Se^efiN CHIilSTlAN CeNT^

p. 0. Sat

~ P't'tM*.
A 2 19''

t. Sef
January-February 1976
REETINGSI

Bicentennial greetings from a lonely outpost, Korea! We are experiencing one

of the coldest winters for several years, long and c-o-l-d! The temperatures have
been below zero up north and in the middle teens here which with the wind from the
ocean makes the long undies a necessary item! We tend to stay in the little oases
of.heat near our small, unvented gas heaters!
END OF YEAR SCHOOL NEWS -

Exams were held to close the school year in the second week in December and now
we are in the long school vacation until around March 1st* The students did very

well with their studies this year, in fact we only had 3 men to fail even a single
subject! Word is beginning to get around that our standards are high! We had 35
taking the exams in Pusan and 28 in Seoul. We did not have a single drop-out this
semester in Pusan and only a few in Seoul- There is definite improvement over odr
1st year 4 years ago!
We are looking forward now to graduation. Graduation ceremonies will be held in

Pusan on February 10 and in Seoul on the 13th- There will be 14 receiving the Mas
ter's degree in Pusan and 16 in Seoul- We will also confer an honorary doctorate on
the Chief of Chaplains of the Republic of Korea Air Force who has been one of our

students the past year. Dr. V- Charles Bachman, president of Berean Christian College, Wichita, Kansas, will be here to confer the degrees.* The graduates are paying
Dr. Bachman's expenses as he is coming at their request. We are fortunate to be able
to have the degrees conferred by the American school as this makes our program much
more attractive to the class conscious Korean society. The fact that the undergrad
uate schools of our church here in Korea are not in a position to confer degrees.is
a great drawback to attracting the type of students we need for real leadership in
the churches-

PROSPECTS FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR -

We have already placed ads in the Christian newspaper and are receiving inquir
ies from interested parties- In the first week our director in Seoul had already had
21 personal interviews with prospective students and 20 is about the limit of what we
can receive there. The graduates at Pusan assure me that from among their friends we
will have more applications than our limit. We are trying to hold the enrollment at
each center to about 35 as we figure we can operate more efficiently at that levelSTUDENT ATTITUDES -

The attitude of our students has been excellent. At first they resisted some of
our strong atands concerning various principles but they have learned to appreciate

what they are receiving and are taking great pride in their degrees- The graduates
at Pusan gave each teacher $100 as a token of their appreciation and the graduates at
Seoul bought a lovely matching couch and chairs for our office- The best part was
when one of the men who had caused our greatest difficulty publicly apologized for
the trouble he had given and agreed with us that the stand we had taken was right!

a ^nidcccUc

BERT^ ELLIS NEWSLETTER - January-February 1976 - Page 2

FINANCES -

Thanks to your generous help we ended this year with a surplus! We will let you
know our exact status in our next letter but as of now it appears we are in better
shape at the end of the year than ever before in our 20 years! Thanks so much to all
of you who so regularly assist with the Lord's work in Korea!
NEWSLETTER -

The mailing of our newsletter from here has become prohibitive in cost. At the
beginning of the year international rates rose so that air-mail to the U. S. now

costs more than 50o per letter. We desperately need someone to be responsible for

the mailing of our newsletter. We will have the letter prepared commercially so
that the task would be that of maintaining a mailing list which is presently be
tween 350-400 and mailing newsletters to that list 4 or 5 times a year. If any one,
church, or class would volunteer please write to Miss Loraine Lindsey, Cabool State
Bank, Drawer M, Cabool, Missouri 65689. NOTE: all funds go to her, also.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS -

Our financial surplus opens the way to several possibilities of expansion that
we have not been able to consider before. First, we are in the process of beginning
some publications in the Korean language. Those of you who follow our work regularly
know that we have talked about this for years but we have never had the financial ca

pacity. We want to print some study materials for use in the local churches as they
have practically nothing of this kind in the Korean language. Our present position
in graduate study would give us the opportunity of introducing good literature to a
number of preachers and churches. The second possibility is that of putting a man in
the field to assist the churches in education and evangelism. Many of our preachers
and churches, especially in the country areas, are doing the best they can but they
need teaching. If we can find a good man we will subsidize him in visiting the chur- '
ches and assisting in whatever way he can. We would also like to assist the young
local pastor, Mr. Won, whom we have mentioned so often in these letters. He has
started a junior high school for the poor boys and girls in his area. He started on

less than a shoe-string and is using his own salary, which is low to start with, to
pay some teachers! Just $100 monthly would mean a great deal to him. So you can see
we will not have a financial surplus for long! Please continue your generous regular
giving so that the work here may move ahead in these directions.

J-URLpUGH'---'

'

^^^^!^^^^'''i5ur^urlough plans, as you know, have been off again, on again. We are present
ly in the middle of our 7th year since our return this term! Presently we are hoping
to leave here about the last part of March and return sometime in July. This will
allow Bert to help screen new students for this year and see that everything is mov
ing smoothly in the new school year that begins in March. By returning in July we will
only miss one semester and Bert can resume teaching in August. This means our furlough
will be short and we will not be able to visit everybody but we will do our best. Bert
must get some rest.

After the exams were over in December he just collapsed and has

been in and out of bed quite a bit of the time since, just enough to keep things going.
One reaches the point of not only physical, but emotional and spiritual exhaustion.
CLOSING THOUGHTS -

We treasure your every remembrance of us and the work here. It does get dread

fully lonesome at times, even in the midst of a city of two and a half million people.
We are always reassured when we know that you do remember us in your thoughts and
prayers! Please continue to remember us before the throne of grace!
BERT & MARGE ELLIS

P. 0. BOX 141

PUSAN, KOREA 600

Miss Loraine Lindsey - Cabool State Bank - Drawer M - Cabool, Missouri 65689'

Gleanings( Feb. 12, 76 WM )

Bert and Mrs. Marjory Ellis, P.O

Box 141, Pusan, Korea 600 plan a sliort
furlongb in USA starting late in March

and then return to Korea in' J"uly, 1976

(Phis will allow Bert to be back in

Korea to help enroll new students and

resume teaching in August,1976.
Graduation seirrtces were held in

Pusan on February 10th with 14 students

receiving degrees and in Seoul on

February 15th with 16 students receiving

the Masters degree, leir forwarding
agent iss Berean Christian Center,
Miss loraine Lindsay, Gabool State Bnwir
Drawer M, Cabool, MO 65689.