February Update

Monday February 28, 2011

Thank you for your Prayers!

Dear co-laborer in the Lord,

We have so many things to share with you, but are only able to highlight just a few things. We hope you are blessed and encouraged through these e-newsletters. Not everything we do may seem ministry related, but it is through the various activities of life that we are able to build relationships with people with whom we are able to share the love of Christ. And it is through your prayers that we are able to meet the people with whom God has prepared for us to share our lives and His love.

Please be sure to check the Prayer Partner Calendar at the bottom of this newsletter.

Blessings,
Peter, Jenny, Juhee and Sungjae Oh

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Asaminami Church Plant

Praise the Lord! God has led the building search committee to find a property for the Asaminami Church Plant that meets nearly every criteria on the wish list for the new church plant location. The property sits in a prime location near major roads, major stops for the Astrum line (city monorail) and buses, a large parking lot (which is a rarity in Hiroshima) within walking distance, and is even right next to two schools, a pre-school and an elementary school.

Being right next to two schools has two major benefits. One benefit is that we were able to receive a significant discount on the property because no one wanted to buy a property that would have a lot of noise from the schools. The second and greater benefit is that being right next to two schools makes this property a prime location for outreach events. The students, parents, teachers and administrators of the schools will all be aware of every event we have, including our Sunday Services. It'll be very easy to advertise our events to the community. The church leaders of the Japanese congregations at Koyo and Kable Chapels signed the official contract, and we hope to start the building project from April with demolishing the building which currently sits on the property. We will then start the construction the new church building, and we hope to move in sometime early next year.

Click on the picture to see a larger version, or view larger pictures as you read about the Asaminami Church plant building here.

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God Loves You... personally

I (Peter) was asked to preach at Koyo Chapel on Feb. 13th since Pastor Haitaka needed time to recover from his surgery earlier that week. I agreed and started praying for the sermon. We had learned that most Japanese people have a difficult time understanding that God loves every individual personally, and that they viewed God as being distant and aloof. God had impressed upon my heart to speak to the congregation about these topics. God led me to share from 1 John 4:7-12 explaining that God loves each and every one of us personally, and the result of acknowleding God's love in our lives should be for us to love one another. This is one way those outside of the Christian community can witness God's personal love. The sermon fit quite well for that Sunday since it was Valentine's Day the very next day. I suppose the message was God's Valentine's Day gift to us.

You can read more about the sermon here.

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Juhee's New School

February 15th was our first official day at Juhee's new school, and I (Jenny) was excited but also very nervous! How much would I be able to understand? Would I be able to understand at least the important stuff that I need to know? Have I prepared all of the documents to be handed in correctly? Will Juhee be OK? Will she have fun? What will the day be like? What will the other moms / children be wearing???

We got there about 5 minutes early and I was glad we did 'cause there was already a little line of moms & kids waiting to register themselves for the day. There's so much to share about this day! Please click here to read more about my experiences at Juhee's new school.

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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.

Flea Market - Read about our experience and see pictures of our first church flea market.

Quick Sungjae Post - Just a few things we want to remember about Sungjae's baby phase.

Laundry - Doing laundry in Japan is so different than in the States, we just had to blog about it.

Samuel um... Playgroup - Not only is Juhee and Sungjae having fun and learning some new things at playgroup, but Jenny is learning a few things of her own. 

Sumire Cafe - Japanese Cooking Class - A fun and delicious outreach event at Koyo Chapel.

"That's so funny, Uncle Scott!" - This is what Juhee said during a message Scott, our Team Leader, was sharing during "Chidren's Time" at Kabe Chapel. His message that day was on the death of missionary Jim Elliot.

A Date with Sushi - We had sushi for the first time since coming to Japan as it was a special occasion.

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Prayer Partner Calendar

March Prayer Calendar

We are joyful to have the members of Global Harvest Church and the Youth Group of Dallas Chinese Bible Church as well as other friends 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 there, please continue to pray for us! We covet your prayers. :) (Pic: Juhee inside a house made out of milk/juice cartons and duct tape at one of the playgroups Jenny takes her to.)

March

1 Julie and Andrew Kim   17 Eddie and Sharon Pak

2 Chan Kyu Lim                 18 Steve and Susie Lee

3 Giovanni DeSoto            19 Alene Su

4 Jasmine Kim                  20 Bryan Yu

5 Jeeyun Lim                     21 Christine Lin

6  Jeff Kwant                      22 Clement Setiawan

7 Joanne Hong                23 David and Jennifer Tang

8 Joanne Lee                   24 Emily Lin

9 Jung Lee                        25 Jesse Chang

10 Kathy Hong                 26 Jessica Jan

11 Mike Im                        27 Matthew Wong

12 Robert Childers         28 Philip Chang

13 Steve Kang                 29 Sammy Siu

14 Zie Chang                   30 Ramon West Jr.

15 Deb and John Lee    31 Bobby and Claire Ryu

16 Dominique Tran

A Date with Sushi

Every Wednesday, the Murrays and the Ohs get together for team meetings and dinner from around 4:30-8:00pm. But on Feb 23rd, as a birthday gift to Peter, the Murrays babysat the kids for us while we went on a date! :) So we dropped off the kids and went to a sushi bar nearby. We were excited as it was our first time having sushi since coming to Japan nearly 4 months ago. Oh! And the fact that we were going to be alone for a couple of hours too and be able to enjoy a meal in peace! ;)

The Murrays took us to "Sushiro" when we visited them back in Nov 2009 so we kind of knew what to expect, but there were still many times when we didn't know what to do or had communication issues! Each plate was a bit over $1.00 so yes, it was cheap, but the quality wasn't quite what we're used to in California. However, it was authentic. I don't think we can afford high quality authentic sushi here!

Difference between Peter & Jenny: Peter likes tuna, so he ate only tuna (pic 1). He had two different types because I tried a different tuna sushi with sauce wrapped in seaweed and it was good so he ate that one too.

On the other hand, I didn't eat the same thing twice and ordered off the menu too (pic 2). I thought Peter was being un-adventurous. Peter says he was being safe. :)

There were some items on the sushi boat / train that we weren't used to seeing - like meatball sushi (with mayo), tuna mayo sushi, salmon & melted cheese sushi, lots of mayo as topping on various types of sushi, juice boxes, and some other types of mystery seafood sushi dishes too.

There are lots that we could tell you ("Where's the wasabi?" "Hmmm... I'm not sure..." "Hey! What's that?" "Ooh! I think that's wasabi!" "Quick! Before it goes away!"), but I'm going to leave you with pictures and you'll just have to come visit us for the full experience!

Hopefully we'll have figured things out a bit more so we're not fumbling so much when we take you! :)

Death of a Turtle

From April, the Murrays will be leading a monthly practically-free Kids' English Club outreach for elementary school kids at both churches, one Saturday each per month. They've already purchased the curriculum and we have the dates. Susan worked really hard to come up with a really cute logo (pic) last month and we started the process of looking into quotes to get t-shirts printed for the kids. She even started designing postcards to be handed out to advertise the outreach. Everything was going so well! :)

But then... Susan brought it to church on Sunday to ask the kids and members of the church (including a school teacher) what they thought of the logo. Well, in short, they didn't like it! One adult couldn't even tell that it was a turtle! Apparently turtles aren't very "in" in Japan. Susan asked the kids what animals they do like, and the list included dogs, cats, bears and pandas. Apparently a panda at a zoo somewhere in Japan gave birth recently so pandas became really popular. :)

What is cute and immediately identifiable in our "western" eyes, apparently is not necessarily so in the eyes of our friends here. So no colorful cute smart-looking turtle with glasses for us...

As discouraging as it was for all of us, especially Susan, we were all grateful that God intervened when He did and prompted Susan to ask around at church that Sunday, right before we were about to commit to printing 110 t-shirts. Phew!

Brian Tom (link), a teammate down in Fukuoka who is an awesome, talented graphic designer and teaches English to kids as part of his ministry here, has agreed to help us out - phew!

Thank you God for intervening and thank you God for providing! Can't wait to see Brian's design. :)

"That's so funny, Uncle Scott!" :)

On Sunday, Feb 20th, Scott was asked to speak during the "Children's Time" at Kabe Chapel. Using powerpoint slides, he told the story of missionary Jim Elliot. As many of you will know, Jim Elliot is murdered by the tribe that he goes to reach out to so it's a bit of a gruesome story for kids!

While Scott was telling the story, Pastor Kitano translated. Juhee was the only one who understand the English telling of the story. At one point, Juhee said, "That's so funny, Uncle Scott!" and started laughing. =D (I think it was when Scott mentioned something about the Indian tribe eating people. I think she thought he was joking. @_@)

Scott and his helper, Taylor, laughed too. Scott continued the story and explained the importance of the work that Jim Elliot started with the Indian tribe, the importance, even, of his death and that of his friends and challenged the listeners - young and old - to be obedient in their faith and in their calling.

We're on the map! :)

We have wonderful news! The property for our church plant in the Asaminami area has been found and an official contract signed! After carefully considering more than 20 properties during the past 2-3 years, God finally lead the committee to a property that meets practically everything that was on their wish list for the new church plant location.

During announcement time on Sunday, Pastor Kitano and Ogawa-san held up a map of the area to show the congregation where the new property is located. Each label had the name and full address of each location. Pastor Kitano started at the top, the location of Kabe Greenhill Chapel (or just Kabe Chapel for short), which is where we were attending service that particular Sunday. The next location was that of Koyo Chapel, the church that Pastor Haitaka leads. The one below that was - our house! :) Everyone laughed when Pastor Kitano said "... and this is the Oh family's house." =D Then Pastor Kitano looked at the Murrays, smiled and said "And the Murrays' house is over here", waving his hand above the map and everyone laughed again. :) The one below our house is the location of the Asaminami church plant. The furthest from our house is Kabe Chapel and it's only about 15 minutes away so we're in a prime location - PTL! :)

We were able to get a significant discount on the property as it's right next to an elementary school and preschool so no one wanted to buy it because of the noise level. It was also perfect of us in that this property has lots of parking nearby, within walking distance, a rarity here in Hiroshima! They'll be demolishing the building and rebuilding a two-story building from April with the hopes of being able to move in sometime early next year.

We, as in our family home, but also we as in our church plant, are now both on the map. A huge milestone, exciting times!!! :)

Sumire Cafe - Japanese Cooking Class

Every Friday at Koyo Chapel, the ladies get together for a Bible study from 10:30am and they call this group "Sumirekai" (Violet - as in the flower - Meeting). However, once a month "Sumirekai" becomes "Sumire Cafe" and they have a cooking class as a fun outreach event.

Keiko-san (Pastor Haitaka's wife) called me one day and personally invited me to the one on the 18th. I asked her what kind of food they'd be making and she said Japanese style fish and various vegetable dishes so I was very excited! I'd mentioned to her that I want to learn how to cook more Japanese dishes as the ingredients are easier to find and cheaper than those for American or Korean ones. All four of us (even Sungjae :)) like fish, so I was looking forward to learning another fish dish.

We paid the JPY150 fee and when I sat down, I realized that I couldn't read the recipes. I could make out words here and there but I don't know enough Japanese to be able to follow the instructions. I couldn't even figure out all of the ingredients!

After some singing, praying and a message by Pastor Haitaka, everyone went up towards the front of the chapel to watch the cooking demonstration. They gave us four recipes and the instructor for the day, a member of Koyo Chapel, demonstrated how to make two of them and part of another one.

Juhee played under the table / by the chairs with kitchen toys while the cooking demonstration was taking place. Once it was over, we all returned to our seats where a full meal with the four recipes that were given to us + soup was prepared for us at our seats. They even had simply made paper place mats!

It was all very beautiful and very delicious. Juhee didn't like the green broccoli-looking veg but she liked the rest. :) Hopefully I'll be able to make at least the rice mixture and fish sauce soon.

Next month, Susan will be teaching how to make chili (or "chili soup" as they call it here) and cornbread and will be giving a message on friendship. I'll be there! Hopefully lots of other ladies will be there too. :)

Samuel um.. Playgroup?

I don't even know what it's called. Something in Japanese... @_@

Anyway, it's like a playgroup run by the preschool that Juhee will be starting in April. It happens a few times per month on a Monday or Wednesday morning from 10:00-11:30, you must pre-register as there's limited space and there's a ¥100 per child fee. On the "to bring" list are drink (for child and mom), cap (for child for playing outside) and spare clothing.

A friend had signed us up a few weeks ago for the playgroup on Wednesday, Feb 16th, so I bundled up the kids, grabbed our bags with the "to bring" items and went on our way. As I'd learned from experience that "indoor shoes" isn't an item that goes on "to bring" item lists, I took indoor slippers for me and Juhee too. Smart, right? :)

Well, it turns out that at playgroup, no one wear indoor shoes / slippers. Sigh... You also don't need to bring a drink 'cause drinks are provided during snack time. Sigh... However, you do need to bring your own hand towel to dry your hands with after you wash your hands at the beginning of snack time. This is another one of those taken-for-granted-so-not-included-in-the-"to bring"-item-list things. Apparently, practically everyone carries a hand towel around with them. I started carrying a handkerchief around with me 'cause I heard that everyone carried a handkerchief around with them, but it looks like I'll have to start carrying around a hand towel too! I didn't have a hand towel with me so I panicked and used one of Sungjae's (wet) wipes to dry Juhee's hands with. It kinda worked. @_@ Later that day, I realized that I could have used my handkerchief or even one of the burp clothes I had in my bag. I panicked and was so focused on the fact that I didn't have a hand towel, I didn't think to even look through my bag! Sigh...

Most of it was free play time, very Montessori style, but the teacher led the kids in a few songs and told a story involving characters from a pot of oden (pic), followed by washing hands and snack time. Of course there was cute tablecloth for the tables! I wonder if this happens at all preschools??? The teacher even weighed and measured all of the kids and wrote the information down on a little piece of paper for the moms to take home!

Both Juhee and Sungjae had a great time. Juhee made a snowman that self-rights itself (simple and genius!), had fun drawing / cutting / pasting, reading books, playing with the many toys that were there, and even got to play outside for a bit before heading home. Sungjae had a great time putting everything he could get his hands on into his mouth (except for the soft baby toys, he wasn't interested in them!)! :) I actually ended up having to hold him for most of the time because he started putting small choke-able items into his mouth. :(

Almost every time I go out and meet people / attend something, I seem to make at least one mistake as we never seem to receive 100% of the information we need as there are so many things that are (culturally) taken for granted. This will probably be the case for many events for many years to come...

Lots of learning to do, just need to keep trying (and try not to get too discouraged)! :)

Samuel Kindergarten Open Day

February 15th was our first official day at Juhee's new school and I was excited but also very nervous! How much would I be able to understand? Would I be able to understand at least the important stuff that I need to know? Have I prepared all of the documents to be handed in correctly? Will Juhee be OK? Will she have fun? What will the day be like? What will the other moms / children be wearing???

We got there about 5 minutes early and I was glad we did 'cause there was already a little line of moms & kids waiting to register themselves for the day. This involved receiving a name tag for the new student, finding out which classroom you need to go to after registering, paying a JPY20 fee I think for the day (about 25 cents), placing completed paperwork in appropriate piles, and paying any remaining fees. They'd handmade name tags for each student to wear just for a few hours that day! Our last name was spelled wrong / differently, and they'd prepared a spare blank one just in case but I said it was OK. I didn't quite understand where I was supposed to go but after another try and still not being able to understand, I just said thank you and moved on. @_@ When I went to hand in the forms, I was told that our automatic payment bank form was missing one stamp (personal seal) and I realized I hadn't colored in Juhee's symbol-thing (will explain more later) as I was supposed to so I asked if I could bring it back the next day. Then, we were supposed to go to our allocated classrooms, but of course I went to the wrong one and they had to get someone to help me find the right room... @_@ And of course, everyone had indoor slippers/shoes to wear except for us (it wasn't on the "to bring" list!!!) so we walked up to the classroom in our socks and were greeted by a shocked teacher who immediately ran downstairs to get us some... @_@ Felt so bad!!! One of the teachers explained to me that I had to go downstairs to the "hall" for a "talk" so I said "Yes, thank you" but stuck around for a bit longer to make sure that Juhee was OK. She came up to me again though and informed me that I need to go down. I still had more than 10 minutes left before the scheduled meeting time so I didn't want to go down yet, but I did. As I entered, I noticed that the parents were scanning through and putting a check mark in a box so I looked to see what they were looking at. It was the school bus schedule - yay! We'd told them that Juhee would be taking the bus so I looked for Juhee's name but couldn't see it. She was on the "not sure" list! :( I scanned the various lists again, this time for both her stop "Coco's" (yes, the restaurant) and her name and found her name in brackets by the stop. The teacher in charge of the bus list started talking to me really fast and when I told her "Sorry, I can't speak Japanese" she just completely stopped and didn't know what to do. So I said "I speak a little bit of Japanese" and then she started speaking to me slowly. She had to repeat herself a few times 'cause I kept on guessing wrong as to what she was saying, but we eventually got there - phew! The main problem was that she was asking whether or not Juhee was going to be taking the school bus. I could pick up most of the words of the sentence but I was confused because we already told them that she was taking the bus so I kept on thinking that she was asking something else. One of the things I'm finding the most difficult and frustrating is that I can often identify nouns, adjectives and verbs within a sentence but because of the few missing parts I don't understand, I can't figure out what they're saying! Thankfully, sometimes I can :), but most times, I can't. :( Yet. :)

The next hour and a half was painful as I sat there in the auditorium, listening to the principal and someone else give speeches and go through the handbook while I sat there, trying very hard to pick up on things. Needless to say, I didn't take down a whole lot of notes!

(Click on images to see larger versions.)

As the parents were leaving, they were asked to check the tables that had kids' school items displayed on them. There are a few items that are the same for all kids - the brown bag, school hat, a pharmacy bag (to put prescribed medication into), and a bag for school library books that must be purchased from the school (unless you can get it used from an older sibling / friend). On top of that, there are two smocks (one short sleeve, one long sleeve), another SIX more bags and a few other things that need to be prepared... @_@ Apparently, most Japanese moms sew these bags for their children themselves. Even the two smocks are often made by the mom. Needless to say, I won't be sewing any of Juhee's stuff!

After the meeting, a friend of a friend found me and I was sooo grateful!!! Both my friend and her friend speak English - yay!!! :) We both had to go to our kids' classrooms for lunch but we agreed to meet afterwards.

When I went back to the classroom, Juhee was having fun and happy. As best as I could, we followed the teachers' instructions (i.e. copied what everyone else was doing). Lunch was amazing! Each little table had a small vase of fresh flowers, a small towel to wipe the table with (very typical, even in restaurants), and a container for napkins, small spoons and small chopsticks. Each classroom had their own rice cooker and trays of food delivered to them by cafeteria staff all decked out in aprons, hats, etc. The meal was delicious! After the meal, all of the kids had to put their bowls, etc away neatly. Then, finally, the day was over and it was time to go.

My friend's friend came over from her classroom and we discussed a few more things I needed to get done before Juhee started school, we went to the office to clarify our bank form and registered for an almost free program that the school has available for 0-3 year olds and their moms once a month. We decided we'd talk more then and exchanged contact details (using infra-red of course! ;)).

The day was supposed to finish at 11:30 but Juhee and I came out at 12:30 so Peter & Sungjae had to wait in the car for a long time. I was very nervous and the day wasn't without hiccups, but I survived, Juhee had fun, and we're a little bit closer to being ready for Juhee to start school in April. I actually know the date of her first day of school now too - April 8th! :) Still need to figure out what we're going to wear that first day, her first day of school "ceremony" day, 'cause all of the kids and moms dress up big time... @_@

Nine Reasons to Love One Another

"Nine Reasons to Love One Another" was the title of Peter's first sermon in Japan, based on 1 John 4:7-12 (link). Normally, Mak interprets from English to Japanese at Koyo Chapel, but he was on a business trip that Sunday so Mak translated the text, but Kikkawa-san was the one who stood next to Peter on the pulpit that Sunday. It was the first time for both of them but everything went well. Even the powerpoint remote didn't cause any problems! :)

In California, Peter hardly ever wore a suit. Maybe 2-3 times per year? But here, Peter probably wears it 2-3 times per month! Which reminds me... I need to get his suit dry cleaned...

Juhee was glad when she could go to daddy at the end of service. Both Juhee and Sungjae did a good job of staying quiet at the back of the chapel while daddy was preaching - phew! ^^;

Personally, I've heard Peter preach many times, but this one was definitely one of my favorites. :) <3

Laundry

"What's the weather like today? Is it good laundry drying weather???" In the US, the second question used to be: "Can Juhee go outside to play today???"

Laundry isn't something that was a big deal to me in the US. But here, it's become a much bigger deal, and hence, something that has become blog-worthy (to me). :) I'm used to doing 2-3 loads of laundry per week, usually on one day, folding and putting everything away on the same day. Here, the process takes so much longer and it's no longer a task I can just do quickly and tick off of my mental to-do list.

The Japanese way to do laundry (so I'm told) is to use the bath water from the previous night to run laundry in the morning and then hang it up to dry outside. Laundry is done in smaller loads here than in the US as the laundry machine drums are smaller so laundry is done more frequently. Also, the clothes here
don't seem to come out as clean as in the US so I'm often picking off stuff like grains of rice, hair, lint/dust, etc off clothes that I've just taken out of the washing machine before hanging them up to dry. Again, something that I didn't have to do in the US.

Laundry is something I'm still getting used to doing the Japanese way. Actually, that's a slightly incorrect statement as I've tried it but it's not working for me at the moment so I do it a bit differently... Instead of running the machine in the morning, I run it at night for three main reasons: 1) in the hopes that using the bath water while it is still hot will help get our clothes cleaner than using tepid/cold water the next day to do laundry, 2) because it's hard to time it in the morning with showers, etc and 3) because it's a lot easier to prepare the laundry (put on hangers/clips) and hang it outside when the kids are sleeping than trying to do it when they're awake and wanting to "help" or wanting me for other things. So after bathing the kids, I run the laundry, it's usually done by the time I finish putting the kids down, I bring the laundry in (our machine's outside, well, kind of), prep it (shake it, sort it, hang it on hangers/hooks, etc), then take it all out to hang on the two poles outside. Then the next evening, while the kids are sleeping, I fold the laundry. The following day, I (try to) put everything away.

Our washing machine is also a dryer but the shortest drying cycle is over 3 hours long so I only use it in emergencies. So come rain or shine (or snow - picture #2), I'll be hanging my laundry outside. The Japanese people believe that the sun cleans clothes (which I believe too to an extent) so me hanging my laundry at night kind of

defeats the purpose but at least I'm still conserving energy, right? :) One other reason why it takes longer is because if I use the water from our bathtub (yes, the water that we soaked in - not bathed in!), then it takes over an hour for the wash cycle to complete as opposed to just under 40 minutes if I don't. In most modern homes, the washing machine is in the sink room adjacent to the bathtub room. However, our house is a very old, traditional home which has a 'doma' so our washing machine is in an area that's kind of outside the house. In order to get the pipe in to the bathtub, I have to open the window! I'm not sure which method is more cost effective or environmentally friendly. Electricity's not cheap but neither is water. In terms of convenience, it's definitely more convenient not to use bath water.

Right now, our laundry hanging outside is like a flag signalling "a foreigner lives here". :) Peter said that it was embarrassing that we have our laundry out at night. --; Well, hopefully it won't be this way for much longer...

Laundry takes soooooooo much longer here and it's hard work. This is one thing I know I definitely won't miss during the times we're not in Japan. Hopefully it'll become easier as the kids get older and I become more accustomed to it. Hopefully I'll be able to wash & hang our laundry in the morning too soon like everybody else! :)

1월 업데이트

Monday February 7, 2011

새해 새 경험들

안녕하세요!

일본에서 많은 분들의 손과 발이 되어 저희가 여기서 선교를 하게 해주신 하나님께 감사를 드립니다. 부족한 저희를 통해서 역사하시는 하나님에 관한 이야기들을 들으며 함께 기뻐해 주시고 힘을 얻으시길 바랍니다.  뉴스레터를 통해 저희의 경험들을 명확하게 전달하여 계속해서 함께 축복 받고 기뻐할 수 있기를 원합니다. 

감사하는 마음으로,
Peter Oh 선교사 가정 드림 

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"오세치"

2010년 마지막 날, 제가 김치볶음밥과 무생채를 조금씩 담아 저희 이웃에게 가져다 주었습니다. 저희가 이사온지 얼마 안 되었을때 저희에게 무, 시금치, 배추를 밭에서 케어 준 그 집이요. 김치볶음밥과 무생채를 전달하며 이런저런 이야기를 나누기 시작했습니다. 그러면서 저에게 "오세치"를 먹어본 적이 있냐고 물었습니다. 무엇인지도 몰라 먹어본 적 없다고 했더니 일본식 설날 음식이라고 하며 부부간에 대화를 나누더니 아직 준비가 다 안되었으니 내일 아침에 갖다 주겠다고 했습니다.  설날 아침 초인종이 울렸을때 얼른 문을 열으러 나갔습니다. 한 접시 가득 여러 종류의 설날 음식이 조금씩 담아 있었고 (사진) 제가 그 전날 저녁에 드렸던 통 속에도 또 다른 종류의 음식이 들어있었습니다.  저희가 가장 즐겼던 음식은 검은콩과 밤이 있는 반찬이었는데요, 콩이 아주 큼직하고 부드럽고 콩과 밤에서 꿀맛이났습니다. 금종이 조각들이 위를 장식하고 있었고요! 제가 친구에게 사진을 보여줬더니 금종이 조각들은 부자들만 쓰는거라고 하더군요. 그리고 또 한 친구는 콩의 크기를 보더니 콩 또한 부유의 상징이라며 콩이 클 수록 부자라고 했습니다. 올해에는 정신이 없어 일본에서는 설을 어떻게 지내는지 설이 지나서야 알게 되었지만 내년에는 더 뜻깊은 설을 보내고 싶습니다.

저희가 이웃들과 좋은 관계를 맺고 더욱더 친분이 쌓여 예수님의 사랑에 대해서 전할 수 있는 기회가 오도록 기도해주세요.

설날 음식을 담은 사진들은 여기에 클릭하시면 더 보실 수 있으십니다. 

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첫 다도회

저희가 동역하는 두 현지인 교회(코요채플, 카베채플) 에서 매주 금요일 아침 여성 성경공부를 합니다.  1월 14일 금요일에는 코요채플에서 양쪽 교회 여성들이 함께 모여 신년파티를 가졌는데 저희를 초대해서 가게되었습니다. 하이타카 목사님의 설교 후 각 교회 여성회에서 준비한 연극과 그 외에 다른 공연들도 있었습니다. 공연들이 끝나갈 무렵 다도회 차(녹차종류)를 위 사진에 있는 대나무로 만든 거품내는 기구로 거품을 낸 후 달달한 과자와 함께 씁쓸한 차를 대접했습니다. 완전 전통식 다도회는 아니었지만 곧 경험하게 되기를 바라고 있습니다. 계속 무릎 꿇고 앉아 있어야하기 때문에 아마도 다리가 엄청 저리겠죠? ^^;

음식과 차 사진, 그리고 주희가 한복 입은 사진들을 여기에 클릭하시면 더 보실 수 있습니다. 

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영어와 성경 가르치기

팀리더이신 머레이 선교사님께서 저희 선교단체 지역모임에 가 계신 동안 오 선교사가 영어 수업들을 2주간 대신 가르쳤습니다. 코요채플의 오전반과 카베채플의 오후반 학생들 모두 중년층 여성들이며 취미로 영어를 배우는 분들입니다. 몇몇 학생들은 두 교회의 교인들이지만 대부분의 학생들은 교인이 아닙니다.  한시간의 영어 수업이 끝난후 15분간 성경공부 시간이 있습니다. 영어로 된 어린이 성경책(사진)에서 한 이야기를 읽고 설명합니다. 오 선교사가 가르친 마지막 수업 시간에 엘리야가 바알신의 예언자들과 참 신이 누구인지를 두고 대결하는 이야기에 대해서 나누었습니다. 이야기가 끝난후 믿음이 없는 학생들이 질문이 많았습니다. 일어로 많은 이야기가 오갔고 오 선교사는 코요교회 교인이 한명 있어서 다른 학생들의 질문들에 거의 다 답해 줄 수 있어서 감사해했습니다. 답하기 힘든 질문들은 하이타카 목사님께 여쭈는 것으로했습니다. 많은 이야기가 오가는 중 한 학생이 다른 학생을 가르치며 물었습니다. "당신은 크리스챤이십니까?" "아니요. 당신은요?" "아니요. 저도 아니에요." 두 학생 다 서로가 크리스챤이 아님에 놀랬습니다. 이 때 오 선교사가 2월, 3월 두 달간 수쟌 사모님께서 (머레이 선교사님 사모님) 매주 토요일 믿음이 없거나 초신자를 위한 영어 성경공부를 시작하는 것에 대해 다시 언급할 수 있는 좋은 기회였습니다. 몇몇 학생들이 상당히 관심있어해 했습니다. 학생들이 계속 질문들을 많이하고 우리 하나님이 유일한 참 신이라는 것을 깨닫게 되기를 기도해주세요.

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더 많은 이야기들...

함께 나누고 싶은 이야기와 사진들이 더 많습니다. 다 영어로 되어 있지만 사진들만이라도 구경하러 가끔 들려주세요~ ^^ 아래에 간략하게 요약해 보았습니다.

Banking in Japan  미국에서는 은행계좌가 하나만 있었습니다. 일본에서는 현재 4개가 있습니다. 저희 렌트나 주희 학비등을 내기 위해 자동이체를 설치할려고 했더니 은행이 다르기 때문에 매달 요금이 붙는다고 했습니다. 티끌 모아 태산, 요금도 쌓이면 큰 돈이기에 같은 은행에 은행계좌를 또 열고 또 열었습니다. 그러다 미국에 있는 은행의 국제 송금에 문제가 있어 처음에는 골치가 아팠지만 이 일을 통해 일본은행들의 국제송금 요금과 환율에 대해서 더 알아보게 되었고 매년 적어도 수백불을 아낄 수 있는 방법을 알아내 은행계좌를 하나 더 열게 되었습니다. 그리고 이 은행은 한달에 한번 다른 은행으로 무료로 송금을 할 수 있기 때문에 이제 저희 원래 은행에 가서 돈을 직접 뽑아서 다른 은행에 가서 입금을 하지 않고 온라인으로 할 수 있게 되었습니다. 저희가 일본에 도착하고 초기에 이 많은 것들을 가르쳐주신 하나님께 감사를 드립니다.

Playdate with the Kitano kids 키타노 목사님의 아이들 셋과 함께 저희 집에서 재미있게 놀고, 쿠키도 여러 모양으로 굽고, 맛있는 카레 점심도 먹었습니다. 미국 산호제에서 친구들과 집집이 돌아가며 매주 모여서 놀았었는데 일본에서는 못하고 있다가 마침 겨울 방학이라 제가 초대를 했습니다. 주희가 너무 좋아했고 친구들이 또 오기를 바라고 있습니다.

Baby Things 이유식, 기저귀등 아이를 키우는데에 있어서 미국과 다른 것들이 참 많습니다. 하나씩 하나씩 배워가며 적응하고 있습니다. 다른 엄마들과 친분을 쌓는데 좋은 이야기꺼리가 됩니다. ^^

Big Snow 일본어로는 폭설을 大雪 "큰 눈"이라 합니다. 서울에 내린 눈의 양과는 비교도 안되지만, 올 해 히로시마에 의외로 눈이 많이 내리고 있습니다. 

MaryLou's Visit 미국에서 친구의 첫 방문과 함께간 히로시마성 사진들이 있습니다.  

Kid's Update 아이들이 빨리 자라고 있습니다. 성제는 이제 8개월이 좀 지났고 주희는 만 3살이 되었습니다. 키 차이는 아직 꽤 나지만 몸무게 차이는 별로 안 납니다. ^^; 성제는 보행기가 제트기인줄 알고 잘 때만 빼고는 하루 종일 바삐 움직입니다. 저희 까스렌지 위치가 낮아서 성제가 벌써 렌지 불 키는데 손도 닿고요, 쓰레기통 문 열고 뒤지는 것, 씽크 옆에 걸려 있는 행주 잡아 당기는 등 부엌에서 엄마 돕는 것을 아주 좋아한답니다. 주희는 밖에서는 물론 집에서도 엄마랑 일어공부도 조금씩 하고요, 영어공부도 집에서 엄마랑 아빠랑 같이 하고, 코요채플에 저희랑 비슷한 때에 참석하기 시작한 한 자매님 덕분에 아동용 책을 잔뜩 선물 받아 요즘 저랑 한국 동화책도 같이 읽고 있습니다. 덕분에 한국말도 늘어 오히려 미국에 살 때 보다 한국말을 조금씩 더 쓰고 있습니다. 주희가 계속 책 읽는 것을 좋아해서 영어, 일어, 한국어 3개 국어를 다 잘 할 수 있기를 기도합니다. 

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2월 기도후원자 달력

February Prayer Calendar

이번달에는 Dallas Chinese Bible Church와 달라스의 빛내리교회 성도님들께서 기도해 주셔서 감사합니다. 기도제목들은 항상 왼쪽 칼럼에 있습니다. 성함이 없더라도 저희를 위해 계속적으로 기도해주세요! 기도 없이는 아무것도 안됩니다!

1 Amy Hung                                           15 Yee Fun Olsen

2 Darrell and Leota Buhler                 16 Yow-Yi Amstutz

3 David and Eileen Ng                        17 Pat Lee

4 Gordon Ngo                                       18 Richard Lim

5 James Cheng                                   19 Roger Ginnett

6 Silas and Denise Chan                   20 김태중 목사님

7 Stephen Tin                                        21 Kathleen Wu

8 Joseph Swanson                              22 윤미정 자매님

9 Kathy Dees                                         23 성만군 집사님

10 이영진 집사님, 홍성애 집사님        24 민경열 집사님

11 곽연태 집사님, 이향숙 집사님        25 Jon and Jade Chia

12 한동식 장로님, 한경자 집사님        26 조원호 장로님

13 Jeff and Shari Jongejan                 27 Lucy Chang

14 지정인 장로님, 지정란 집사님        28 유정남 집사님

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죄송합니다...

저희 한국어 뉴스레터를 받으시는 분들께 사과를 드립니다. 그 동안 매달 마지막 날에 꼬박꼬박 보내어지는 영어 뉴스레터를 시간이 날때 마다 열심히 번역해 한국어로 늦게나마 매달 보냈었는데 능력 부족, 시간 부족, 그리고 가정과 사역, 필수 성경공부와 일어 공부에 우선순위를 두어야하는 이유로 오랜 기도와 고민 끝에 두 달에 한번만 보내드리기로 했습니다. 앞으로 2011년에는 두달에 한번씩, 두달간의 소식을 간추려서 보내드리도록 하겠습니다. 죄송합니다. 어쩌면 한국의 정서에 더 잘 맞을 수도??? ^^; 혹시 영어 뉴스레터로 바꾸고 싶으신 분은 이메일해 주시고요, 그리고 일본 사역에 번역을 통해 도와주고 싶은 분 계시면 연락 부탁드립니다. 업데이트된 기도 제목들은 저희 블로그 오른쪽편 칼럼에 (영어로) 항상 있습니다. 이해해 주심에 감사드립니다. 꾸벅~

Quick Sungjae Post

When Sungjae was four months old, he cut his first two teeth. No new teeth for 4 months and then when he turned 8 months, he cut 4 more teeth on top but they came out in a funny order (two on the left first and then two on the right).

This week, Sungjae figured out how to clap his hands, open & close them and how to blow his nose! :) He thinks all of these activities are fun and always has a big smile on his face while doing them. Clapping his hands becomes the baby sign for "more" during meal times.

He lo~ves bath time. Every other night, I bathe the kids Japanese style (I think). I shower first, then I shower Juhee, lift her into the bath (does that make sense?), then with the water I've collected in buckets, I wash Sungjae then I carry him into the bath with me and we all soak & play together. Lately, he's started to "complain" outside the door while he waits his turn so Peter has to take him away and distract him until I'm ready for him. :)

There are many more things I could write about Sungjae (and Juhee too) but I think these are some of the things I want to remember about his baby phase when he's older.

Flea Market

On Sunday, Jan 30th, the two churches came together again to hold a flea market at Koyo Chapel, to raise funds for the church (not project orientated). It was advertised at church from about 3 weeks prior to the event and they took sign-ups for people wanting to sell their items. We were a bit confused because it wasn't advertised outside of the church. We're used to church flea market / bazaar type events being events where they try to sell to the general public too. We were in for a big surprise!

After service that Sunday, everyone worked at lightning speed to get everyone's pre-ordered lunch served (either curry or udon) and the tables set-up for the flea market. Church members from Kabe Chapel rushed over after service too. By the time we went back up to the main chapel area, the tables had all been set up and the merchandise laid out neatly on the tables. There were gently used items as you'd expect and perhaps people selling homemade food (delicious vanilla ice cream and brownies too!) was also not that unusual, but what did surprise me was that people sold new things at a price much cheaper than they possibly could have bought it at (I think). So they were spending money to help raise funds for the church. I'm used to people giving their time to help prepare food / lay out tables / help price items, etc for church bazaars, but I'm not used to everyone spending their own money (without expecting reimbursement). Occasionally, some people might spend out of their own pocket but from what I know, usually, people don't. Very different.

So what did we buy? We joined in the eating festivities and bought some ice cream which Peter and Juhee enjoyed (I had a bite too :)) sitting down at one of the tables (pic), we had a delicious red bean soup with mochi inside which was cooked and served by Pastor Haitaka's wife, Keiko-san, and daughter, Megumi-chan (pic), we had steamed sweet potatoes prepared and served by Pastor Kitano and his sons (pic), and we also bought a piece of brownie from Pam. The red bean soup with mochi was delicious so we had two bowls! :) We actually have something similar in Korea (팥죽) but the Japanese version has smaller red beans, one big rectangular shaped mochi as opposed to small round pieces of non-sweet rice cake, is sweeter and is eaten (well, you kind of drink it like soup) with chopsticks! In Korea, we use our spoons for this one. :)

We bought a few other things too: a big stuffed Hello Kitty doll (¥20, $0.24), a rain jacket and dark blue dress for Juhee, dried noodles, mushrooms, a drying rack that goes on top of the sink, a puzzle, and Megumi-chan's gently used traditional Japanese sandals for summer kimonos (yukata). :) Megumi-chan asked if I had a yukata and when I said "no" she asked why I was buying her old shoes. When I told her, she and her mom thought it was hilarious! :) The Japanese shoes are now displayed on top of our shoe cabinet in our entryway (genkan), which is supposed to be elaborately decorated but we haven't got to that point yet (as you can see from the picture =D). :) I think the most expensive item we bought that day was ¥100 (just over $1). Most things were ¥100, another thing that surprised me... The focus of the flea market didn't seem to be on making a huge profit, but something greater...

They announced the profit made from the lunch + bazaar a couple of Sundays later and I think the total was around ¥60,000 (approx $730). I thought that was pretty amazing!

It was a really fun afternoon for us and I think for everyone who took part. It was a great time for people from both churches to work together, mingle, enjoy fellowship, create space at home :) and be loud and just have fun together.

We didn't feel comfortable taking part in it this time 'cause we didn't know what to expect and what the "norm" is, but hopefully next time, we'll be able to take part in some way (maybe sell some Korean food?). :)