April 2016 Newsletter

Here's a link to our latest newsletter, our first since arriving in Fukuoka a few weeks ago and the Kumamoto earthquakes last week. I read the newsletter after we sent it out (and of course, many times while we were writing it), and had to stop because there were so many little errors! Sorry... :(

Thank you for tracking with us and for your prayers. :)

March 2016 Newsletter

Here's the link to our latest newsletter, our last from Hiroshima... :'( Enjoy! And, as always, thank you for your love and prayers. :)

February Update

I don’t know if there’s a lot of love in the air, but there’s definitely more and more pollen in the air! We just learned about a phrase, roughly translated as “First of Spring”, which refers to the first strong winds of Spring. Indeed, I was afraid our laundry was going to be blown away! With the coming of Spring, comes strong winds, strong winds blow pollen everywhere, and thus starts our least favorite time of the year – hayfever season! :/

Influenza has once again been the cause of many classes in many schools being canceled again this year. At one of our friend’s schools, an amazing 14(!) out of 18 classes were cancelled! If more than 5 students in a class of about 30 are absent due to influenza, school policy all throughout Japan states that the class be cancelled for 5 days. Juhee finally brought home a letter saying that one class has been affected at her school. Sungjae and Juhee have the sniffles. Please pray that we’ll be able to remain flu-free!

Upside to living somewhere where it snows is that it's exciting for the kids! Downside to living somewhere where it snows where there's no central heating and no ohndol (heated floors, Korean style) is that it gets really cold inside the house and you have to share the small space in front of the heater with the rest of the family, even if you don't want to! 

It’s been a very busy month and we’re so grateful that God has kept us all healthy during all of the transitions and busyness thus far. I thank God for keeping the snow at bay until right about the time the novelty of being back had worn off and then bringing snow to bring excitement into our kids’ days. It’s been a pretty stressful month for Peter and I as we’ve gone through another big learning curve applying for new phone contracts, Japanese health insurance, Japanese national pension scheme, go house hunting, get quotes from moving companies, discuss through a million (OK, maybe not that many) difference moving scenarios as the cost of moving differs so much depending on the date, learn about school transfer procedures, apply for daycare in a different city with different procedures, send things by same day delivery for the first time, wire money to a company account for the first time (and make a special card for future such transactions), try to live without wi-fi at home, and try to get settled into a routine again. I’m very happy to report that Peter and I have just been trying to deal with things one at a time and have been pretty good at dividing-and-conquering. With so many things taking so much longer than we anticipated and usually requiring the help of our guarantor or a friend, it’s been great that we’ve been unified (most of the time hehehe).

We’re so grateful that we got the house we applied for in January, and that God allowed us just enough time to make the deadline for Sungjae’s daycare application. We can’t do it without an address, so getting the house confirmed was the first big step! At the end of February, we will find out whether or not our application to Sungjae’s daycare was successful. Entry into daycare is pretty competitive, so please keep this in your prayers! We wrote down three daycare centers on the application form to the ward office, but our number one choice is a 3-minute walk from our house and is fairly new, with very nice facilities. We will have to go down again sometime before our actual move too to attend the daycare’s “Explanation Day” and complete some paperwork there (can’t be mailed, must be done there in person).

Sungjae enjoyed going around to look at the houses and giving his opinion. He liked the third and final house the best, as did we. Having his tablet with us really helped as the process was long, inside and outside the shop. There were lots of figures to go through and of course, lots of paperwork. Our guarantor, Pastor Miyauchi, had to come sign some paperwork too. We were grateful we were able to stay with missionary friends in Fukuoka - and for the waffle breakfast they made us too. What a treat! I had to take a picture of this sign at a service station bathroom. It reads: Please do not have a water soap stand seat. I had to look at the pictures to figure out what they meant. They're asking consumers to not take the soap dispensers. 

Once we had an address, I was also able to finally return the school transfer notification to Juhee’s current school and call Juhee’s Fukuoka school to let them know that Juhee will be attending their school from April. At the end of March, we need to call to schedule an appointment for us to go greet some of the staff, see the school, and do some paperwork. Juhee’s prayers for no uniform have been answered – hurrah! She doesn’t know yet that her walk to school will be much longer than her current walk.

Peter will be going down to Fukuoka on his own in mid-February to get the keys (the house owner is giving us a month’s free rent because he wants us to move in as soon as possible), and to receive the boxes from the US.

We’ll be going to a wedding this month and Juhee's just been asked to be a flower girl! It’s strange when we think about the fact that we missed weddings of friends in the U.S. being here, and then of course, there were no weddings in the U.S. while we were there but we missed two here. Peter could have gone to one earlier this month too, but he chose to stay home and bless the moms that we'd invited over by giving us some time to talk quietly without the kids. :) We’re so glad that we can be part of such a joyous occasion in the lives of friends here in Hiroshima.

I had lunch recently with my friend "I". It was so good to catch up! As always, we learned so much from each other during our time together and laughed so much too! I'm so grateful that God brought such an amazing friend into my life, so early on during our time here. A few days later, I sat next to her sister during Smile Club. Her sister's friend was sitting in front of me. Another friend who is usually with them, was absent that day because she'd recently given birth. The three friends have been attending events at Koyo Chapel and Smile Club at Asaminami Chapel for over a year now. All four of these ladies now know many of the ladies that were at the Annual New Year's Joint Women's Ministry Meeting the previous week. It's been so amazing to see one friend be the connection to more coming to church regularly. I pray that they continue to attend church events, get to know more of the Japanese Christians, start to ask more questions, and one day, come to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. I also praise God for allowing me to work with such a strong, dedicated, and faithful group of women during our time here. It's also been great for our kids to have other Christian kids their age to play with, even Jiyeon! So many amazing things to be grateful for. God is so good.

We are also continuing to invite friends to events at the churches we work with here. Please pray for one of my first-ever friends here in Hiroshima “I” who will be joining me at Kabe Chapel’s Women’s Ministry Event on the 19th. She’s probably been to the most number of church events with me during the past 5 years. In fact, she was the first one I ever invited to a church event, about 6 months after we arrived here. Her mom, who used to attend Sunday School at a church close by as a child, might also be attending. I would love for one of our mutual friends who is a member of Kabe Chapel, really take on inviting her to events. “I” is good friends with the pastor’s wife of Asaminami Chapel too. I invited “I” and her sister to Asaminami Chapel’s Friday morning Smile Club, and she’s been coming regularly with two of her friends. “I”’s sister actually lives close to Koyo Chapel and she and her friends have been attending their monthly outreaches regularly since we first went together for a Christmas outreach too! It would be so amazing if “I”, her sister, her sister's friends, and her mom all came to faith. Please pray for more boldness on my part and for the hearts of these three ladies to be softened and inquisitive.

It’s been good to hear that a few families have continued attending Asaminami Bilingual Chapel during our absence too. Please continue to join us in prayer for these families, that all of the love, joy, laughter, meals, sermons, Bible studies, discussion times, everything that they’ve heard, seen, and experienced will one day point them to Christ.

Thank you for your prayers. :)

* Update 1: I had to pick up Juhee early from school today because she had a low-grade fever. We were both disappointed as it was her last Parent Participation Day at her school. Another class at her school has been canceled because they had 16 kids absent with the flu.
* Update 2: After many hours of research, three trips to the shop, and many hours with and without our guarantor at the shop, we have wifi at home! Yay! :)

2016년도 계획안

2016년도는 새로운 출발의 한 해가 됩니다. 2010년 11월 부터 살았던 히로시마의 생활이 정착 되어 삶도 사역도 안정되기 시작했을 무렵, 하나님께서 저희에게 2기는 새로운 사역지로 향하라는 마음을 주셨습니다. 이제 2016년도에는 곧 후쿠오카로 향하게 됩니다. 

1월~2월은 미국에서 7개월간의 안식년을 마치고 일본생활에 다시 적응하며 후쿠오카로 이사 갈 준비도 하고, 무엇 보다도 히로시마에서 함께 사역한 많은 분들, 교인들, 그리고 하나님께서 만나게 해주신 좋은 친구들과 작별 인사를 나누며 그들과의 인연과 그 동안의 시간을 허락해 주신 하나님께 감사를 드리는 시간이 될 것 같습니다. 

3월에는 2015-16년도 학년의 마무리에 맞춰 이사하게됩니다. 미국에서 가족과 친구들에게 작별인사를 한지 얼마 안된 아이들이 다시 한번 모든 친구들에게 작별 인사를 해야하는 아픔과 아무도 모르는 새로운 곳으로 가는 불안함 보다, 새로운 곳으로 가는 모험심과 하나님의 뜻을 따르는데서 오는 기쁨이 더 크도록 기도 부탁드립니다. 

4월은 정착하는데 바쁜 한달이 될 것 같습니다. 우리 가정 모두가 서로에게 스트레스 해소하지 않도록, 지혜롭게 일처리 잘 하고 서로를 이해하고 위로하며 도울 수 있도록, 그리고 새 교회의 분위기에 잘 적응하고 교인들과 함께 그리스도 안에서의 한 가정이 되어, 한 마음으로 지역사회를 전도하는데 힘쓸 수 있도록 기도 부탁드립니다. 

4월~7월까지는 후쿠오카 복음자유교회의 미야우치 목사님, 그리고 라이트하우스 교회의 호리에 목사님과 박종성 선교사님과 여러 차례 만나면서 미래의 계획들을 세우게 될 것 같습니다. 장단기 계획들을 하나님의 뜻을 잘 분별하며 세울 수 있도록 기도 부탁드립니다. 

7월 중순~8월 말까지는 미국에서 손님도 올 것 같고 아이들과 함께 후쿠오카를 더 잘 알게 되는 기회가 되지 않을까 싶습니다. 가능하면 지역 아이들을 위한 전도행사도 방학 기간 동안하게 될 것 같습니다. 

9월 부터는 몇 가지 사역들이 정식적으로 시작하지 않을까 싶습니다. 후쿠오카 복음자유교회에서의 몇몇 영어 수업들과 라이트하우스 교회에서의 영어회화 시간이 시작 될 것 같습니다. 

10월~11월은 추수감사절 행사를 위한 준비, 추수감사절 행사, 크리스마스 행사를 위한 준비, 단기선교팀 (미국 달라스에서) 준비등으로 바쁠 것 같습니다. 

12월에는 미국에서 첫 단기선교팀이 오게 될 것 같습니다. 많은 크리스마스 행사들을 통해서 예수님이 모든 사람들의 구세주로 이 땅에 오셨다는 것을 알고 믿게 되는 사람들이 하나둘씩 늘도록, 목사님들과 교인들에게도 기쁨의 시간이 되도록 기도 부탁드립니다. 저희 가족이 후쿠오카에서 보내는 첫 크리스마스와 설, 외롭지 않고 하나님께 후쿠오카에 보내주신 것을 감사해하며 보낼 수 있는 명절이 될 수 있도록 기도 부탁드립니다. 

늘 기도로 함께해 주심에 감사를 드립니다. 
피터, 제니 오 드림

January 2016 Newsletter

I think this is our first ever newsletter written pretty much exclusively by Peter with me just making minor edits. He made it happen! I have a major deadline tomorrow, so the newsletter probably would have had to wait till next week, but it's done and out. Next time we send you a newsletter, we might be in Fukuoka!

Let us know if you didn't get it. Here's a link, just in case.

Thank you for journeying with us! :)

2016년 1월 소식지

안녕하세요!

정말 오래만에, 10개월반만에ㅜㅜ 한글 소식지를 배포했습니다. 오래 걸려 정말 죄송합니다. 혹시 받지 못하신 분들을 여기를 클릭하시면 보실 수 있습니다.

오늘 저희 지연이가 10개월 되었습니다.. ^^;

늘 기도해주심에 감사드립니다. 꾸벅~^^

January Focus - full version

Happy New Year! We’ve been back in Hiroshima for over a week now and things are finally starting to get settled. Not everything has been put back in its rightful place yet, but we’re getting there (and baby’s napping so I finally get to spend some time in front of my laptop). Yay! 

We praise God for a wonderful 7 months in America. It was great to meet up with old friends and make so many new ones. God knew exactly what we needed and He provided friendships, fellowship, and community through you. He also provided our material needs through you, too. I talked about the $18,000 miracle during our Commissioning Service at LSCC. Hopefully I’ll get to share with all of you someday too. A blog post has been in drafts for the past few months… ^^; 

It was wonderful getting to spend time with family, especially with Peter’s parents, as it’d been four and a half long years since we’d been able to spend time with them. Our kids miss them already! I miss my mother-in-law’s cooking. She cooked so much for us while we were there. So so grateful for amazing in-laws.  I really miss them too. :’( 

I miss not having to cook everyday thanks to food from my in-laws, leftovers, and being treated out by so many of you! I really miss having a dishwasher even though I didn’t use it very often. I really really miss having a dryer!!! But I am very grateful for the mild winter weather that we were greeted with in Seoul for our layover and when we arrived in Japan. Travel and adjusting back would have been much harder and unpleasant if it had been cold and snowy! 

All 3 kids did better than expected in the long haul flight over to ICN. We were so blessed! Your prayers were definitely answered. Sungjae asked me to move my feet and then fell asleep on the floor of my dad's car! After a quick overnight stay at my parent's we were back at the airport, waiting for our flight to Fukuoka.

After a short, but fairly turbulent flight (an absolute MIRACLE that neither Juhee nor I got sick!), we landed in Fukuoka and were met by Steve and Emma who helped us get all of our luggage to the Yamato office where we were able to send most of our bags directly to our home in Hiroshima. They dropped us off at the main Fukuoka train station where we took the bullet train to Hiroshima Station. We then took the local train to our local station where our guarantor picked us up and drove us home. We left SFO morning of the 3rd, arrived in ICN evening of the 4th, arrived at FUK afternoon of the 5th, and finally got home around 8pm that evening. Sungjae's journal entry for that day reads, "I rode an airplane and a bullet train. I rode a train and 3 cars. We came home." :)

We also praise God for an uneventful trip back to Hiroshima. Jiyeon did great eating and playing in her bassinet, which really helped. For the first time EVER, despite so much back-to-back travel, Juhee didn’t throw up AT ALL! She got a little queasy once or twice, but otherwise she was fine. Praise God!!! We didn’t lose Sungjae at any of the airports or train stations so praise God for that too! :) 

Thursday: Juhee's first day back at school. We arrived back Tuesday night, we rested Wednesday, and the kids went to school / daycare on Thursday. I had to pack her lunch for Juhee for just Thursday and Friday. Her new shoes bought in America aren't really ideal for having to change in and out of multiple times a day. We'll see how long she continues wearing them to school! It's causing quite a stir 'cause it's so unique :)

We praise God for so many friends that received us so joyfully when we returned to Hiroshima. One friend even changed our car battery for us so we were able to use our car right away when we got back. Our kids were invited to a takoyaki party at a neighborhood kid’s house the first day we got back. It really helped them to adjust back, not just in terms of remembering the good friends that they have here, but also in terms of jetlag too ‘cause they stayed awake later than they would have if they’d been at home. Our kids still mention their friends in the U.S. and say that they want to go back soon (especially Sungjae, Juhee’s more matter-of-fact about it). 

Friday: School for Juhee, daycare for Sungjae, and Smile Club at Asaminami Chapel for me and Jiyeon. It was good to be back after about 10 months. My friend also joined me for the first time in a long time. We went for our usual udon together and had a good chat catching up.

Sunday: Silliness at home before going to church, playing with Pastor Yamada's daughter after service. Juhee stayed to play with her for the rest of the afternoon. She'll be sleeping over at her for two nights while the rest of the family goes to Fukuoka. They're both really looking forward to it! :)

Monday: the friend that invited our kids over the day after we arrived (Wednesday), came over to our house to play. They just ring the doorbell and walk right in to each other's homes. Our kids go over or he comes over 2-4 days a week. His mom and younger brother have joined us for a worship service at Kabe Chapel too! On this particular evening, the friend's new DS was the main attraction. They were laughing so much (and continuously changing locations)! :D

We’re thankful that we were able to enroll into the Japanese national insurance program and pension scheme. We have two big lump sums going out because we have to back pay two years’ worth for both, but we’ll be saving thousands going forward. We’ll have access to very good health coverage for a very reasonable price now and not have to pay 100% cash every time we go for anything health related. 

There’s so much more that we praise God for but these are some of the main ones, I think. 

Before I run out of time, here are some prayer requests for this month… 

Please pray for continued good adjustment for Juhee and Sungjae. Juhee’s doing pretty well and is working hard on filling in the gaps from when she was away. Sungjae’s Japanese is coming back slowly but surely. He’s having a little bit of a hard time adjusting back to the more rough-housing type play culture here, so pray for physical and emotional protection. They’re also getting used to always having to turn on the heater if they’re the first ones entering a room, always closing the door behind them, brushing their teeth in the kitchen, turning off the heater when we’re done using a room, and making sure Jiyeon doesn't touch the gas heater. Upon return, we realized that our house is not very baby proof! Jiyeon’s having a great time playing with the magnets on the fridge and reorganizing my kitchen drawers. Thankfully, she hasn’t started pulling out all of Juhee and Sungjae’s books from the bookshelf yet… :/ 

This coming Sunday is the annual New Year Joint Service for all four chapels of Hiroshima EV Free Church. Please pray for a good time of reconnecting with the members that we've grown to know I think they’re going to welcome us back and make some sort of formal announcement about our move during the service. It’s already been announced in the bulletin. It’s going to be nice to see everyone again! Morning of the 22nd is the annual New Year Joint Women’s Ministry Service. It’ll be nice to spend some time with just the ladies again. It’ll be really sad too, knowing that it’ll be last one. It was during one of these gatherings a few years ago, that it really hit me – Hiroshima EV Free Church is doing really well; it’s time for us to explore other places where God might want us to be… 

Please pray for our upcoming move! We’re going house hunting to Fukuoka next weekend, from the 22nd-24th. The weather is starting to get really cold, and it’s actually supposed to snow 2-3 days next week in Fukuoka (warmer in Hiroshima, no snow expected). So please pray for health, safe travel, and that we’ll be able to find the right place for the right price in the right location on the 23rd. Juhee will be sleeping over at a friend’s house that weekend so we won’t have to worry about her getting queasy, especially when doing lots of driving locally (constant stop-starts are hard). Hopefully we’ll be able to have a good connection with Pastor Miyauchi of Fukuoka EV Free Church while we’re down there too. We’ll be joining them for Sunday service and then driving back up to Hiroshima after lunch. 

The next few months are going to be pretty hectic with lots of “last”s. Please pray that we’ll be stay healthy in all areas and really be able to take good care of our kids, and meet their emotional and spiritual needs as well as their physical.  

Christmases

It's been fun exposing our kids to American Christmas-y things (like Santa photo boots) and doing fun American Christmas-y things together (a Gingerbread Village, Gingerbread Houses, and Gingerbread Train too!). It's also been nice not having to stress about having so many events to plan, take part in, and invite people to, bake up a storm, try to do something for Juhee's birthday, and try to get Christmas presents ready for our kids too. 

Milk carton & graham cracker gingerbread house + ice cream cone Christmas tree Sungjae made at school (I had fun helping!), another gingerbread house and gingerbread train sets with cousins, gingerbread village with Liz, enjoying the gingerbread village with cousin JJ

You know... I only realized while preparing our Christmas and New Year greeting e-card, that even though we've only been on the field for 4 and a half years, it's been 6 years since we celebrated Christmas and New Year's together with our family in the U.S., since we left right before the holiday season in 2010.

And then I went back a bit further down memory lane and remembered that the two previous Christmases, we'd just returned from traveling to Korea to fundraise in 2009, and to Korea and Japan on our vision trip in 2008. We were jetlagged and missed almost all of the parties and holiday season food!

Lunch + baking and decorating Christmas cookies with my side of the family. One thing grandmas love to do: feed their grandchildren! :)

In 2007, we almost spent Christmas Day in the hospital. I gave birth to Juhee at 11:38pm on December 22nd and was discharged on the 24th - phew! Our first Christmas as a married couple also became our first Christmas as a family of three. :)

In 2006, our first Christmas together as a couple, I think I was sick with a bad cold and fever in between two youth retreats. Ha! In mid-December, Peter picked me up from the airport (having arrived from the U.K.), drove me straight to a youth teacher's appreciation dinner where I was kind of unofficially introduced, and a couple of weeks later, I found myself being the only female counselor at a youth leader's retreat! We were home for Christmas and then at another youth retreat with over 100 kids (I think it was actually close to 200...?) at another retreat site. We went back home and a few days later on New Year's Eve, after the New Year's Eve service, Peter officially proposed.

And now, we're a family of five. :)

Looking forward to many more Christmases together!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We've just sent out our Christmas and New Year e-card. Click here if you didn't get it in your inbox.

Our kids will be awake in a few hours and I'm sure they're not going to let me sleep in. I'm off to bed! Good night and Merry Christmas! :)

Fall 2015 Newsletter

We just sent out our latest newsletter. It's the first one in probably more than five years that has no (new) pictures in it. We're just super crunched for time right now - so much to do, so little time! Maybe we'll do a picture slideshow for our Christmas card this year ^^;

For those of you that didn't get it in your inbox, here's a link.