Monday, July 16, 2012

Announcement Letter


WE'RE CHINA BOUND!


       

Dear Family & Friends,

                                                                                               
               We believe one person can make a difference in the world. We believe it is the main purpose for one's existence. It can take place through a variety ways: politics, literature, media, education, business, financial contributions, giving of time, helping someone, & so many other ways. In our effort to make a difference in the world, we have gone through various types of preparation over the last five years & recently pursued education positions overseas. We are deeply pleased to announce that we have been accepted as teachers in Yanji, China! This means so much to us & we want all of you to celebrate with us over this special opportunity! Dozier will be teaching as a volunteer in the Conversational English Department at YUST (Yanbian University of Science & Technology). Michaella will be teaching 5th & 6th Grade at YIA (Yanbian International Academy) with a stipend for each class she teaches. By teaching in Yanji we will make a difference through education, obtain multifaceted experience, become more globally focused, better understand different ethnics & cultures, & make our family & friends proud! We believe contributing to the world is our duty to our fellow man & deeply pleases God.

 Yanji is located in the far northeastern part of China & is the capital of Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture. The city is about 30 miles from the North Korean border & a few hours from the Russian border. It is embraced by mountains as it sits at the foot of Chaingbai Mountain. Nearly half of the city's 400k population are ethnic Koreans.  The city mainly speaks Mandarin Chinese & Korean (fortunately this will not be a problem for us in our schools because we will be teaching in English). The cost of living is very low so that this will be financially easier for us.  The city has some western style foods like Italian restaurants with pizza & even a few KFCs.  We will mostly be using the low cost cafeteria at our schools, running about $1.25 USD per meal. It is open every day & will provide us with a very convenient way of survival. We will be living in a faculty dorm that is a 10-15 minute walk to our schools. Other transportation needs will not be a problem due to the many affordable bus routes. Concerning the weather, Yanji has four distinct seasons. The temperature peaks around 85F during Summer but reaches -5F during the very windy Winter, giving it a yearly average of about 35-40F.

                 There is much about the religious/spiritual condition of the city that we have yet to discover. There are both Protestant & Catholic churches in Yanji in the native languages of Mandarin & Korean. There is also an English speaking gathering at YIA—we hope to attend services in each language as often as possible.

We believe our classrooms will provide one of the many windows into the lives of the people of Yanji. We see our classrooms as missionfields that will provide multiple unique opportunities for the betterment of people's lives. We feel so blessed to have this before us! We foresee ourselves being in Yanji for one to two years. After this time, we will prayerfully & wisely reassess our goals & opportunities to make a well-informed decision, probably applying for teaching positions within ISC (International Schools of China) or ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International).

We ask you to deliberately consider symbolically joining us in Yanji in two ways: (1) generously pray for us & the city of Yanji &/or (2) prayerfully give a small one-time financial gift. We are so thankful & blessed for you being in our lives & sharing in this experience with us!  Your blessing, support, & excitement in this means so much to us! We want to make a difference in the world just like you have made a difference in our lives! So do not stop but continue to "shine like lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).


Praising God Forever,

Dozier & Michaella Lee 




Stay connected with us at TheLeesOverseas.blogspot.com   Facebook  dozier.lee@gmail or michaella.lee523@gmail.

Financial gifts are accepted through the YUST PUST foundation in two ways (in the appropriate line write "Dozier Lee at YUST" or "Michaella Lee at YIA”):

1.      Online: yustpust.org

2.      Mail: YUST PUST Foundation, P.O. Box 336, Winnetka, IL 60093 Phone# (312) 805-8646.

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