11월 업데이트

Wednesday December 9, 2009

여호와께 감사

“너희는 여호와께 감사하며 그의 이름을 불러 아뢰며 그가 행하신 일을 만민 중에 알릴지어다.” 역대상 16:8
할렐루야!

Peter & Jenny Oh 님 안녕하세요!

맑은 공기를 마시게 하시고 가족과 친구들 그리고 많은 파트너분들과 함께 교제를 하며 흘러 넘치는 기쁨을 주신 하나님께 감사를 드립니다.

늦게나마 Happy Thanksgiving!

신실하신 주 안에서,
Peter Oh목사 가정 드림

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파트너 모든분들께 감사

기도 후원자가 되어 주시겠다고 하신200명 넘은 분들께 감사를드립니다. 기도 후원자가 되고 싶으신 분은 peterandjennyoh@gmail.com으로 이멜 보내주세요.

또 저희의 정착금의 100%와 정기적인 후원금의 42%가 모아지도록 헌신적으로 헌금하신 후원자 모든분들께 감사를 드립니다. 이제 한국에 계신 분들을 위해 한국계좌도 열었습니다 (예금주 전연숙, 외환은행: 620-191415-809). 입금후 이멜을 보내주시면 감사하겠습니다.

일본선교에 함께 동참해주셔서 감사합니다!

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서울에 있어서 감사

현 재 서울에 있습니다. 여러 목사님들, 권사님들, 집사님들을 서울 곧곧, 수원, 분당을 열심히 다니며 만나고 협력 선교사로써 일본선교에 동참할 기회들을 알아보고 있습니다. 11월 중순 부터 있었고, 12월 중순에 미국으로 돌아갑니다. 많이 걷고 지하철도 많이 타고 다니는데 주희가 "폭폭칙칙" ^^; 타는 것을 아주 즐긴답니다. 작년 일본 비전여행때와 같이 이번에도 미국을 떠날 당시에는 텅텅 비어있던 스케쥴을 하나님께서 꽉꽉 채워주셔서 집에 있는 날이 거의 없습니다. 할렐루야! 서울에서 있었던 일들을 여기서(클릭) 더 읽어보세요 (영어)...

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하나님께서 맺어주시는 인연에 감사

김 영진 권사님은 저희의 첫 한글 소그룹 모임에서 처음 뵜었습니다. 처음에는 저희가 너무 준비도 덜 되고 일본에 대한 지식도 너무 없는 것 같아 걱정을 많이하셨습니다. 하지만 저희의 이야기를 들어보신 후 저희의 가장 큰 응원자가 되시고 우리를 엄청나게 격려해 주셨습니다. 한국에서 함께 했던 시간들에 대해 여기서(클릭) 더 읽어보세요 (영어).

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Thanksgiving Newsletter

If you signed up for our newsletter and haven't received it, please let us know. Happy Thanksgiving! =)

Friday December 4, 2009

"Give thanks to the Lord..."

"...call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done." 1 Chronicles 16:8 (NIV)

Dear Co-laborer in the Lord,

We are very thankful to God for the breath in our lungs, and the joy in our hearts that flow from the relationships we have with you, our family and friends.

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Peter and Jenny Oh

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Thankful for our Partners

We are thankful for the 200 prayer partners who committed to support us in prayer! If you would like to be a part of our prayer team, email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com.

We are also very thankful for the sacrificial giving of all of you who have helped us raise 100% of our needed Departure Fund, and 42% our Monthly Support! Thank you for partnering with us.

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Thankful to be in Seoul

We are currently in Seoul, Korea meeting with pastors, deacons and elders, and other church representatives of various churches in the hopes of being able to partner with them on our journey to Japan. We have been in Seoul from mid-November, and will return to San Jose, CA mid-December. We've been riding the subway a lot, and Juhee loves riding the "train". =) Click here to track with us in Seoul.

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Thankful for Divine Appointments

We had met Kim Gwunsanim at our first Korean SGG in San Jose. She was very concerned about us going to Japan to serve as missionaries because she felt that we were inexperienced and unprepared. After hearing our story, and the journey God was taking us on to Japan, she became one of our strongest supporters and encouraged us tremendously. Click here to read more of our time together in Korea.

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Marathon Sunday

We normally don't wake up at 4am in the morning, except when we first arrived in Seoul, and suffered from jetlag. But today was a special day. We were to meet Dr. Rev. Billy Kim 김장환 목사님 at 7am before the 8am service, and that was the only time he could meet with us. Yes, he really is that busy. (His schedule for the following week included meeting the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon!) Thanks to Kim Gwunsanim 김영진 권사님, we were able to stay nearby at her place the previous night and catch a ride with her choir members too. If we had had to travel from Seoul that morning... Oh my... When we went to wait in front of his office, he'd already started meeting people from 6am in the morning.


(Dr. Rev. Billy Kim, mom & Juhee at GGBTS, SF a few weeks ago.)

After the service, there was a long line of people waiting to shake hands with Dr. Rev. Billy Kim. When it was our turn, we were surprised when he took us out of the line, introduced us to the Missions Deacon and told the deacon that he would like Antioch Church 안디옥교회 to start supporting us monthly from January 2010! Praise God!

Jenny's dad then drove us to Hallelujah Community Church in Bundang, which is also just outside of Seoul. We planned to join their 11:45am English Service, but we ran into one of the nursery teachers while trying to find where the English Service was to be held. It turns out that that nursery teacher had taught in the nursery when Jenny's mom served as their nursery pastor in the early 1990's, and he actually recognized Jenny because she used to help her mom out in nursery as a pre-teen. We had a nice chat with this teacher, and he informed us that most of the nearly 40 nursery teachers are the same teachers as when Jenny's mom served as the nursery pastor. Talk about longevity in ministry! We arranged to visit again with Jenny's mom the following Sunday.

As for the Hallelujah English Ministry (HEM), we were able to meet Pastor Steve and Pastor Cristian, and join in their service. It turns out that Peter actually went to seminary with Pastor Cristian's brother Tiberius. What a small world! We worshiped the Lord and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch (no turkey, but lots of chicken including KFC) with them, and Pastor Steve invited Peter to speak the following Sunday. We look forward to sharing our journey to Japan with them and hopefully partnering with them in some way.

From there we went to the church Jenny's dad attends in Seoul where we rejoined Jenny's parents and then went to Jenny's maternal grandmother's for a delicious dinner and some leftovers to take home too. =)

Kim Gwunsanim 김영진 권사님

We had met Kim "Gwunsanim" (Korean term for female deacon/elder at a church) 김영진 권사님 at our first Korean SGG in San Jose at the Hongs. She was very concerned about us going to Japan to serve as missionaries because she felt that we were inexperienced and unprepared. After hearing our story, and the journey God was taking us on to Japan, she became one of our strongest supporters and encouraged us tremendously. She also shared with us how through divine appointments and God's grace, she has been going to Japan regularly on short-term mission trips for the past 20 years.


(From left: my dad, mom, Kim Gwunsanim's friend, Kim Gwunsanim, the Ohs)

We didn't expect to see her again in the near future, but then again, we didn't expect to come to Seoul either. When we arrived in Seoul, we contacted Gwunsanim to say "hello, we're in Korea, let's meet!". =) She invited us to her place in Suwon, treated us to an amazing Korean BBQ lunch, and introduced us to many members of her church including several pastors. Later that week, we actually spent the night at her home so that she could take us to meet Dr. Rev. Billy Kim 김장환 목사님 around 6am, before an 8am Thanksgiving service where she was singing in one the choirs. Everyone arrived about 30 minutes early and the actual service started 10 minutes early!

She is 79 years old, and has more energy and spunk than most people half her age. We were so blessed by her desire to connect us with the right people, her hospitality, her love for Japan, and her desire to humbly take part in God's work as He leads. She completely pours out her love on Juhee too and Juhee joyfully follows her around calling out "hal-mu-ni! (grandma)". =)

Global Mission Church 분당 지구촌교회

A few days before we left for Korea, our Senior Pastor, Pastor Peter Chin, informed us of a great opportunity to apply to become “Supported Missionaries” with Global Missions Church, one of Korea’s biggest mega-churches (over 10,000 members). When we saw the application, our jaws dropped… 9 pages… In Korean… And lots of supplemental documentation required too… Worst of all, it was due in a week! Oh my!!! As most of our stuff is in boxes, we had no clue where our “graduation certificates” and “family heritage” documents were. US passport pictures are different from Korean passport pictures… 3 references each too… Stress!!!

Once we arrived in Korea, we raced to finish the document. After a few days of trying to translate all of Peter’s answers into Korean, I made a desperate call to GMC’s Missions Department and asked if we could answer some of the questions in English. Thankfully they said yes – phew! It took a huge burden off of my shoulders. (You should have seen the shock on the face of the pastor who received our application when he saw Peter’s English portion. =D)

In terms of the documentation, we went to take our passport pictures and were surprised to find that they were more expensive than at Costco in the US but that they also photoshop passport pictures! You have to show both ears and can smile but cannot show teeth. Peter looks like he’s wearing makeup. =) Receiving my family heritage document was no problem as I’m still a Korean citizen and have a Korean national ID number, but receiving Peter’s was a bit more complicated as Peter’s whole family renounced their Korean citizenship many years ago. After a phone call to the US and trying to extract as much additional information as possible from his parents, I went back and the wonderful people at the government office had already prepared the paperwork I needed! It was a different version of the family heritage document from mine, but it was sufficient. I was so excited I temporarily forgot that I was pregnant and ran back to our officetel. =) The 3 people providing our references were wonderful and acted very quickly despite their busy schedules. In my desperation, I remembered that we’d sent our transcripts to Pioneers for our file and emailed our Pre-field Coach. Despite him still being in recovery from major surgery, he scanned and emailed our transcripts to us with time to spare!

We left California on Tuesday, arrived Wednesday night, and all of the above happened between Thursday and Saturday morning. I was up from 3:30am Saturday morning finishing our application and was on such a high after we handed it in Saturday lunchtime that I didn’t realize how tired I was. GMC is about an hour and a half from where we’re staying with a few subway transfers and lots of walking. One station didn’t have an elevator so we had to carry Juhee and her stroller up and down lots of stairs. A not very fit pregnant woman going up and down stairs in heels carrying a heavy baby and stroller equals a very sore and tired pregnant woman. But we were very very happy and felt like we could now breathe, relax, and start to explore other opportunities. =)

Please continue to pray for our application with GMC. We’ll find out on Dec 19th if we will be one of GMC's many "Supported Missionaries" or not.

감사합니다!

뉴비전교회의 한 자매님께서 저희 10월 소식지를 읽으시고 답멜하셨습니다.
저희가 좌절되고 힘들때 저희가 하는 일이 하나님의 뜻이라는 것,
하나님께서 저희를 향한 선한 계획이 있으시다는 것,
그리고 저희를 위해서 기도하고 계신 분이 계신다는 것이
얼마나 큰 힘이 되고 위로가 되는지 모릅니다.

귀한 이멜 함께 나눕니다...

자매님, 감사합니다!

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이 시대에 누가 우리 주님을 위해 자신의 삶을 기꺼이 내려놓을까요?......
그런데 두 분은 온가족이 헌신하셨으니
하나님 아버지께서 얼마나 기뻐하실런지요
한 치의 오차도 없으신 우리 하나님께서
가장 좋은 시간에 두 분을 선교지로 보내 주실 줄 믿습니다.
그 곳에서의 사역이 얼마나 힘들지 아시는
하나님께서는 두분의 몸과 마음과 계획마저
연단시키고 계시는 가 봅니다.

잠잠히 하나님만 바라보시고 이 곳에 계시는 동안 이 미국을 즐기십시오
날씨와 가족과의 친밀함과 친구들과 음식 등등.......

둘째아기 임신을 축하드립니다!
사랑하는 선교사님 가정을 위해 늘 기도 드리고 있습니다.
부족한 제가 동역할 수 있게 해 주신 하나님께 모든 영광을 드립니다.

Sharing at Our Church

It's been wonderful having the opportunity to share at some of the Korean adult Sunday School classes at our sending church, New Vision Church.

Peter and I work in partnership with him being the techie while I present in Korean. ^^; I find presenting in English much more enjoyable and easier, but God's been stretching us in many ways during the past year of which this is just one!

I'm a great believer in face-to-face communication and in the importance of "out of sight, out of mind". So as well as having the opportunity to share about the great spiritual needs of Japan, the small group setting allows us the time to answer questions, for them to get to know us on a more personal level, and vice versa. It's nice for us to be able to picture them in our minds when they email us telling us that they're praying for us and it makes their prayers that much more personal if they have met and know us personally.

Hopefully as we share more about us, the journey God has been taking us through, and why, they will sign-up for our newsletter and/or to be a prayer partner and then will "see" us at least once a month, thus hopefully never being "out of sight, out of mind" or out of their prayers for too long.

Introducing...

Say "hello!" to Baby Oh #2!

We were recently approved for pregnancy related Medi-Cal and everything's been taking mu~~~ch longer than when we had insurance. I was told that I would have to wait 2-3 weeks for an appt. with an OBGYN but I got one in a matter of days! Praise God! I received a surprise phone call on Wednesday, Nov 6th, asking if I could come in early morning the next day for a 45 minute initial appointment to set a date for an ultrasound and blood work (which would be a couple of weeks later).

I was very pleasantly surprised when the doctor said that he was going to do an ultrasound as I was told that this wouldn't happen during the first visit (with Medi-Cal, they don't do an ultrasound until weeks 18-20 and I was at 13). The doc wanted to check if there was one or two. It took me a while to register what he said! "Oh my..." was all I could say in response as the thought hadn't even occurred to me. Thankfully (?), there was only one baby moving around with all vital organs very well developed and accounted for and at the right length for 13 weeks. We could see the spinal cord very clearly and the legs too. It even gave me a kick while we were looking and it was fascinating to see it happen. The baby gave us a wave too with what the doc said was probably the right arm. :) It was such a shame that Peter wasn't there!

I left over 5 hours later having had a full assessment including testing for cervical cancer and STDs, blood work for HIV, hormone levels, and gestational diabetes, an ultrasound and 3 more appointments in December (visit with nurse to explain the prenatal program, check-up visit with doc, and one just for an ultrasound). They were also very thorough in their questions... "Do you have stable housing?" "Do you have a partner or spouse?" "Do you work?" I guess they deal with people from very different backgrounds to the doctors I've seen previously. Most of the patients there were Hispanic.

Because of the miscarriage we experienced in June 2009, I think I'd been trying to not be too happy about the pregnancy, just in case... I knew that my continuous morning sickness was a sign that the baby was healthy, but there was still something in me that wondered, what if... But seeing the baby and seeing it move around so healthily, really changed things for me psychologically and emotionally. I feel a sense of responsibility and love for the little human being that God has blessed us with and whatever the outcome, I'm so so sooooooo thankful that I have the privilege of carrying this precious new life inside me.

Remind me of this when I'm feeling sick and tired! ;)

If the baby cooperates, we'll be finding out the gender at our next ultrasound right before Christmas. Watch this space!!! :)

10월 업데이트

10월의 포커스

할렐루야!

안녕하세요!

"우리가 이같이 너희를 사모하여 하나님의 복음뿐 아니라 우리의 목숨까지도 너희에게 주기를 기뻐함은 너희가 우리의 사랑하는 자 됨이라 (데살로니가전서 2:8)"

10월 한달간 있었던 일들 몇가지를 함께 나누고 싶습니다.

모또 (주희의 첫 일어 단어)
주희의 첫 Trick-or-Treat
Davis 한인교회에서 나눔
Santa Clara Valley Japanese Christian Church에서 인사

그리고 자주 묻는 질문(한글)들을 모아 보았습니다. 여기 클릭하시면 보실수 있습니다.

신실하신 주 안에서,
Peter Oh 목사 가정 드림

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후원 업데이트

저희 기도 후원자가 되어 주시겠다고 하신 분이 이제 약 175명 계십니다. 저희의 소망은 365명의 기도 후원자가 일년에 하루를 맡아 저희 일본선교를 위해 기도를 해주시는 것입니다. 기도 후원자가 되고 싶으신 분들은 peterandjennyoh@gmail.com으로 이멜 보내주시기 바랍니다.

많은 분들의 아낌 없는 후원덕에 Departure 자금은 100%가 다 모아졌습니다. 감사합니다!

저희 Monthly 자금이 42%로 상승했 습니다. 저희를 후원하는 2 교회, 뉴비전교회와 Santa Clara Valley Japanese Christian Church 외에 개인 후원자 34분께서 $10-$300사이를 작정하셨습니다. 아낌 없는 후원을 통해 일본 히로시마에 주님을 아직 모르는 많은 영혼들에게 주님의 복음을 전파할 수 있도록 도와주심에 감사를 드립니다.

그럼 이제 일본으로 가는거냐고 물으신다면 그 질문에 답은 아직 아니요랍니다. 저희 정착금인 Departure 자금의 100%와 Monthly 자금의 90% 가 모아졌을때 저희가 속해 있는 Pioneers 선교단체에서 가도록 허락을 해줍니다. 목표액에 점점 더 가까워지고 있습니다만 아직은 조금 부족합니다.

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달라스로 이사

달 라스로의 이사 계획에 변경이 생겼습니다. 다른 기회들이 생겨 다시 고려를 하게되었습니다. 여기에 다 적을 수는 없지만 고려해야할 것들이 많이 있어 저희가 앞으로의 길을 정하기 전에 하나님께서 저희가 그 분의 뜻을 잘 분별하여 따를 수 있도록 함께 기도해주세요. 당분간 산호제에 머무를 계획입니다.

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더 깊은 깨달음, 더 깊은 믿음

혹 시 무엇인가를 안다고 생각하셨는데 더 깊게 알게 되었던 적이 있으십니까? 그리고 이제 더 깊이 안다고 생각하셨는데 더욱더 깊이 알게 된 적이 있으십니까? 저희가 요즘 하나님을 향한 믿음에 있어서 배우는 교훈입니다. 하나님을 믿는다는 것이 어떤것인지 압니다. 하지만 하나님께서 저희에게 하나님을 진정으로 믿고 의지하는 것이 어떤것인지를 가르쳐주고 계십니다. 저희에게 일본에서 사역을 하기 위해 필요한 후원금을 채워주실 것이라는 것 뿐만 아니라 모든 것을 맡기라는 것을 가르쳐주고 계십니다. 하나님께서 그 분의 때에 저희를 보내주실 것이라는 것을 믿습니다. 그리고 저희가 그 분께서 저희를 통해 그 분의 이루실 것이라는 것을 확실히 믿기를 원하십니다. 너무나도 어마어마하고 저희를 겸손케 하는 생각입니다. 여기 서 더 읽어 보세요 (영어)…

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October Newsletter

October Highlights

Dear co-laborer in the Lord,

"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." 1 Thess. 2:8 (NIV)

Here are a few snapshots of our family life during October.

"Moto" (Juhee's first Japanese word)

Juhee's 1st Trick-or-Treat

Sharing at Davis Korean Church

Deputation at Santa Clara Valley Japanese Christian Church

We also compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions. Enjoy!

Blessings!

Peter and Jenny Oh

Partnership Update

Praise God!

We now have nearly 175 prayer partners! Our goal is to have 365 prayer partners, one for each day of the year. Please let us know if you would like to join our prayer partner team by emailing us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com.

Thanks to the sacrificial giving from many of you, our Departure Fund is now at 100%.

Our Monthly Support has now reached 42%! Along with our two supporting churches, New Vision Church and Santa Clara Valley Japanese Christian Church , we have 34 individuals supporting us between $10-$300 on a monthly basis. Thank you for taking part in making a difference in the lives of those in Hiroshima, Japan through your generous giving.

So does this mean we will be going to Japan now? Not quite. Pioneers will authorize our departure when we have 100% of our Departure Funds and 90% of our Monthly Support. We're almost there, but not quite.

Moving to Dallas

Our plans to move to Dallas have changed. Other opportunities arose such that we needed to reconsider our move to Dallas. There are many things for us to consider, too many to list here, and thus we are praying through the many decisions set before us, and ask that you pray God gives us wisdom and discernment as we determine the next steps. As for now, we are staying put in San Jose.

Deeper Learning...

Ever think you know something and then come to have a deeper understanding of what you thought you knew... and later come to an even deeper understanding of what you thought you knew? This is what we've been experiencing with trusting God. We know what it is to trust God. However, one of the many lessons God is trying to DEEPLY ingrain in us is to trust in Him. And it's not to just trust Him in providing us the financial support we need to minister in Japan, which we know He'll do in His time, but so much more than that. He wants us to trust in Him completely to do His kingdom work through us. The thought of this is extremely humbling. Read more...

To partner financially with us, please click here for instructions or give online at PIONEERS - enter 'peter and jenny oh' & Account #111317.