Soccer team finished strong...

Well, the soccer season has finally come to an end. The tournament this past weekend was a wonderful experience overall. Our boys came out in a furious fashion on Friday, posting two shut-out performances against ICS-Pyeongtaek (3-0) and Gyeong-Gi Suwon International School (2-0), thereby earning themselves a place in the tournament championship game. Saturday, during the championship game, exhausted from their two games the previous day, they still came out and battled the first place team, Korea Kent Foreign School. The game started off with an uncharacteristic misjudgement by our goalie resulting in a goal against in the 2nd minute of the game. Our boys battled back, and scored an equalizer in the 25th minute, and we went to half-time tied at 1-1. The second half was a scoreless defensive battle on both sides of the field, sending the game into overtime. Two overtime periods later, the score was still 1-1, and we were forced to go into a shoot-out. At the end of the first round of shooters, we finally found ourselves on the short end of the stick, having two of our shots blocked, and none of theirs. We came into the tournament as the third seed and finished in second. Our goalie, Michael Freel, was voted by the coaches as the Best Goalie of the tournament, solidifying him a place on the All-Star team. Our defensive captain, Japheth DeVries (a freshman), was voted Best Defensive Player by the coaches. Our team was voted by the coaches and referees for the Best Sportsmanship Award. Additionally, 3 of our players recieved All-Conference honors, and 5 players received All-Tournament honors. And both Japheth DeVries, and our team captain, Min Lee (a senior), made the All-Star team.

Just a few more stats to try and exemplify just how far God has brought this team from the beginning of the season: Including the games we played in the tournament, we allowed just 5 goals in our last 10 games, including no less than 6 shut-out performances. Comparatively, in our first 7 games we allowed a whopping 35 goals (three games of which were against Division 1 teams). Offensively, in our last 10 games, we scored 28 goals, while in our first 7 games, we scored a mere 7 goals.

Once again, thank you all so much for your prayers on behalf of our team this season. As I hope you can see from today's post, God answered your prayers in incredibly good fashion. It has been a tremendous joy to have been the coach this year. Is was laborious and stressful at times, but ultimately, God blessed in a fabulous way.

More information concerning our transition to California will come in another post later this week. Until then, God bless.

In His Service,
Sam.

The soccer season is all but finished...

Finally, we have come to the end of another soccer season here at ICS-Uijongbu. Our last regular season game concluded last night in a 2-0 win over cross-town rivals, Indianhead International School. The win put us in 3rd place for the division, a tremendous accomplishment for a team that started the season with 3 losses and 1 tie. Our defense and goalie have not allowed a goal in the last 4 games. That's 320 minutes of play time! Additionally, our offense has outscored the competition 22-4 in our last 7 games! In short, God has answered your prayers and mine, in that the boys have come together and played as a single unit. Thank you so much for petitioning the throne of God on their behalf!

We now move on to the season ending tournament on Friday and Saturday. We are scheduled to play our first game on Friday at noon. If we win that game, we will play again at 3:30 in the afternoon. And if we win that second game, we will play in the tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon. Our boys still have a lot of playing time left, so please continue to lift them up in your prayers.

We signed a contract with the moving company on Monday evening, and they will be coming to pack-up our stuff on Friday, May 29th, which is also when the rest of the shipping cost ($2,180.49) is due. Bethany Baptist is sending $2500 to help off-set those moving costs, but we will also need a good amount of money when we arrive in California for various other start-up costs, not the least of which are car insurance, health insurance, groceries, gas for the car...and the list continues. We won't have a paycheck from the church until the end of July. So, while the moving costs have been provided for, there are still other things that require God's providence. Please PRAY that all these details will be worked out completely, and ask God how He would have you to help.

For those who may be interested, our address in California will be: 4515 Grothman Lane, Martinez, CA, 94553. It seems so surreal that we now have an address in the USA once again. It's been so long since that has been the case. Praise the Lord for His goodness and care for my family and I!

That's about all for now. More updates will come in the following weeks. One last prayer request, though. I am experiencing very strong "withdrawal" symptoms. What I mean by that is that as we draw closer to our departure, I am having a harder time focusing on the task at hand. I am mentally ready to begin the new ministry to which God has called me, but I know that I also need to finish well and strong here first. So, please PRAY that God will help me to complete this work in Uijongbu well, while still being receptive to the things He is teaching me for my new ministry in Martinez.

In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Katherine Healey.

Back in the saddle...

We have nearly a full week under our belts, now, after Spring Break. It has been a really long week, but we are back in the saddle again. We teachers came back to school on Monday only to find that our network was down, and only a couple teachers had internet access on their computers…and it was hit and miss for them. This lack of internet accessibility at school, coupled with the internet connectivity woes that we experience from time to time on our worn-out laptop at home, is the reason I haven't been able to send out an update in two weeks. I meant to take a break last week during vacation, but I fully intended to send another message out earlier this week, and couldn't. So, I give my apologies to you all for that.

Concerning our transition to California, we plan to call the moving company back tomorrow in order to schedule a time to sign a contract. At that meeting, we will have to pay 10% of the cost as a down-payment. At current market conversion rates that's about $242.16, which will leave approximately $2,180.49 that will need to be paid on moving day. So, that's the number we need to PRAY for God to provide. As soon as I know the exact date that the movers will come to pack up our stuff, I will let you all know so that you can be praying all the more specifically. We do have some promises from fellow teachers to purchase some of the larger things we were not planning to take with us to California. So, God is providing avenues of revenue, but it’ll take more than what’s coming from the sale of these items.

The only news I have from Martinez is big news...at least for us. I just got an email from Pastor Rushing this morning stating that the house will already have a washer and a dryer. So, those are a couple of things that we won't have to purchase when we get there! Praise the Lord! I haven’t heard back from any other schools in the area with which I have had contact. God is in control, and we trust that whatever happens concerning supplemental employment will be His will for us and our kids.

The soccer season resumes for the team today with our Homecoming Game against sister school ICS-Pyeongtaek. We’ve been practicing all week, and the guys are ready for their game tonight. Tomorrow, we have another home game against Gyeong-Gi Suwon International School. And our last game of the season will be on Wednesday, a home game against cross-town rivals, Indianhead International School. Then, Friday and Saturday next week will be our conference tournament, after which the season will come to an end. We have the possibility of finishing in second place, if we win these last three games. PRAY that our boys will do the best they can to finish the season strong.

David and Katherine have been having a blast participating in Spirit Week here at school. Each day has a different theme to it, and the students are all encouraged to show their school spirit by dressing up to the theme of the day. They both were chosen as having the best outfit in their respective classes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Michael has been participating as much as possible, too, and having fun at it. Today is “Red, White, and Blue Day” (our school’s colors), and I’m sure Dulcy will be up to her ears in face-paint, and who knows what else by the time the kids make it to school in the morning.

We have purchased a new laptop since last I wrote. I decided to go with a Dell Inspiron 1545. It hasn’t arrived, yet, but it is on the way. This is the first laptop that we have purchased brand-new. A big thank you goes to all those who prayed that we would find a good deal. We were able to pay for it in cash, which is a blessing in itself.

My pastor, Tom Vasel, and I have been running board game events on a couple of the local US Army bases in the area for the past two years, and tomorrow afternoon we are having a Memoir ’44 tournament. Memoir ’44 is a simple 2-player strategy game that simulates many of the battles fought during World War II. I mention this because we haven’t yet received much feedback of interest. It would just be nice if we had a good group of participants. Please PRAY that we would have some soldiers come out for this tournament. On a related note, running these events provides us with base passes, and we recently had to renew them. Mine has not yet been approved, while the others have gone through. PRAY that my base pass would come through quickly.

We’ve had a lot of visitors lately at our church here in Uijongbu. It’s been a blessing to witness such an in-flux of people. PRAY that God will continue to bring visitors and new members into our church. There will be a lot of tithing members moving away this summer for good. PRAY that UBC will continue to be a blessing in this community.

Well, that’s about it for now, I think. I know I’ve probably missed something, and I’ll have to include it in the next update. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support. Both are greatly and completely appreciated. If you have any questions about our lives here or what they will be in California…or if you just want to say ‘hi’, feel free to contact me at samuelhealey@gmail.com, or Dulcy at buttercuphealey@gmail.com.

In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Katherine Healey

Transition Update...

So, here we are on the last Friday before Spring Break (for our school), and I have a good bit of information to pass along. This will be less devotional and more informational, so I apologize if it's not what you're used to...

I received an email from Pastor Rushing this morning stating that they have indeed solidified the house for rent in Martinez for our family. This, in and of itself, is a huge answer to prayer. So, praise the Lord! Concerning start-up costs for renting, the landlord is only asking the first month rent. So, there will be $2,500 left of the money the church is providing for relocation expenses to help get the car ready to go and to help off-set some of the shipping costs! If that weren't enough, he also said that the house will come with a dining room table and chairs, refrigerator, stove, 2 twin beds, and a queen-sized bed, and that some church members have set aside 2 recliners, a love seat, and an easy chair with a footstool for us. I was taken aback, to say the least. I never imagined that this much furniture would be provided for us!

So, I shot an email to the fellow that did the shipping estimate for our household goods, and told him that we wouldn't be shipping as much as we originally thought. About half an hour later, I recieved an email back from him with a new quote. Not shipping our dining room table/chairs, kid's bed, and king-sized bed knocked no less than $606 off our shipping costs, bringing the quote to $2,389.30! Another huge praise!

Additionally, we also recieved support checks from both my father and my grandparents in Texas. So, God continues to provide things at just the right time. Thank you all so much for your prayers for us as we continue to prepare for the trip back to the US.

Now, for some more prayer requests that have presented themselves recently:

1. Our school is sending out no less than 4 missions teams to different areas over Spring Break. One is going to help a couple UBC missionaries in Manila, Philippines, another is going to help a UCC missionary deep in the jungles of Palawan, Philippines, still another is going to Bangkhok, Thailand to help the Baptist Student Center there run a Vacation Bible School, and finally, one team is headed to an island off the eastern coast of Korea, named Ulleongdo, to minister in a number of different ways to the people who live on the island. All of these teams have multiple teachers going as chaperones and team leaders, not to mention all the students. In all, there are approximately 58 people associated with our school travelling to these different missions. Please PRAY that God's hand of safety will be upon them, that God's hand of power will be with them, and that these trips will be instruments of spiritual encouragement and rekindling.

2. This is a praise that I would like to join me in praising God. Our soccer team in the last two weeks have shot from 2nd to last place to 3rd place! We have won our last three division games in commanding fashion. I know that this is solely due to the prayers of you all reaching the ears of God, and His hand working in their hearts. The spirit of the team has done a complete 180 degree turn for the better, and they have finally decided to play together as a unit. It is, once again, a pleasure to coach soccer for my assistant and I.

3. About 2.5 years ago, we turned in our old desktop computer, and purchased a refurbished laptop to be used as our family computer. Well, the laptop is on the way out, now. It is still working, but the display is on the fritz, and we can barely read what it is that we do on it. I knew that we would have to replace the laptop soon, but I was hoping it would last until we returned to the US. It doesn't look like that's going to happen. Please PRAY that God will guide me to the perfect replacement.

Well, that's about it for now. Thank you again for everything that you all have done in prayer and support. It is entirely appreciated, to say the least.

In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Katherine Healey.