Deepening Relationships

During October, we’ve had some amazing times of being able to deepen our relationships with our Japanese church members.  Fall is the time for Sports Days and last-time-this-year BBQs and camping trips.  Once again, we joined a few other families from Kabe Chapel at their annual Family Camp.  The first activity was fishing and Sungjae was super excited!  It’s been Juhee’s dream to sleep in a real tent (not just a blanket draped over chairs/sofas/etc) and she got to do it so she was super happy too!  She was also very happy that mommy, not realizing how expensive marshmallows are in Japan, offered to take marshmallows, Honey Graham crackers (thanks LSCC!) and chocolate.  Juhee and everyone else loved roasting marshmallows over the campfire for dessert.  For most of them, it was their first time ever making S’mores.

(Click on the pictures to see larger versions.)

Fishing at little man-made ponds with lots of fish - the fishing rod was SO long!!!, kids were very impressed with the fish that daddy caught, staff at the center filleted the fish for us, our family caught a total of five :) Even though there were a lot of fish in small enclosed ponds, it still wasn't easy!

Sungjae and I slept in a big classroom inside the renovated Elementary School on rented futons while Peter and Juhee slept in our guarantor's tent outside. Putting it up and then drying it after taking it down were all a LOT of work! I made sure Juhee was bundled up nice and warm for sleeping in the tent.

Food! After the BBQ dinner, we grilled most of the fish that we'd caught earlier that day, ate everything from crunchy mouth/head to crispy tail... We had some as sashimi the next morning as part of our breakfast too (together with our ham, cheese, lettuce, egg rolls)! Everyone had fun roasting marshmallows over the campfire and making S'mores. Those little packets of marshmallow were about a dollar each... Are marshmallows expensive in the US too? Our guarantor brought a huge teppan and made his famous yakisoba for the last meal too.

Sungjae and his friend being silly together before bedtime. They don't get to play often anymore 'cause we don't go to Kabe Chapel very often, but they love playing together. It's really cute too that when our families do get together, the two boys are both excited about their own friend being there and not just having to play with their big sisters' friends. :)

The 3 year old boys hanging out together. The boy on the far right has down syndrome, but to them right now, they're all the same. Hopefully it'll stay that way and they'll continue to grow up as great brothers in Christ. The mom of this boy became a Christian earlier this year and is the first in her family.

At the Hiroshima EV Free (i.e. Koyo, Kabe, and Asaminami Chapels) Mini Sports Day & BBQ,  members + family & friends came out for a fun morning of games for kids and adults.  Kids ate for free and adults were a mere 500JPY each.  As a family, we probably ate about 3,000JPY worth for 1,000JPY!  Juhee and I missed the sports part (believe me, we were so disappointed - not! ;P) but Peter and Sungjae had a great time playing Japanese-y games.  The members of all three chapels don't often get to get together, so it was a good opportunity for them to catch up and get to know new members too. (Pic: BBQ, prayer at the end, games using newspaper.)

Asaminami Chapel had their first ever “Outdoor” Service & BBQ.  “Outdoor” because the service was actually held indoors…  It was a bit of a challenge as one of the boys who has behavioral issues was having a particularly rough morning.  The men had to take turns controlling him and the boy’s mom ended up crying in a room for most of the time we were there.  There were also little logistical things like someone forgetting to turn on the rice cooker and defrosting the meat…  We took sweet potatoes wrapped in foil and most of them became absolutely delicious roasted sweet potatoes, but some of them burnt to a crisp.  On the positive side, there was an abundance of food, it was delicious, and there was a lot of time for everyone to chat while preparing, eating, resting, and cleaning up.  We took kimchi and it was all gone very quickly.  We took Honey Graham crackers and chocolate to this event too and so everyone got to enjoy S’mores (someone else brought the marshmallows this time =D).     

Our "Outdoor" service inside; Parents trying to keep kids happy and quiet in the back; The rice ball making group; Using solar energy to defrost very frozen meat

The kids sitting at tables inside - so much easier & neater than the kids eating outside! Peter, Sungjae and others "roasting" marshmallows above dying charcoals. Fellowship time while eating yummy food. Big smile for S'mores. :)

Juhee and one of our close friends picked flowers and put some in her hair; Group photo; Thank yous and prayer before going home.

It was great being able to spend good quality & quantity time with the members of all three chapels, along with their friends and family who don’t usually come out to church.

It was also great being able to enjoy BBQs three times, three weeks in a row... ;) 

October Focus

Hey! Thanks for keeping up with us on our blog. :)

October is already half over but here's a brief look at what has been and what we're expecting...

With October came craziness that completely exhausted me. There were new experiences that were planned and not planned and anything new usually means stress levels out the wazoo... This time, there were too many in too short of a time frame and it really knocked me out... :(

Juhee had her Sports Festival at preschool in early October. It was fun and painful at the same time. Juhee, of course, was super cute doing her little dance routines with her classmates. :) The Monday after, the teachers have the day off for having to do an event on a Saturday, so some of the kids & moms met together at a nearby park. I commented on how tiring the prep & the event was and she said that the tiredness felt for the preschool versions pale in comparison to the elementary school ones - great! :/

After more than 2 years of enduring pain, I finally got my right foot checked out at an Orthopedic Hospital with an English speaking doctor. Apparently there's nothing wrong with the bones so he said he can't treat my pain 'cause his diagnosis is unsure. He gave me some medicated patches to help ease the pain... Not looking forward to having to explore more options! Someone asked me why I didn't go sooner. Just in case you're wondering too: the pain was endurable the first two years. It was too time consuming and stressful for me to even look into getting it treated. I was also afraid of how much it would cost. The pain only started to get really bad in June when a change in my schedule meant me spending a lot more time on my feet. It started affecting my QoL so I had to look into getting it treated. 

After mo~nths of research, we finally bought Juhee her "ran-do-se-ru", the Japanese elementary school bag. We paid less than $90 for it instead of the usual $300-500... BIG ACHIEVEMENT that we a) finally bought one b) in good time c) a new one d) at a very very good price. Yay! :) Sungjae had his 3-year check-up run by the government which was sooo stressful and took a lot of prep too...

I attended Sumire Cafe at Koyo Chapel. It was a two hour talk on bullying, a very serious issue here in Japan, one which we know of first-hand with our Juhee. I wasn't going to attend 'cause it was talk-based (rather than activity-based, which tends to involve less language), but 9 of my non-believing friends wanted to go, so I went. 3 couldn't come in the end 'cause their kids got sick the morning of, but it was great to be able to take friends to Koyo Chapel. :)

I had a meeting with Sungjae's teacher, the head of the daycare side, and the overall head of the preschool/daycare to discuss changing Sungjae's class. This morning, Sungjae will have had his first experience of the "big kids" class. He's being moved from 2-3 year old kids' class to a 3-5 year old one. They all felt that he was ready and I think he is too. They're going to do the transition slowly so it'll be easier for him and hopefully for everyone else too.

We've just returned from Kabe Chapel's Family Camp and we had a blast! Hopefully more details and pics to come... :)

We're planning our Christmas events! All four of our Kids Brown classes will be having Christmas parties / performances and I'll be organizing the Kabe Chapel ladies' Christmas event too. The Chu family will be visiting us again from San Jose and they'll be bringing gifts for the Kids Brown students and Sandee will be sharing at the ladies' Christmas event. Henry's a great cook so I'm sure the whole family will be helping me cook the Christmas meal for everyone too!

Thanksgiving and Christmas is a great time to invite family friends over to our house for a meal and to get to know one another better. Right now, I'm so overwhelmed with what's already going on that I can't think of organizing anything on top of that. Pray for wisdom and energy for me and Peter, that we can balance our time and energy well. Juhee has extra practices 'cause she has a ballet performance coming up soon. There's more sewing involved again, but not a ton like last time.

Koyo Chapel is having their Mini Sports Festival & BBQ soon, I'll be reading a book about Thanksgiving to four of the classes at Juhee's preschool, Asaminami Chapel will be having their first ever outdoor service & BBQ, we have English Cafe at Asaminami Chapel, I'm substituting for Jess at her Kids Brown class at Koyo Chapel as she'll be in Hong Kong, Asaminami Chapel wants to try the Kids Brown program at "Smile Club" this month, Juhee has two more field trips this month and I just received notification for her general health check-up at the elementary school that she'll be attending. It'll be both of our first times going there. There's also the Pioneers Japan retreat coming up at the end of the month too. Lots on both home and church fronts. There are other things going on too, but those are probably the big ones. :)

Thank you so much for your constant prayers and encouragement. :)

Finishing Well: STM2013

You know that saying, “All’s well that end’s well”?  Well, that’s how we wanted STM2013 to end…  To end “well”.  Each of the three summer teams left us with monetary gifts at the end of their stays. With the help of these funds, we treated the pastors and their wives + a volunteer staff member and his wife + Jess + Scott to a Thank You Lunch.   

We don’t often get to just chat with the pastors and their wives, so it provided a great time of fellowship as well as a time for reflection and for giving feedback.  By God’s grace, a lot of good discussion took place and we all left encouraged and amazed at how much God had accomplished during the almost 6-week period the teams were here.  

One thing that stuck out for me personally was how the wives commented on how Jenny was probably too busy and too burdened as a mom with two young kids.  On the other hand, the husbands (pastors) commented on how the churches created extra events that the teams could participate in.  This in turn created a burden on the churches as the church members had to do more, but it also meant that a wider variety and a greater number of people attended events this summer.  So if they push themselves more, God can do more through them. J

One of the wives commented on how the JSC (what the churches here call their youth group - "Junior Senior Church") BBQ was just too much.  It was an event that the JSC staff had put together so that the youth of the churches here could spend some fun time with the youth kids that came over from Hallelujah English Ministry's (HEM) youth kids.  Part of the reason for the HEM teenagers coming over was to encourage the kids here in their walk in Christ.  The events that were planned and the crafts & everything else that they brought were also a part of their reason for coming, but encouraging the kids here was a big part of their trip too.  The BBQ was the finale of a super busy week and we were all pretty excited but also tired.  The pastor's wife son had asked his mom for help as he's one of the leaders of JSC.  She said she didn't mind helping him, but wasn't sure if the event was really necessary and was maybe a bit too much.

One of the other wives, who has two sons who are a part of JSC, said how the BBQ was one of the most meaningful events for her.  She talked about how her second son is now always a good witness as he's a bit of "black sheep", but the BBQ allowed her son to invite his friend over who is interested in English.  The friend had a great time practicing his English conversation with the HEM kids and trying Korean style BBQ too.  He saw a full gospel presentation too, as the HEM kids had prepared skits (Everything skit, Love skit) and songs/body worship that clearly portrayed Christ's love for us.  Despite language barriers, all of the kids and staff had a great time getting to know each other.  If you'd heard the amount of laughter and chatter that was going on, you would not have guessed that there were any barriers or that these kids had met for the first time!  It was amazing.  Two of the pastors who are actively involved with the youth group also commented on how the BBQ was one of the highlights for them and the youth here and that they were all very encouraged and impressed by the HEM kids.

For almost everything that was mentioned, there seemed to be a positive and not so positive viewpoint.  I think in general though, the positive outweighed the negative. :)

One thing that I explained to them is that there are lots of churches wanting to come.  We turned down two of our supporting churches this past year and we connected one church in the US (not a supporting church) to another church here in Hiroshima.  When our supporting churches send teams to us, it helps them to let the congregation know more about us, to get more excited and in tune with the ministry here, to pray more for the work here, and to really want to "support" us.  The churches here want the support and prayers.  But it means that they need to be open to having teams over.

We all agreed that a good balance is important and that it is something that we can improve on in the future.  Smaller teams, breaks in between, maybe not all in the summer, etc...

Toward the end of the meeting, I asked if they would be open to welcoming more teams next summer.  After a short silence, the volunteer staff member said, "Yes, definitely".  The others remained silent...

The meeting might not have made everything about STM2013 “well”, but we hope it was a good step forward in making things better for the next time.  And right now, only God knows when that will be!  But for now, about a year after I first contacted the Japanese pastors about the possibility of teams coming during the summer of 2013, STM2013 has finally come to an end.  A good one.  PTL!