Prof. Kim and Prof. Chang. Prof. Lee has a habit of taking an afternoon walk following lunch. Unlike the American professors at Handong who I've been walking with in the evening, my Korean brothers don't walk the road around campus. Instead, they follow a path into the wooded hills that extend to the west of campus just beyond All Nations Hall, our new building.

Once we were well upon the trail, I remembered that this was a pathway that I had hiked on a couple of occasions during my brief stay at Handong in the summer of '04. Prof. Lee, however, led us along the path to where it joined a "less travelled" road up a hill to an overlook. The sight was astounding with a wonderful view to the east. We could even see a portion of Pohang harbor! The site itself was a beautifully manicured hillside with a large mound of earth about 10 feet in diameter at its center. Prof. Lee explained to me that it was a family burial plot.

I didn't have my camera with me on this walk so I can't show you now how lovely this spot was. It provided a delight place to rest and reflect -- upon life and death; work and rest; requests and responses -- to reflect upon how best to live a balanced life. I think I'll be returning to this sacred place many times. I believe my visits here will help to keep me in balance.

Good Students ASK Questions

There is a tendency among Asian students, Koreans in particular, to refrain from asking questions in class. It seems as though they have the opinion that to ask a question shows that you have not been listening carefully enough to the professor's lecture.

So, since they do not want to appear disrespectful to their professors nor as unintelligent to their classmates, they simply do not ask questions in class. This is a problem for the teacher who sees education principally as the equipping of students with skills to ask hard questions about ideas, about others, and about themselves.

In the past, I have experienced this disinclination to questioning by some of the students within Fontbonne's International MBA program where I've taught for the past four summers. Since most of the international students at Fontbonne were Asian, I have not been surprised to find the same tendency among my students here at Handong.

The challenge, as always for one who is called to teach, is to engage the thinking of my students. To call upon them and encourage them to ask questions. I knew it would be a difficult objective to attain. I realized that I would be lecturing to a classroom filled with respectful and attentive listeners. What I'm seeking, though, is actively engaged listeners who don't just drink in the lecture, but ones who ponder ideas and pose questions.

So here at the beginning of my second week of teaching I still had only modest hopes of prompting maybe one or, at the most, two questions from each class. To my very pleased amazement, though, this morning's Survey of American Law lecture was interrupted by no less than 10 questions throughout the 75 minutes I spent with my 40 students. That's got to some sort of record! (Well, . . . maybe).

It was great! One question from a student would prompt an explanation on my part, and then I would follow it up with a question of my own back to the student -- not to put them on the spot, but to encourage them to think about the question they had asked and then, to encourage them to ask the next question, to go deeper, to think things through.

Some students already have a basic grasp on some elemental concepts of law, so they asked questions about issues such as "double jeopardy" and "procedural bar." Others simply needed a better explanation of the definition of the technical legal terms that were being used -- such as "jurisdiction" What was amazing, though, was the fact that they were doing just what I have been inviting and encouraging them to do -- Asking Questions!

Jesus did it when he was but a boy of twelve. Take a look at Luke 2:46-47. During his time of ministry, one of his principle means of instruction was asking questions. Probably the ancient teacher who is best known for instructing by means of posing questions is Socrates.

In fact, the "Socratic Method" is still practiced by professors in most first year law school classes throughout the United States. Posing questions to students is one of the most effective ways to train them to think and to equip them to ask questions themselves.

To pose and ponder the persistent questions of life -- I believe that's what the Apostle Paul was exhorting his readers to do when he wrote:

"Test [i.e. Examine or Question] everything; hold fast what is good" -- 1 Thessalonians 5:21

For those of you reading this blog who have been my students at Fontbonne or MBU in the past that phrase should sound familiar! Just like you, all of my new students at Handong hear it as the concluding words of each session of every class I teach.

Re-Learning Some of the Basic Lessons of Life

I have been told that nearly every international faculty member who comes to Handong makes a trip to the local hospital's Emergency Room within about the first two months of their sojourn. Well, it seems I have been given that privilege in my first two weeks! Here's how it transpired.

It all started -- as every life-instructing experience does -- in a very ordinary way. I was fixing myself a light Sunday evening supper and needed to remove a bottle cap. I reached in the kitchenette drawer of my well-anointed, little studio apartment. In that drawer, I found nearly every utensil you might need for meal preparation -- except -- a bottle-cap opener. So being the resourceful Eagle Scout that I am (this will come back to haunt me), I picked up a small knife and started to pry off, ever so carefully, that stubborn bottle cap.

I thought if I could only loosen the edges of the cap, I could then twist it off. What I failed to do, however, was what my father had regularly warned me to always do when using a knife or tool. Think about what might happen if the knife slips! Seems as though at fifty I was in need of re-learning this most basic of life's lessons: Consider carefully the consequences of your actions.

That's right; you guessed it. The cap popped-off a whole lot easier than I had expected and -- yes -- the knife slipped. But the other thing I had failed to check was just how sharp this little knife was. It had a rounded blade, so I assumed it was more like a dinner knife -- not a razor-sharp pairing knife. In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, my left index finger was changed! Laid open with a inch-long slice that was clearly too deep just to bind-up tightly and butterfly closed. No, I was no longer in need of Korean hospitality -- this would require professional medical attention.

Thankfully, Eric Enlow and his family had just dropped me off back at my apartment (The Hermitage, as I have now affectionately come to call it) an hour before, so after wrapping a clean hand towel around my wound and applying direct pressure (remember I'm an Eagle Scout), I made a quick call to Eric and humbly requested his prompt assistance. He assured me he would be right over to pick me up and drive me into Pohang's Good Samaritan Hospital.

What my good brother did not tell me at the time was that he was in the middle of grilling up his family's dinner. He dropped everything to come to my aid. We made it to the hospital in less than 30 minutes, and though I don't think I had loss much blood, I was feeling a bit light-headed. Eric directed me around from the main entrance to the ER -- having four kids, as Eric does, he has come to know this route fairly well. In fact (remember the two-month rule?), his young son (about 6 at the time) broke his leg within their first few months at Handong.

After being given two shots -- one in the arm, an antibiotic, the other in my rump for tetanus -- and two X-rays of my hand, the attending physician came over to my gurney and attended to the wound. It wasn't hurting much by this time since I had continued to apply pressure, but being the careful doc that he was, he needed to open the wound up and clean it out thoroughly.

Now the pain really intensified, but I was put in my place by the fellow two gurneys down from me. He had just been brought into the ER with a compound fracture of his lower leg! So it was time for me to buck-up and take the pain that clearly paled in light of his suffering.

Six artfully crafted stitches drew the 3cm wound tightly closed. The finger was bandaged and I was sent off with a 3-day prescription of antibiotics and pain medication. The whole experience had taken a little less than 2 hours and the cost -- $101.46 (that's 125,590 Won) which included the X-rays, medications and stitches! Consider that on your way to health care reform in the States. So now, I'm walking around campus and soon to conduct my Monday afternoon class with a fairly large bandage on my left index finger.

My "learning opportunity" has been especially humbling when you consider that about 35 years ago, this Eagle Scout nearly cut off that very same finger with an ax when he was attempting to spilt some oak logs on the first evening of his last Summer Camp as Senior Patrol Leader of his troop. Not only was it the same finger I cut, this new knife slice ran almost exactly along the old scar from that Scouting "ax accident." I think there might be an even deeper lesson here, but I will have to ponder it for awhile.

A Global Community

When I had taught here at Handong back in 2004, I met only the Korean and American faculty of the International Law School (HILS). I am beginning to realize now, however, that I have not only been welcomed into a cross-national relationship (Korean-American), but I'm also becoming a part of a truly global community. This came home to me Sunday morning after church in a particularly personal way -- through the fellowship extended to me by my new colleague Wilhelm Holzapfel from Germany.

Wilhelm (pictured above) gathered a group of students and faculty alike and treated us to a Kaffeeklatsch at his apartment on campus. Our small group reflected the wondrous diversity of this truly global university! We represented three continents and a variety of religious traditions. Our conversation ranged from sharing summer travel experiences to pondering theological paradoxes. It was a delightful time!

I think I may have even persuaded Wilhelm to consider becoming my German tutor so that I can pursue my language studies here and be prepared to sit for my German translation examination when I return to my study at Concordia Seminary this coming year. Who would of thought that I could come to Korea and study German while teaching American Law?

On my walk back across campus following our Kaffeeklatsch, my global experiences expanded to the Land Down Under as I met and exchanged "Good'aye, mate!" with Alex Bishop, an Aussie from Queensland. Later, I met a student from Congo. That makes five continents, now! The world is growing smaller and I hope we are all growing closer as brothers and sisters.

Korean Hospitality

Somehow I always had the idea that Southern hospitality was the hallmark for all who seek to welcome "strangers and sojourners" along the ways of life -- you know, Hebrews 13:2-styled hospitality. But after two weeks in here at Handong, I think the new standard is Korean! Not only was I treated to a delightful luncheon at a seaside Chinese restaurant this past Thursday with my colleagues from the School of Law, I was also invited, along with the other new international faculty to a lavish five-course dinner Friday evening. That's most of us in the picture above.

The dinner was hosted by the staff of the Handong International Church. That's Pastor Young Hwang (who is also a theology prof at the Univ) and his wife on the left, next to them is Kim (who is a first year law student at HILS) and her husband, Dave Becket, the associate pastor at HIC; then Prof. Harry Jee, my new friend from King's College in NYC; across the table is Pat & Kathy Talbot (Pat is a prof at HILS), to their left is Debi van Duin, new faculty in the Department of Language Education (DLE) and then yours truly. The kind soul who took the photo was Dr. Wilhelm Holzapfel. He's from Germany by way of South Africa and has been teaching life sciences at Handong for 2 1/2 years.

Wilhelm is a wonderful brother who I asked to tutor me in German while I'm here, so that I can make some progress on my PhD studies and maybe even be able to read Bonhoeffer in the language in which he wrote before the year is out! We'll see. Keep praying for me. By the way, Pastor Hwang has asked to consider teaching some theology classes next semester.

Meet Mr. Mok

Earlier this week, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that each professor on the faculty of the School of Law at Handong is entitled to hire a teaching assistant (a "TA" -- remember the fondness for acronyms!). So, I was encouraged by the law school staff to announce to my students that I would be taking applications for a TA. I did, and within moments after my very first class, two eager students approached me and expressed their interest in the job.

I interviewed both a day later and, again to my surprise, found that one of my applicants had both excellent English language skills and experience as a TA for one of the other professors on the law school faculty -- he already knew all of the ropes! Little did I suspect, though, that the scope of duties for a TA here at Handong included not only assistance in making copies of handouts for class and grading papers (like a typical TA in the States) but also helping me arrange and decorate my office, making my morning tea, going shopping for me, providing me a ride into town when needed, helping me obtain a mobile phone, and at the end of every day, even cleaning my office!

I had been told by my good friend Dr. John Han that I would be treated like royalty here, but I never imagined that it would entail having my own personal assistant, chauffeur and butler all rolled into one! But that just what my TA is. So, let me introduce to you, Mr. Younghoon Mok. He is a senior here at Handong majoring in both U.S. & International Law (UIL) and International Relations. He studied for six years in New York and Maryland where he went to Middle School and High School graduating from St. Paul's in Brookandville, Maryland in 2002. (Interestingly, I graduated from St. Paul's [no relation, though] in Concordia, Missouri -- but that was in 1977).

Mr. Mok's English skills are outstanding! He's an absolute whiz on the computer, and he's already started to decorated my office with a nice little plant! The other law school professors have stopped by to say what a good choice I've made. They all know Younghoon as both an excellent student in the UIL program and as an exceptional TA who served one of the senior members of the faculty this past year. I see him as just another one of God's gracious provisions for me here. I am continually amazed by the ways that God encourages us as we seek, by His grace alone, to serve His purpose in this our generation.

I know without a doubt that I've never yet been in a teaching post where I have been so encouraged and supported as I am here teaching at Handong. Its truly wonderful to be enabled to do what you believe you have been designed and equipped by God's call to do -- to serve others according to His will and purpose, day-by-day, step-by-step.

May we be both attentive and obedient to His call today!