February Focus

Happy February!

In most of the Western hemisphere, February is a month of love. In Japan, February is a month of chasing out demons. Various types of roasted beans are sold everywhere. Both Juhee and Sungjae are involved in "Setsubun" activities at school / preschool that talk about demons within homes that need to be chased out by throwing roasted beans and chanting “Demons out, luck in!” There's also a rice roll (like 김밥) that is supposed to bring in luck if you eat it all in one go facing a certain direction called "Ehomaki". Please join us in praying that our kids (especially Juhee) will be sensitive when/if they vocalize their difference in opinion as to how demons are chased out and that they don’t get confused. Pray for us as parents too, that we are able to continue guiding them in matters that involve Japanese culture and spiritual matters.

Here are some things that you can be praying for us about in February…

On the 3^rd and 5^th, Peter will be handing over Jess’s Kids Brown classes back to her. Pray that the handover will go well and that Jess will get back into the swing of things quickly. Peter’s looking forward to spending more of his energy on studying Japanese and getting things ready for our time in the US.

On the 4^th, Peter and I will be going to our OBGYN together for our hospital tour. It’ll be Peter’s first visit to the hospital. Pray that we’ll have a good visit and that we’ll get to know the hospital, procedures, and staff well, ‘cause the next time we use the side entrance to go to the upstairs area will be when I’m having contractions!

Pray for me a ton on the 6^th as it’s going to be a really challenging day for me… I have Smile Club in the morning from 10am-noon, will probably have an udon lunch with my friend Rieko and her toddler daughter straight after (a bit of post-Smile Club “tradition”), attend Juhee’s parent participation “day” from 2pm, Juhee’s parent discussion time from 3pm, leave in the middle to pick-up two of my students at 4pm from their school (I do this weekly), and then teach Kids Brown from 4:30-6:30pm. It’s going to be one of the busiest days I’ve had recently and it’ll take a miracle for me to be able to get through the day without being in a lot of pain. I’m sad to think that it’ll probably be my last time teaching English at Smile Club, and one of the last times I’ll get to spend time with Rieko and her daughter for a while. Juhee’s super excited about mommy coming to see what they’re preparing in class and has asked that I take video and pictures so we can show daddy and Sungjae after. :) Pray that God will really bless Smile Club and our lunch together and that I’ll be able to have supernatural amounts of strength and energy that day!

Juhee has extra ballet practices on Saturday, 7^th and Sunday, 15^th in the afternoon prior to her performance on the 21^st. I’m so grateful that another mom is helping me mend her white tutu! I’m not very good at sewing in the first place, but it’s even harder now with a big belly. She also has a sewing machine! Juhee’s looking forward to her performance but not to all of the extra practices (mommy too)! :P

Peter and Jess both have birthdays this month. I thank God for them, the way that God has brought them into my life, and pray that God continues to use them mightily for His Kingdom.

The 15^th is going to be another crazy day so pray for the 15^th too, please. We’ll be attending Sunday service at Kabe Chapel that morning, rushing to Koyo Chapel to eat lunch and hopefully sell a few things at the annual Flea Market along with a couple of our teammates. Juhee and I will have to rush to her ballet practice while Peter takes Sungjae home for a quick nap before our PI Team Fellowship time from 4pm.

On the 21^st, Juhee’s ballet performance is downtown in the afternoon (no parking!), and then I have a meeting at 7pm for Juhee’s afterschool program… :/ There’s also a Hot Chocolate & Desserts event at ABC after service, so it’ll be a tricky day to maneuver and another tiring one too!

On the 23^rd, 24^th, or 25^th, Sungjae will be having his parent participation “day”. Sungjae always gets really excited about mommy coming to watch too! Mommy really enjoys the participation days too as it’s a great chance to get to see what they’re learning, the other kids, and a good chance to connect with the other parents too.

There are a couple of other events too, but these are the major ones. We’re so grateful that Jess is back to take back her Kids Brown classes so we can really start preparing for the baby’s arrival, for our time in the US, for Taisei moving in, and our move next year. I anticipate me being very tired on many days this month, so pray that Peter and I will be able to communicate and work together well. Pray that God will continue to be the center of our marriage, our family, and our ministry, and that our love for each another will continue to increase. :)

Photos from the annual Hiroshima EV Free Church's joint Women's Ministry Gathering. There were about 30 women in attendance, representing each of the four chapels. There were testimonies given by two of the women, songs performed, a message of encouragement given by Pastor Haitaka, obento lunch boxes for lunch, games, and a song performed by the pastors and their wives! 

It was actually at last year's gathering of this annual event that I really felt God speaking strongly to me that He wanted us to work with another church in Japan during our next term. Peter and I had already started praying about our next term and were seeking His will. I came close to tears many times during that meeting as I realized more and more that I would be leaving this group of Christian women who had become friends and cared for us so much. In a country where a church of more than one hundred members is considered a mega-church, the average church attendance is between 20-30 members, the average age of the attendees is in their 60's, and hundreds of churches don't even have a pastor, having a Women's Ministry Gathering where just under 30 women, 3 pastors, 2 missionaries (Susan and me) are in attendance is amazing... There are so so so many more churches here who can only dream about such gatherings...

May God send more workers to this field and may God raise up many strong Christians within Japan to lead the next generation of Japanese believers!