What factors of your native culture have informed your religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors

My native culture is American. I was born and raised in the state of Idaho in the USA. I went to a public elementary school from grades Kindergarten through Sixth grade. Every since I was born I have gne to church regularly with my family every sunday. I grew up in a Christian home and at church I was surrounded by Christian people and friends. Because I had grown up with such a strong Christian environment I have pretty much been a Christian ever since I was born. I loved God and knew that He loved me. Even though I went to a public elementary school and was one of the only Christians there, I never felt lonely or excluded. I knew that I was different because I was trying to live a Christian life, and I knew that other people could see that I was different. But I had friends that weren't Christians but they respected my religion and my faith was never really tested in any way. I really had a great time living in America for the time that I did.

When I was 12 years old I moved to South Korea with my family. I had finished elementary school an

d was preparing to move into Junior high which was a really big thi

ng for me at that time. I was really looking forward to moving on in school to hopefully make some more friends that were Christian that I could build some strong relationships with. When my parents first told me that I was moving to South Korea I was not very pleased, to say the least. My sister and I, who was going into 5th grade at the time, were both extremely disappointed and sad when we were told that we were moving to South Korea. It was a very unhappy time for us, and stressful in the fact that we had only a limited amount of time to get everything ready for we had to leave. In all that business and sadness I was not focus

ing on my relationship with God and trusting that He had a plan for me, but instead was questioning why He was doing this to me and frustrated with Him.

Our family had previously known people living and working here in Korea at TCIS, so once we got to Korea we were warmly welcomed by familiar faces and tasty food. TCIS is a Christian school and therefore I expected my life and my relationship with God to be

a much easier process because of the Christian environment. It wasn't. My

7th grade year was a very difficult time for me because not only was I goi

ng to a new school, that was religious based which was very different from my last school, but also trying to adjust to the vastly different culture of Korea and trying to make friends and keep of with the work ethic of this school which was much more prestigious than my previous school. I was living in a totally different world and struggled with that 100% change for a long time. But as I started to become more accustomed and comfortable in where and what I was living in, I started to fall in love with it and to fall in love with God and how trugly great He is. He did have a plan for me all along, but I was so caught up in what I thought was right that I couldn't accept it.

I am a third culture kid. That is basically a HUGE part of my identity. I have lived in South Korea for 4 1/2 years now, and I love the places I can go, relationships that I've built, people I've met, and opportunities that I've gotten to enjoy and hav

e that I would have never even dreamed of if I h

ad stayed living in Idaho. Korea is definitely my home, and every time I go to America for the summer I like for a time, but towards the end I end up missing 'home' and I just want to go back to Korea and see my friends. Friendships I have made here are probably the biggest reason why I love it so much. I have had the opportunity to build incredible relationships with people from all over the world that all share a common passion, which is God. These people have been there for me, when I never thought they would be and will always be there encouraging and keeping me accountable in my spiritual

life. They are extremely special people, and I know that no matter what happens in our lives, tomorrow or in 100 years, that I will always have those relationships and that they will always be there building me up in my most important relationship which is with God.

I've found that I am not in control of my life, and that I shouldn't be, because if I was then I would have missed out on the love, joy, trust, faith, and true honesty that I have experienced living here in South Korea.