Letters from Korea

October 07, 2001

Dear Sweet Anabel & Clan,

Although the flight went well, it was a long time in the saddle. Y'all would have loved watching the Korean crews change at D/FW. The little girls were so cute. You could tell that they were awfully proud to represent their country/corporation. Their cabin service was prompt, pleasant and courteous.

We finally took off at 4:00 AM Saturday which computed to 7:00 PM in Korea. I thought that if we could phone them they could tell us the score of today's OU-Texas game (insert groans). The Korean Air 747 gave us an on-going view of the plane's progress superimposed on a map of the world. Just follow the little picture of the plane, lady. As I'd suspected, we flew northwest through Oklahoma, Denver, Wyoming, Montana, Juneau, Vladevostok, Japan, into Seoul. It gave us flight info such as: ground speed, 580; altitude, 39k; outside temp, -70 F; time from departure and time left till our arrival, etc. I noticed that the speed picked up after we'd rolled over Alaska which is to be expected as we'd started going downhill. Passengers without a doctor's degree probably couldn't have figured this out.

Paul Jeong (Jeong Paul in Korean) met my plane. Enjoyed the trip into the city which is beautiful and modern. I'm anticipating the conferences. He said Steve McVey came to speak and his message of God's grace blew away the pastors who are steeped in religious legalism. I'm praying that my simple message will add the finishing touch to his excellent presentations.

I'm missing you and I love you, especially you, dear Anabel.

October 08 and 09, 2001

These are delightful people! According to Paul, they were not used to hearing an informal speaker so it took a while for them to warm up. Afterwards they seemed to relate real well. They were very attentive. Many of them bought the Korean translation of "Lifetime Guarantee" and lined up to have me sign their book. You know that I always add a smiley face to my sig. Some of them were puzzled by this, thinking that it was some sort of linguistic sign as they're used to dealing with such things in the Korean language. It was wonderful to see the truths of their identity in Christ dawn on them. I'm praying that this will dramatically change their interpretation of the Bible for the better. They're not used to viewing Scripture through grace.

October 10, 2001

(Aside for internet readers: Many of you have heard Anabel's poignant story of how God used Mason, our mentally retarded son who went to be with Jesus at age twelve, to show her that His love for her does not fluctuate according to her performance, but that He loves her just because she's His. This awesome revelation has been used by the Holy Spirit to set thousands free to receive His love and acceptance. When Mace went to be with Jesus in 1972, we gave the bulk of his insurance money to the Far East Broadcast Co. to aid in building the 250,000 watt radio station HLAZ-AM. FEBC graciously named the translator building in Mason's honor. Millions of Chinese, Japanese, Russians, and Koreans have been saved and mentored via hearing the gospel in their own language through this station. To God be the glory!)

Man, did I ever have a great experience today! I visited HLAZ in Cheju Do (Korean for island). I say "in" Cheju, not "on" Cheju because the whole island is considered to be a city named "Cheju," "Je-ju" in Korean (pronounced Jay' Jew). The island is a tourist Mecca about the size of Oahu. The climate in Seoul is "about like Chicago" according to host Paul. The amazing thing is that the climate on Jeju is like San Diego…palm trees, orange groves, the whole works, even though it is only a one hour flight from Seoul. It must be the water. Speaking of which, the water is a beautiful blue. Trust me, Mason has a lovely environment from which to broadcast the Gospel through HLAZ.

FEBC bought this property thirty years ago. They had to get approval from fifty crusty locals who lived nearby. The big problem was that one of their gazillion gods was enshrined in an unkempt, weedy little patch about a mile from the station. The belief was that anyone who disturbed "him" would die. Strong Satanic stuff! But, after much prayer and crossing palms with a few bucks, they signed off on the sale. So, HLAZ's towers and transmitter building now occupy a large tract of ocean-windswept, beautiful, beachfront property. You can stand on the HLAZ third story overlook with a clear view of forever, imagining "Mason's station" hurling the message of Jesus into hurting and hungry hearts! Very, very moving. You can imagine how much I longed for all of you to share in the experience. I asked God to give him a hug from all of us.

The plastic plaque that we have the picture of in our hall is no longer there. It was replaced by an 8X10 brass plaque. They seemed pleased that we refer to it as Mason's station.

The station personnel are delightful Koreans who are very underpaid and live in base housing. I hugged them all and thanked them profusely. I also gave a $500.00 gift from our family to their work. The station manager whose name is "Yoo" (as in, Hey, you!) insisted that I be interviewed for a 20-minute broadcast that will be aired twice, world-wide. That was fun. Paul was my translator.

An unforgettable day. God is so good to me.

October 11 and 12, 2001

This second conference (in Puson) was pretty much a repeat of the first one in Seoul. You recall that I was on the first US Navy ship that sailed into Korea after WW II. We tied up in Puson for two or three weeks. I tried to find the pier, but things have been so modernized that I couldn't. However, I did have a meal overlooking the harbor. Very nostalgic. I had one experience that I wanted to tell you about. The Lord brought to my mind an experience I had had while there that I used to illustrate a point in my presentation. Several of us sailors were sent via truck to a military depot to pick up food stores for our ship. Japanese POWs were working in this warehouse loading crates of canned goods into our truck. All were enlisted men except one major and all were still in uniform. The enlisted men worked hard, but the major just strutted around and loafed. This guy had no authority whatever over the Japanese enlisted men, yet when we tried to get them to make him tote boxes they were afraid of him. Their emotions were so programmed with fear of officers that they could not bring themselves to stand up to him even though the war was over. They were free to tell him to get busy or they'd kick his behind, but they wouldn't take action. You're probably way ahead of me, but this is a picture of the way many Christians relate to Satan. He has no authority over us whatever, but many are terrified of his power over them and will not take authority over him in Jesus' Name.

October 14, 2001

Turn out the lights…. The party's over….

Head'n home tired and fulfilled. Looking forward to seeing all of you and hugging your necks.

I love y'all,

Bill