True Blessings from the Chu's

I've been putting off blogging on the Chus visit for a while 'cause there's just SOOO much I could potentially write about. I'm going to try to be succinct and not make this blog posting into a novel. It might still turn out to be a bit of an essay though. :)

Here are a few highlights first: GREAT times of fellowship in ENGLISH!!!; so much fun dressing up for Juhee and relaxed (no language or cultural stress) playtime in ENGLISH; DELICIOUS meals (they bought us KFC!!! repeat: they bought us KFC!!! and a few other meals too :)); a DATE for Peter & I; OUTREACH via newsletter distribution in mailboxes and Kids' English Club; ENCOURAGING the local churches through sharing testimonies, attending Sunday School, attending meetings, and treating the pastors & their families to a very nice meal; washed dishes, hung & folded laundry, and BLESSED US so much in so many unexpected ways...

We first met Pastors Henry and Sandee Chu and their awesome three children at the church that they pastor in San Jose, CA, South Bay Agape Christian Church (link). We weren’t sure if Peter would be able to preach that Sunday as it was just one week before Sungjae was due to be born :) but God had other plans. It was exciting to be with them and their level of interest was so encouraging for Peter while preaching and Jenny while she shared more about our journey to Japan and the spiritual needs of Japan during Bible Study time. They actually rearranged all of their Bible Study classes so that everyone could come listen to us share!

Shortly before we left San Jose, the Chus invited us over for a DELICIOUS Chinese dinner (including steamed king crab!!! one of Peter's favorites) and we had a great time of fellowship. Juhee had fun playing with Andre, Adrien, and Ashley too.

So when the Chus contacted us earlier this year about a possible missions trip during the summer, we were very excited! We made lots of plans, discussed options, they booked their flights, and then on July 8th, Peter picked them up from the Hiroshima shinkansen (bullet train) station.

It was such a blessing being able to communicate in English with friends (we don't have many of those here). They blessed us with a suitcase full of necessary supplies (like US-style big thick wet wipes!!!) and gifts for us (we've become big fans of Chinese beef & pork jerkey). Juhee had a GREAT time playing dress up and playing in English. She was like a different person - she was much more calm, much more excited, laughed more, and didn't get upset so easily. The change was apparent in her during playtime but also outside of playtime too. My heart cried for her as I realized how much of an emotional toll Japanese preschool was taking on her. She was stressed, daily. She enjoyed school and always tried so hard to play with the other kids (her standard farewell is "Let's play together again tomorrow!" or "Come play at my house tomorrow!") but preschool life had been harder on her that I'd thought... The playtime that she had with the Chu kids was seriously a God send, a much needed cultural and linguistic break for Juhee. Sungjae had so much fun with them too! :) (Click on collage to see a larger version.)

The Chus babysat our kids so we could go on a date. Now let me put this in context for you. We'd had two dates prior to this date in July, one in January and one in February. We'd been married just over four years during which time Peter resigned from his job as Youth Pastor at New Vision Church, we had three pregnancies (one miscarriage between Juhee and Sungjae), over 20 flights (with one kid, then one kid + pregnant, then two kids), partnership with 15 churches (application to many more), speaking to over 1,000 people about Japan, an international move, adjusting to a new culture, trying to figure out all the intricacies of Juhee's Japanese preschool, and Peter being completely swamped by his full-time intensive Japanese course at the YMCA since mid-April. To say that our relatively still new marriage was under a bit of stress would be an understatement. In fact, beginning May to mid-July was probably the most strained, hardest period of our marriage thus far. We had NO time to talk/have proper discussions, to have fun together.. we barely saw each other. Communication was strained and the stress and fatigue was showing in the "comforts" and privacy of our home. We didn't know it, but we needed a break and some time to ourselves. Honestly, when the Chu's first mentioned them babysitting so that we could go on a date, I didn't want to. I was still in "go go go" mode, didn't think that it was the best use of their time here, and wasn't sure what to do, where to go, or even what we were going to talk about. But praise God for giving them the wisdom in seeing our need. It was so nice to sit and eat a nice dessert quietly, in peace, while having a normal, uninterrupted conversation with Peter at a decent hour and not have to whisper!

Henry and Andre went out to put our Japanese church’s quarterly newsletter in mailboxes in our neighborhood (pics on right hand side of above collage), they helped us with the Kids’ English Club class that we had to substitute for (left side of collage), and Andre & Adrien shared their testimonies during Sunday School time after the message and playing musical chairs (collage below).

The kids, especially Andre, experienced how difficult it is for a kid to be in a culture where you can’t understand the language and was able to get a glimpse of Juhee’s life, the difficulties in language that we experience here. Andre had to stay in the adult service where the sermon was about 45 minutes long, all in Japanese; Sandee was surprised that there was no toddler-friendly play area for the younger kids; the kids were not able to communicate with other kids or understand most of what was said during Sunday School without translation; no eating allowed during service (even in the kitchen/dining area); etc. I taught the Chu boys a few Christian words in Japanese in the car on our way to church and it was so cute watching them listen attentively and then get excited when they did hear a word that they knew. :)

During the service at Kabe Chapel, Peter introduced the Chu family and then Henry gave an encouraging thank you message on behalf of the family. Before the sermon began, the younger kids (up to 2nd grade), went to the "Kids' Room", but as there were so many kids that Sunday and not enough room for everyone to play, they turned on a video (yes, a video NOT a DVD) for them. Henry was impressed with the way that the main chapel continuously morphed depending on the need. First, it was the classroom for Kids' English Club, then it was the classroom for Sunday School, then it was set-up for the main worship service, and then for lunch. "Very effective use of space" is I think how he put it. :) They'd brought a whole bunch of mini-packets of Welch's fruit snacks to share with the congregation members. It was neat seeing them oohing and aahing over the packaging, turning it around and around in their hands, carefully opening it, and then nodding approvingly after gently putting one piece of the fruit snack in their mouths. Somehow, later on, a big huge bar of Hershey's chocolate ended up being shared too.

Henry was able to attend a couple of church meetings with Peter, which gave him a really good insight into how meetings are conducted and also gave him the opportunity to get to know our pastors better. He was even able to share his testimony with them! The meetings were an unexpected blessing. They also enabled Henry to establish a deeper connection with him / his church and our Japanese pastors / churches, which led to him being able to treat the pastors and their families to a very nice dinner at a traditional Japanese restaurant, a rare and real treat for us and the pastors' families!

While Sandee watched the kids, Henry jumped in and helped out with household chores too. He hung up the laundry outside and even folded it too! He scooped all of the murky mosquito eggs & larvae filled water out of our little stone bowl thing in our Japanese garden and washed dishes multiple times in our very low sink. Whatever needed to be done, he was always up for it.

Their time here ended up being completely different to what Peter and I had planned. It was SO much better. It was very evidently God's plan, not ours. There were two big faith lessons for me during their time here. One was learning once again to be flexible and that God often has an even better, much more awesome plan for us. Another was in defining "ministry" and "missions". I was thinking of ministry only in terms of church-based work such as distributing newsletters, taking part in KEC, and sharing testimonies. This aspect of ministry was, and is, very important, but God taught me that His main purpose in sending them to Hiroshima was to encourage us and the pastors + wives here. That completely caught me off guard. It was a big learning curve for me and something that I am very grateful for. Our Heavenly Father is looking out for us and sent us the Chu family 'cause He knew we needed them in ways that we didn't even know. The Chu's were the perfect "guinea pigs" as our first missions team visiting us as they were flexible and willing, passionate and compassionate.

We ate together, laughed together, played together, prayed together, did devotionals together. The five of them together ministered to every member of our family. Our hearts and souls were nourished and we definitely felt the loss after they left. The Chu's were truly an immense blessing to us. The perfect family, obedient to God's calling and overflowing with His love. We’re already looking forward to their next visit and apparently the Chu’s are too!