Sunday July 10, 2011
When it Rains it Pours
Dear co-laborer in the Lord,
We are currently experiencing Japan's rainy season. We didn't even know Japan had a rainy season so imagine how surprised we were when we found out. We're still trying to learn how to dry our clothes and keep our home mold free while it's so wet and humid. It's quite an experience.
May and June have been two particulary diffiicult months for us. Peter is persevering through language school, and Jenny is weathering the storm of managing the home, which is especially draining with the kids suffering through various illnesses. We're also learning to deal with jumping spiders, massive hornets, giant ants, poisonous centipedes (pic of a big one right outside our house), fast-growing mold, ultra humidity, stinky non-drying laundry... Sorry we coudn't get our May newsletter out. With all that was going on, we hope you understand.
Our desire is to be your eyes and ears in Hiroshima, and to be able to share our experiences with you. However, keeping up with monthly newsletters both in English and Korean have been difficult. Therefore, we will be sending out newsletters on a bimonthly basis beginning with this one. You can expect our next newsletter in August.
Thank you for praying for us and for the people of Japan. It's your prayers that sustains us, especially through the difficult times.
Blessings,
Peter, Jenny, Juhee and Sungjae Oh
Peter, Jenny, Juhee and Sungjae Oh
(Pics above from top left: Kids' English Club logo & sign, Peter & Sungjae walking to the car after service, Juhee & Sungjae waiting in our genkan (entrance) on one of the few Sundays both kids were healthy enough to go to church, Jenny holding Sungjae during his 1st birthday party, Juhee holding up an ice pack that she made "for you" [Jenny's ankle/foot] at kindergarten.)
Not as Simple as ABC's
むずかしい (muzukashii) means difficult. That's how I (Peter) would describe learning Japanese at the YMCA language school. The Japanese language itself is difficult enough, but the speed by which they teach the Advanced Beginners class is what makes it even more むずかしい. I feel like my head is completely full, and no new vocab, grammar rules, expressions or Kanji (Chinese characters) can possibly squeeze in. I feel physically drained from all this mental exertion. I thought learning Japanese was fun, and it was at the beginning. Now after 3 months of memorizing, memorizing and more memorizing, I feel like I can't remember anything anymore. Please pray for my language acquisition. At this point, whatever I learn is not by my own ability. I'm going to need your prayers and God's power to overcome my exhausted brain. Please pray for me because my fatigued brain is making even the simplest concept in class むずかしい. One great outcome of the class is that I'm getting to know the students in my class better and better. Many of them are interested in staying in this area to attend college, and some of them will be returning to China to work. Please pray for our relationships, and for opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus Christ... well, once my Japanese gets better. Praise God that I was recently able to move up from Advanced Beginners to Intermediate level!
Illness and Injury
During the first week of May, which is Golden Week here in Japan, Juhee started having a high fever with cold symptoms on one of her days off. The next day, she was unable to go to school because she was ill and missed four days of school during the month due to fevers, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. Sungjae had diarrhea for weeks and vomited once every day for 4-5 days too, occasionally accompanied by a fever. I had to do a lot of extra laundry during those weeks, and on one day, I did 5 loads of laundry (preceeded of course with handwashing vomit & diarrhea off of clothes & bedding) between 2am and noon. It was the one really good sunny day that we had that week so thankfully everything dried quickly outside. On the 17th, after a long and intense one year check-up for Sungjae, I (Jenny) didn't see a step coming out of the doctor's office, sprained my right ankle and skinned my left knee. The swelling died down in the evening so we didn't go to see a doctor about it. I became sick during the next couple of days so Peter had to help a lot around the house as my hopping / limping around to do housework and take care of the kids while being sick wasn't working so well. Juhee missed her 3 year check-up at the social welfare office because she was sick and Sungjae missed his polio vaccination because he was sick. Thankfully I was able to take Sungjae the following week, which was the last day available, and Juhee finally received her 3 year check-up on July 1st, also the last day available. After more than 3 weeks of diarrhea and trying OTC anti-diarrhetics that didn't work, I took Sungjae to the doctors one morning and was told that diarrhea 3 times a day is OK(?!). The doctor prescribed medicine and after a few days, the diarrhea thankfully stopped. But then Juhee complained of pain when going to the bathroom and had a bit of blood on her panties so I rushed the kids to the doctors again. It took two hours for us to get a urine sample from her because she didn't want to pee because of the pain. Both kids were tired as they hadn't had their afternoon naps, they were hungry as it was dinner time, and Juhee kept on crying, so my stress levels were a bit on the high side by the time we left. I saw a doctor about my ankle/foot while we were waiting for Juhee to pee and she said that my foot still hurting a month after an injury is normal and that I just need to be careful to not overwork it while it continues to heal. Just as I thought June was going to be better, the kids and Peter came down with colds and my left knee started hurting. However, they were only mild so Juhee didn't have to miss any school and Sungjae was able to get his 4 vaccinations. Oh, and after Sungjae's vaccinations, I wasn't expecting to have to pay as all of his vaccinations have been free so far, so was surprised when I got a bill (pic above) of approx $152.50 and had to pay cash for it - which, I didn't have. So I had to go back the next day to pay our dues.
What's the "silver lining"? One is that I now know the procedure & cost for going to the doctors for non-routine appointments. The fear of the unknown is now gone and it's not as bad as I thought. Another is that most of the staff at the doctor's clinic now know our names, faces and even my voice so I don't even have to identify myself when I call. I also now know the words for heat rash, diarrhea, vomit, fever, injury, blood, etc in Japanese. I'm also learning to deal with heat rash (frequent showers!), am becoming familiar with Japanese OTC medication, and have learnt that Japanese kids are taken to see a doctor & given meds as soon as they get sick. I think I'll stick to the American way of waiting for 2-3 days before taking our kids to see a doctor and giving them strong medication. This might be a strange one, but I'm also grateful for me being sick with fever, diarrhea, and vomiting because it allowed my ankle/foot to heal quicker but more so because it reminded me what it feels like to be sick so I could empathize and treat our kids better.
I'm sure we'll be sick now and again, especially during our first year as our bodies adjust to new viruses/bacteria, the humidity, heat, and cold, so please continue to pray for our physical health. Health is such a blessing! :)
Ministry Update
Looking back...
In May & June, we were excited to see more kids come to Kids' English Club at both Koyo & Kabe Chapels, one Saturday per month at each church. Praise God! Please continue to pray for this important outreach to kids in the areas near the churches that we partner with. There are now more than 20 at each church!
On May 15th, we also attended our first ever Children's Ministry PTA (blog link). As usual, it was very different to what we had been expecting but thankfully, Jenny was able to understand most of the important parts. We had 2 sandwiches (one sweet, one savory) each for lunch afterwards and enjoyed a good time of fellowship with the other parents (well, mostly moms). It was the first time we'd ever had fried non-processed fish with tons of sauce in a roll... Everyone was surprised that I was surprised about the fish! :) Please pray that our relationship with the Sunday School teachers and other parents will grow, that we will be able to pray together and encourage each other as we continue to strive to godly stewards of the children that God has blessed us with in a country with so few Christians.
On May 20th, Sumirekai, the Friday morning ladies' meeting at Koyo Chapel, held a Welcoming Party for the 4 new ladies that had joined Koyo Chapel during the past year. As I was one of them, I was asked to presubmit answers to a few questions that all of the new ladies were answering. With the answers, they played a game where everyone else had to try and guess whose answers they were. One of the questions was, "if you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be?" Another was, "what is your husband's best quality?" As Juhee was sick, I wasn't able to be there, but I later found out that the committee members changed my answer to the last question as it was the same as one of the other ladies. Instead of my answer being, "he prayerfully waits for God before acting / deciding", they changed it to "he drives well in Japan". I think it was pretty obvious who that answer "belong"ed to! :) They later shared with everyone my real answer - phew! :)
On June 12th, Peter preached for the youth on Matthew 12:1-12, titled "Are you ready?" with Pastor Kitano translating.
On June 23rd, we welcomed a new team member, Jess Lee, to Hiroshima! Jess is also a Korean-American and is planning on being here for 2 years (until she realizes that God wants her to be here long(er)-term, of course! ;)). To find out more about Jess, click here for her blog. Praise God for more workers!
On June 24th, Jenny attended Koyo Chapel's monthly ladies' outreach, Sumire Cafe, with a new friend that is the mom of one of Juhee's kindergarten friends. Through Juhee, Jenny has been able to develop many relationship with moms naturally and it was very exciting for her to be able to not only know someone well enough to invite her to an event at church, but for the friend to accept her invitiation! The friend enjoyed Pastor Haitaka's message, the American baking class (peanut butter cookies and orange pound cake) led by an American church member, the presentation about American food, and fellowship time afterwards too. Hopefully she'll go again with Jenny to the next outreach event! Please pray for the mustard seed that has been planted to grow and that more mustard seeds will be planted.
On June 26th, we were so happy to have our Area Leaders, the Hoisingtons + their team down in Fukuoka (website link) + the 6 week short-term summer team Pioneers "EDGE " (website link) members join the Hiroshima team for the day (pic above). We had a great time of fellowship while enjoying Susan's delicious banana cream pie and brownies at the Murrays'. The EDGErs asked lots of good questions and it was fun & exciting to answer their questions. It's always nice when you have a captive audience. :) Please continue to pray for the EDGErs and the Fukuoka team who are hosting them. For pics (with us!) and more detailed prayer requests, click here (blog link).
Looking forward...
On July 9th, we'll be leading Kids' English Club for Kabe Chapel while the Murrays are away in China. We are excited about Pastors Henry & Sandee + their kids Andre (9), Adrien (5), and Ashley (2), from South Bay Agape Christian Church in San Jose, CA, joining us that morning as part of their missions trip and they'll be helping us with set-up, crafts, conversation role-play, skits, snacks, games, clean-up... :) Hopefully we, including the 20+ kids that we're expecting, will all have fun learning English and about "Fire From Heaven" (Elijah story).
On July 10th, Adrien & Andre Chu will be sharing their testimony with the children of Kabe Chapel during Sunday School time. Please pray for them as they bravely share about their faith and encourage the Japanese kids in their own walks of faith. The Chus will then be joining us for worship service and lunch too. Please pray for a good time of fellowship and blessings! July 11-13th, the Chus will be distributing flyers for the upcoming VBS in August and prayer walking. Please pray for good weather, energy, and strength.
July 23rd, we're having our first ever VBS meeting with all of the Japanese staff that will be helping us during VBS week. Please pray for a fantabulous meeting where we'll all leave encouraged and super excited about sharing about Joseph's story, from "Prison to Palace". The Egyptians had many gods (ring any bells?), but there is only ONE, TRUE God.
On July 29th, Bonnie, Paul, Yukari, and Ansel from Living Stones Christian Church, Bay Area, CA and Rita and Tommy from Global Harvest Church , Dallas, TX arrive to help us out with VBS! We're so looking forward to picking them up at the airport! Their schedule will be pretty packed with Orientation starting the following morning at 8am (they'll have to leave their hostel around 6:45am!). VBS will be taking place every morning from 9am-noon, Mon-Fri, August 1st-5th. All of them will be departing on August 6th. Please pray for their preparation, for their support raising (be at SONIC in Carrollton on Sat, July 9th!), for stamina, energy, teamwork within the US groups coming (7 coming from FL too!) and with the local Christians here, for 70 kids to attend, and that God just really speaks to their hearts and blesses their socks off!
VBS!!! August 1st-5th! Mark in your calendars and pray especially earnestly during this time please! We're counting on it!
During the beginning of July and mid/late August, Jenny will be studying Old Testament Survey, a requirement by Pioneers, with friend and teacher, Dr. Kevin Chen. The pre-homework for the class was to read all of OT, and she hasn't quite finished but is very close - yay! We thank God for Kevin's faithful, servant heart, spending time preparing and teaching Jenny (via Skype) during his vacation time. Please pray for good time management during these times as there are (thankfully short!) essays that need to be written in addition to the instruction times. Thank you teammate Jess for helping out with babysitting too! :)
At some point during the rest of August, Peter will need to get some R&R as VBS will probably wipe us out :), take driving classes and his Japanese driving license tests, study for his placement exam at the end of the month and God willing, take a 7-10 day trip up to the Sendai area to do some volunteer work. Please pray for all of the details to fall in place. We know that He has a perfect plan already in place.
Prayer Partner Calendar
July and August Prayer Calendar
We are joyful to have the members of Living Stones Christian Church, South Bay Agape Christian Church, our home church, New Vision Church, and some 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 as we continue to strive to share the Good News with those around us! We covet your prayers. (Pic: Juhee holding the flower that she took to Kindergarten on "Flower Day" in June, apparently an annual American event that we'd never heard of.)
July
1 Sorry 17 Chun Lee
2 Sorry 18 Edward Lo
3 Sorry 19 Emily Chan
4 Sorry 20 Janice Chou
5 Sorry 21 Jason Chen
6 Sorry 22 Jeff Lin
7 Sorry 23 Jeremy Lin
8 Sorry 24 Kevin Chang
9 Sorry 25 Kevin Chen
10 Sorry 26 Rachel Sai
11 Sorry 27 Sandy Liu
12 Brenda Yee 28 Allen Wong
13 Caleb Lee 29 Arthur Wu
14 Chien Ku 30 Elena Liu
15 Chris Chen 31 Kellen Yeung
16 Chuan Yi Chang
August
1 Tak Saito 17 Philip Kim
2 Tam Do 18 Reen Hu
3 Will Ly 19 Seokjin Han
4 Alvin Chyan 20 Sunah Choi
5 Amy Chang 21 장원희 권사님
6 Amy Lin 22 권경애 집사님
7 Ben Kuo 23 김수민 자매님
8 Ansel Shaw 24 박병기 집사님
9 Yukari Shaw 25 이은희 자매님
10 Vincent/Bonnie Mo 26 이응준 집사님
11 Casey/Karen Zavodny 27 장 영 집사님
12 Cherry Harrisy 28 장영미 권사님
13 Eva Bleeker 29 홍형기/수경 집사님
14 Janet Mezger 30 Berm/Yongjoo Lee
15 Lisa McDonald 31 Kelly/Susan Thompson
16 Nancy Reyes
More Stories...
Some new blog postings about life and ministry. Click on the links below to read more and see lots of pics too. Tip: Jenny often backdates posts so the best way to keep up to date with new posts is to subscribe to receive them by email, which you can do on the right hand column of our blog.
Happy 1st Birthday Sungjae! - Sungjae turned one in May!
1st Japanese BBQ - Very exciting, much fun, and definitely a learning experience.
"Make & Play" - A Saturday, family event at Juhee's kindergarten.
Playdate for Juhee - :) and :(
Learning to Weed - Weeding with the owners of our house. They're only 93 and 82 years old! :)
EDGErs in Hiroshima - Great time with the Pioneers' short-termers + our Fukuoka team.
5am?! - Our neighbors start working in their fields at 5am (and sometimes, 4am)... @@
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