Merry Christmas & Happy New Year (Dec Newsletter)

Friday December 31, 2010

Thank You for the Encouragement!

Dear co-laborer in the Lord,

Thank you for caring for us through your prayers and support. We've been here in Hiroshima nearly two months now and we've already received several care packages, cards, emails and facebook messages. We are very encouraged to know that we are not here alone, but have come with your support behind us.

For the first time, we have included a Prayer Partner Calendar at the bottom. Please make sure to check this section each month.

May God bless you and your family with joy and peace in 2011.

Happy New Year!

Peter, Jenny, Juhee, and Sungjae Oh

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Our First Christmas in Japan

We were so happy when the Murrays invited us over for Christmas Lunch! We'd figured out by that point that a meal at the Murrays was never just a meal but a feast with a full program after too. So not only would we not be alone on Christmas Day, we were also going to have lots of fun! :) Joining us were a few members of two other families. The grandmother and a niece from one of these families also joined us, who are both non-believers. We had a great time together!

Read more about our first Christmas in Japan here. You can see more pictures too!

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Christmas Cookie Exchange

The morning began by everyone introducing themselves by writing their names on a white board in English, Hiragana (the Japanese alphabet used for Japanese words as opposed to foreign words), and Kanji (Chinese characters). We also had to tell about how we got our names. It was a great way of breaking the ice and getting to know one another better too. Then came the Christmas Cookie Exchange part!

You can read more about this event and also see pictures of the cookies, the craft and the ladies who attended here.

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Our First Japanese Baptism

Six people made a public declaration of their faith in front of the community of believers on Dec. 12 at Koyo Chapel. The baptism was such a special, really heart warming, spiritually exciting event. It was very unique too. Everyone faced the front of the chapel during Pastor Haitaka's short message, the hymns, and the testimonies (oh how we wished we could understand every word!!!), but then when the time came for the actual dunking (very technical term I know =D), everyone got up and ... find out what happened next by clickinghere.

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First Asaminami Church Plant Planning Meeting

What an exciting day! Today was the day of our first Asaminami Planning Meeting. There were eight of us sitting around a table: Pastor Haitaka & his wife Keiko-san, Pastor Kitano & his wife Masae-san, me & Peter, and Scott & Susan Murray. We were going to take a group picture but it didn't happen... Next time!

It was so exciting to discuss the progress and blessings of 2010, to get an update on what's going on and what's being planned, to brainstorm, discuss, and plan things together.

What did we do with the kids while we were in a meeting all day? Find out here.

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More Stories...

We have so much to share with you, but don't want the newsletter to get longer than it already is. Click on the links below to read more.

"Christmas in October", an awesomely encouraging event organized by SCVJCC every year for the kids of the missionaries that they support.

Our Little Juhee and why we need you to pray for her... and us.

Bugs on Steroids. Beware! If you don't like big bugs, this one isnot for you!

Kabe Chapel's Christmas Party, a delicious meal and lots of fun for everyone.

Christmas Day - Take Two! The day we actually opened up our presents. ^^;

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Prayer Partner Calendar

January Prayer Calendar

We are joyful to have the members of our home church New Vision Church and Pathway Bible Fellowship support us in prayer this month. As always, our prayer requests are in the left hand column of our newsletter. Even if your name's not here, please continue to pray for us! We covet your prayers. :)

1 Alan and Marrian Fujinami 16 Agnes Lee

2 Tim and Sojeong Stoutamore 17 Jeff and Clara Lee

3 Michael and Anne Lee 18 Yoon and Youngjoo Kim

4 Min Chin 19 Annette Wong

5 Rebecca Wang 20 Kevin G. Lee

6 Jennard and Janny Cahatol 21 Andrew Lee

7 Sara Kim 22 Deborah Song

8 Christine Lee 23 Julia Park

9 Josh Jung 24 Yeri Chang

10 Steve Lin 25 Aaron Lee

11 Amy Kim (Pathway) 26 Jenny Lee

12 Stephen and Grace Lee 27 Soo Yi

13 Sam and Amy Cho 28 Carl Ryu

14 Young and Patricia Kim 29 Daniel Brown

15 Eunhee Koo 30 Jihoon Lim

31 Jong Sung Lee

Christmas Day - Take Two!

On the morning of the 29th, after a big breakfast of toast, sausage and eggs, we finally opened up our Christmas Presents - yay! :) Actually, that sentence is technically incorrect as Juhee opened up all of the presents (they were mostly hers anyway), not "we". :)


She loved the play-doh set from Auntie Eva which was actually one that I'd saved from last Christmas and she also loved the play kitchen that we got her to replace the one she had in the US. After daddy put the kitchen together, she played in it for most of the day with some play-doh time too.

We don't really have a family Christmas tradition yet of our own. Peter and I met just over 4 years ago, in late Nov of 2006. Our first Christmas, I'd just moved back from the UK and we went to Youth retreats (camps) right before and after Christmas and then had our official engagement party. The 2nd year I gave birth to Juhee on the 22nd, came home on the 24th, Peter took Juhee to the hospital on the 25th for her bilirubin check-up (jaundice) and then went to Youth retreat on the 26th. In 2008, we'd just returned from our Vision Trip to Japan plus a visit to Korea so we were unpacking, jetlagged and Juhee's 1st birthday party took priority over preparing presents / food for Christmas. In 2009, we'd just returned from a month in Korea so again we were unpacking and jetlagged. I was also pregnant and we were all sick so we didn't even do anything for Juhee's birthday except for cake after a normal dinner. I think all four Christmases we opened presents at my mom's house in the morning and then went to my in-laws sometime after lunch. I don't think Peter and I have bought each other Christmas gifts yet..?

Maybe from next year we'll start doing something special, start establishing a family Christmas tradition. By then, Juhee will know that presents are supposed to be opened on the 25th too - not the 29th! ;)

First Asaminami Planning Meeting

What an exciting day! Today was the day of our first Asaminami Planning Meeting. There were eight of us sitting around a table: Pastor Haitaka & his wife Keiko-san, Pastor Kitano & his wife Masae-san, me & Peter, and Scott & Susan Murray. We were going to take a group picture but it didn't happen... Next time!

It was so exciting to discuss the progress and blessings of 2010, to get an update on what's going on and what's being planned, to brainstorm, discuss, and plan things together, to learn more about what Pastor Haitaka's passions, visions and goals are as the Head Pastor, to get to know the roles of the two pastors' wives better and their involvement in their
respective churches, and to spend time in fellowship getting to know one another better.

The meeting was at Kabe Chapel. Pastor Kitano and his family live above the church and so Juhee had fun playing with Pastor Kitano's 3 kids today. She had so much fun she didn't even take a nap despite having slept late the previous few nights! She conked out in the car on our way back but then woke up again just after 15 minutes or so when we arrived home. She's going back again tomorrow to play with them but only from 10am-2pm as she really needs a proper nap. We've been really busy the past couple of weeks, so she's had to nap a bit here and there instead of taking a nice long nap on her futon. Hopefully she won't fall asleep in the car on the way home...

Sungjae stayed with us and crawled around everywhere until Uncle Scott and daddy created a play area out of tables for him (away from sockets and folded chairs leaning against walls!), sat on people's laps (pic of SJ sitting on Pastor Haitaka's lap, staring up at him), was held and loved by everyone, and took naps on a little mini baby futon on the floor. I'd never seen such a small futon before! It was so cute. :)

Everyone brought their own bento lunch to eat and we shared some food too, but the most memorable thing for me was the mochi that the Murrays brought. A neighbor gave it to them last night and it'd been made from scratch! The pastors' wives microwaved it to make it soft and then we ate it with soy sauce in small bowls with tiny Japanese dessert forks. I've never had plain mochi and I've never had mochi with soy sauce! Have you? Masae-san was sitting next to me and she thought it was funny that I took a picture of the mochi in soy sauce. :) It was delicious!!!

It's always great to be able to feel a sense of belonging, a feeling of inclusion, a feeling of usefulness, a sense of progress, a sense of how things work and what to look forward to. I felt all this today. It was a hard and long day today, but it was a wonderfully exciting day. I'm already looking forward to our next meeting! :)

Kabe Chapel's Christmas Party

Koyo Chapel had their Christmas Party on the 19th (I forgot our camera) and Kabe Chapel had theirs on the 26th. Kabe's was actually called "Christmas and giving-thanks-for-the-year Party". The two churches stagger their events whenever possible so that we can attend both events.

Koyo Chapel is about twice the size of Kabe Chapel with approx 100 and approx 50 members respectively. As with Koyo Chapel's Christmas Party, Kabe Chapel's also was plentiful in food and entertainment! Here are a few highlights...


















The food was amazing! The two Christmas Parties were both potluck style and have been the best opportunities for us so far to taste a variety of homemade Japanese food. There were also a few Western dishes like meatballs, potato wedges and I guess a Japanese take on a Western dish - mac & cheese in a bowl of lettuce garnish with slices of boiled egg on top. It wasn't really a macaroni salad... Anyway, Juhee loved it! :) I also discovered an Asian radish side-dish that I love and am going to try to make. Too bad Peter doesn't like it...


The entertainment included Ogawa-san singing with his wife playing the piano, a skit performed by us and the Murrays together, a skit by the Yamaguchi family (very impressive!), a game where 3 teams had to guess the order of the train stations from Hiroshima to Tokyo (!!!), a 6 year old girl twirling a hula-hoop around her waist more than 200 times, a group of young adults singing / playing guitar / playing piano to "You Are My All in All" in English and Japanese, and a reading of a book by Pastor Kitano's 3 kids amongst others.

Let me tell you. In Japan, reading stories out loud is definitely an art form. I knew this already, but I've had the opportunity to listen to stories here a few times already and each time, the intensity and skill of the reader and the attentiveness of the listeners just really blows me away. Even Rise-chan (pronounced "lee-seh", girl in black dress in pics), Pastor Kitano's youngest who is only 5, was amazing reading her parts in the book she read with her two brothers.

Sungjae slept through some of it, Juhee loved all of it, and everyone poured out their love on Juhee and Sungjae. It was Kabe Chapel's biggest Christmas Party ever, a great time of fellowship, an eye-opener for us in terms of getting a better understanding of the church 'culture' (Kabe is more informal than Koyo) at Kabe and the hidden talents of the church members. I'm looking forward to next year's Christmas Parties! :)

Our First Christmas Day in Japan

We were so happy when the Murrays invited us over for Christmas Lunch! We'd figured out by that point that a meal at the Murrays was never just a meal but a feast with a full program after (sometimes before) too so not only would we not be alone on Christmas Day, we were also going to have lots of fun! :) Joining us were a few members of two other families. The grandmother and a niece from one of these families also joined us, who are both non-believers. We had a great time together!

The lunch was potluck style and so we had quiche, baked potato casserole(?), fruit salad, banana nut bread, ham, and our contribution was a spinach-green apple-candied walnuts salad. I even candied the walnuts myself! Peter and Juhee helped with the salad too. :) Susan let me use some of her roasted sesame seed dressing which is really yummy.
Everyone seemed to enjoy it and the grandmother said that it was the first time she tried raw spinach. They don't seem to eat a lot of raw veg here. She's very traditionally Japanese and has high standards so I was honored (and surprised!) when she told me that she thought my spinach salad was delicious. Yay!!! :)


We prayed together before the meal and the grandmother and niece got to hear the Christmas story for the first time too thanks to Taylor's brave and very impressive reading in Japanese of Jesus' birth from the bilingual Japanese kids' Bible after lunch and presents (see pic of Juhee showing off the grass skirt she got from the Murrays - she loves dressing up & dresses!). Susan then read "Rinky Dinky Donkey", the Christmas story told from the viewpoint of the donkey that carried Mary on its back to Bethlehem, for Juhee. She loooooooved it!!! :) We then had dessert - pumpkin pie with (homemade) whipped cream! - and then played Bingo. :)

After the other guests had left, we discussed the Christmas Party that was to take place at the Murrays the next day involving some 30+ people. The Murrays are amazing at the way they pre-plan all of the details and really work together as a team to make sure their events are enjoyable for everyone and run as smoothly as possible. We have a lot to learn from them! We spent some time praying together for the event before going home for late naps, a late dinner, and another late night.

Anyone notice that this blog posting didn't start with something like "as soon as we woke up, we all rushed to open the presents underneath our Christmas tree..."? :) Well, we let the kids sleep for as long as possible 'cause they'd had another late night, I had to make the salad after breakfast, Sungjae chose this busy morning to spit up and then dunk his head in it for the first time ever, and then after his nap, as we were getting ready to go, we realized that he'd pooped so much it seeped through his diaper and clothes so he needed to be washed and all of his clothes changed. Sigh... So we're going to have an extended Christmas this year with our presents being opened sometime a few days after Christmas. We don't mind. Sungjae doesn't mind. And Juhee doesn't know yet. ;)

Juhee's 3rd Birthday

On December 22nd, we celebrated Juhee's 3rd birthday together with family - the Murrays and my mom who was with us for a few days on a whirlwind visit. My mom flew in as she didn't want Juhee to feel lonely - without any extended family and friends - on her birthday. Juhee's used to having lots of family around so grandma's visit really helped Juhee feel more secure and more settled, as well as being especially excited on her birthday. :)

The theme was "angel" and the Murrays, the party planners, came up with a whole agenda for the evening (see Party Plan pic)! Mom and I made lots of yummy Korean food for dinner and Susan made a delicious chocolate cake for Juhee's birthday cake. They brought ice cream to go with it too - yummy! :)

Juhee was the center of attention the who~le time and she absolutely loooved it!!! She loved all of the activities that they'd prepared and she loved dressing up as an angel (with blond curls =D) too.

I think my favorite part was at the end when we all went around telling her why we loved her so much, gave her a big hug, and then handed her an angel ornament to hang on the Christmas tree. The angel ornament was advertised as a simple kids' craft so I bought them for Juhee's birthday but they ended up being difficult to make so the Murrays made them all in advance and prepared other craft for Juhee to do. They are the most awesome and thoughtful party planners!

One thing that caught us completely off guard was how difficult it would be for us to find birthday candles! When I asked Susan if there was anything else we needed to prepare, she said candles. No problem, right? Wrong!!! They don't really celebrate birthdays here. Peter went to I think 6-7 different places to buy them with no luck and so the Murrays ended up having to drop by Pam's on their way to our place as she had some candles. Needless to say, we're saving them for next year! Apparently Pam got them at the dollar store here so we'll have to look for it again more closely next time too.






















We were so blessed to have family to celebrate Juhee's birthday with. Initially, I wanted to make it an outreach event, but as the time drew closer, I realized that we weren't ready for it yet. I was so stressed, tired and overwhelmed from the international move and trying to settle in, that I wasn't even sure if I could do a family thing, which made me really sad. But then Susan came to the rescue and offered to do all of the party planning and even bake the cake so that mom and I would only have to prepare dinner. Mom and I just barely managed to do that (without neglecting the kids too much) so without Susan and the rest of the Murrays doing so much, Juhee's birthday would have been... well, very different.

Juhee loved her birthday party and I'll always look back at this first birthday in Japan with very fond, happy, heart-warming memories. Thank you Murrays!!! :)

Bugs on Steroids

Seriously. They must be on steroids or growth hormone medication or something 'cause they're HUGE!!! So far, I've been freaked out by a HUGE bee (wasp, yellow jacket, whatever it is) and a HUGE cockroach. I show you evidence.

They also do weird things. The bee walked slowly across that wood shelf in our outside shed area until it got to the very end and then flew away. I've never seen a bee walk slowly. Don't bees usually busily scurry around flowers and fly from one thing to another rather than walk / crawl? And the cockroaches here use a jump/fly method as their surprise tactic against humans trying to catch them. Caught both Peter and me completely by surprise! Peter tried using a normal plastic cup (from the US so bigger than Japanese ones) to catch it but it was too small and after a few tries, it eventually got away. We now have a huge Spring Creek BBQ cup (think Texas size) ready on the windowsill for when it next appears - hopefully never! Completely freaked me out last night!!!

On our shopping list: cockroach killing things!!!

Apparently once spring comes, we'll be dealing with centipede-looking things which come into the house and are POISONOUS - eek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Cookie Exchange & Craft Party

Another first - my first ever Christmas Cookie Exchange - in Japan! This Christmas Cookie Exchange though was more than just a cookie exchange. It also included a Christmas craft too!

I'd like to begin by saying that Susan Murray is an awesome hostess. I have so much to learn from her! She prepares pretty invitations and the decoration, food, craft, layout, every aspect of the party is very carefully thought out and planned. She's very graceful and has a smile on her face the whole time even though she can't understand everything that the Japanese ladies are saying to her, which could be stressful and overwhelming but she takes it in her stride and tries to learn. She also has two great, absolutely fantastic helpers. :)

The party was a gathering of ladies that God had brought into Susan's life during the past 3 years. There were former and current Japanese language teachers as well as other teachers and neighbors too. Pastor Haitaka's wife, Keiko-san (older lady in white sweatshirt in 3 of the pics) was there as well as Pam, Susan's old friend and a member of Koyo Chapel, so a few of us knew each other but the rest only knew Susan. Apart from Keiko-san, the other 7 Japanese ladies present were non-believers.

The morning began by everyone introducing themselves by writing their names on a white board in English, Hiragana (the Japanese alphabet used for Japanese words as opposed to foreign words), and Kanji (Chinese characters). We also had to tell about how we got our names. It was a great way of breaking the ice and getting to know one another better too.




Then came the Christmas Cookie Exchange part! On the invitation, Susan had asked that everyone bring approx 30 cookies. Susan had baked probably something like 200! I don't know the exact figure but I think she baked 30 of like 5 different types of cookies (NoBa, Snickerdoodles, Peanut Butter Chip...). She brought out one type of cookie at a time, asked the person who brought it to tell everyone a bit about the cookies, and then everyone took how ever many Susan told them to take until they were all gone, and then she'd bring out the next one. She'd also prepared big plates for everyone to arrange their cookies on. I think the ladies all had as much fun arranging their cookies as they did taking them! :) We all had trouble fitting all of the cookies onto the plates 'cause there were so many!

After that, Susan prayed (in English) and then we had coffee and homemade apple cider with home baked Banana Cream Pie and Chocolate Mousse Pie (both were soooooooooo delicious!!!) while Susan explained the Advent Calendar Craft. Her mom and an elderly lady named Bessy, who helps the Murrays a lot with anything and everything that needs to be done, plus one more friend, cut & sewed together 500 little pockets with 1-25 sewn on them and pre-cut the pieces of ribbon to make 20 packets of this advent calendar craft. Each pocket has a Bible verse in it in Japanese too, 25 verses telling the Christmas story which they printed, cut, and put inside each pocket too. Aren't they amazing??? The ladies had so much fun making the craft too. One lady, who is an art teacher, said that she was going to put up the craft in her classroom and read the Bible verse to her class!

We finished about an hour late, but everyone stayed till the very end. Keiko-san invited one of the ladies to our Christmas Concert the following day and the lady was hesitant when she found out it was at a church but she came - yay! :)

I am thankful for all of the people that God has brought into the lives of the Murrays during the 3 years that they have been here. I'm also thankful that the Murrays are awesome people and that they have been able to build solid relationships with people. I'm thankful that these ladies attended and will be reading Scripture and finding out about the true meaning of Christmas. I am thankful that I was able to participate in this event and see the possibilities / future potential events and just experience ministry. I am thankful that God called me to be here, to be with the people here and I pray that the Lord's message will ring out from me as we share our lives with the people here.

Courtesy of Biblegateway.com: The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. (1 Thessalonians 1:8)

Our First Japanese Baptism

Wow, what a day! Lots of firsts again today. Main ones being:

* Tried sugar coated TOFU donut - delicious!
* Tried some more Japanese side dishes I don't know the name or ingredients of :)
* Peter went to observe Koyo Chapel's monthly JSC (Junior Senior Church for Middle & High School students) worship service
* I got to meet and chat with Sa-chan while her 11 month old daughter Sakura-chan (yes, as in "cherry blossom") and Sungjae hung out together in Koyo Chapel's tatami room
* Ate bento lunches we bought at a supermarket this morning in between Sunday morning service (10:30-11:30) and the baptism service (1:30) and got to meet & chat with a few other ladies while they also ate their bento lunches
* Juhee met and played with lots of kids at Koyo today (1st pic) :)
* OUR FIRST BAPTISM IN JAPAN!!!


The baptism was such a special, really heart warming, spiritually exciting event. It was very... unique too. Everyone faced the front of the chapel (pic 2) during Pastor Haitaka's short message, the hymns, and the testimonies (pic 3) (oh how I wished I could understand every word!!! thank God for Sion-san who translated parts of them into Korean for me =D) but then when the time came for the actual dunking (very technical term I know =D), everyone got up and simultaneously turned their chairs around! And just like that, they were all in perfect lines, facing the back of the chapel (pic 4) where the tub was.





















The pastors stood outside of the tub with their sleeves rolled up and the six that were baptized today went in one by one and kneeled at the front (pic 5). After being dunked, they would come out of the tub, were wrapped in a towel/gown by the person helping them out of the tub and then they went downstairs to shower and get dressed.

A group of ladies wiped the water off the floor each time (pic 6).

Once it was all done, the water was drained (they used a bucket too to help speed up the process) down a sink that was hidden on the floor in the cupboard (pic 7).

The tub itself was amazing. It's a makeshift one with no bottom and they keep the water in it using just plastic! I managed to get one pic of the tub before they started dismantling it (pic 8). You have to see the video I took of them dismantling it & putting it away. Notice that there's no floor piece! I didn't catch the beginning but you'll get an idea...

In the first video, the older gentleman in the suit with glasses is Pastor Haitaka. He's in the second one too helping the others remove the plastic from the floor. He is a very humble, wise, godly, highly respected man and we're very honored to be working with him.

In the second video, the other big piece of plastic that's next to the flat one that they're peeling off, is the one that they used to keep the water in the tub. This tub was designed by a Japanese pastor, one of our pastors was able to get the blueprint and a church member made it. Isn't it pretty cool? :)




6 people made a public declaration in front of their Christian friends and family today. We look forward to helping to keep them accountable in their Christian walk and to pour out our love on them. It was a joyful event full of celebration and tears of joy and we know that angels in Heaven were rejoicing with us.

Thank YOU for rejoicing with us too. I'm so glad I have you to share this exciting day with. :)

With a warm and joyful heart,
Jenny

Our Little Juhee

Maybe for this one I should just let the pictures speak for themselves... But I feel like I need to mention a few things...

Our little Juhee's so bubbly, outgoing, loves singing & dancing, and is growing up so fast! She talks a lot and is speaking mostly in English but sometimes in Korean and Japanese too. One very diplomatic person :) commented just a few minutes after observing her with other kids (all older) that she has "leadership skills" (she's bossy). She likes being the center of attention and loves doting on smaller kids (except for when they want her toys).

At SFO, on November 3rd, the day we left the US, she was very excited and jumping up and down, being her usual happy self. :) Little did she know that her world was about to become very different. I think she thought we were going on another trip, soon to return to San Jose.

When we first arrived in Japan, we stayed at the Murray's for 8 days. She observed big sisters Sydney & Taylor help set the table at every meal and now she loves helping me set the table at every meal! She's pretty good at it too and know who gets which plate, and which spoon and chopsticks are daddy's favorites. She enjoys picking out which utensils she's going to use that meal too. :)


Soon after we moved into our place, Juhee had a playdate with a half-Korean half-Japanese boy that attends one of the churches we partner with. She had trouble sharing her toys at first but they eventually got along. When we met to go to the Korean market together earlier this week, they were holding hands! :)


There are a couple of recent developments that concern me. She's starting to act out a lot more and I know she's at the boundary-pushing/testing age so it's somewhat to be expected, but I know that 1) our stress levels being higher = us being pretty short with her, 2) not attending school and being cooped up at home all day with stressed parents, 3) all of the other environmental changes that have taken place recently are causing her to be stressed too. Instead of allowing her more grace and being more patient & understanding with her, we have been doing the opposite. It's easy to forget that she's going through a lot of change and cultural stress too...

Juhee's mentioned more than a few times that she wants to go back to San Jose / grandma's house / to see certain people in the US. She told me that she wants to go back to San Jose for her birthday. But yesterday, for the first time, she said that she doesn't want to be in Japan anymore and that she wants to go back to San Jose. She doesn't want her new house in Japan anymore and wants to go to her grandma's house. She wants the green car (the car I drove now and again in the US)...

We're pretty sure that attending school will help. One person recently described her as an extrovert with a capital 'E'. :) School will as she's such an extrovert and she's always loved school but also because she'll be intellectually stimulated, will be able to interact with other kids, and will get some exercise too! We have to wait till April but our current situation is not optimal so we might have to explore our options a bit more...

Pray for our sweet little Juhee please. I know she'll adjust soon as she's always adapted quickly to the many different living arrangements we've been in and all of the traveling, but until then... Pray for us too that we'll be wise, that we'll be able to discipline her when needed but also love her and pour out extra measure of grace and understanding on her during this transitional phase.

10월 11월 업데이트

Friday December 10, 2010

일본 히로시마

안녕하세요!

저희 도착했습니다! 16시간의 긴 여행 후 11월 4일 저녁에 히로시마에 도착했습니다. 저희 팀리더이신 머레이 선교사님 가정, 두 현지인 목사님, 그리고 저희를 맡으신 오가와-산 (집사님) 과 많은 분들의 기도 덕분에 오자마자 바쁘게 이리저리 다니며 짧은 시간 동안에 많은 일들을 해낼수 있었습니다.

블로그를 다시 업데이트하기 시작했는데 다 영어로 되어있습니다. 죄송합니다... ㅡㅡ; 저희 일본에서의 새로운 삶에 관한 사진들만이라도 보시러 가끔 들려주세요!

주님의 축복이 늘 함께하시길... Peter Oh목사 가정 드림

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대환영

11월 4일 저녁 히로시마 공항에 도착했을 때 저희를 반기는 분들이 많아 너무 행복했습니다. 머레이 선교사님 가정 4명, 하이타가 목사님, 키타노 목사과 사모님 그리고 딸, 그리고 오가와-산 집사님과 와이프도 공항에 함께 마중 나왔습니다 (위 큰 사진). 미국 시간으로 새벽이어서 주희가 좀 피곤해 했었는데 머레이 선교사님 가정의 Uncle Scott, Auntie Susan 그리고 Sydney & Taylor 언니들을 보고 너무 반가워해하더니 키타노 목사님의 딸 리세와 함께 금방 재밌게 뛰어놀기 시작했습니다. 머레이 선교사님댁에 도착했을때 또 한 가정이 꽃다발을 들고 저희를 기다리고 있었습니다.

그 주 주일9(7일)에 키타노 목사님의 카베교회 문 앞에 저희를 환영하는 싸인들이 문을 장식하고 있었고 예배 후 특별한 점심이 준비되어 있었고 점심 파티때 저희 둘이 다 간단한 감사의 인사말을 나누었습니다. 카베교회에 연세가 가장 많으신 할머니께서 저희에게 환영과 감사의 인사말을 하셨고 한 여집사님께서도 인사말을 하실때 "오 센세이(목사님)"께서 Jackie Chan (홍콩 영화 배우)를 닮았다고 하셔서 함께 웃었습니다. ^^

저희가 도착하고 일주일 후에 목사님들 가족들과의 환영파티가 있었습니다. 카베교회에 모여 머레이 선교사님 가정, 두 일본인 목사님 가정, 그리고 오가와-산 집사님 부부(저희의 이사와 일본 생활 적응을 맡으셨음)와 함께 맛있는 저녁 식사를 함께 하며 재밌는 시간을 가졌습니다(사진). 영어와 일본어로 대화하며 많이 웃고 친분을 쌓는 귀한 시간이었습니다. 제가 하이타카 목사님의 사모님이신 케이고-산 옆에 앉았었는데 너무나도 정중하시고 마음이 따뜻하신 분입니다. 저희가 식사를 할 수 있도록 함께 계셨던 여자분들이 돌아가면서 성제를 봐주시고 주희는 키타노 목사님의 3자녀와 함께 신나게 놀았습니다.

그 주 주일(14일)에는 하이타카 목사님의 코요교회에서도 저희를 위한 특별한 점심식사와 함께 3팀의 특별찬양, 그리고 끈을 잡아당기면 공이 열리면서 Welcome 싸인과 종이꽃이 내려오는 순서도 있었습니다. 물론 저희가 감사의 인사를 나누는 시간도 있었고요. 카베교회에서도 그랬듯이 코요교회에서도 많은 교인들께서 저희에게 오셔서 자기 소개를 하며 기도하고 있었고 드디어 와서 너무 좋다고하셨습니다.

10일만에 환영파티가 3개나 있었습니다! 부족한 저희를 대환영해주시려고 많은 분들께서 노력을 많이하신 것이 보였고 감동 받지 않을수가 없었습니다.

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파트너십 업데이트

이제 저희가 소망하던 365명의 기도후원자를 하나님께서 채워주셨습니다. 할렐루야! 1월부터 뉴스레터 부터 매달 기도 달력이 있을껍니다. 성함을 꼭 확인해주시고 그 날 저희를 위해서 꼬~옥 기도해주세요!

하나님께서 또 후원자들도 더 보내주셔서 이제 저희가 필요한 정기적인 후원금의 93%가 작정되었습니다! 할렐루야! 다음 2-3달에 걸쳐 실질적으로 후원 받는 정기적인 후워금액을 알 수 있을것입니다. 하나님께서 모든 것을 채워주실 것이라는 것을 믿고 기도합니다.

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블로그에 들려주세요~

일본에서 도착한 수 참 많은 일들이 있었습니다. 일본에서 년도를 기록하는 방식이 2가지라는 것도 배우고, 차도 사고 , 정말 하나님의 은혜로 저희한테 너무 딱 맞는 특이한 집을 구해주시고, 집 주위에 산소들이 많아 늘 기도하게 만드시고, 하나님의 공급하심에 계속적으로 은혜를 받고 있습니다. 같은 동양인이지만 어떨때는 저희가 눈에 뜨일때도 있습니다.

아직도 블로그에 올릴 글들이 많습니다. Pioneers 선교단체의 첫 일본팀 수련회, 저희 목욕탕, 일상생활의 이모저모, 주희가 저희가 도착한 다음날 한 자매를 교회로 인도한 것... 저희 블로그에 가끔 꼭 들려주세요!

(줄 쳐져있는 글들은 전부 저희 블로그 링크들입니다. 다 영어로 되어 있어서 죄송합니다. ㅡㅡ; 사진들도 많이 올렸습니다. ^^)

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일본생활 적응

주희가 요즘 흔히하는 말이 있습니다 "오! 내 크기다!" 미국서 보다 여기 일본에 많은 것들이 더 작고 더 낮은 곳에 있기 때문이죠. 저희 부엌 싱크도 제 허벅지까지 밖에 안 올라옵니다.

메론은 선물용이며 선물세트로 구입할 수도 있습니다. 가게에서 메론 하나를 4,000엔으로 파는 것을 보았습니다. 요즘 시세로 미국 달러 $48, 한국돈으로는 약 54,000원입니다.

우유라고 생각하고 샀는데 "마시는 요거트"였습니다. 우유팩에 들어있고 우유랑 같은 부분에 진열되어있었습니다. 외국인들이 흔히하는 실수라고 하더군요. ^^;

저희가 머레이 선교사님 가정과 함께 가게나 음식점에 가면 머레이 선교사님과 사모님께서 질문을 하셔도 대답은 꼭 저희를 보고 합니다. 저희가 일본 사람이 아니라는 것에 많은 사람들이 놀랩니다.

익숙해져야하는 냄새들: 등유 (등유 난로를 키고 끌 때 마다 냄새가 많이 납니다), 담배냄새 (캘리포니아와는 달리 건물 안에서 담배를 필 수 있도록 되어 있어서 건물 바로 앞과 음식점에서의 담배 냄새에 적응해야합니다), 술 냄새 (자주는 아니지만 미국에서는 전혀 못 맡았던 술 냄새를 사람들한테서 가끔 맡게됩니다).

익숙해져야하는 것들: 의사소통을 제대로 하지 못하는 것, 낮은 천장과 문, 유리 한장분의 창살과 미닫이 문, 등유 난로 (사용법, 아이들 주의 시키는 것, 냄새), 복잡하고 시간을 많이 소비하는 쓰레기 버리는 방법.

저희를 축복한 것들과 사람들: 머레이 선교사님 가정과 하이타가 목사님과 가정, 키타노 목사님과 가정, 그리고 오가와-산 집사님 부부(사진: 오가와-산 집사님댁에서 일본 전통 음식으로 차려진 멋진 식사대접을 받았습니다), 이 4가정이 저희에게 준 아낌 없는 사랑과 헌신을; 집 근처에 있는 작은 시냇가와 산책로, 공원, 그리고 가게들; 친절한 집주인과 옆집 사람들; 동역하는 두 일본인 교회와 집이 가까운 것; 많은 분들의 기도와 헌신적인 후원을 통한 하나님의 공급하심.