Meet the Yamasaki's

Meet M (left) and E (middle) of the Yamasaki Family. 

E joined Juhee’s class in the middle of their last year of preschool. About a week after she started, the whole family came over to play. E and Juhee soon became friends and Juhee helped E adjust to her new preschool. E’s mom, A, had spent a few months in the U.S. during her college years and was a HS English teacher before having children so was interested in opportunities to speak English. I was happy to have another mom I could speak English with! :) I invited her to our monthly English Café events at Asaminami Chapel and the whole family came a few times (usually dads don’t come)! We weren’t sure if they would continue coming after the casual fun & games orientated “English Café” became a worship service at “Asaminami Bilingual Chapel”, and were very grateful when they did.

But then, E suddenly disappeared. I later found out that E’s grandmother’s was struggling with bad health so E’s mother had to take care of her at her home an hour away. Poor E had to transfer to yet another preschool close to her grandmother’s house. In addition to E’s grandmother’s health issues, E’s sister was having to go for check-ups on her eyes on Saturday afternoons too.

One day, I bumped into E’s mom as she was walking to the bus stop. I offered to give her a ride to the clinic she needed to go to. She was a bit flustered as her husband had taken both sets of car keys that morning so she was having to take the bus instead of driving. We had a really good chat in the car and I ended with, “It was part of God’s plan that we meet and that I drive you to your appointment today. So don’t be angry at K (her husband).” We both laughed and she replied, “Yes, it must be so.” E’s mom and I kept in touch now and again and we bumped into each other at a children’s musical performance over the summer, but the Yamasaki Family were unable to make it to ABC for a long time. Until...

On November 8th, Peter texted me from ABC to let me know that the Yamasaki Family was there! I was so happy to hear that! They started attending regularly again after that.

I finally got a chance to see them again at the ABC Christmas Party and it was nice to catch up in person. E’s dad wasn’t there when I got there as he had to go to a friend’s mother’s funeral. As E’s mom was pretty sure that he’d be going out to dinner with his friends after the funeral, I offered them a ride home. But E’s dad came straight back and played games with the rest of us till it was time to go home! E’s dad hadn’t had any dinner, so I gave him some of the leftover kimchi pasta bake on one of our casserole dishes for them to take home. I checked to make sure he was OK with spicy food and they smiled and said that he loves it.

Clockwise from Top L: Yamasaki family sitting together (bottom right) at an ABC service; Christmas Party - A, E, and M making hen motions, Jenny & A catching up while some played Christmas songs using chimes, Peter vs. K trying to pop the balloon tied to the other person's foot

Towards the end of Juhee’s winter vacation, Juhee and I went over to E’s house to pick up the casserole dish. Apparently K really enjoyed the kimchi pasta bake but was sweating bullets while eating it! The girls had fun playing together (top picture) while the moms chatted, mostly in English, mostly about education. She asked me what I think about the Japanese education system and what we’re planning on doing with our kids. I told her that our kids will probably stay in the public system here till at least 6th grade and that we’re not sure after that. Our kids will probably not be going to college here, so there isn’t much point in them studying for the sake of Jr. High, Sr. High, and then college entrance exams. E’s mom told me that she loved the quieter area where she used to live, but she didn’t want her kids going to the local elementary school there. It’s a very good school which wins lots of competitions, but she observed teachers being unnecessarily strict and scolding the kids a lot. She didn’t want her kids to be in that kind of environment every day so the family moved to this area where the schools are good, but not too strict. She doesn’t want her kids to study just for the sake of entrance exams as most kids in Japan tend to do, but to enjoy learning, learn to think independently and creatively, and be able to do different, multiple extra-curricular activities instead of having to just do one for three years. She also doesn’t want the extra-curricular activity to interrupt their weekends as many do here. She really wants to homeschool at least part-time, but she says that whenever she talks to other moms, no one understands. She also knows that it’ll be difficult for the principal and teachers of their local school to understand, accept, and adjust to too. Like Susan and Kyoko (Clendinnen, our new Team Leader), she also wanted to homeschool their children. I told her that Kyoko (Clendinnen, our new Team Leaders) would be a good person to speak to as they not only homeschool their children but their boys are also registered with their local elementary school too (they only go sometimes for special events), so can give E’s mom advice on that aspect too. Homeschooling is still largely viewed as truancy in Japan, so having one’s children registered at a local elementary school and having their buy-in is very important! The whole Yamasaki family went over to the Murray’s to observe a day of homeschooling one Saturday and spent the whole day with them.

I really believe that God's been working in A's heart & life for a long time. Her host family when she was in America for a few months as a young adult was a Christian family and took her to church. They also gave her a Bible before she left. She still keeps in touch with them! But even before that, I know that it was God who stirred up a desire for her to go to America and prepared the perfect family for her. There was a very long gap, but from about just over a year ago, the seeds that were planted way back then, have started receiving some TLC again.

Peter told me that they hadn't been to ABC for a few weeks so I sent an email asking if they were OK. This is part of her reply:

Oh, thank you, Jenny. It is so sweet of you to check us. We are all fine, we just have been busy. We love your church and we will go to ABC soon.
I hope everything is good for you and your family, too. Whenever you have time, please stop by. Also, you can leave Juhee chan here if you need your time. M and E will love to have your children.

E and her sister like the snacks at ABC. E’s dad apparently likes Peter. :) E’s mom enjoys the opportunity to brush up on her English and the exposure that her children are getting to English too. It’s actually really rare for a whole family of unbelievers to attend. It would be great if the whole family continued to attend ABC, for their relationship with the other members there to grow deeper, and for them to accept Christ as their Savior one day!

Please pray with us for this to happen!!! :)