THE SEOUL PURPOSE The Missionary Newsletter of Rev. Chuck and Jean Hoffman serving in Seoul, South Korea

May 2017

We Are Coming to a Church Near You! We are coming home for Summer 2017! This is part of our regular reconnection with friends and supporters who make our work possible. This is special for us for several reasons. For one, our girls, although they hold American passports have never been to the U.S. Also, for me personally, this is my longest run overseas without coming home as it will be almost two full years since I have been on U.S. soil. But most of all it’s special because we get to see you! We will kick off our tour on June 24th at Mission Central in Mapleton, Iowa. Then for almost a month we will be touring the states of Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota mostly. Many of you have already been contacted and the Sundays are all booked, but if you have not yet been contacted and wish to see us please email me and we will try to work something out. Many weekdays are still open! Starting July 17 we will be based in Michigan and will be reconnecting with supporters there and visiting family as well.

Easter Sunday worship at International Lutheran Church, Seoul

Easter and a First Birthday Support Tax-deductible gifts may be given through:

Mission Central 40718 Highway E16 Mapleton, IA 51034-7105 or

LCMS P.O. Box 66861 Saint Louis, MO 631666861

Anneliese (left) and Elsie celebrating their first birthday on May 16th.

Easter Sunday at ILC was wonderful this year. Our children’s program presented the Easter story to over 30 children who later had the chance to hunt for Easter eggs in the church gardens. Afterward, the message of the hope we have in the Resurrection was shared in a full sanctuary with many visitors attending for the first time as well. We are continuing activities that celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and finding growing interest in Luther from the mostly Presbyterian Christians here in Korea. One family who recently began attending worship and Bible study every week came because they wanted to learn more about the Reformation and Lutheran theology. Finally, our girls celebrated their first birthday here in the parsonage. Jean made a maple syrup flavored cake with whipped cream frosting and strawberries. The girls had a wonderful time running their hands through the whipped cream and eating each strawberry they could find.

Rev. Chuck and Jean Hoffman International Lutheran Church 148 Hannam-daero Yongsan-Gu Seoul, South Korea 04417 [email protected]

Checks payable to “Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod” Include “Hoffman—Korea” in the memo line. Support may also be given securely at www.lcms.org/hoffman

We wish to thank all of our supporters who have allowed this ministry in Korea to take place, thank you!

If you are currently receiving a hard copy of this newsletter and are able to receive it over email instead please contact Pastor Chuck with your email address. This helps keep printing costs down!