a-7,

January-February-March, 1978
Dear Christian Friends:

Greetings again from the other side of the world in Korea! Al though we will still have a few chilly days it appears that spring has finally come, at least on the south coast where we live. The trees are budding, some flowers are in bloom and we are on the lookout for the first of the spring vegetables which will help to vary our diet. High temperatures in the last few days have been in the upper 50's and even reached 60! Bert has already shed his long underwear but Marge is holding on for a bit!
We have been in the midst of the long winter school vacation since December and will

begin the new semester on March 13. In January we had graduation exercises with 15 re ceiving the Master's degree in Pusan and 11 in Seoul. Dr. Charles Bachman of Berean Christian College in Wichita, Kansas, through whom we issue the degrees, was here to per sonally confer them again. We are always glad to have his week's visit and have a good
time of fellowship while he is here. Everything went well at both centers. We might just insert here as worthy of your knowing that the graduates themselves pay the expenses for Dr. Bachman's trip. We have said before that this graduate program is unique in paying its own expenses without help from foreign funds. Also in January we began receiving applications for this year's class. We do very little promotion or advertising. Most of the new students are steered our way by the alumni showing that they are satisfied with what they have received. We set a maximum en rollment of 25 new students at each center and had more qualified applicants than we could take. We had entrance interviews the middle of February and even at that early date, a month before classes start, we had more than we could accept. We had so many in Seoul that we considered starting an additional class but after due thought decided that would not be best. It would mean an additional meeting place and more faculty and we just de cided not to do it. We are probably the only seminary in Korea that turned away qualified
applicants.

We had a little scare just after that. Our program has been so succesful that inevit ably there are imitators. Unfortunately some of the imitators are out to make money in stead of being of service to the Lord and formed relationships with "degree-mills" in the U. S. for their degrees. This, plus the sale of doctor's degrees from such institutions, brought one of the Christian newspapers to print an expose of such practices. A number of such schools were listed in the article, not ours, but down in the midst of the article our program was mentioned as operating in Korea and we appeared "guilty by association." Unfortunately, the one writing the article did not contact any of us before writing, or we could have helped him, as we feel those things should be exposed also. However, our reputation appears to be secure and so far, at least, the article does not seem to have
hurt us.

As it appears now, a few days before classes open, we will have about 46 students en rolled in Pusan, 21 in the second year and 25 in the first, and 59 in Seoul, 29 in the sec
ond year and 30 in the first. We cannot be sure until the first day of school. This is

absolute capacity. We also raised the tuition by about 15% which will give us a surplus, Lord willing, to turn to other activities, even while giving the staff a small raise.
Recently we have even been able to give ourselves a small salary from these funds,

$200 a month, in lieu of a raise from mission funds. our last raise, to $500 a month, about 15 years ago!

If our memory serves right we had Prices here are mounting rapidly as is true in any developing country and wages in general have gone up several hundred per cent in the last 7 or 8 years. Our part-time assistant, a college professor, draws a sal ary of between $1,100-1,200 a month, $200 of which comes from us, and has trouble living on it because his life style has increased with his salary. As is usual, the middle and the upper classes are doing well while the poor find it an even tougher struggle than before.

BERT ELLIS NEWSLETTER - January-February-March, 1978 - Page 2

Because of the stir caused by the publicity about the unethical schools we have decid ed to defer our plans for the doctoral program for the time being. While ours would be a good ethical program we do not want to confuse peoples' thinking in any way. We actually have our hands full anyway. We would surely like to find someone to help with this work. We will be facing retirement age in a few years and we would like to have someone to put in charge of this program. Its very nature almost requires someone from the U, S. to act as liason between the American school and the program here. A mature man with good educat ion is needed with a Master's degree as a minimum. Because of the cultural situation, a young man is not well respected so the applicant should have some age. We will be happy
to correspond with anyone interested.

The church planting venture at Kwesan proceeds slowly, as is to be expected. The young man who had been working there became discouraged and went off to greener pastures. We now have a little older man with somewhat more experience and are hopeful that he can show some results. They are hampered in not having their own building but we just do not
feel it wise to build a building for them, at least not until there is a solid nucleus for a church. We will keep you informed of any progress.

Mr. and Mrs. Elzey and the church at Buffalo, Wyoming who are handling our display are having some problems. There have been delays in returning the display after showing it and
this interferes with making a schedule. Please, if you use, promptly return it for the

next church! Also, the latest blow, when it was being returned from Wichita to Buffalo, it became misplaced in the mailsl We trust it has been recovered by now! The congregations which have used it say without exception that it is a good display. Contact: Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Elzey, Christian Church, Box 653, Buffalo, Wyoming 82834. Our thanks to these good
folks for taking care of this!

Thanks to all you wonderful people who sent us cards, letters and gifts at Christmas time! We received more than we have for many a year and it really made us feel good to be remembered. We have been out here now for 20 years this May and in spite of knowing better we do have periods when we get.down and feel forgotten. Thanks to you all and especially to those churches who made special offerings. When you have time drop us a note. We are
always so glad to hear from you!

By the time you receive this classes will be underway and we will be back in the swing
of things again, Bert teaches one week in Seoul and the other in Pusan and Dr. Lee alter

nates with him. Other teachers fill out the roster at both places. The traveling and teaching is hard but most rewarding. If the Restoration movement has a special message this program has done more to make that message known in Korea than anything else that has been done. Our students are mature ministers from almost every denomination^ average age

about 40,

They are intensely interested in what we have to teach.

Pray for us that we may

do a good job for the Lord!

Our special thanks always to those of you whose regular contributions make is possible for us to be your co-workers in the Gospel in Korea! Continue to send all funds to: Miss

Loraine Lindsey, Cabool State Bank, Drawer M, Cabool, Missouri 65689. By the way, Loraine's health is much better and they are presently building a new home on the site of the one destroyed by fire. She, too, appreciates hearing from you. She has been our faithful
agent for all the years we have been here. May God bless her!

Continue to remember us in your prayers.

ing these letters.

And of course our thanks once again to the

good folks at Berean Christian College in Wichita who are so faithful and helful in mail
Faithfully yours,

For Bert & Marge Ellis

P. 0. Box 141

International Air-Mail:

Pusan 600, Korea

'"graduation

in

KOREA

Ofprskj CHUSTIAf, . . CGE

SfMIN VR--

If7 i M

Graduation at Pusan, January 20, 1978. 15 men received their Master's degrees
from Berean Christian College and Seminary in Wichita, Kansas after two years of study. Professors are on front row with graduates standing behind. Dr. Charles
Bachman of Berean and Dr. Bert Ellis are seated in the middle of the front row.
19 7 8
] .211

Graduation at Seoul on January 24, 1978.

Ellis are in middle of front row.

11 men received their Master's

degrees. Faculty is in front row with graduates behind. Dr. Bachman and Dr.
It was indeed a rreat blessin? and a privilege to be with the students of
Berean Christian Center during their recent {graduation. This is mv fourth

visit to Korea, and I am so deeply impressed with the work of Bert and Marpe
Ellis, Here is a missionarv familv makinr: a -^eat contribution to the cause

o-^ Christ,

I whole-heartedly support them and urt^e you to include their

vital work in your crivini^.

V. Charles BaOTWan

Berean Christian College

News FRor^

/fo/?eA
Oct. - Nov. - Dec., 1978

Dear Co-workers:

Greetings again from Korea 1 This has been an eventful year in many ways. Weatherwise, we have seen in Korea drought, floods, typhoon, earthquakes, and unusually hot and cold weather," The seasons have been the most irregular we have known in our more than 20 years here.
Our work too has had its ups and downs. This letter is long, long delayed. We were in the midst of preparing a newsletter at the end of the first semester of school when a real problem arose. For a time it threatened to close our graduate school so we did not feel we could write until the problem was settled. It has taken 3 months to take care of it. Lest we keep you in suspense let me say here that everything is now going well. On examination day the Ist year class confronted us with the news that they

would not take one of the professor's exams, this without any previous warning of any kind of problem. I replied that they could do as they pleased, they would simply fail
the course! This was not the reply they expected and the next thing I knew I was told that all the students, Ist and 2nd year, were refusing to take any exams. Again I re plied that they could do as they wished, they would just fail all the coursesl A comm ittee then met with me and tried to get me to discipline the teacher. It took me only a few moments to see through what was happening. The problem was that this professor was following my instructions a bit better than the others and was requiring the stud ents to work hard in his classes. They said that he treated them like children. What they meant was that he did not treat them as "ordained ministers" expect to be treatedl

(Remember these are all ministers, not young students, and average about 40 years of age!) This is partially a cultural problem and partly a desire on the part of some of
them to get their degree without working. I told them that when they entered this school they were in the position of students and in no position to make demands on the teachers. After a while they saw they were not going to get anywhere and they agreed to take all the exams except this one professor's. I agreed to this as by this time everyone was angry and it was the best we could do, but I reminded them that the prob lem was not settled. They threatened they would all transfer to another school, that they would close our school, that they would cause me much trouble and a number of oth er threats. At least one professor warned me I must settle with them as this is what any other Korean seminary would do. I told him it was a matter of principle with me and I would not give an inch. In the week following I talked with the accused profess
or who was absent from Pusan where the trouble was as he also teaches in Seoul and was

giving the exam there. I found out it was exactly as I suspected. Mr. Kim, Yong Sub who has worked with me for almost 10 years also advised I was doing the right thing; Mr. Kim is a teacher and not a preacher and he gets terribly upset at the high-handed way the preachers act. During the short summer vacation I sent a letter to each stud ent showing them their exact status according to our records of their grades and sem ester hours finished, and reminded them what it takes to graduate. W at it amounted to as that it simply showed the 2nd year class that they could not graduate this year. I did not know what to expect when school opened again in August. The first day I took the afternoon for personal interviews with each student. As the 2nd year students be gan to file in one by one they assured me that they all realized they had done wrong and just wanted to do whatever was necessary to make it rightj After talkin with sev
eral of them the chairman of the class told me I need not talk to the others as they

were all of the same mind.

They agreed to take the exam they had missed.

But the 1st

BEJRT 'ELLIS

NEWSLETTER - Oct.-Dec., 1978 - Page 2

year class was a different story. They refused to have personal interviews and most of
them left and left me to talk with a committee. This kind of action also goes with their culture. They were afraid they would lose face if they had to talk with me in talked. They demanded that I get rid of this teacher or they would not continue in
I will not relate all their arguments as they were rather stupid and were

dividually.
school.

I talked with 4 men for some 2 hours, getting more upset the longer I

quite apparently based on face-saving, which means so much to them.

I just simply re

fused to do what they wanted. Finally one man said, "We understant that you are an Am erican and that Americans have principles, but couldn't you just compromise a little one time?" I felt what they were asking was not a compromise of any kind and I replied, "The problem is not that I am an American but that I am a Christianl" This did not set
so well with them! I told them then that each of them must settle the problem for him

self. They replied that in all this they had acted together as a group. I said, "Then do you all want to go to hell together?" They finally gave up that dayl But before
class 2 weeks later (I had been to Seoul for class the intervening week) I was again

approached by their chairman. I told him I was not interested in any further discuss ion and he begged me to just go through some form of giving in to save their face. I refused. They held a class meeting in a side room while I was teaching the 2nd year group and as a result of it all, half of the 1st year class left, but half stayed,
which in one sense is a real victory. All in all they have learned a difficult lesson, possibly a more important lesson than what is taught in class.

A few days ago I was talking with one of our graduates who is now serving as the dean of a seminary. He had come to me for counseling because he was having similar problems with what I can only call unconverted preachers. My only advice to him was to stick to his principles. He replied, "Principles! We don't know principles! You must teach usl We do only what our emotions tell usl" This is what I have observed to be true over the years but this is the first time I have heard it stated so baldly by a Korean preacher. The problem is, and perhaps I put it strongly, that many of these preachers are not con
verted. This is what happens in a heathen society, and especially where Confucian

teachings are the basis of the whole society. Just because a man adopts Christianity does not mean that he suddenly abandons his culture. That does not happen anywhere in the world. And in this society right relationships are the key to all success, as Con
fucius teaches. So there are no standards of right and wrong, as we understand such

standards, and hence no principle of actions, as we understand principles. This is not just a conflict between cultures; Christian teachings make it a matter of right and

wrong and these preachers must be taught these things. (You should be thankful every day that you live in a Christian country!) Last Monday when I went to class in Pusan
the whole atmosphere was different. Everyone treated me with high respect and the new chairman of the group came to tell me that they were all 100/ behind me and would do
whatever I asked!

This is one of the most serious problems I have faced for these men, the ones who left,

are fully capable of carrying out any threat which they made and I have to consider that prospect. But I made up my mind, as I told my Korean friend, to stick to Christian principles no matter what the outcome. In a sense it was a victory, but we also feel it
is a defeat for we are now in no position to help those who left, probably the ones who
need us most.

We are now left with 31 students in Pusan, 20 of the 2nd year and 11 of the Ist.

In

Seoul we have 40, 17 of the 2nd year and 23 of the 1st year. This means there will be 37 graduates if all complete their work satisfactorily, the largest graduating class
we have had. More and more we realize what an opportunity this school program is for the men in other schools are just not getting what they get in ours. We are strict, as

they find to their astonishment and discomfort!

But after a while most of them begin to

take pride in being part of this program and do boast a bit about it to others! We have good teachers and they enjoy teaching with us for, as they say, they are free to teach in our school, and not bound as they are in most schools. As a result they teach the
Bible without fear or favor! This can only be helpful to the students.

BERT

ELLIS

NEWSLETTER - Oct.-Dec., 1978 - Page 3

The drop in number of students hits our finances a bit as we have it figured pretty close to begin with but we will manage to make it. This is why so many seminaries in Korea are indulgent to the students, they are afraid they will lose students and thus, money. Although we are concerned about paying expenses we are not about to sacrifice
principle to money I

Otherwise things are going well. We have said before that more than 30 of our gradu ates are now teaching in various seminaries. I meet them from time to time and some of them come for advice and counsel and I am quite proud of the work that they are do ing. The teaching we have given them cannot help but have an effect as it spreads through these seminaries of many denominations. I cannot think of a better way of sharing the unique teachings which we people of the Restoration movement have treasured through the years. Here is a chance to share with others what we have often only kept
to ourselves.

Please continue your financial support as you have been so graciously doing. The giv ing is down somewhat from last year so we can use a little extra support. If it were not for the fact that the graduate program pays for itself through student fees we could not possibly continue. Our missionary income for years has been about the same, from $12,000 to $14,000 total income per year and in this day of rising prices that

doesn't go far here.

Where your price index has gone up a few percent a year ours has

literally gone up by hundreds of percent the past few years. My part-time assistant, Mr, Kim, has a salary these days of about $1,300 per month and he teaches in one of the smaller colleges. Even preachers, who have been sadly underpaid through the years can no longer complain as the average now is about $600 a month plus housing, utilities, food, childrens' educational costs, clothing, and other special benefits. My students are shocked when they find out what my salary is; I am not sure whether they feel I am

sacrifing or foolish!

All funds should go to: Miss Loraine Lindsey, Cabool State Bank,

Drawer M, Cabool, Missouri 65689. Our last word about our exhibit which was so carefully prepared and which had been gett ing good use, is that it has been lost in the maill It is difficult to understand how such could be lost with all the identifying marks within it but that is the present status. If this continues we will prepare another one although some of the material there is irreplaceable. More news in the next letter about this.

Please pray for us! These are difficult times and we do get discouraged. We are not getting younger; I will be 60 on November 7. And our experience is like many other missionaries, the longer we are here the less mail we getJ You would be amazed at how few letters we receive I We appreciate your money more than we can tell for this enab
les us to do the Lord's work here. But we would like to have letters. Write us when

you can: Bert Ellis, P.O. Box 141, Pusan, KOREA 600.
for even that takes 12-14 daysl

Please use international air-mail

We ask your forgiveness

Our thanks to all of you who have worked with us for so long.
were settled.

for the lateness of this letter but we felt we could not write until problems here

Faithfully yours,

BE/hs

(For Bert & Marge Ellis)