Pray for the depressed- PLEASE!

Pray for the depressed. Depression is very real to me. A close friend of mine has been suffering with depression for almost ten years now. We lost contact after High School, but we found each other on Facebook a few years ago and have been in contact since. Lately, she has been contemplating committing suicide frequently. I'm High School friends with both her and her husband their kids are friends with our kids.

When Peter was a youth pastor, we had students who were anorexic, cutting themselves, depressed, and one who later committed suicide.

In Japan, some Christians become suicidal because of the rejection that they experience after becoming Christian. Many fear this harsh societal rejection and don't tell their friends and family.

One of the friends of one of our pastors' wives, who herself was a pastor's wife and went to Seminary with our pastor wife, committed suicide a couple of years ago...

Japan has the highest suicide rate in the world (occasionally Korea outranks them... :/).

Suicide prevention in Japan is a real, very important ministry and there are Christian organizations that focus just on this.

Many people with depression in Japan know that the meds aren't working. They need something more. They need love. They need people who really care. They need to feel valued.

They need their spiritual oppression lifted.

If you've already been praying for those that are depressed in Japan, then now is the time to multiply your prayers! March has historically been the month with the highest number of suicides. Ever since the tsunami, many fear that suicides might increase even more in March because of the memories / trauma from that day.


Pray for me and many others like me who have a friend and / or family member living with depression. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide our words and our actions. Pray for the organizations that seek to help those with depression.

Pray for those that are depressed. Oh LORD, may their depression be GONE!!! May their spiritual oppression be lifted and their eyes opened, their hearts renewed, their life given new meaning. Lord, give us strength and courage. Help us to not feel helpless. Remind us to be constantly praying for them, for it is not us, but YOU who are the ultimate HEALER. Lord, dear Lord, help them..........

11월-1월 소식지

한글판 소식지 드디어 보냈습니다... 혹시 못 받으셨으면 연락주세요~ ^^

Home

Sigh...  A good sigh...  A content sigh...

I didn't think I'd say this, but it's nice to be back.  Nice to be home.  Our house in Hiroshima, Japan, is definitely no longer just a "house".  It's now our "home".  At least for now anyway.

They say "home is where the heart is".  I guess this is where my heart is.  At least for now anyway.

Something interesting I read off a Japan church planter's facebook today:
'Sumeba miyako' 住めば都 literally means if you live there, that makes it your capital city. In other words, it can mean 'home is where the heart is' or 'you'll get so adjusted and used to it that you'll soon call it home'.

While we were in Seoul and Chiang Mai, a part of me was dreading coming back, coming back to a cold, old house and all the difficulties that come with living in Japan.

BUT.  It's nice to be here.  It took me by surprise, how nice it is to be back.  It's nice to be just us again.  It's nice to know where to go, when to go, have our own car to drive around, be able to get there on our own, have a regular, more normal schedule...  I think it's been especially nice for the kids to be back.  They're so much more relaxed, happier, and carefree compared to when they were in Korea.  I guess we're adjusted and used to life here and we now call it our home...

The kids had awesome receptions when they went back to school.  Juhee arrived during lunch time the day after we arrived and the kids all excitedly said her name as she walked in and gave her a huge happy welcome.  She came back beaming that day! :)  When I went to pick her up, her teacher ran down to greet me and told me how much they'd missed her and how the kids had constantly been asking when she would be back 「まだ？」("아직?" "not yet?") they'd ask.  Even the girl who's usually not so nice to Juhee has been super nice to her since her return.  Juhee says the girl said that she missed Juhee and is happy that she's back. :)  A few other moms of Juhee's friends texted to say welcome back and that their kids had seen Juhee at kindergarten.

Sungjae was surrounded by lots of little 2 and 3 year olds when he went back to nursery and he apparently acted all embarrassed (Peter dropped them off). =D  The teacher told Peter how one of the kids in particular kept on asking when he would be back.  I talked to the mom of one of his other classmates later that day and she said how her son excitedly told her that Sungjae was back when she picked him up.  I think he had more fun that day than he'd had during the past nearly two months while we were traveling.

I think our time in Korea and Chiang Mai was hard on them.  There were good times, of course, but I think overall, it wasn't easy for them.  Actually, it was pretty hard on us too.  I guess it was the least hard on me.

I'm so glad we don't have any travel plans for the foreseeable future.  On our way back to Hiroshima, Juhee told me that she doesn't want to ride airplanes anymore.  Poor thing.  There probably aren't many just-turned-five year olds that have been on over 25 flights.  Sungjae, on the other hand, is completely in love with airplanes.

At the moment, our next big trip will be when we go back to San Jose, CA, USA in early 2015.

We're looking forward to a hopefully, relatively calm two years. :)

February Focus

We're back in Hiroshima and it's good to be back. :) Our bags are not yet completely unpacked and we have some backlog to clear as well as a lot of ministry and other work ahead of us so it's full steam ahead!

Peter turned a year older this month. Happy birthday hubby! :)

Peter's weekly English classes resume on Tuesdays (adult ladies) and Thursdays (kids) from Feb. 19th and on the 23rd, we have Kids' English Club in the morning and English Cafe in the evening.

Much of our ministry for the upcoming academic year from April 2013-March 2014 will be decided during the next couple of weeks in conjunction with the local Japanese pastors that we work with. Please pray for wisdom as we seek to support their ministries and create more opportunities for the Christians here to reach those around them.

Pray also for us, that God will continue to use our shortcomings and sinfulness to humble us, teach us, and to use us to show His grace, mercy, and love to those around us. Pray that our focus will always be on Him.

Fun with Friends

A link to a blogpost written by a friend about some of our time together in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Hopefully I'll get to write something about our time there sometime soon too! :)

The guys with their new "friend". :P