Tuesday November 30, 2010
In Hiroshima, Japan!
Dear co-laborer in the Lord,
We're here! We arrived inHiroshima, Japan on November 4th, after 16 long hours of traveling. We hit the ground running and have been able to accomplish much in a short time thanks to the help of our Team Leaders the Murrays, the two local pastors, Ogawa-san (the deacon in charge of helping us), and of course, your many prayers!
We've restarted updating our blog so please check it out when you can to see what we're up to and to find out more about our new life in Japan.
Blessings! Peter, Jenny, Juhee, and Sungjae Oh
A Warm Welcome
It was awesome to see so many happy smiling faces when we arrived at Hiroshima Airport. All four Murrays were there, Pastor Haitaka, Pastor Kitano, and his wife and daughter, and Ogawa-san and his wife were there too (big picture above). Juhee was a bit groggy as it was the middle of the night for her, but she was happy to see Uncle Scott, Auntie Susan, and Sydney & Taylor and she was soon having fun with Pastor Kitano's daughter Rise-chan (pronounced "Lee-seh"). When we arrived at the Murrays' home, there was another family waiting to welcome us with a bouquet of flowers!
That Sunday at Kabe Chapel... (Read more on our blog by clicking here.)
Partnership Update
We have been extremely blessed to have 365 prayer partnerscommitted to praying for us regularly. From the new year, we'll have a prayer calendar for each month. Make sure you look for your name and cover us in prayer on your special day. Thank you so much! We really covet your prayers.
God has also brought alongside us many financial partners through whom 93% of our needed Monthly Financial Supporthas been pledged! Praise God! :) During the next couple of months, we will be able to better determine the actual monthly support we are receiving. We have faith that God will meet all of our needs, and we pray that God will meet 100% of our needed Monthly Support so that we have sufficient resources to live and minister here in Japan.
If you would like to partner with us in prayer or finances, please email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com.
Visit our Blog!
Lots of things have been happening since we arrived in Japan and we’ve been busy blogging our stories (with pictures!) of adjusting to life in Japan. We’ve been finding out what year it is (did you know that Japan has a different calendar system?), we got our Wish, we moved into our new home, we are surrounded by reminders that we need to constantly pray, and we are being blessed over and over again by His provision. Sometimes, we stand out a bit too!
We still have much more to blog about like the recent Pioneers Japan Area Retreat we attended, our bathtub :), different aspects about our daily life, Juhee leading a lady to church the day after we arrived... Track with us by signing up for automatic email updates on our blog.
(The underlined sections are all links to blog postings.)
Adjusting to Life in Japan
Juhee keeps on saying, "It's my size!" Things definitely are smaller here. :) Our kitchen sink is only as high as Jenny's thighs.
Cantaloupes are purchased to be given as gifts and sometimes come packaged as a gift set. We saw one sold separately for JPY4,000. That's currently just under $48.
Jenny bought what she thought was milk but it ended up being "drinking yogurt". It looks just like a milk-carton and is sold right next to the milk section. Apparently a lot of foreigners do this. :) You can't tell the difference unless you can read Japanese.
When we go around to shops or restaurants with the Murrays, even though they do the talking in Japanese, people still look & respond to us! They're very surprised when they find out that we don't understand.
Smells we need to get used to: kerosene (we use kerosene heaters to keep our house warm, and you can really smell the fumes every time you turn the heater on or off), cigarette smoke (especially right outside buildings and inside restaurants), alcohol on people's breath (not all the time, but much more than in California).
Things we need to get used to: not being able to understand/read/write/
People and things we are so blessed by: the love and care that has been poured out onto us by the Murrays!!!, Haitaka sensei & his family, Kitano sensei & his family, and Ogawa-san (in pic: about to enjoy a delicious traditional homemade Japanese dinner at his house) & his wife; our little stream & walking path; a park close by; lots of shops within walking distance; friendly landlord and neighbors; close to both Japanese churches that we are partnering with; being covered by your prayers, and God's provision through your generous giving.
<<< can't tell the difference unless you can read Japanese
ReplyDeleteThe bad news is, I never learned to read Japanese, not really. Here in the US I can look at the shelf, and when I see a word like "yogurt" I know instantly it's yogurt. This didn't happen to me with Japanese, though I went to the store many times during our nearly six years there.
People would ask, "Can you read Japanese?" and I would answer "No, I don't read Japanese; I *decode* it." In other words, the good news is that I learned enough to know this is low-temperature milk (tastes more like what we get in the US), this is low-fat milk, this is do-rin'ku yo-guru-toh -- plus with learning what the various cartons &c look like, my lack of "reading" ability became much less of an issue at the store.
Another bit of good news: after about a year and a half in Japan, standing on the platform at Naka-Meguro, I suddenly realized that I'd just understood every word of an announcement (and yes, it was more than "local train going to Shibuya on track#X"). Little linguistic victories.
low-temperature milk?! haven't come across that one yet.
ReplyDeletethanks for the encouragement collin! :)