Monday May 2, 2011
A New Season
Dear co-laborer in the Lord,
We thank God for the gift of His Son, who died and rose again for our sins. We thank God for calling us to the Land of the Rising Sun to share of the Son that has risen, and we thank God for our first Easter here in Hiroshima, Japan.
April has brought us into a new season with new challenges and new experiences. Peter and Juhee started school, Sungjae is starting to walk, and Jenny is busy packing Peter's lunch every morning and trying to decipher the masses of paperwork from Juhee's preschool in the evenings. We also experienced our first Cherry Blossom season!
Please continue to pray for us as we enter this new phase and continue to build good relationship with those whom God brings into our lives.
Blessings,
Peter, Jenny, Juhee and Sungjae Oh
Peter, Jenny, Juhee and Sungjae Oh
Juhee's Preschool
"The wheels on the bus go round and round~" and thank goodness it's yellow too! :) Juhee loves riding her preschool's school bus (complete with small cute seats) to and from school everyday. She loves her new teacher and is learning lots of new songs and new words too. She's also learning how to do things "right", like knowing where her name badge needs to be pinned, that she needs two badges everyday, her hat, her brown school bag, where to hang her towel, using her lunchmat for snack time, gargling after playing in the preschool's playground, taking off her shoes in the right area, putting them neatly in the space allocated for her shoes, and then putting on her indoor shoes as soon as she arrives at school, etc etc. Towards the end of her first week at preschool (which is called Kindergarten in Japan), Jenny asked Juhee if she had squatty-potties at school. She replied, "I haven't checked yet." Juhee might not have "checked", but mommy sure did! All of their toilets are seated toilets. Phew! Squatty potties at school would probably have been the most difficult adjustment and is hopefully one she won't have to make until Elementary School at the earliest.
Here's a picture of Juhee's school bus and the teacher bowing to greet the parents (and Sungjae). Praise God for Juhee loving school! Please continue to pray for her and our adjustment, and for the awesome relationships that we are building with the staff and parents of "Samuel Yochien".
Lots of Learning
EIGHT bags??? A cup for gargling after playing outside? A towel with a hook? The items Jenny needed to purchase to prepare Juhee for school was very different to what she's been used to. Trying to figure out all of the instructions, all in Japanese, was very stressful and a bit overwhelming! But thankfully, God sent helpers like Yoko-san who handmade Juhee's bags, lunchmat, smock... Read more and see pics on our blog posting, Juhee's Preschool Prep.
It's been a big learning curve for Jenny too as she learns how to use the little book to communicate with the teacher (picture), tries to decipher some of the massive amounts of paperwork, and works with another couple of moms to try to complete the paperwork and make sure things are handed in on time. There are also small ad hoc fees that need to be paid. The timing & location of her bus drop-off worked out perfectly, allowing Peter to take her in the mornings (and hand any necessary paperwork / money envelope to the teacher on the bus) on the way to the train station for him to get to the YMCA.
In May, Jenny has three preschool events that she needs to attend - a meeting for all of the moms with information about the "clubs" (very important!), Juhee's first school field trip to the zoo, and a time for the moms of Juhee's class to get to know one another. Please pray for all of the preparation that Jenny needs to do before each event, for a good time of connection with the other moms, and for her to be able to speak and understand at least just a little bit! :)
Studying Japanese
“My brain can't handle any more of this.” That's what I said to myself half way through the first week of school. I, Peter, am currently attending an intensive Japanese language program at the YMCA in downtown Hiroshima. We started covering one unit per day, but have now slowed down a bit to one unit every two days. Having to memorize about 75 new words, 30 new Kanji (Japanese words written in Chinese characters), and about 15 new grammatical rules this past week made my brain feels like it's filled to its maximum capacity. I come home every evening completely exhausted. I'm enjoying this experience of learning Japanese, but I'm finding it to be very challenging. One great opportunity to share about why we're here arose during class when we talked about our occupations in Japanese. I told them I was a "ぼくし", which most students didn't understand. The teacher wrote the word "牧師" in Kanji on the blackboard because most of my classmates are Chinese, and there were many ohhhh's and ahhhhh's as they came to understand that I’m a pastor. Please pray for good relationships to develop with my classmates, and that I would be able to share the love of God with them.
Ministry Update
After many many hours spent on prep, with help from folks at the Murray's home church in Florida and the local Japanese Christians, Kids' English Club (blog link), an English outreach to kids, started in April at both Koyo and Kabe Chapels. It's a fun and active curriculum based on lots of songs and Susan's created motions to go with them plus lots of games too! A Bible story is read in Japanese and Susan goes over the English vocabulary and then acts out the story in English. There is no end to her talents. :) The kids and moms had a great time and we're praying that they will continue to come and bring their friends too, that they will have fun learning lots of English, and that they will absorb the Bible stories with their hearts and not just their heads. Please pray with us!
Jenny attended Sumire Cafe (blog link), a ladies' Bible study at Koyo Chapel, in April and will be trying to go at least once a month. She couldn't understand most of it, but it was a good time of learning how they do things and of fellowship. In May, they're having a Welcome Party for Jenny and Izumi-san, the new pastor's wife, so she'll definitely be attending that one! :)
Jenny (and Sungjae) went on her first ever newspaper route, placing copies of Koyo and Kabe Chapel's newspaper, the "Good News" (picture in Prayer Calendar section below), into mailboxes (it's legal here) of neighboring homes. It was a great time of prayer as Jenny asked God to guide her footsteps and prayer walked around our neighborhood. It was her first time ever exploring our immediate area so it was during this walk, about 5 months after we moved here, that she found out that we live 2 minutes from a shrine!
Koyo Chapel's annual Children's Easter party (main pic at top of newsletter) had an English part to it this year. Susan and the twins told the Easter story using the resurrection eggs and a flannel graph board. They then lead the kids in a fun Easter craft which retold the Easter story in pictures for them to take home. About half of the kids there that morning were non-members, some of whom had come to KEC the day before and had received plastic Easter eggs with invitations inside. So many people worked togethe for this event to happen - Global Harvest Church's Rising Son House Church in Texas sent plastic Easter eggs for us to put fliers in to help advertise the event, the Murray's home church in Florida prepared the craft and Easter bags with goodies inside, the local Japanese Christians in Hiroshima prepared the praise and game times, and even more goodies, and of course, the Murray clan prepared the main message. A lot of international teamwork! It was so awesome that Juhee got to hear the Easter message in a language that she understands too! :)
After Easter Service, the members of Koyo and Kabe chapels joined together at a predominantly Buddhist cemetary for anEaster memorial service to honor those members of Koyo and Kabe Chapels who have passed away and their cremated ashes placed in a tomb purchased by the members of Koyo and Kabe Chapels. It was very interesting to see a Christian burial site with a big cross on one corner of the Buddhist cemetary (picture). The memorial service was a great way to remember and honor the former members of Koyo and Kabe Churches, and bridged the gap for those who used to worship their ancestors, which is the norm in Japan.
Peter attended a joint Leaders' Meeting for leaders of both Koyo and Kabe Chapels on April 29th. Twenty two of the twenty three lay leaders of Koyo and Kabe Chapels participated in the Leaders' Meeting where we were reminded of our purpose, and also encouraged to consider how we ought to move forward to make the chapels stronger. It was a great time of fellowship and Peter was especially blessed to hear the testimonies of several of these leaders. He felt a great connection with some of them that day, and is looking forward to working more closely with them in the future.
Right after the Leaders' Meeting, Peter went to an overnight Pastors / Missionaries Planning Retreat with the 3 local Japanese pastors and Scott, where they spent time in fellowship and discussed many aspects of the Asaminami church plant. Many details were discussed, and they had a great time laying the foundation for the ministry to take place in Asaminami.
Prayer Partner Calendar
May Prayer Calendar
We are joyful to have the members of UCSF's Sonrise Christian Fellowship, San Jose Korean Presbyterian Church and our home church, New Vision Church, 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 as we continue to strive to share the Good News with those around us! We covet your prayers.
1 Sorry! 17 이지행 권사님
2 Sorry! 18 이춘자 권사님
3 Jay Choi 19 이홍우 집사님
4 Jingyi Wan 20 임영곤 권사님
5 Johanna Chung 21 박성진/승희 집사님
6 Johannes Knueppel 22 강영숙 권사님
7 Mason Lee 23 김남시 권사님
8 James Kim 24 김필순 권사님
9 Sally Kim 25 옥순례 권사님
10 김순자 권사님 26 이경애 권사님
11 배자실 권사님 27 이요셉 목사님
12 변정희 권사님 28 전계숙 권사님
13 우덕희 권사님 29 조남희 권사님
14 우진호 집사님 30 조태숙 권사님
15 이강태 집사님 31 홍운자 권사님
16 이주희 권사님
More Stories...
Some new blog postings about life, ministry and the triple disaster. Click on the links below to read more and see lots of pics too.
Makoto Iwabuchi Charity Concert - A concert organized by the EV Free Churches in Hiroshima to raise funds to supply 3 Elementary Schools and 2 Jr. High Schools in Sendai with books.
Juhee-isms - Get to know Juhee's lingo. :)
Hiroshima Team Sendai Reflections - An excerpt from the Murray's March newsletter with personal reflections & pics by Scott.
Kimchi Pancakes and Brownies - Celebrating Susan's birthday together with Korean Kimchi Pancakes and American brownies.
Hiroshima Team Relief Effort Update - An interim update while they were still up in the Sendai area.
Hiroshima Team Efforts in Sendai - An introduction to the team and their plans for the week.
Koyo Chapel Sunday School Entrance-Exit Ceremony - Juhee's now part of the Sunday School program! Reflections and prayer requests from our first Japanese Sunday School experience.
Pioneers Relief Work in Hitachi City - A team of Pioneers missionaries from Japan and China, led by our Japan Area Leader based down in Fukuoka, also went up to help with the relief work.
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