We've been asked many questions this past year about our Journey to Japan so we created a list of the most frequently asked questions. Enjoy!
Q: Where are you going?
Q: Why are you going?
Q: When are you going?
Q: Who will you be working with?
Q: How long will you be in Japan?
Q: What is a Departure Fund?
Q: What is Monthly Support?
Q: How much do you need for your Departure fund? for your Monthly fund?
Q: Why are the amounts so high?
Q: What is the thermometer, and how do I read it?
Q: What will you be doing when you get there?
Q: Who is Pioneers?
Q: Why are you going through Pioneers?
Q: Why do you need prayer support?
Q: Why do you need financial support?
Q: How are you raising your prayer and financial support?
Q: Why aren't you joining a missions organization such as the International Mission Board (IMB), who would provide 100% of your financial support?
Q: Who is your sending church, and how are they supporting you?
Q: Who are your current financial supporters?
Q: How can I become a prayer partner?
Q: How can I become a financial partner?
Q: What's involved in hosting a Small Group Gathering and how do I arrange a date & time for it?
Q: I want to attend a Small Group Gathering to hear more about how God's been leading the Ohs to Hiroshima, Japan. How can I find out if there’s one in my area?
Q: How do I sign up for your monthly e-newsletters?
Q: I want to become one of your 365 dedicated prayer supporters. How do I become one?
Q: I want to organize a fundraiser for Japan missions. How do I go about doing this?
Q: Can I donate by credit card?
Q: Is there a matching gift program?
Q: Is the matching gift fund only for the Departure Fund, or does it apply to monthly?
Q: Why are checks made out to Pioneers and not Peter and Jenny Oh?
Q: Can I donate starting from when you depart for Japan?
Q: What happens to all of the donations you receive if, for whatever reason, the Ohs end up not going?
Q: Are all donations tax deductible?
Q: I give monthly but don't want to receive statements monthly. Is this possible?
Q: How can I contact you with questions?
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Q: Where are you going?A: Hiroshima, Japan. Our targeted focus is the prefecture of Hiroshima. Fewer than 0.4% (less than ½ of 1%) of the Japanese people claim a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In Hiroshima, there are about 10 Bible believing, evangelical churches (average attendance 24 people) to reach 2.8 million people.
Q: Why are you going? A: Our vision is to experience a wide-spread working of the Holy Spirit in the Hiroshima Prefecture, with many coming to know Christ, growing strong in their faith, and sharing the gospel of Christ with their friends and family. Our vision is to strategically plant flourishing churches in Hiroshima as the Holy Spirit generates a church planting movement.
Q: When are you going?A: Our desire is to be in Japan by Spring of 2010, but our departure ultimately depends on God’s timing, demonstrated through providing 100% of our Departure Fund and 90% of our Monthly Support. These support levels must be reached before our missions agency,
Pioneers International, will authorize us to depart for Japan.
Q: Who will you be working with?A: We will be working with the Murrays of
Pioneers and two local churches (Pastor Haitaka of Koyo Chapel and Pastor Kitano of Kabe Chapel). Find out more about the emerging Hiroshima team on our website:
Pioneers Hiroshima.
Q: How long will you be in Japan? A: We plan on living in Japan for more than 20 years. We will return to the United States and Korea every so often, maybe for a few months once every two to four years to visit family and friends, and reconnect with as many of our partners as we can.
Q: What is a Departure Fund?A: The Departure Fund is the amount of funds
Pioneers International requires us to raise in order to establish a new home and prepare for ministry in Hiroshima, Japan. It covers our language training/school fees for 2 years, as well as one-way airplane tickets, rent deposit, home set-up fees (furniture, bedding, cabinets, white electrical goods, etc), shipping, and a 10% U.S. administration service fee (to
Pioneers), amongst other items. We will not be approved to depart for Japan until 100% of our Departure Fund is raised.
Q: What is Monthly Support?A: The Monthly Support is the amount of funds
Pioneers requires us to raise monthly to sustain our living and ministry costs while we are ministering to those in Hiroshima, Japan. Our Monthly Support covers our ministry expenses on top of our living expenses, which includes salary, rent, utilities, education, insurance and taxes. Monthly Support can be given monthly, quarterly, or annually. We will not be approved to depart for Japan until 90% of our Monthly Support is raised.
Q: How much do you need for your Departure fund? for your Monthly fund?A: For our Departure fund, we need one-time donations of $42,749 and for our Monthly fund, we need $7,162 on an ongoing monthly basis.
Q: Why are the amounts so high?A: The amounts are high because the cost of living in Japan is one of the highest in the world, and the amounts reflect the costs for living and ministry for a family of four… yes, four. We have budgeted accordingly in anticipation of a new member to our family.
Q: What is the thermometer, and how do I read it?A: The thermometers are a way for us to visually inform you of the progress we’re making in our fundraising. The approximate total figures are at the top of the thermometers to the right of the “100%”. The red portion shows how close we are to reaching our goal. The more red there is, the closer we are to reaching our goal! The current percentage is always shown to the right of the thermometer.
Q: What will you be doing when you get there?A: For the first couple of years, we will be focusing 70% of our time and energy studying the Japanese language and culture. The other 30% will be building relationships and supporting ministries related to planting churches in Japan in partnership with two local churches.
Q: Who is Pioneers?A:
Pioneers International is the mission agency we will be partnering with in Japan. They will provide us administrative help and accountability. Pioneers’ mission is to mobilize teams to glorify God among unreached peoples by initiating church-planting movements in partnership with local churches. Find out more about Pioneers International at
www.pioneers.org.
Q: Why are you going through Pioneers?A: We are going through
Pioneers because through our research of Pioneers and after having interacted with many Pioneers’ leaders, staff and missionaries, we felt that their mission, goals and methods really resonated with us. We did explore other missions agencies, but ultimately, God confirmed to us the team, the agency, and the location. You can find out more about their Mission Statement and Core Values at
www.pioneers.org.
Q: Why do you need prayer support?A: We need prayer support because we are headed into a country where there is great spiritual warfare, and our enemy will do whatever it takes for us to be distracted from doing what we need to do for His kingdom work. We need people alongside us praying for us so that we can withstand the flaming darts of the evil one, be fully clothed with the armor of God, and focus on His kingdom work. We need an army behind us in the spiritual battle because we can not do this alone.
Q: Why do you need financial support?A: We need financial support because we need financial resources to pay for ministry and living expenses. We intend to spend our time and energy in ministry performing tasks that will help in meeting the spiritual needs of those in Japan. We are possibly thinking of starting a pre-school and teaching English classes, which would generate income, but plan to use 100% of those proceeds to continue running the business and bless the community through scholarships.
Q: How are you raising your prayer and financial support?A: We are raising our prayer and financial supporters by sharing how God is taking us on this journey to Japan and the great need for more missionaries in Japan to small group gatherings, churches and various fellowships. During our time of sharing we invite the attendees to join us as prayer and/or financial partners, and explain how they can do so. We also invite people to be our prayer and/or financial partner through our brochure, monthly e-newsletters and blog.
Q: Why aren't you joining a missions organization such as the International Mission Board (IMB), who would provide 100% of your financial support?A: We have looked into various missions organizations including the IMB, and have found that Pioneers International most closely aligns with our philosophy of ministry and the vision God has given us for Japan.
Q: Who is your sending church, and how are they supporting you?A:
New Vision Church is our sending church, and they are supporting us in prayer and $500 monthly support.
Q: Who are your current prayer and financial supporters?A: At this time,
New Vision Church,
Santa Clara Valley Japanese Christian Church, and 34 individuals/families have committed to support us in prayer and finances on a monthly basis. We also have numerous people who have contributed to our Departure Fund and over 165 families and individuals committing to be our prayer partners.
Q: How can I become a prayer partner?A: You can email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com and let us know you’d like to be our prayer partner. You can also sign up at one of our Small Group Gatherings.
Q: How can I become a financial partner?A: Please check out the
Partnering With Us post of our
blog, or email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com.
Q: What's involved in hosting a Small Group Gathering and how do I arrange a date & time for it? A: Hosting a Small Group Gathering includes inviting a few friends over for some light refreshments or a meal. Let us know if you'd like to host a small group gathering, and we'll coordinate a day and time with you that works best for you, your friends and us too.
Q: I want to attend a Small Group Gathering to hear more about how God's been leading the Ohs to Hiroshima, Japan. How can I find out if there’s one in my area?A: Simply email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com.
Q: How do I sign up for your monthly e-newsletters?A: You can email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com, and let us know you'd like to receive our monthly e-newsletters. You can also sign up through our blog at
http://risingsoninjapan.blogspot.com.
Q: I want to become one of your 365 dedicated prayer supporters. How do I become one?A: Simply email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com, and let us know you’d like to partner with us in prayer. If there is a specific day you’d like to commit to prayer, please let us know that too.
Q: I want to organize a fundraiser for Japan missions. How do I go about doing this? A: We welcome any creative means for raising funds toward the work in Japan. Please contact us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com so we can help you brainstorm and coordinate the fundraiser.
Q: Can I donate by credit card?A: Yes. You can give by credit card online at the
Pioneers website. This is the most convenient method of giving other than setting up an Electronic Fund Transfer, and many people prefer this method. However, please note that 3% of the amount you give will go to the credit card company as a service fee.
Q: Is there a matching gift program? A: Through two very generous families, there were two matching gift programs, one for the month of April and the other in May 2009. We do not currently have a matching gift program.
Q: Is the matching gift fund only for the Departure Fund, or does it apply to monthly?A: The matching funds were only for the Departure Fund.
Q: Why are checks made out to Pioneers and not Peter and Jenny Oh?A: All checks are made out to
Pioneers because they are the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and Peter and Jenny Oh are employees of
Pioneers.
Q: Can I donate starting from when you depart for Japan? A: Yes. You can state on the Financial Partnership Form "from Departure" but please don't wait till we depart to send in your form. In this way, we will be able to account for your pledge in order to reach the 90% Monthly Support we need in order to receive authorization from
Pioneers to go to Japan.
Q: What happens to all of the donations you receive if, for whatever reason, the Ohs end up not going?A: In the unlikely event that Peter and Jenny do not end up going to Japan as missionaries, all donations will go toward Kingdom work through our missions agency
Pioneers.
Q: Are all donations tax deductible?A: All donations given to
Pioneers and
New Vision Church are tax deductible.
Q: I give monthly but don't want to receive statements monthly. Is this possible?A: Yes. Please email finance@orlandoteam.com requesting an Year End Statement only and they will adjust your account for you. They will then provide you with only an annual statement.
Q: How can I contact you with questions? A: You can email us at peterandjennyoh@gmail.com.
