ellis bert marjorie 1971 korea

8/18/2019 Ellis Bert Marjorie 1971 Korea

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BERT, M ^ R G E a n d J O H N ELLIS - P O S T OFFICE BOX 1 4 1 - US AN, KOREA

UG 1971eaxu:iirlatiaa.jltiandai

G r e e t i n g ® - f r o m K o r e a t H e r e w e a r e beginn ing o u r annua l r a i n y e e a e -ono I t has rained off and o n fo r the pas t week and we can look forward to 5 o r 6 eeksm o r e * T h e w h o l e h o u s e b e g i n s t o smel l m u s t y, a f o r e s t o f l a u n d r y i s h a n g i n g i n t h e k i tc hen , shoes and such l ike a re beginn ing t o mildew and l i fe i s n o t so pleasan t

L e t u s t e l l you a b o u t t h e h a p p e n i n g s o f t h e l a s t f e w dayso F i r s t , we were surpr i sedt o f i n d t h a t t h e p r i v a t e s c h o o l f o u n d a t i o n o f w h i c h the seminary where we t e a c h i s a p a r ti s planning a new universi ty The Minis t ry o f Educat ion has been consulted and the f i r s t

building, a l a rge one which wil l house 30 c lass rooms, i s now under construct iono Appl ic a t i o n h a s b e e n m a d e f o r p e r m i s s io n f o r 7 d e p a r t m e n t s , o r c o l l e g e s , a n d i f t h i s i s a p pr o v e d , the s e m i n a r y w i l l b e c o m e one o f the c o l l e g e s o f t h e n e w schoolo T h i s would me a nt h a t t h e s t u d e n t s w o u l d r e c e i v e a f u l l y a c c r e d i t e d d e g r e e w h i c h w o u l d h e l p i n g e t t i n g ab e t t e r l e v e l of s t u d e n t s o P l e a s e u n d e r s t a n d t h a t t h e r e i s as y e t n o p r o m i s e o r c e r t a i nt y o f accred i ta t ion , but the foundation does have some hope o r they would no t be inves ting i n the huge building we went ou t to see a few days a g O o I f a l l proceeds a s planned ,J ohn a nd B e r t wil l be t each ing i n the n e v / s c h o o l . A n d m a y we inser t here : f rom a f e wr e c e n t l e t t e r s s o m e o n e h a s r e c e i v e d t h e i d e a t h a t w e a r e r e c e i v i n g a l a r g e s a l a r y f p rt e a c h i n g , i n f a c t o n e _ ] y ^ t b e t ^ q u e s i U ^ n < i d v - ? ^ e j ^ e » ^ ^ f u r t h e r h e l p f r o m t h e S t a t e sI t i s o u r f ^ u l ^ s p e c i f i c : I S e i r t - r e c e n t i y ^ e ^ ^ a r a i s e a n d i s n o v ;r e c e i y i r i g Ml a y e g | ^ , f e . 2 ^ . g a u a n t h ^d u g i d a g r t h e T r . a c b o a 1 . ; ^ J ^ t oTWs s e x a c t l y w h a t& KoT"

e a n t e a c h e r X J O ^ ^ ^ e c e i r v T E r T b rt h e s a m eh o u T S ^ ^ We ^ f p p h S l z e dt h e f a c t t h a t t h e y p a i d u st o c o n t r a s t t h e f a t t ^that-'imret'lferean^^^-lnsti^u^^ which you hear are takers ratherthan givers as regards f u n d s o _ _ j ]jg ^ g e » j a e g it 8it pointed out, although w e have said thisbefore, that s h e is not, n o wteaching and has not been since our l̂ st

In connection\d^h tMs h e w ^ ^ seminary Inted but to us thatthere is no church in that immediate area and urges us to start one. H e himself is Presbyterian, but with the usual low-keyregard for denominationalbarriers that exists here,he is interested only in seeing the area evangelized. There is a vocational college,Pusan Fisheries College, in the s a m e area, new houses and apartments are being built everywhere, the area city offices will be located there, so it will be a natural center.Dr. Kim considers it o be one of the best prospective areas for church growth in th eci ty.e ren o wt r y i n gtol o c t ey o u n gpre ch e rtospendt h en e x tm o n t ho rtwom ka house to house survey of the area, teaching and evangelizing as he has opportunity, andthen w e will consider the results and decide how to proceed. This means extra expenditure, money which w e do not have. If a church is to be established there you folks willneed to respond with the necessary funds. Property prices are already rising and willcontinue to do so. W e must move quickly if we are to do any good.

In addition to this, yesterday broughtus an interesting interview and opportunity.A young preacher, j\mior at the seminary, w h o recently transferred from another schoolafter his release from the army, came to us with a plea for help. H e has for the past3 weeks been meeting with a group who have separated from a denominational church in anarea of the city that is rapidly growing. They became discouraged with the wranglingthat seems to be a part of denominational life in Korea these days and just walked outand want to have an independent congregation. There are about 30 adults and s o m e 7 0children and young people are in the Sunday School. They got permission to use a smallcity school building which had been abandoned in a consolidated school plan, and spents o m e 300-400 ,all their funds, in making it useable. N o wthe city tells thm they mustbuy the building. They do not have the required funds, 1,100, and ask for help. Theyhave paid 100 for an option which runs out June 20. W e are giving them 100 for an option for another 30 days. If w e can obtain 1 ,000 in the next 30 days w e will invest itThere is no risk as we will hold ti tl e to the property. t is priced below present market value and values are rising rapidly. W e have given the young m a n s o m e''Restorationliterature to read and will have a doctrinal discussion viith him later this week andthen with the group. Again, w e can hardly proceed without your help. What do you wantus to do? -Your financial rasponae^will-he-your-anawer. Such situations as this are notunusual. M^^^^ple-aire tired of the political bickeringgoing o n in denominationalchurches and want out. The time is ripe for the simple message of the Gospel. Will youhelp us meet this need?


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Page 251971

The th i rd need concerns a l i t t l e congregat ion which has been meet ing for some 20years at the top o f a mountain near the cen te r o f the c i t y < » Orig ina l ly i t was a numbero f re fugees f rom Nor th Korea who "squa t ted" on the mountain top after the war© We havev i s i t e d t h e r e a number of times and count the old p a s t o r as one of our g o o d f r i e n d s ^I t almost takes a mountain goat to reach the locat ion and we are not quite thatt Butr e c e n t l y t he c i t y has been b u i l d i n g a h i g h w a y around the c i t y along t h e m o u n t ai n r i d g e sand it comes w i t h i n 50 feet of this church® New houses and apartments are s p r i n g i n g u pal l along the way and are ant ic ipated in tha t area® Ant ic ipa t ing such growth , the pas

to r to re down the old bu i ld ing , which was i n sad shape, and cons t ruc ted a new bui lding®It i s small and humble , but adequate® It i s no t comple te ly f in i shed bu t i s in use® Wespoke the re two v/eeks ago and wil l be the re again soon® It w i l l take about $75 to f i ni sh the ce i l ing and floor® Then they v / a n t to bui ld a small, unat tached bel l- tower forthe bell they now have, and v ; e estimate that will take another $100-150; (you can hardly have a church in Korea v/ithout a bel l i ) The pastor has f inanced pract ical ly al l ofthe renovation® He has ye t a small piece o f cheap land t o sel l and wil l apply thatm o n e y o n the c h u r c h , b u t i s hav ing d i ff i cu l ty se l l ing® So f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n th em o r e than 12 years we have known h i m h e asks fo r h e l p f o r t h i s church l T h e o ff e r i n g so f these poor people are small and he pract ical ly supports h imse l f , so can d o l i t t l emore than he has already done® This man read himself into a New Testament posi t ion before he had ever heard of the Church of Christ® Then he came across some Restoration

literature and was amazed to find kindred souls® He t r i e d t o fellowship w i t h t he"Church o f Chr is t " p reachers here but they rebuffed him because he was not one o f" the i r" preachers, ( tha t i s , they had no t ordained himl) When he saw how denominational t h e y w e r e he lost interest as h e was not about t o exchange d e n o m i n a t i o n a l bondagefor another such yoke® He has remained our f r iend , however, th rough the years, and t heo t h e r m o r n i n g w h e n we ta lked h e a lmos t c r i e d as h e said h e b e l i e v e d B e r t is t he onlyperson in Korea w h o understands t h e New Testament as h e does® We are t hankfu l it isno t al l tha t badl The L o r d s t i l l has His o ^ T npeople herel We are going to help him;w e don*t k n o w when or h o w m u c h b u t we w i l l h e l p th i s good C h r i s t i a n brother® Wouldyou like to have a share in this? Just let us knowl

The seminary semes te r has a l m o s t f i n i s h e d , jus t abou t th ree more weeks® T h e n wehave school vacat ion t ime unt i l Sep tember, giv ing us a l i t t l e t ime to recuperate an d

for the fall semester and to look after other interests®m w i l l be in camps and c h u r c h e s m o s t of June and J u l y and h o p e s t o l eave f o r Ko-A i i g u s t ® He still has some open dates® You can reach him at Woodland Christian

i e Camp, Rt® #1, Temple , Georg ia 30179® He needs your prayers and financial he lpfor the t r i p ®

A r e c e n t l e t t e r sugges ted we make o u r n e w s l e t t e r s s h o r t e r and send them m o r e of ten®This will cost a bit more but we will try, b e g i n n i n g with this one® If y o u want us t ogo ahead with the above pro jec t s l e t us hear f rom you immediatelyl Th i s t ime we wil la p p r e c i a t e hearing directly f r o m you rather than through Miss L i n d s e y ® Continue t osend ALL f inancial help t o her: Miss Loraine L i n d s e y, Cabool State Bank, Cabool , M isso u r i 65689® B u t drop u s a l i n e a i rmai l at P® 0® Box 141, P u s a n , Korea® It o n l y cos t s2 5 ? f o r a s h o r t AIRMAIL l e t t e r and wil l r each us i n about 5 days® We v / i l l be anx ious ly

wait ing Thanks again for a l l your help® Pray fo r the work herel

Faithfully yours,

Bert, Marge and John EllisP ® 0® Box 141 Pusan, KOREA

^additional names for our mailing l is t , please do so now® S® If you have not yet s


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B E RT, MARGE J O H NE L L I S - P o G o B O X 1 4 1 - P U S A N ,K O R E AJu ly -Augus t, 1971

Dear Christian Friends:

Gree t ings aga in o n a ho t summer d a y f r o m Korea l Tempera tu res h a v e gone in to thehigh 90 's w i t h a low d u r i n g last night o f 77, a n d the h u m i d i t y f r o m 70 to 1 0 0 4 1How t h a n k f u l w e a r e f o r t h e l i t t l e a i r - c o n d i t i o n e r v/h ich t h e F l e m i n g G a r d e n C h u r c hi n I n d i a n a p o l i s bough t f o r us so t ha t ou r b e d r o o m i s cool a n d v e can s leepI

T h i s n e w s l e t t e r w i l l b e d e v o t e d m a i n l y to a r e p o r t o f o n e o f t h e p r o j e c ts m e n t i o n e din last month's letter a n d we w i l l g i v e y o u a running a c c o u n t :

J u n e 1 7 - A young preacher, s tudent a t the semina ry, comes to us wi th a p lea fo rhe lp f o r a church he i s s e r v i n g o We do n o t know h i m v z e l l a s h e only t ransferred toth is school th is y e a t o H e had 2 year ' s v / o r k a t a seminary i n Seo u l, then served 3years i n the a r m y, a n d a f t e r h i s discharge decided to come to Pusan Semina ryo W efind the reason for his transfer is that he is s i c k of d e n o m i n a t i o n a l i s m and wantsn o p a r t o f i t a n d had found that th is semina ry was n o t under denomina t iona l control ,the on ly such that he knew o f o We a r e , o f course , sympathetic to h i s f ee l ing . H ete l l s us t ha t t he congrega t ion h e i s n o w se rv ing i s a n e v ; o n e , loca ted 3 m i l e s o utbeyond o u r h o m e , a t t he outski r t s o f the c i ty. I t began i n M a y w h e n a group sepa ra t e d f r o m a denomina t iona l congrega t ion a n d b e g a n m e e t i n g b y t hemse lves . T h e r e a so n fo r the separa t ion i s that the group was s imply f ed up v / i t h bickering and ecclesi a s t i ca l con t ro l whe re t hey had n o vo ice i n t he i r o w n l oca l a f f a i r s . The g roupf rom w hich they separa ted clai ms to be the most conse rva tive denomina t ion , doct r in -a l l y s p e a k i n g , i n Korea . T h e s e p a r a t i o n was not p a r t i c u l a r l y o v e r d o c t r i n e , a lthough the group was unhapp y wi th the ext rem e legal is tic v iews o f t he denomina t ion ,bu t r a t h e r o v e r t h e f a c t t h a t a f e v ? p r e a c h e r s con t ro l l ed t h e w h o l e d e n o m i n a t i o n ,e v e n d o w n t o t h e l o c a l ch u r ch l e v e l . (This s a m e a b u s e i s f o u n d t o a g r e a t e r orl e s s e r d e g r e e i n a l l d e n o m i n a t i o n si n K o r e a , e v e n t o t h e C h u r c h of C h r i s t . )T h e congregat ion f rom which they s e p a r a t e d i s s o m e 5 5 y e a r s old and a t the t ime o fs e p a r a t i o n h a d an a v e r a g e v 7 o r s h i p a t t e n d a n c e of 65 . I t i s l o c a t e d i n a n a r e a w h i c h

numbers some 2 ,000 fami l i e s v r i t h i n less than a mile radius o f the church bui ld ing.These facts do not speak well fo r i t s wi tness i n the communi ty. I am t o l d t ha tthere was no f igh t a t the separat ion fo r those w i t h d r a v r i n g were n o t angry a t thosewho remained , but ra ther a t t h e denomina t iona l heads. T h e group consists o f some35 adults; they have a Sunday School o f chi ldren which has reached 1 0 0 i n at tendance af t e r on ly 6 weeks . They have secured a smal l one-room school bui ld ing abou t4 0 by 20 fee t a s a meet ing place, l o c a t e d just across t h e r o a d f rom t h e l o c a l go ve r n m e n t a l o f f i c e s i n a c e n t r a l l o c a t i o n . T h e i r f i r s t p r o b l e m i s f i n a n c i a l . T h e yob ta ined the use o f the bu i ld ing , which v / a s i n a r u n d o w n co n d i t i o n , f r o m t h e CityB o a r d o f E d u c a t i o n v / h i c h h a d a b a n d o n e d i t i n a school c o n s o l i d a t i o n p r o g r a m . T h e yb o r r o w e d about 5 5 0 which they spent in r enova t ing the bui ld ing. T h e n shor t ly af tert h i s r e n o v a t i o n t h e B o a r d of E d u c a t i o n d e c i d e d t o s e ll th e p r o p e r t y so t h e c o n g r e g a t

i o n e i the r had to buy o r m ove , and the only way to protect t he i r i n ves tmen t i n r e nova t ion was to b u y l But they do not have the approx imate ly 1 ,000 needed . T h e yhave bor rowed wha t they can and s ti l l need mo re a n d the f ina l date to close thep u r c h a s e i s only 3 days away, June 2 0 . F r o m p a s t e x p e r i e n c e I a m s k e p t i c a l a n dw o n d e r i f t he i r expres sed in t e re s t i n b e i n g i n d e p e n d e n t i s o n l y to t ickle m y e a r s ,a n d t h e y a r e a c t u a l l y just l o o k i n g fo r s o m e o n e t o p a y t h e b i l l s i I d e c i d e t o t a k ea c a l cu l a t e d r i s k a n d a s k t h e m t o s e n d s o m e o n e f r o m t h e g r o u p t o t a l k t o me.

J u n e 1 8 - I h a v e a l o n g m e e t i n g w i t h t h e preache r and the m a n v / h o i s act ing a scha i rman o f t he congregat ion. I quest ion h i m a t length about the i r des i re to be i nd e p e n d e n t a n d h e a s s u r e s me t h a t t h e y just w a n t t o be f ree , a n d t h a t t h e y h a v e b e e na p p r o a c h e d by s e v e r a l d e n o m i n a t i o n sa n d h a v e t u r n e d t h e m d o w n . S o m e t h i n gm u s t b e

done to m e e t t he dead l ine o f J u n e 2 0 o r they lose the bui ld ing. I g ive them 1 0 0fo r w h i c h they t h i n k they c a n get thei r opt ion e x t e n d e d fo r 30 days w h i c h w i l l g i v eme s o m e t i m e t o l o o k i n t o t h i n g s a bit f u r t h e r .


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AU62 19 7 1

BERT, MARGE OHNELLIS - July/August , 1 9 7 1 Newsle t te r - Page 2

June 25 - The preacher comes to te l l me that they could not get the opt ion extendedso they borrowed mor e money to purchase t h e bui ld ing before the deadl ineo But nowthey are some $ 1 , 5 0 0 in debt and must pay about $ 9 0 MONTHLYjust in interestl I ti s impossible for them to do this so they have jus t jumped f rom the frying-pan intothe f i reI I dec ide to l e t them worry for a while and see v ^ h a t they can work o u tamong themse lves

July 1 1 - I vis i t them on Sunday© The bui ld ing looks n ice and they had a good service© I am well impressed with the young preacher© After the service I have a longconference with 3 men they have appointed to te mporarily act as deacons© I f indthere are only 8 r 9 wage-earners in the group and their income i s small© I pressthem to make some dec is ion as to jus t how much they can raise© Repeatedly their response i s to ask how much I am going to d o © I am a bi t discouraged© Again they saythey j u s t want to be independent and have turned down offers from several denominations© My parting word i s to get together and make some plan, which means sacrificial giving, and then come talk to me© We did not discuss doctrine except to emphasize the sufficiency of the Scriptures as a rule for faith and practice, with whichthey appear to agree, and their need to study the Scriptures for a basis for theirposition© I have had a number of long conversations v z i t h the young preacher© Heseems sincere in his desire to simply follow the Scriptures© I have given him somel i terature to read and have repeatedly emphasized the authori ty of the Scriptures©H e has read what I have given him and asked questions© He seems pleased when we goto t he Bible for the ansv/ers© Nov/ we will wait and s e e what the reaction will be©

July 1 9 - The preacher came this morning© The group has decided to jo in anotherdiv i s ion o f the same denominat ion f r o m which they separated, and that denominat ionwill pay their bills I am disappointed but not surprised I had told them Icould no t ask my American fr iends to make a sacrif ice unti l they f irst made somesacrif ice, and they would no t even make an effort I t i s the same o ld story overagain© The preacher has resigned; he wants no part o f such action© I t appears tobe just another case where the church does not mean enough to the people for themto make a sacrifice© This kind of thing i s disheartening© It happens over an dover again and we have to stop and remember that they do not have the long Christian background which i s our heritage in the States© The incident strengthens ourreluctance to subsidize the church here for as long as foreign funds take care o fthe local churc h, the local congregation will never take over their responsibility©

^Al l that we gained in the experience i s that we got to know this young preacherbetter© W e are impressed with his enthusiasm and sincerity© We are keeping intouch wi th h im and hope we can do each o ther good©

At this writing John has just finished his deputation work in the East and will beon his way to C a l i f o r n i a © He seems to have had more than his s h a r e of difficultyin trying to get to K o r e a © On his way across country he had car trouble, caused bya faulty overhaul job, that cost something over $400 It more than exhausted thebank account to pay the bills© At the end of June, according to our latest financial report from Miss Lindsey, we had something less than $5 in our personal accountand $15 2ol5 in the mission account John despeately needs your help i f he i s toarrive here in Aygust© Please pray that our plans will materialize

P l e a s e c o n t i n u e t o Miss Lora ine L i n d s e y, C a b o o l S ta teBank, Caboo l, Missouri 6 6 8 9 © Our thanks again for y o u r c o n t i n u e d f i n a n c i a lhelp and your praye r s©

Faithfully yours,

BERT, MARGE OHN ELLIS


5/6

BERT, MARGE& JOHN ELLIS - P 0« BOX 141 - - - P U S A N , KOREA

September-October, 1971Dear Chrlatlan Friends:

Greet ings again from Korea The most beautiful season of the year here in Korea ,autumn, has finally arrived, and we arc enjoying the wonderful weather» (Therewas a night a f ew d a y s ago tha t we d i d not en joy so much, however® Our t in roofseemed to have dev e loped a leak or t w o , one j u s t o v e r J o h n 's b e d , so w e dec idedt ime had come for repairs . We cal led in a couple of men and they took care of the

needed repairs, at least we and they both thought so. The next night , jus t afterw e had gone to bed , a l i t t le rain began to fall . Ber t said to Marge , " N o w we'l lsee h o w good a j o b they did. No sooner had he spoken than the f loods began toro l l down the wal l bes ide the bed . There was a mad rush to get al l the c lothesand things out of Marge's closet, into which the water was pouring Then theyhad to be taken downs ta i r s and hung up . Luckily, it d i d not ra in e i ther longor hard , but what rain did come do wn poured right into the bedroom. The nextdaythe men found tha t they had dis lodged and crumbled an old drain-pipe and the wate rwas being deflected through a small hole in the exterior wall right into our ceiling. A couple of hours work took care of it, ( w e hope) but we are still waitingfor the closet to dry out so we can put things back )

Our biggest news of the season out here is John's arrival. H e finally arrived inPusan on September 8. We went out to the a C r p o r £ ® ^ ^ > ° T S e e thim and Dr. Kim KielChang, president of the seminary where w e teach, and Dr. Kim So Young, the dean,also came to welcome him. H e arr ived on Wednesday, the 8th , and was teaching hisf i rs t c lass at seminary on Saturday, the 11 t h , so you can see h e d i d not was teany time I t i s a great j oy to us all to have our family re-united for a while,and Bert is especially pleased to have someone to talk with about plans and problems of the work for the L o r d in Korea . The f i r s t f e w days were spent in exchanging news of happenings in the U . S . and Korea . John had a wonderful time in campin Georgia this summer, in fact he says i t was the best camp season he has everhad and he has been working in camps for the past 8 or 9 summers H e especiallywants to thank all the good folk in Georgia for the way they treated him, and

Bert and Marge add their thanks also.Another item of interest, concerning John, is that shortly before leaving the U.S .August 29th, to be exact, he was ordained to the ministry by the Mar Vista Churchat Los Angeles, California. John has been a part of this congregation for thepast 2 years , working in whatever areas he could be of service. The minister,with w h o m J o h n has been l iving during most of tha t t ime , is Dennis Dotson , aclass-mate of John's at Milligan. We all appreciate the confidence the eldersand members of th is congregat ion have placed in John.

John is now busy teaching classes at Pusan Union Seminary, where Bert i s alsoteaching, and preparing materials to be used in his courses. H e is finding outfrom experience just how many hours and how much hard work have to be put in in

such preparation as we do not have the books and libraries available for the students such as the schools are b les sed with in the U.S. This requires the preparation of a rather extended syllabus for every class that is taught. He i s alsol o o k i n g a b o u t f o r o t h e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s o f s e r v i c e . T h i s i s t h e p u r p o s e o f h i s b e - ri n g h e r e a t t h i s t i m e , t o l o o k t h i n g s o v e r a n d m a k e d e c i s i o n sa b o u t h i s f u r t h e r ^f i e l d o f s t u d y a n d s e r v i c e . H e w i l l p r o b a b l yb e r e t u r n i n g t o t h e U . S . s o m e t i m eA |i n t h e s p r i n g f o r a s u m m e ri n t h e c a m p sa n d c h u r c h e s b e f o r e g r a d u a t e s c h o o l nex^/fa l l to fur ther prepare himself for work he re .

Bert is also busy with classes at the seminary and for this semester is alsoteaching one day a week in Seoul. Harold Taylor, our missionary in Seoul, is onfurlough, so while he is gone Bert is giving a hand with Seoul Bible Institute,assisting Gorden Patten. Bert goes up every other week and teaches 6 hours onFriday. He is teaching a course in Romans and finding just how difficult it isto teach 6 straight hours of such a subject (The students are also finding howdifficult 6 straight hours of Romans can be ) Fortunately we hav e a mimeographed


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BERT, MARGE & JOHN ELLIS September-October, 1971 Newsletter - Page 2

syllabus prepared in the Korean language and this helps them: at present it consists of some 80 pages, 8 x 10%, and we hope to have i t finished, another 20pages or so, by the end of the semestero Travel is always a problem; on Bert ' slast trip up the weather was bad and the plane could not land at Seoul and had toland some distance away and the passengers proceeded by buso That day it tookBert a lmost 6 hours to make the tripo The following day, after teaching all day,he sat around the Seoul airport fo r a couple of hours waiting for the sky toclear, but they finally cancelled all flights and he had to stay over another

night before coming home. Saturday morning the weather was still bad but theydid get at least one flight off and Bert got home, a day late.

Among the places needing help which we mentioned in a letter a couple of monthsago was the litt le church on the hil l here in Pusano We said we were going tohelp them some way. We went up to visit and saw what they needed to completetheir building. The floor was then about 2/3's done, and about a week later amember of the church made an extra gif t which took care of finishing the f loor.They also needed to finish the ceiling and enough gifts came in from th e localmembers to almost finish that. Then they wanted to build a framework outside thebui lding, a_lit t le b el l -t o we r, t o —s u pp o rt t h ei r— c hu r ch — be l- 1. — Th i s importanrthere in Korea; we are awakened every morning by the sound of church-bells callingChristians to the early prayer meeting at about 4:30 or 5:00 A.M. Everyone knowsthere is a church in their community We had decided just how much help we couldgive and it took care of what they had yet to be done. We are going up this Sunday to see the completed work and Bert will preach. Our thanks to the wonderfulfolks at Wilsey, Kansas, where our good friend, Frank Anderson, ministers fortheir regular support for many years and for their special gift for this church.With their offering and a special gift from dear friends in C abool, Missouri wh oalso support us regularly, there was practically enough to take care of what wasspent on this church. It lacked only a little over $2 of the full amount. Goddoes answer prayer We have seen this proved so many times since we have beenhere.

Our financial needs do not slack off. We are thankful that the Lord has provided,

through f aithful Christians, the funds for John's travel and v arious associatedexpenses. We do have additional expense now that he is here so we again u rgeyour continued support of the work we are trying to do for the Lord here. Ou rwonderful forwarding agent. Miss Loraine Lindsey, gets terribly worried at times,trying to keep the deposits to our account ahead of the withdrawals, f or there isnever a surplus. The last report showed a balance of $1.19 at the end of themonth You will never know how much we appreciate your continued su pport and th econfidence that it shows. Sometimes resul ts seem very slow in the work here butthe Gospel is being preached and the Lord has told us He will take care of theincrease. We believe Him Continue to send all funds to: Miss Loraine Lindsey,

c/o Cabool State Bank, Cabool , Missouri , 65689.

Now that John has begun to get around and see things for himself we are alreadytalking over plans for the future. We have a number of things in mind that wethink you will be interested in and we will be telling you about them as th eplans are more ful ly worked out.

Once again, may God bless you all in your various activities of service for Him.Write to us when you have time; we are always glad to hear from you and to hearnews of what your congregation i s doing. Ti l l next month, then,

Faithful ly yours,

BERT, MARGE JOHN ELLISP. O. Bo x 141

Pusan, KOREA

ellis bert marjorie 1971 korea

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