"Christmas In October"

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Every October at Santa Clara Valley Japanese Christian Church, they have "Christmas in October" for the kids of the missionaries that they support as a church. A special offering is collected (see box of envelopes at the bottom of the poster) and the kids sign a Christmas card for the kids of the missionaries. I asked Michelle, Pastor Lester's wife & the owner of Juhee's daycare, Yamashita Family Child Care, why they do it in October and she said that it's to make sure that they get the gift to the missionary in time. How thoughtful and efficient!


Juhee was excited to see her picture on the poster at SCVJCC at our last day of POPS (Parents of PreSchoolers) back in October and I can tell you from experience that the Missions Committee at SCVJCC are highly efficient because we received our Christmas gift and our cards at the end of November, in plenty of time for Christmas!

When Juhee opened up the envelope she was so excited! On the front of the card was a picture of the Sunday School kids of the same age group all sitting down in their classroom. She was excited because she recognized the place ("Michelle's Japanese Church") and two of the girls in the picture too. She wanted to carry it around with her everywhere but we managed to convince her that it would get damaged. We put it up on a shelf in the dining area so she can see it easily.

It was so exciting receiving our first Christmas cards! They were also the first pieces of mail we didn't need to get translated. =DDD We could just read it and understand. What a blessing! ;)

Admittedly, mommy and daddy were excited to receive the cards too. :) It was nice to receive something Christmas-y and to know that we were being thought of and cared for by friends back home. :)

PS: After my initial posting of this blog post, I found out that Christmas in October was started by Bob and Annie Sueda when they served in SCVJCC's Missions Committee many years ago. Bob passed away last month and will be missed very much as he was a cornerstone of the church.