Monday May 31, 2010
Very Blessed!
Dear co-laborer in the Lord,
These past couple of months have been very challenging, but God has blessed us so much. In times of blessing, I'm reminded of God's promise to Abram - that God will bless him, and that he will be a blessing. We have been tremendously blessed, and as we are blessed, may we be a blessing to those around us. Thank you for blessing us with your prayers and financial support. May you also be blessed, and in turn be a blessing to those around you.
Blessings! Peter, Jenny, Juhee, and Sungjae Oh
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Blessed with our baby Boy!
We had heard the second baby tends to arrive early, and so we anxiously waited for his arrival weeks prior to the due date (May 9th). Day after day, we waited for labor pains. There were none. Every time Jenny called Peter, he would answer, "did your water break?!" The answer was always "no" to which he responded, "don't scare me like that." LOL. Our baby's due date came and went with some cramps here and there, but still nothing. We had a lot of emotional ups and downs during this time of waiting. It actually reminded us of our Target Departure Date for Japan. They both kept getting delayed and pushed back, and there was nothing we could do about it. It all felt so anti-climatic. We think God was trying to tell us something. ;)
After waiting for so long, it all happened so fast it all seemed like a dream! Jacob Sungjae Oh was born a healthy 7lbs 14oz, 9 days late on May 18th at 4:30am, less than 2 hours after the first strong contractions woke Jenny up from her deep slumber. You can find out more about the day Sungjae was born here at our blog . Here is a video of Sungjae in his bassinet just 2 hours after birth.
We've been adjusting to life as a family of 4 and loving it! Juhee has been adjusting really well too, for which we are really grateful. She's had a few 'moments', but thank God they are few and far between. Here is a video of when Juhee first met Sungjae in the hospital.
We know it would have been much more difficult for Juhee had we been in Japan without the familiar surroundings and the love and support of grandparents, friends, and family. We thank God for the miracle of a new life, for Juhee adjusting well, Jenny's recovery going well, and for God's wisdom in delaying our move to Hiroshima, Japan. We have such a loving Heavenly Father. =)
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Counting our Blessings
Since we normally share how well things are going for us, some people have commented how we as missionaries, don't suffer enough. We don't know how much we need to suffer to be suffering enough, but in the midst of suffering, we choose to focus on how blessed we have been, and want to share these blessings with you. We can write on and on of our blessings, but here are some highlights of how we've been blessed recently, other than the birth of our son of course. :)
Juhee is sleeping well through the night, and is not awakened by Sungjae's cries. We are very thankful for her sleeping well.
We are really blessed by Juhee's Japanese/English bilingual daycare at Yamashita Family Child Care where she's been learning Japanese through songs, games and circle time. Juhee even plays hide-n-seek with Peter at home counting to ten and saying "ready" in Japanese. The owner of this child care is also providing us a 50% discount as her offering to the Lord. We were very humbled and thankful for this gesture.
We love sharing with children and we were able to share with our friends at New Vision Church's AWANA again this year. Juhee had a great time singing and dancing during praise time and Peter had a line of kids up on stage with him linking arms to illustrate how a missionary needs lots of supporters to reach his/her people group.
Hurrah! In April, Jenny finished the first of five mandatory Bible classes assigned by Pioneers. Thanks to our good friend, Dr. Kevin Chen, Jenny was able to finish all of the lectures and assignments for her independent study Biblical Hermeneutics class. Peter took on the role of a full-time dad during the intense 4 weeks and Sungjae was very accommodating by staying in Jenny's womb a bit longer too, so it was definitely a family effort! Jenny just needs to finish one mandatory reading now before she's officially completely done with the course. Praise the Lord!
Kevin also connected us with his church, South Bay Agape Christian Church in San Jose, and thanks to the Pastors' flexibility we were able to share with the congregation there on Sunday, May 2nd. Peter preached on loving God vs. loving the world, and then we shared together of our journey to Japan during their Bible study time. The teachers were gracious in canceling their scheduled classes so that everyone could come listen to us share! We had lots of fun and we were very blessed and encouraged by the enthusiasm and support from our brothers and sisters at SBACC (picture with Pastor Henry above).
On May 23rd, Peter was given the opportunity to share at one of Davis Korean Church's missions training sessions regarding cross-cultural integration and culture shock. Peter had a great time connecting again with his friends at Davis Korean Church, but had to leave right after his presentation so he could home in time to get Juhee to sleep for the night.
We can go on and on, but we'll save the others for when you see us in person. Feel free to share with us some of your blessings as well. We'd love to praise the Lord with you!
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Mutual Blessings
We look forward to being a mutual blessings with those we have an occasion to share our journey to Japan with. Through blessed friendships, we have the opportunity to share at Berryessa Valley Church in June, Contra Costa Gospel Church in July and hopefully be able to connect with several churches and student fellowships in Southern California toward the end of July / beginning August. This is our 3rd time planning a trip to the SoCal area. God closed the doors for us on previous attempts, but if it is God's will, Peter will be going to share with the folks down there. We're also praying about visiting Dallas for approximately 3 weeks from Aug 16th, our first big trip as a family of four.
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Blessed by our Partners
We have been extremely blessed to have 310 prayer partners commit to praying for us regularly. God has also brought alongside us many financial partners through whom 75% of our needed Monthly Financial Support has been pledged!
We thank God for bringing you into our lives, and partnering with us in sharing the Good News of the Risen Son in the land of the Rising Sun. We wouldn't be able to fulfill God's calling without you!
We are still seeking 55 prayer partners, and if 35 families were to pledge an average of $50 per month, we would achieve 100% of our needed Monthly Financial Support. Thank you for prayerfully considering partnering with us.
If you would like to partner with us in prayer or finances, please email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com.
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Target Departure Date
Our new target departure date is now October 2010 . Our Team Leaders, the Murrays, are currently in the US on their first furlough, busily reporting back to their supporting churches, supporters and friends in 3 States. They'll be arriving back in Hiroshima on Sept 1st and once they've settled back in, they will be helping us to find an apartment, a car, buy furniture, etc, but most importantly to resubmit our "Certificate of Eligibility" application forms and supporting documents so that we can obtain our Religious Visas. Our departure will depend on when we receive these two documents(?) and the rest of our monthly support coming in.
Like the birth of Sungjae, our anticipated "due date"s came and went but we're still in the US. Like Sungjae, we know it's just a matter of time, but we don't know exactly when that time will be / when we'll arrive in Japan. All we can do is eagerly await God's timing on our delivery to Japan. :)
