Letter #30

Kangnung, Korea

February 10^ I96I

Dear Friends:

"30" means "fiPiisWin journalistic jargon, and this time that is what it means here too, for the news of this letter #30

service here in Korea^ One month from today we fly from Seoul# By the time you read this we ivill be about ready to leave from Kangnung# And the next newsletter we put
out will come to you from somewhere in the good old U.S.A.

is that vie have decided to bring to an end our first term of

Furlough is an exciting time for missionaries. We are human. We get tired of being foreigners sometimes and think of hone^ and often the comparisons that we make
betiveen what we remember and what we are e-qperiencing at the time convince us that ~

the fellow was almost right who said, "Xou don't have to be crazy to be a missionary, but it helps." But still, the decision to go home is not one that is made lightly. Our ambition is not like that of the sma,ll boy who, impi'essed by the stories of a visiting speaker at church, said that when he grew up he wanted to be a missionary on furlough. We would rather stay. Personally I feel like a small boy being pulled
protestingly away from seme very absorbing activity. But sometimes you have to take a break. The human frame has limits. That we all know. The human nervous system,

while more complex, also has its limits, and while these limits are not so clearly
defined, sometimes it becomes clear that they have been exceeded. So it has been

here. My wife is a good personsincere, conscientious, and a spiritual soldier if

ever there was onej but she haor.'t got a lot of strength, and she overdrew on her

resources. Being constantly surrounded by too much to do and not being able to re sist trying to do it all perfectly, finally brought her to the place where she could do hardly anything at all. I have watched her siiffer a lot this last year, and I've probably contributed to it also, for I've coaxed and pushed and prodded and pulled and tried to get her to leam to relax in harness when I should have been hanging the harness up instead. Being fortunate to be strong myself, I have understood too little of weakness. But now v/e have seen that the best insurance for any future service is to qu2.t now and come to the States and let Melba visit v/ith her family and friends,
shop in a supermarket, send the girls to school, and eat salami sandwiches. rest and relaxation. Though

it is a spiritual struggle in v^hich v/e are involveds the physical still has a lot to do with it. The GI's have a name for it. They speak of going on R & R. It_means _
We hope that a furlough for us too can mean rest and recupera
tion, so that we can come back with renewed effort.

What do we leave behind? Well, a lot. Perhaps not so much in way of accomplish ment, but at least a lot in way of attachment. We speak of "gc.ing home" to America, but really our home is here nov/. ^8,000.00 worth of buildings and property we will leave herea good mission station, well built, that you have helped us to erect. A lot of sweat and toil went into that, but it was one of the minor struggles. The
work with the people is what counts much more. In that we have had some successes,

and some setbacks, but at least there is a functioning group of believers here.
seems really that little of this has come about because of our efforts.

It

We sometimes

feel that we can do very little, but then again vre shrug our shoulders and think,
'"ilfelJL, how much of this would there be had vre not been here?" The value of lives is

hard to compute. Jesus said that one is worth all the world, at least to the one him self, and that is true. But also one gets tied up in the lives of others, and there

are some lives here that have been touchcd by the Gospeljbecause of our having been here,that also mean a great deal to use We will not be able to forget them, and already we are dreading the time of parting* Farewells are difficult. V/ords have a
way of getting stuck then, and about all one can do is to mumble something, then swing your shoulders around and start walking away, even though there is a tiger claw ing at your insides.
One other thing we will leave here, and that is a lot of work to do. Until we

can come back and more nearly finish some of the things v/e have started, our lives will seem to be interrupted, but sonie of this work will go on;, even while we are gone. Chueh and Deacon Kim will go on with the supply of tracts that we have laid iti We intend to keep close contact with our workers, and it may just turn out that it is

best for them for us to be away for a while, but both men vdll need our prayers. Also there is one other thing that I want to mentionj I promised last time. The church at Chumoonjin wants to build# They have been saving their money, and have

about $50000 That may not soimd like much, but in a land where the average yearly
income is only IXOObOO, it is quite a lota

The group there is small and has not many

wage earners o Two and a half years ago, just before we moved to Kangnung, they bought an old Korean house and hollowod out the insides of it, for a meeting place. This has since been enlarged. Now they have estimates of a little brick building Just big enough to fill their lot. It will cost about ^51,500^00. (Hew does that compare with

the cost of yours?) Though the people have given faithfully, they still need some
help, I had promised to try to get them soue help from America, not realizing then that we would be going there. Now, thanks to the fact that our travel allowance for furlough has been made up in advance, we will be able to leave some money here to help them get started, and we will be glad to hear of their progress even while we are away. Should there be anyone else who would like to help them you may send along
an offering marked "For the Chumoonjin church" and we will be glad to forward it to

them. Perhaps by the time the snow flies next year we can have them in a new build ing. Speaking of snow flying, it was late this year. Not until this month of Febru ary did we have our first snow in Kangnung, and all the old tijners were standing around saying, "These are indeed queer going-ons."

Well, space runs out. We have been quite busy packing and taking care of the various other preparations that are necessaiy. Also we have been trying to get the girls prepared mentally for the strange new land of America. When we get settled

there we will write again to let you know where we are. We are aiming at Illinois,
but we haven*t an address there yet.
by writing mother.

Should anyone need to contact us they can do it

She will know where we are^

Thus we bring to an end a phase of our lives which has lasted nearly four years. We have appreciated the fine fellowship we have had wit]' you in the Gospelo And vre
wish to close this time with the phrase by which 7/0 have been closing our recent
letters home.

We'll be seeing you,

Busiaaess address: The Lashes

r'.

Mrs. R. i>bert Lash, Forwarding Agent ij03 N. a-i^^finr: Blvd Ashevillo, North Carolina

r >' v;':a-^4
I r,

mmmft

Springfield, Illinois \f
March 30, I96I
^Qt,0
Dear Friends in Christ:

'v -

V,

Greetings at last from back in America, We have arrived, are settled, and now are ready to share with you the events of
these last busy weeks as we have come from Korea

It was a rush, our leaving# We were kept busy right up to the last minute tryir^ to finish up things and to make preparations for the way things should run while we are away# But it was satisfying also, and it was rich# A col3-ege boy home on va

cation who responded to the invitation of my last sermon in Kangnung added a note of joy His baptism was the eve of the vei^* day before our scheduled departure, and
tended to sweeten the sadness of farewells a Chueh and Deacon Kim assumed their new

responsibilities before we left. Chueh and his family moved into the wing of the church to become caretakers, and Deacon Kjm assumed headship of the evangelistic ef fort. The latter especially was feeling his burdens heavily and would appreciate your prayers# Chueh had planned to go to Bible School v/hile vie v/ere away, but he discov ered just before we left that he had contracted TB and had to resto This fit in well with our plans, but it was quite a disappointment to him# ^e trust that good will
come from it

The mountains were full of snowo Snof/ didn't come until February this year, but then

ficult traveling is there. During the wnjiter I had gone over to Seoul and was able to arrange a good sale for our truck, but when delivery day came, there v/as a problem.

We could not leave Korea without some last troubles to make us remember how dif

it came in big clumps. This last trip became a 19i hour epic which outlasted even the 17 hour nightmare of our first move over. I don't know how many times we were stuck, but I considered it a fitting enough finale for the mile trip# But when it came time for the whole family to leave we hit another snag. Somehow the supervisors of

hide has been recently punctured, so we had allowed ourselves a full week in Seoul for
^>he Christians for a last time, had a short service, sang "God Be With You Till we _ Meet Again," and went out to the air base* But no plane. A storm was piling tip over

international travel tend to the belief that a person is more transportable if his

innoculations, etc#, and planned to leave Kangnung on Thursday. That day v;e^^t wit..

days Tfaiting for the skies to clear. Finally Saturday we made it. The delay didn t i^ally hurt us though. We got all our shots, and still Melba had time to bi^ a suit
case full of souvenirs*

Seoul 23,000 feet high and the DG-3*s couldn't fly, so we sat for two anti-6limatical

E-motored plane that carried us to Tokyo. There we rested for a few hours, then one

gain a second reason for being memorable. We took off from Seoul at 2tOO P.M in a

Finall;sr Friday, March 10th, arrived. Thisray old army discharge datewas to

minute before midnight we swooshed off in a Jet. The jets are so much more economical that they have put the prop planes out of business across the. Pacific. They make a

fast trip. We flew ^ hours, then touched down at Honolulu^ there it was time for lunch, and customs clearance# After 2 hours there we flew on Uhours more and landed in San Franciscoonly lol* flying hours actually it had taken to cross the oceana

Although we had left Tokyo at midnight on Friday the 10th, at San Francisco it was 8:30 P.M# on that same Friday night when we arrived i Those hours we lost going over had literally been grabbed on the fly coming back, li^e averaged 758 mpho After a cou ple of hours in San Francisco, during i^hich we chatted with niy kid brother who had driven up from L^A* to be a welcoming committee of one, v/e flew on to St. Louis. Thsr^^
S/he dawn of a becsutiful day was just breaking and the conftising of our bodily senses Li 33 hours we had spanned half the globe# A nice crowd was "oleted our' trip home.

was complete, for in Korea then it was dusk.! A short local hop to Springfield com

on hand to welcome us, and soon we were feeling as if we haci nsver 'been away#
light, even our bodies began to adjust^

After

a couple of times of waking up in the middle of the night and wondering why it wasn't

That was 2| weeks ago# Since then we have found a little place in which to live^
and we have furnished it enough so that have been moved in for 1 week now. Folks in the churches here, even though most of them were strangers before, have been very gen

erous in helping us to get settled. One day I phoned the preacher asking if I might borrow some bey's bike for the afternoon to run errands. I got the bike, but also
when I got back a lady had been calling ivielba, wanting to loan us a car to use for several months. That was Just typical. Cur living-link church had already reserved a car for us to use during furlough t^jne^ It has been fun being back in a place where ona .can mderstand every syllable of a seiraon without strain, and where even the songs

and the prayers are in English. It is fun to walk into a supermarket and scan the wide selection of supplies so recently scarce or unobtainable. And these American

highways I Already I am driving 6$, whereas a month ago 2$ mph was about the top
not because of regulations, but because of rocks and ruts.
back in the States.

Yes, it is nice being

But what of the future?

Some have written, wondering.

Are we going to have to

give up the work?

No, we think not, and ve hope not.

We are missionaries at heart

and we want to return

Because of the cii-cumstances of Mslba's health we are planning

a slightly longer fxirlough than usual; we expect to stay throvigh next school year.
During this time, however, we shall be busy about the Lord^s work and we shall con tinue to need support, which should still be sent to our Forwarding Agent, ^.''ihatever

comes in beyond our living expenses will be put into the work in Korea, which shall
go right on. The two men mentioned earlier are still on salary, and there is a semin ary project that we would like to boost, as v;ell as the Chumoonjin ch\U7ch building.

We lack not for challenges or opportunities

We are only tired...not retired

For the present v/e have settled here in Springfield so that i&lba can rest and re
cuperate and so that the girls can be in school. Both of them are entered in the Christian Day School and are enjoying this new countrj' immensely. Dawny is still a bit dubious about keeping her shoes on in the house, but we think she will adjust. I

am going to be traveling and speaking some on weekends, but for the most part betwe-sn now and the end of this school year I want to try to settle down and write an MA the sis which is about 5 years overdue^ If I can finish that I'll tell you more about t later. We may be seeing many of you in these next months. If there are any who wou"-.d like to arrange a speaking date, we may be contacted either by a call or a card. Tht-

address here is 2136 S. 10th, and the phone number is Lakeside J-SSh-Om

I have slides

and will be glad to renew old acquaintances while reporting on what has been done. That is what furloughs are for.
It seems that our life has turned a full turn nov/. V/e are almost back where we

started. Last evening I went out to a neighborhood church to drop in on their preEaster revival. Preaching there was a boy from Korea whom we knew well. Soon Gook Chueh. It was good for me that I went. Scroetimes one gets to viewing his own work as of central importance. Better it is to realize that one's own efforts are but a part of God's triTiraphant program which shall move forward to success whether we fight or whether we fail> Good it is to be even a part. More news later.,
Business mail, address? Yours in Christ,

k03 N, Griffing Blvd. Asheville, N.C.

The Lashes
Personal mail, addresss 2136 S, lOfch Springfield, HI.

K.i
Letter #32

Uihes
^hZ'

^ s^i'^ lO^J'
Springfield, Illinois

Spr,A<fA,eU

^
25, 1961

^non^

Dear Friends:

I guess it is about time now for a first report on our

furious furlough,

furlough time could be, but not until caught up in it ourselves did we actually realize what they had meant# Seems as if we have been as busy as a one-eyed cat

of peace.) We had heard other missionaries talk about how busy

(The adjective has to do with pace, not lack

trying to watch two mouseholes on opposite sides of the room ever since we landed.

Melba and I have been taking speaking dates# In fact, we have had to start keeping
a joint date book in order to avoid conflicts# Also we have been able to visit

But we don*t complain* It has been good We have been visiting the churches that have helped to support us during this last four years, and have been reporting to them of the work that the Lord has helped ue to do. That has been enjoyable. Both How nice it is to be able to renew old acquaintances, revisit loved

relatives#

places, and chat with old friendso Also crowded into the schedule have been visits to a couple of conventions, including my first to the great North American Christian

Convention, which met this year at Wichita, Kansas# How good it is after several years of having had to stand alone, to be able to fellowship with several thousand others of like precious faith# Xhis is a joy that will not soon be forgotten# Even .
our girls agree that being in America is goodo

But our thoughts have not all been here# About a week and a half ago we finally received from Korea two foot lockers which v/o had sent, containing some souveiiirs, a few personal clothes, and a small table radioe We plugged the radio in right away
to see how it had stood the long trip# Almost the first v;ords that we heard were:

*'A group of generals in Seoul, South Korea^ are broadcasting over the national radio that they have overthrown the government#" We "vere rather startled, because we had just heard from our friends there that all was quiet# A month ago we would not have been surprisedc There vjas open talk of an overthrow of the government before we left but it was expected to come in April on the anniversary of the revolution a year ago when Rhee was deposed# The comtry had been tottering on the edge of anarchy ever since Rhee; and there was a lot of dissatisfaction amongst the people, but April

militai7 leaders claim that they got tired of the contjjiued inefficiency and corrup tion of the politicians# V'/hether this vdll be a true clean-up movement, which could be of great value to the country, or whether it vdll be only another change of the
beneficiaries of the corruption remains to be seen^ but it will probably not affect missionary work too much in the country# The troubles of a year ago were much more ci*ucial, and they did little to harm our work, except that they distracted the minds

passed quietly#

Then when everybody relaxed, this take-over came#

The dissident

of the people for a while# The greater danger is still the ComnTunist armies poised
just across the narrow strip of plowed, mined, amd fenced land that divides between

Worth and South Korea# With that threat, the continued lack of a satisfactory gov-emment in Sou'tti Korea mates the problem critical#

^herwise the news that ?;e have heard from Korea seems to be good# The church work is going along# Chueh writes that although the attendance slipped a little after we left, the services are more "graceful" now. I thought at first that he must have reference to the absence of us awkward Americans who sometimes sit wiidi our legs jK'otruding straight before us on the floor, rather than in the approved cross-legged

fashion, but he went on to explain that those v/ho had been coming for ouch falsa
motives as to hear English, or to receive something material, had dropped out now,

so that the spirit of the services was more full of grace.

the villages How we miss being there with them I

They had been having a

late Spring, with lots of snow, in Korea, and so had been unable to get out, but they still planned as soon as the weather cleared to continue the tract work out in
But we have found out even more now as to the reason why we cajinot be The last

of April Melba and I finally got around to going to the hospital for a check-upt Vfe
were taken into Christian Hospital in Ste Louis for three days and :received the most thorough physicals either of us had ever experienced^ The results were both bad and
good# Bad because we found some things needing correction, but good because they

revealed physical causes behind ^at we had feared were only nervous problems, and thus gave increased hope for future health and work# Melba went into the hospital
somewhat like the fellow who went to his family physician and said, "Doc, I hope you

can find something wrong with me, because

hate to feel this bad If I*m well."

So even the bad news was good. There were three things-* Both of us have had some liver damage from somehhing like hepatitisX, more than Melbaand we are having to

take medicine. .this, claspitc the fact that we have boiled all our drinking and dish washing water for 30 minute? for the last four years, trying to avoid such problemso Then, in addition, we were surprised to find that Melba has had a bout with tubercu losis sometime during the last year. It is over now: there ave onl;/ scars, and the disease is no longer active 5 but began to feel that maybe the poor girl had had some reason for not ffa^l'lng up to par S Iven more serious was the discovery of an internal tumor, which is gojjn>~ to necessitate a rather serious operation before we go back to Korea. The doctors ha-^'e suggested that this not be done until the end of the summer, so that she can have additional time to gain strength, and so that there will be the school year when both gtu'ls v.ill be more or less occupied, that Melba might completely recuperate before we return to the Orient. This soems to be God's

will.

Naturally we would appreciate your prayers that these things might work out

without serioTis complications

Melba has been an Ijnportant member of the team Some of the results of that were seen just a few Sundays ago v;hon Dorothy came to us wanting to be baptized. She is not very old. She will be only 7 next ?all, but for a long time her heart has beer
tender to the things of t>he Lord. She has wanted to respond to various invitations before and we held her back on accomt of her age. But finally she became so insis tent that we did not want to hinder her any longer. Did you ever try to argue wita a child as to why they shouldn't accept Christ? So at a church near here one after noon we had the privilege of baptizing her into Christ. It was a very joyful occa sion for her, as well as for us all. This mostly is the result of a mother's good
training

Well, I believe I had better let that suffice for this time.

Busy though we

have been, there are prospects of cur getting even more busy in the days ahead. Shortly after you receive this we will be taking off for eight weeks of Christian Service Camp. These are scattered about from Michigan to Mississippi, and will keep up busy through most of the summer. Quite possibly we won't find t:Lme to write
again until after that timec Then we will want to begin sharing with you again our plans about the future, l&itil that time, we remain

Yours in Christ,
Business mail;

Mrs. R. Hobert Lash, Fon^arding Agent

The Lashes

ii.03 N. Griffing Blvd. Asheville, M.Ca

(Personal mailt 2136 S^ 10th St.
Note:

Springfield, 111.)
Trip to Illiiiois planned I

Do not be uneasy if there is a delay in receiving acknowledgements during

June

L^'tter #33

U.vted 1^'des

i&idianapolis, Hhdiana

September Ij I96I
Dear Friends s

At last the time has cone that we can write again. A busy summer season has passed since last we v<Tote, and the 'vSAr\ few short months of our furloiigh seem to be rapidly ebbing away. This letter is partly just to keep up contacts while we are in the States, but there are a couple of things to report, a new address to pass on, and a few things to say about Korea^ But firs*!, the summer.

Most of the summer was spent in Christian Camp work. Early in June we loaded up our Chevy and headed down to the State of Mississippi, where for a rainy v/eek we met with the young people of a small, but friendly, family-style camp, operated by Just
four little churches near the center of the eastern border. Then we were up and off

to Michigan, where wa met for two weeks with a camp run by the churches of the

Detroit area. Then back to Moberly, Missouri, for two weeks at V/hite Oak Can^)# Then Lake Springfield, almost at home, in Illinois. Next it was Hanging Rock, just over the border in Indiana. And then finally Alandale, Just south of Indianapolis. All the family went together for the first five weeks of this, but after that Melba and

the girls dropped out and spent gome time with her father, who is 86 and ailing#
There was a lot of fun in the summere V/e enjoyed working with the kids and getting to know the various faculties; but it was sort of strenuous also, and we have had enough of mealtime choruses to last s. lifetime. It still rather unnerves me to hear

Dawny, our five year old, break forth into the lilting tune of "Oh, in the moonlight,
to hold somebody's hand..." But we survpLved, and are satisfied that the summer was well spent. The fun in competitive sports, the consecration searvices by candle

light, a baptismal service held by the light of an illuminated cross on ^ small lake despite the irreverent oroakings of an old bull frog, the little kids who were quite fascinated to hear about Korea, and the older ones who were serious, and frtio buckled dom to memorize a whole list of Scripture, and the way they responded to the miss

ionary challenge by chipping in of their canteen money that the Gospel of Christ might be preached, (the novel methods by which this was done also were interesting--* at one place we of the faculty had to dive for the coins that the kids threw, and

dredge them up off the bottom of the swimming pool) all these are memories that we
would not soon trade. The summer even had a climax. The final Friday at Alandale

had a student-faculty ball game. The students were high schoolers and hot.

The

faculty were out of form and rather fumbly. In an attempt to save some face by add ing humor to the situation we faculty had decided to dress in outlandish costumes. I wore ny Korean clothesthe baggy britches, the silk vest, and the horse-hair hatthat had been modeled occasionally during the summer. These made a hit, but they proved to be a mistake. Once a fast ball got out of control and tore the crovjn out of my irreplaceable grandfather *s bonnet. After that I was ready to do something
else.

The next thing was a move. We had decided that during the winter we wanted to get better acquainted with our living-link church, so after the last camp was over

I stayed in Indianapolis for a few days looking for a house.

Nothing seemed to work

out then, but two weeks later #ien we were ready to move, a house had Just been va cated, and this has become our headquarters for the winter. Oar address now is

J4OO9 N. Kitley, Jhdianapolis 263 Indiana^ and the telephone number is Liberty $-0103 a
This is in the Northeast comer of the city. Just tv/o blocks from our church, and also only two blocks from public school #92, which both girls eagerly look forward
to attending viiien it opens next week. The place that we have rented is rather an old one, but it is peaceful, having a big yard with lots of grass and trees, in a quiet neighborhood, ViTe think we shall like it#

h-j

What all the winter holds r#e are not car-tain^

Last letter told of surgery being

prescribed for Melba for the Fallo

Ho'.rever, just before vre entered into the camp

work there was another examination, and.a question was raised as to the necessity of the operation, so now we really don^t know. But soon vm will get a third check, and then whatever is necessaiy will be done. In any case we want to stay mostly settled here through the winter, though I might travel and speak some| we want to get in some good work with the church here before beginning to make plans to go back to Korea next summer V/e ^vill keep yoa postedo
The news that we hear from Korea is of a mixed nature The church nev/s still is

good Just recently we heard, and at that time they were finishing up a DVBS that we didn't know they were planning to have. One point that interested us about this was that the crippled Miss Chueh, who has been so sick with TB, was teaching a class We don*t have to prod the young people to do things

But politically there is still a big cloud of uncertainty over Korea's future Democracy failed there because there were not enough men of unselfish Christian character to make it work, so the country has come more and more under the heel of a

dictatorship Whether this dictatorship v/ill be good or bad remains to be seen In some ways it is good The laws are being more uniformly enforced, and the countiy is more orderly since the overthrow, beggars and vandals have been suppressed, and an attempt at national reconstruction is being made But the man who heads it all
was once a Communist Some years ago he had been one of the leaders of a military

revolution that had been stamped out by Hhee, and he was sentenced to be shot, but
he was forgiven when he claimed to have been disillusioned by Communism This may be ti*ue, but since Castro and Cuba, one has a right to wonder. It is only fair to say that there have been no signs of Communism as yet, but the government already has begun to interfere more with the activities of the missions than did any previous regimes Registrations of mission properties, activities, and plans which had taken two years before, were rushed thi'ough again in two weeks, and Joe Seggelke had to

sit up late at night writing a complete set of by-laws, needed before, and something about which he had no time Taylors have gone back, and this month Mr Taylor plans the new seminary building It could be good It-could

something which we had not to consult us But the to resume construction of be bad Only time will tell

The world in which we live knows little of peace In many places as we look around we can see situations so loaded that they need but to be trigger-ed to produce the holocaust of war, and men's hearts fear. Christianity, it is true, has an ans wer for these situations, but we know not how much longer we as Christians might

have the opportunity to work Som the night may come when no man can work Or it may be the morning It m^ be that time when the patience of God is exhausted and He sends Son sweeping back from Glory with the firey angels to take vengence upon those who have obeyed not His Gospel...that time when Hb says to friend and foe alike, "You've done eno\3gh i" For that time we must be ready, for the Son of Man cometh in an hour when many think not. This much of the future we can know, for
though we know not vdiat the future holds, vte do know Him who holds the future#
Until next time, yours for the long view.
Business mail:

c/o Mrs R Hobert Lash, Foiwarding Agent,

U03 N Griffing Blvd
Asheville, North Carolina

The Lashes

fr-/

Letter #3li

Indianapolis, Ihd.^ Dec. 2, 1961

Dear Friends:

ning to the tirae of rest- Being pulled away from a job enables one to look at it with an overall view, see mistakes, make plans for changes, and build
up some steam to go at it again.

doiiig what we d like and held back from where we'd like to be; but we are also begin

This they do that when the proper time/ comes they may all start _ , ^ ^. forward together quickly. So it is with the missionary furloi^h. Sometimes we feel as if we are just plodding in one place, restrained from

Armies sometimes mark time.

This is not wasted effort.

That is not all, of course. Settled do^vn now as we are for what shall probably ? ^0 "thatto which is keep generally normal living, we have still been able to find plenty do to busy. called I still frequently spend the
not perfect, of course, but then neither are those that He sends overseas. Melba

with the m^sion minded among God's people. God has many good people in this land:

speakijig, showing slides of the work, and enjoying fellowship

the Lord overseas. Even a body lacking stamina can hasten the grov/th of the strains
unendurability, Melba realized this, so she talked us into joining
o b

ing ho7/ to swim. We have all sort of entered into the American whirl with the desperateness of those who realize they will probably only get the chance to do so about once every 5 years. The swimming lessons were ffelba's idea. We have found from experien^ that you don't dare have too many chinks in your armour when representing

and the^girls have been staying pretty much at home this Fall, going to school, en joying n^ework, entering into church activities, taking piano lessons, even learn

spiritual ministry.

a lamxly y, Vfe have a family gym class one evening, the swimming lessons, and she is enrolled in a class called "slymnastics," which sounds more like something that I would need. Interesting, isn't it, what a wide variety of things can go into a
One other thing in connection with Melba. Vfe have found that she will not have

to have an operation. This has given ua cause to rejoice, even though the oircian stances were somewhat strange. As you may remember, a springtime examination discxosed a tumor that needed removal. But two later examinations were contradictory,
inese doctors not only said no need for operation; they said, "No tumor." Puzzled

about how thiscould be, we wrote back to the first hospital at St. Louis, telling of the ^^ter findings, and it came out that something very rare had happened. We had accidentally been assigned a doctor there, who afterwards was found to be incompetent ^d had been di^harged. Things like this do not happen very often in the medical
proiession nowadays, but v/hat followed was, aljnost even more strange. To show their

Xanxiety that had been caused, This the hospital completely refunded the i>l^U,00 xf that we had spent onwe the examinations. was a complete surprise to us, S? wrote back them theof highest compliment could think of that truly "oney Ihad lived uppaying to their name being a Christian Ih6spital

Politically in Korea the picture still seems to be clearing. Niswsv/eek reported about a month ago that General Park, the leader of the military Junta, had turned in

his Jeep for a white Cadillac, and this doesn't go too well with an austerity pro gram5 but otherwise, on his recent visit here the General seemed to make a pretty good impression. He is not a political glad-hander. Instead, his psrsonality strikes most people as rather chilling, but he seems intent on clean:lng up the cor ruption in Korea, and if he can do that he will have performed a great service for his country. One thong in connection with his visit caused me to laugh* In Chicago 5 cars of his motorcade piled up in an accident. When I heard this on the radio I chuckled right out loud. "Miost have brought some of his ovim drivers," I thought

We foreigners have long imagined what would happen if seme of those careening Korean
cab drivers would be turned loose in American traffic#

Ih connection with the church work in Korea there are two things that I would like to mention. First, there is much to do. Taylor has started ahead with the

seminary building project in Seoul and is in desperate need of funds to complete it

This is a Job that should be finished.

Secondly, it seems that there might be a problem in the church at Kangnung that should call forth our prayers. Chueh writes that Deacon Kim, whom w(3 left behind as pastor, seems to be losing out. The work is not gbing forward as it should, so per

haps there is discouragement. Or it may be that there is a spirit cdr bitterness that is blocking things. We had a minunderstanding about some money with Deacon Kim Just before we left Korea. We had loaned it to him and felt that he should pay it
back. It may sound strange that this could cause a misunderstanding;, but that is the way things go in the Orient. As an attempt to train in the handling of money I have

been gradually deducting this debt from Deacon Kim's salary, and soon it will be fin ished. This was done by mutual consent, and it should not have pinched him, but kno\ving the Oriental mind, I*m half afraid that it might be adding to the difficulty. I am wondering if there are several of you, say between now and Christmas, that will
Join us in prayer that this blockage will be removed. come. We are not conceited enough that this blockage

to think that our presence on the field is the only answer to every situation. Dea con Kim is God's man. He was zealovis and diligentj we tirust him. But temptations
Let us pray that any strategy of Satan may be defeated,

will be removed, and that we will see God's work move forward.
must begin to close.

Thanlc you.

VsTell, I have already written a half page more than I intended this time, so I
Our minds have been abuzz with several new ideas in relation

to the work in Korea, but December is a busy month we know, so we will forbear, and perhaps will come to you again early in the new year to share some of these thoughts. Until then, allow me to close by sending our sincerest wishes that you shall enter
into all the Joys of a truly Christian Christmas.
In Christ, Personal mail: Mr. & Mrs. Richard G, Lash The Lashes

I1OO9 N. Kitley, Indianapolis 26, Ind.

Business mail;

c/o Mrs. R. Robert Lash, Forwarding Agent li03 N. Griffing Blvd. Asheville, N.C.