Korea Trip: Things That Reminded Us of Home

We were treated to Starbucks one day and the aroma and atmosphere, even just the logo itself reminded us of home. Peter had a Cafe Mocha and Jenny had a Kiwi juice. Juhee shared the Kiwi juice with mommy, and she had a great time exploring the Starbucks store and saying hello to the other customers.

Being in a mini-apartment / studio gave us the freedom to cook & eat at home. On our first grocery shopping trip we saw Kellogg’s Cornflakes and as it was the same price we went for good old Kellogg’s. Once you open it, you have an option of folding it slightly differently, an option we hadn’t yet come across. It’s supposed to help conserve freshness.

On a few occasions we were able to meet up with friends from back home who just so happened to be in Korea at the same time as us (Thank You God!). It was great! It was almost like we were back home meeting up in Korea Town.

I take Juhee to playdates once a week and she was able to have a couple while we were in Korea too. As we were staying in such a small place and had practically no toys, it was refreshing to be able to take her to homes where she had place to roam, toys to play with, and could interact with other toddlers her age. =)

And last but not least, McDonald’s! They had a special deal with a few set menus costing 3,000 KRW (less than $3 US) and we were in need of something other than Korean food for a change so we visited good old McD’s. We were surprised to find that most of the customers were young families – there were so many kids! McD’s in Korea also delivers… I’m not aware of any other country where McD delivers. In Korea, you can get practically everything and anything delivered for no extra cost. Next time, I want to try their bulgogi burger... :P

Juhee's 1st Christmas Celebration

Our very first video upload!

Christmas Candlelight Service @ New Vision Church on Wed, Dec 23 2009.

We didn't make it to any of the rehearsals as we were in Korea & then jetlagged but the songs were on the church website so I played them for Juhee a few times before going to church that evening. She lo~ved being on stage and performing!!! :)

I didn't notice it at the time, but she started crying as she was leaving the stage 'cause she wanted to go straight down the stage stairs to mommy and grandma. She was ok though once daddy explained that they were going to see mommy by going around "this way".

She enjoyed dancing to most of the other performances that evening from the back of the Main Sanctuary where we were sitting. She had a great time!

Hopefully the 1st of many such cute Daddy & Daughter performances. :)

Korea Trip: Partnership Development

We’re so grateful for all of the divine appointments God provided during our one month partnership development trip to Korea. We went with an empty calendar and ended up almost being busier than we could handle! I think half of it was already in my mom’s head though. ;) On one Sunday we attended a 10am Japanese service, introduced ourselves to the teachers in the nursery department at 11:20am, Peter then preached for the 11:45am English service, and then we attended a 7pm evening Korean speaking service. @@

We met many high profile Korean pastors during our trip. I was filled with awe as I learned of the struggles they faced when they were starting out in ministry and are now such giants of wisdom, experience, and leadership. In addition to their main ministry in the churches that they planted, they wrote / are writing books, lecture at colleges / seminaries, and they also started orphanages, old people’s homes, and seminaries in Korea and abroad. Even after having accomplished so much, their “retirement” is anything but. They have so much love, energy, passion, and compassion!

We would like to especially thank my parents who were extra busy contacting pastors and friends so that we could share about God’s heart for the people of Japan and our calling to share the Good News with the people there. Our Senior Pastor, Pastor Peter Chin, also played an important role in establishing new partnerships as well as my awesome sister Jade and dear Kim Gwunsanim 김영진 권사님 (see previous posts here and here).

Through God’s leading, we were able to connect with the following churches:
* Antioch Church 안디옥 교회 (수원, 김장환 목사님)
* Shinbanpo Central Church 신반포중앙교회 (서울, 김성봉 목사님)
* Kangbyun Presbyterian Church 강변교회 (서울, 허태성 목사님)
* Hwapyoung Church 화평교회 (서울, 김병훈 목사님)
* Suwon Central Baptist Church 수원 중앙침례교회(수원, 고명기 목사님)
* Hallelujah Community Church 할렐루야교회 (분당, 김상복 목사님, Pastors Steve Chang & Cristian Rata)
* Wooridle Church 우리들의 교회 (서울, 김양재 목사님)
* Global Missions Church 지구촌교회 (분당, 이동원 목사님)
* Jubilee Church (Seoul, Pastor Dave Hwang)

The top four churches have already committed to supporting us monthly and we’re still waiting to hear back from some of the others. After having gone through the application process with a number of churches, I’ve realized that the hard part isn’t us preparing our application, but the decision making process of the churches as there are so many missionaries out there needing financial support but limited resources at each church. Regardless of the final decision, we are thankful that God has brought so many awesome people into our lives and hope that this is the beginning of a long and loving friendship in Christ.

Please keep the decision making committees in your prayers as they prayerfully consider partnering with us.

(These are pics of some of the pastors and elders/deacons that we met. There were many more!)

Turning 30

My 20th birthday was a very sad birthday – my family were due to leave the UK and return to the US just 3 days after my 20th birthday. The only reason why they were even there to celebrate it with me was because my mom had made special arrangements for them to stay a bit longer so that we could be together, except for dad who had to start work in the USA.


My 20s were full of surprises, lots of moves, and lots of changes (college student, temp-ing, full-time permanent job, promotions, changes in companies, part-time postgrad student, engagement / marriage, becoming a pastor’s wife, becoming a mom, preparing for long-term missions). I’m hoping my 30s won’t be quite as unpredictable and a bit more stable, especially once we move to Japan and settle down there.

On the first day of November 2009, I turned 30! So much has happened during the past ten years… Friends keep on asking me how it feels to turn 30. It feels great! When I posted the picture of Juhee and me on my facebook page, one friend said “so she’s 5 and you’re 2” and another friend said “you’re 52!”. I definitely don’t want to be 2 again but I don’t think I’d mind being 52 and be able to reflect back on my life and know when and how things happened. Hindsight is such a wonderful thing. On the other hand, the unknown can be somewhat scary and stressful.


This birthday was extra memorable because I got to celebrate it three times with the special people in my life - with my wonderful mommy friends (picture), with most of my family, and a special date with hubby. =) Last year we were in Japan and hopefully next year and onwards we'll be in Japan too, so I was very grateful for the opportunity to celebrate with loved ones. I'm going to miss family, but I'm really going to miss the fellowship, laughter, and prayers that my Pathway mommy friends have blessed me so much with. It's going to be hard to develop this level of closeness with mommy friends in Japan and share life with them, but that's why we're in it for the long haul!

I wonder which country we'll be in for my 40th and who we'll be celebrating it with... Hmmm... =)

11월 업데이트

Wednesday December 9, 2009

여호와께 감사

“너희는 여호와께 감사하며 그의 이름을 불러 아뢰며 그가 행하신 일을 만민 중에 알릴지어다.” 역대상 16:8
할렐루야!

Peter & Jenny Oh 님 안녕하세요!

맑은 공기를 마시게 하시고 가족과 친구들 그리고 많은 파트너분들과 함께 교제를 하며 흘러 넘치는 기쁨을 주신 하나님께 감사를 드립니다.

늦게나마 Happy Thanksgiving!

신실하신 주 안에서,
Peter Oh목사 가정 드림

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파트너 모든분들께 감사

기도 후원자가 되어 주시겠다고 하신200명 넘은 분들께 감사를드립니다. 기도 후원자가 되고 싶으신 분은 peterandjennyoh@gmail.com으로 이멜 보내주세요.

또 저희의 정착금의 100%와 정기적인 후원금의 42%가 모아지도록 헌신적으로 헌금하신 후원자 모든분들께 감사를 드립니다. 이제 한국에 계신 분들을 위해 한국계좌도 열었습니다 (예금주 전연숙, 외환은행: 620-191415-809). 입금후 이멜을 보내주시면 감사하겠습니다.

일본선교에 함께 동참해주셔서 감사합니다!

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서울에 있어서 감사

현 재 서울에 있습니다. 여러 목사님들, 권사님들, 집사님들을 서울 곧곧, 수원, 분당을 열심히 다니며 만나고 협력 선교사로써 일본선교에 동참할 기회들을 알아보고 있습니다. 11월 중순 부터 있었고, 12월 중순에 미국으로 돌아갑니다. 많이 걷고 지하철도 많이 타고 다니는데 주희가 "폭폭칙칙" ^^; 타는 것을 아주 즐긴답니다. 작년 일본 비전여행때와 같이 이번에도 미국을 떠날 당시에는 텅텅 비어있던 스케쥴을 하나님께서 꽉꽉 채워주셔서 집에 있는 날이 거의 없습니다. 할렐루야! 서울에서 있었던 일들을 여기서(클릭) 더 읽어보세요 (영어)...

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하나님께서 맺어주시는 인연에 감사

김 영진 권사님은 저희의 첫 한글 소그룹 모임에서 처음 뵜었습니다. 처음에는 저희가 너무 준비도 덜 되고 일본에 대한 지식도 너무 없는 것 같아 걱정을 많이하셨습니다. 하지만 저희의 이야기를 들어보신 후 저희의 가장 큰 응원자가 되시고 우리를 엄청나게 격려해 주셨습니다. 한국에서 함께 했던 시간들에 대해 여기서(클릭) 더 읽어보세요 (영어).

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Thanksgiving Newsletter

If you signed up for our newsletter and haven't received it, please let us know. Happy Thanksgiving! =)

Friday December 4, 2009

"Give thanks to the Lord..."

"...call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done." 1 Chronicles 16:8 (NIV)

Dear Co-laborer in the Lord,

We are very thankful to God for the breath in our lungs, and the joy in our hearts that flow from the relationships we have with you, our family and friends.

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Peter and Jenny Oh

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Thankful for our Partners

We are thankful for the 200 prayer partners who committed to support us in prayer! If you would like to be a part of our prayer team, email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com.

We are also very thankful for the sacrificial giving of all of you who have helped us raise 100% of our needed Departure Fund, and 42% our Monthly Support! Thank you for partnering with us.

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Thankful to be in Seoul

We are currently in Seoul, Korea meeting with pastors, deacons and elders, and other church representatives of various churches in the hopes of being able to partner with them on our journey to Japan. We have been in Seoul from mid-November, and will return to San Jose, CA mid-December. We've been riding the subway a lot, and Juhee loves riding the "train". =) Click here to track with us in Seoul.

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Thankful for Divine Appointments

We had met Kim Gwunsanim at our first Korean SGG in San Jose. She was very concerned about us going to Japan to serve as missionaries because she felt that we were inexperienced and unprepared. After hearing our story, and the journey God was taking us on to Japan, she became one of our strongest supporters and encouraged us tremendously. Click here to read more of our time together in Korea.

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Marathon Sunday

We normally don't wake up at 4am in the morning, except when we first arrived in Seoul, and suffered from jetlag. But today was a special day. We were to meet Dr. Rev. Billy Kim 김장환 목사님 at 7am before the 8am service, and that was the only time he could meet with us. Yes, he really is that busy. (His schedule for the following week included meeting the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon!) Thanks to Kim Gwunsanim 김영진 권사님, we were able to stay nearby at her place the previous night and catch a ride with her choir members too. If we had had to travel from Seoul that morning... Oh my... When we went to wait in front of his office, he'd already started meeting people from 6am in the morning.


(Dr. Rev. Billy Kim, mom & Juhee at GGBTS, SF a few weeks ago.)

After the service, there was a long line of people waiting to shake hands with Dr. Rev. Billy Kim. When it was our turn, we were surprised when he took us out of the line, introduced us to the Missions Deacon and told the deacon that he would like Antioch Church 안디옥교회 to start supporting us monthly from January 2010! Praise God!

Jenny's dad then drove us to Hallelujah Community Church in Bundang, which is also just outside of Seoul. We planned to join their 11:45am English Service, but we ran into one of the nursery teachers while trying to find where the English Service was to be held. It turns out that that nursery teacher had taught in the nursery when Jenny's mom served as their nursery pastor in the early 1990's, and he actually recognized Jenny because she used to help her mom out in nursery as a pre-teen. We had a nice chat with this teacher, and he informed us that most of the nearly 40 nursery teachers are the same teachers as when Jenny's mom served as the nursery pastor. Talk about longevity in ministry! We arranged to visit again with Jenny's mom the following Sunday.

As for the Hallelujah English Ministry (HEM), we were able to meet Pastor Steve and Pastor Cristian, and join in their service. It turns out that Peter actually went to seminary with Pastor Cristian's brother Tiberius. What a small world! We worshiped the Lord and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch (no turkey, but lots of chicken including KFC) with them, and Pastor Steve invited Peter to speak the following Sunday. We look forward to sharing our journey to Japan with them and hopefully partnering with them in some way.

From there we went to the church Jenny's dad attends in Seoul where we rejoined Jenny's parents and then went to Jenny's maternal grandmother's for a delicious dinner and some leftovers to take home too. =)