April 2008

For he satisfies the thirsty and feeds the hungry with good things.
- Psalm 107:9

Dear Friends and Partners in mission,

Children at the kindergarten-age orphanage in Sariwon are short for their age due to lack of nourishment.

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus, who leads us in triumph through every difficulty and fulfills all our needs. It seems impossible to us to try to explain why God allows children in South Korea to have the same problem we have in the United States of being overweight while the young ones in North Korea are severely malnourished, subject to disease, and are stunted in growth. But we do know that God calls us and others of God’s people to reach out with love to meet human needs (Matthew 25). In speaking about her work in the North, Sue often makes the point that God allows present conditions in North Korea so that the Lord’s people, especially ethnic Koreans elsewhere, can meet those needs.

We ask your prayers and concern that Art and Sue Kinsler’s ministry through the Lighthouse Foundation can continue to feed up to 20,000 children and disabled persons. As you may know, we are faced with the fact that farmland, grains, and vegetable oil are used to make bio-fuel, and that with the rising demand from the world’s rapidly growing middle classes has caused a 40- to 150-percent increase in the world price of soybeans and wheat flour, which are what Lighthouse purchases to provide soymilk and bread for the needy in North Korea. Floods in 2008 and the withholding of outside help make this problem more serious. We pray that the Holy Spirit will move partners in giving for this work to continue to do that as well as motivating new givers. If you'd like to contribute online, you can click on the "give" button below our signature.

After Sue received an assistance agreement with North Korea authorizing Lighthouse to help a second orphanage in Sariwon, the Sariwon Kindergarten Age Orphanage (6- and 7-year-olds), God surprised us through a church in Pennsylvania that asked about a good-sized project that they could support. So the plan is for them to provide one-fourth of a year’s cost of bread and soy milk for the 370 children and some blankets, and they’ll also redo the orphanage kitchen and dining room with tile or linoleum floor covering, sink, dishes, pots and tables as well as an institution-size refrigerator. Our picture shows how small the children are who are waving good-bye.

While Sue was visiting North Korea in February, Art was planning for and handling the finances for the PC(USA) retreat for missionaries serving in East Asia. Forty-four persons participated, including staff from the World Mission offices in Louisville. It was hosted by Hannam University in Daejeon, Korea.

From March through July this year we are mostly in Pasadena, California, for our interpretation assignment. We're visiting churches in the United States and challenging people for world mission as we tell of our work. “Mostly” is written because Sue has urgent things to do in North Korea that break into this period, so she'll have to make trips to North Korea for follow-up work that can’t wait. Our U.S. phone numbers are (626) 793-4746 (apartment) and (626) 510-4905 (cell). Visit the Web site for our Lighthouse Foundation.

Other prayer requests

Our daughter Elaine has been in the hospital again because of vomiting, which prevented the seizure medicines from being effective. A change in diet seems to be effective and she is back in the group home having lost a lot of weight.

Sue is accompanying four women leaders from PC(USA) Korean Church Women to North Korea from April 16 to 23 and will show her work, including the milk plant/bakeries, two orphanages, and the workshops for the disabled.

Serving Christ for you in Korea,

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 101