8-10월호 소식지

한글 뉴스레터 8-10월호입니다. 늘 함께해 주시고 기도해주심에 감사드립니다! ^^

Sept-Oct Newsletter

Our latest newsletter is out! Here's a snapshot view... Let us know if you didn't get it. :)

A day in the life of...

Today was a pretty special day so I probably shouldn't write a "A day in the life of..." blog posting about a day like today. But as it was a special day, it's one I want to remember and share...

After Juhee did her daily Kumon homework, the kids ate breakfast (they finished their rice and sausage and then shared a slice of PB&J too!), changed, I did Juhee's hair, and they usually get to watch a bit of Japanese NHK kids' tv in the morning, but they rushed out the door today with no TV. I hung the laundry out, etc bit of housework and rushed to get ready as I had to pick up a friend before heading to flower arrangement class at the kids' school by 10:30. Today we made a "bouquet"... I didn't think bouquets went in vases..?

The flower arrangement class at the kids' school, called "Mary Poppins" (no clue why), serves multiple purposes for me. One is that I've always been the flower arranger in our family growing up and have always wanted to learn proper flower arrangement so this class fulfills a longtime wish. Yay! :) I'm not a naturally creative person, but I like learning new things, and enjoy a challenge, so I'm always excited before a class. Another important reason is that I get to spend time with other moms. There are 7 classes per year, each from 10:30-noon and at the beginning of this academic year, I had to really pray about whether to take part in it this year or not due to other responsibilities. But the time I get to spend chatting with other moms in a somewhat relaxed and slow paced environment and the relationships I am able to build, is so worth it, so valuable. Another important reason for me is that it brings flowers into our home and I love that. :)

After Mary Poppins, my friend and I dropped off our flower arrangements at her house and then went to eat lunch together at a restaurant nearby. It wasn't really a restaurant though. It was more like a coffee shop that served lunch too. I've never been to a restaurant that only had ONE MEAL OPTION, have you? Well, here it is, lunch (or "lan-chi" as they call it) is served...

It was all delicious and actually somewhat genius. Everything could be prepared in advance in large quantities. The only thing that needed to be cooked before serving was the deep-fried stuff. They had many pages of desserts and breakfast specials in their menu, and they're apparently known for their waffles of which they had a few different kinds too. I'd never had miso soup with eggplant (yay! something new for me to try at home!) or deep fried fish cake with okra inside. It was my first time having a traditional Japanese meal with no tea too. They served cold water with the meal and then for my after-meal drink I was served orange juice (other options were coffee and Black Tea). The view from the restaurant was beautiful as it's on a hill overseeing much of Hiroshima below and a view of the mountains on the other side. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies, so a perfect day to enjoy a view. :)

My friend and I talked about a few things including her friends that I had just met and how they'd both tried saying "I love you" to their children, one of her friend's increasing interest in Christianity, about parenting and children, about husbands, how the definition of "healthy food" differs for Japanese and most of the rest of the world (e.g. deep-fried tofu donut is considered "healthy" in Japan because it's made of tofu, whereas most of the world would consider it unhealthy because it's deep-fried), etc. It was nice to be able to sit and enjoy a meal with a friend in a place with a nice view. It reminded me of the last meal I enjoyed with a nice view about two years ago somewhere near San Francisco (Saulsalito?). :)

Unfortunately, I only had 50 minutes for lunch as I was scheduled to do my monthly "English Time" at two of Juhee's preschool classes that afternoon. I'd visited two classes last week and today's were my other two, one of them being Juhee's. We counted together from 1-10, then 10-0, then I read them the book "My Happy Pumpkin" (an awesome Christian alternative to the usual Halloween book!) which Jeeyun sent us a few weeks ago. I then told them a bit about Halloween in America, that the way kids celebrate it, especially Christian kids, is different to what's seen in the media. Kids dress up as cute things/people/animals, not just scary things when they dress up for Halloween / Harvest Festivals / etc at school and/or church. It's about having fun with neighbors and friends. I then taught them "Smile~ I love you~" and had them pick a treat out of a pumpkin hat. We had tons of sweets left from various packages sent to us from the US. I needed just over 100 and we had just enough! Praise God! :)

Most kids can't remember the whole phrase, so after lining up, I say "smile" to the kid in front of me, s/he repeats "smile" then I say "I love you" and then ditto. Kid puts hand in pumpkin hat, picks one out and then it's the next kid's turn. At my last class, I had two things happen that hadn't happened in any of the other classes. I said "smile" to the boy in front of me and he didn't say anything, just gave me a big grin. I said "smile" again and same thing. I said "smile" one more time and then it clicked: he was doing "smile" instead of saying "smile"! =D So then I said "I love you", he repeated, and he got his treat. Phew! =D The other thing that happened was that one girl said the whole thing but then didn't want to put her hand in the hat to pick out candy. She actually looked a bit scared. So I picked one for her and gave it to her. The kids were all crowded around me so I took the opportunity to get a group photo with some of them holding up their treats and me holding "My Happy Pumpkin".

They were SO happy to receive their treats. They're so cute. :) There were a few pieces of candy left and so I gave them to the teachers of the classes I go too and they said, "Smile~ I love you~" to me too! Over the past week, I've had more than 100 people tell me that they love me (albeit for the wrong reason =D).

My English thing is always at the end of the day so Juhee and I went to pick up my flower arrangement. We ended up eating snacks and chatting there till it was time to pick up Sungjae. Juhee had fun jumping on their mini trampoline too. :) We picked up Sungjae, went home, I put the bags away, got the laundry from outside, had the kids play outside for a bit, talked with our neighbor and gave her some kimchi, borrowed a vase from her, made dinner, ate dinner, cleaned up dinner, said bye-bye to Peter who went to Wednesday night Prayer Meeting, got Juhee's bag ready for her sweet potato digging field trip tomorrow, read the kids a couple of books, put them to bed, set the laundry on timer (so it runs when electricity is cheapest) and was doing some admin and facebook when I decided to write about today... And it's taken wa~~~y longer than I thought it would.

I'm too detail orientated. :/

Tomorrow is going to be a completely different day. ^^; But know that about two days per month, I have days like today's (minus the fancy lunch =DDD). Also know that through the relationships that are deepened during times like these, and even just the mere opportunity to meet more moms, allows me to invite them to outreach events held at the churches. And because they've come to know me, they come if they can.

Pray for the Thanksgiving Party invitations I handed out today to some of my closer friends at Mary Poppins. Pray that they'll be excited about the opportunity to eat turkey for the first time ever in their lives and come, even if just for that! Pray that they'll have fun and feel loved during their time with us.

Thank you God for flower arrangement classes at the kids' school and thank you God for new friends! :)

Politics...

If I was smart, I probably wouldn't be posting this...  But obviously, I'm not.  I know I'm putting my neck out a bit by writing about Korean-Japanese politics right now, but I feel like it's something worth putting me neck out for.  Besides, this blog doesn't have a very large readership. :P

I know that as Christians, our identities are supposed to be beyond national borders, anything to do with this earth even, as our home is not here on earth and we are all one family.

But.  I'm human.  And it is true, that I use my nationality to my advantage.  Even my future nationality.  Let me explain: I'm Korean by citizenship, Korean-German-British-American-and-becoming-a-little-bit-Japanese in mindset, and will probably have American citizenship in the future.  I am introduced as an American when I'm an English teacher, and introduced as a Korean when I'm leading Korean events.  Both have benefits.  Being Korean has also had huge benefits with the popularity of Korean pop culture in Japan.

I haven't told many people about this...  But a few weeks after we moved to Japan, we were driving from our team leaders' house to ours and I saw a Japanese flag for the first time since moving here.  My immediate reaction was fear and a combination of other not-so-good emotions.  I've always had lots of Japanese friends, had an interest in the language and culture, but the flag has always symbolized imperialism, ruthlessness, Japanese supremacism, and blood.  For me, it's not a good red/blood like the red cross symbol or the blood of Christ, it symbolizes the blood of millions and millions of innocent lives lost because of the Japanese.  The fear and pain I felt when I saw that flag that cold, winter day, alarmed me as it awakened emotions that I weren't aware of.  I had been focusing on the Japanese people as individuals and as a nation with a very low percentage of Christians that God was calling me to go love.  The little Japanese flag on the brochures that we'd handed out hundred of copies to while preparing to come here hadn't had any effect on me, but seeing a big one waving in the winter breeze was different...  It really brought home to me the fact that we were in Japan.

Most days, I'm able to just live as a foreigner...  Now and again, due to political issues, I find it challenging to live here as a Korean, quietly.  During the past couple of months, it's been like that more frequently due to the Dokdo islets issue. :(

Here are some links from The Japan Times.  I read the Japan Times first because I feel it's important to see what and how writers in Japan are reporting things.  If I have time, I read Korean newspapers (in English) and/or other Japanese newspapers (in English) too.  Usually, I don't have time. :/

Here's a Q&A, and one article stating towards the end that the reason for the Dokdo islet row is due to the Shimane Prefectural Assembly approving an ordinance last March designation Feb. 22nd as "Takeshima Day" (Takeshima is Japan's name for Dokdo) and another article stating that it's due to the Japanese government allowing Japanese Jr. High textbooks to state that they're Japan's.  Either way, the row was provoked by Japan.  This one actually pretty much squarely put the blame on PM Noda.  I actually felt really bad for our President reading this one.  I feel bad that he has to deal with people like Noda.

Here are two regarding the effects of this row vs. tourism and the K-pop culture boom.

I don't know many Korean politicians, but I've come to respect our Foreign Minister, Kim Sung Hwan.  He has a difficult job during a difficult time and he seems to be choosing his words with care and with dignity.  Here's one titled, "South Korea tells Japan to confront its history" and another one titled "S. Korea raises issue of wartime sexual slavery at U.N. assembly".  I really appreciated the points he made in the first one in particular.

I couldn't find any articles on this in Japanese newspapers, but the day after President Lee's visit to Dokdo, a man on a motorcycle threw a brick through the door of the Korean Consulate in downtown Hiroshima.  It lead to heightened security of all Korean Embassy/Consulates throughout Japan.

Many articles theorize as to why President Lee stirred up this issue but I think they're wrong on two things: 1. President Lee isn't the one who stirred up this issue, 2. they should be asking why PM Noda is stirring up this issue, especially when he has so many problems on the home front...  But maybe that's exactly it...

After all that Japan put Korea through and not having apologized for it (unlike Germany) let alone provide compensation, how can they even think to put us through more?  I just don't understand...  Do they not have a conscious?  Have they not learned from history?

I wish I could be "neutral".  I wish politics didn't evoke such emotions within me.  I am grateful that politics hasn't blinded my friends or our kids' teachers and that they remain to be good friends to us.  I am so humbled by my imperfections and pray that God will really teach me to be able to focus on those things that are eternal.

My heart cries for the people of my country that have suffered so much.  My heart also cries for the people of the country that God has called me to, as they continue to learn from textbooks that hide the truth and have leaders that continue to provoke unhealthy (as opposed to healthy) nationalistic, imperialistic sentiments.

One Korean I recently spoke to, who has been doing missions in Japan for decades, told me that a Japanese pastor's wife that she has known for decades, called her and asked why a Christian Korean President visited Dokdo (accusingly).  The Korean apologized to her and sent her a big shipment of Korean seaweed...

Pray for the hundreds of Korean missionaries in Japan who may be faced with similar questions from Japanese pastors, wives, and congregation members.  Pray for their children, that they are not bullied and feel insecure.  Pray that the Koreans, Korean-Japanese, half Korean half Japanese living in Japan will be able to look upon Jesus for peace and comfort, and continue to look to His word for wisdom in dealing with situations that may arise.  For the children that may be dealing with identity issues, pray that God will send someone to help them with their internal struggles.  Pray that this political row doesn't have detrimental effects in the efforts of long-term and short-term missionaries here.  Pray that we'll really be able to LOVE wholeheartedly.  Pray for the politicians, that they will be able to find a peaceful solution to this row.  Pray for all of the upheaval around the world.  There's so much instability everywhere right now...

Politics.

No politics in Heaven. :)

Lunch is Served: Jjajang Sauce on Rice

At our home church in Milpitas, CA, lunch is served every Sunday for a fee of $2 to any of the 2,000+ members that come through the doors each week. The fee actually goes to support missions (not sure if it still does..?) and isn't to cover costs. Sunday School classes take turns serving in the kitchen and dining area to prepare, serve lunch, and clean up.

As for our churches here in Hiroshima, Koyo Chapel is the biggest and serves lunch for $3-$5 once every few months. They used to eat lunch together more frequently when they first started out, but they say it's too difficult now because of its size. Lunch is made in the church kitchen by a few of the ladies and most people usually eat downstairs. Once or twice a year, they host a big lunch including members of Kabe Chapel (and now Asaminami Chapel too) and people eat upstairs and downstairs.

At Kabe Chapel, every 2nd and 3rd Sundays are lunch Sundays. Lunch is made in the church kitchen and served after service. They clear out the folding chairs in the main chapel, bring out the table tennis tables, cover them with tablecloth, and pull up chairs. Transformation complete.

At Asaminami Chapel, things are still changing, but for the most part during the past six months, every Sunday except for the first has been a lunch Sunday. I think the third Sunday has been the once-a-month obento Sunday when most people eat obentos ordered by the church. Some bring their own homemade ones. On the other Sundays, members have been taking turns preparing lunch for everyone, about 25 people including kids.

So far, our Pioneers Hiroshima Team has served lunch twice. Here are some pics from our latest:

Jess chopped a~ll of the onions + more veg. She's our onion queen. Scott chopped lots of veg and chicken too.

Peter was on kids duty. It really helped that the kids weren't in the house while there was so much chopping and boiling going on! Peter actually ended up making a friend at the park that he took the kids to too. :)

Jess with some of the Asaminami Chapel members.

 The picture that Peter was taking in the photo above.

The final product: jjajang sauce over rice (짜장밥 or 자장밥 as they say now... so awkward...:/) with sliced cucumbers on top, kimchi, and pickled radish. The jjajang sauce and kimchi were brought over from the U.S. (thank you Jess and Jess's mom!!!).  

All of the kimchi was eaten but we had tons of pickled radish left over. We made the same sauce a few months ago and it was much better the first time around. Wasn't so good this time... :( But it was still nice to be able to serve the church in this way, especially as Scott was here to help out this time too. It was a super busy Saturday - Koyo Chapel Kids' English Club in the morning, quick lunch at home and nap kids, Scott & Jess arrive to help prep jjajang sauce, etc for lunch the next day, eat dinner together, clean up, kids and I stay home and prepare for bedtime while the rest go to Asaminami Chapel for our first ever English Cafe. It was crazy, but we did it! :)

I can't think of any other Korean dishes that are simple like this. Usually the church meals tend to be rice with some sort of curry or sauce or a few toppings on top. Maybe we'll do something American next time..? Any suggestions?

"Like A Child"

"Like A Child" was the title of Peter's first sermon at Asaminami Chapel on Sunday, September 16th.  Pastor Yamada was away volunteering with a group from our churches up in the Triple Disaster area, so Peter took his place on the pulpit.  Peter's referred to as "Oh-sensei" here by the church members and interpreting for him that day was "Oh-san".  Oh-san himself says that he's never met another Japanese person by the name Oh.  That's his full first name.  So that Sunday, "Oh-sensei" and "Oh-san" together delivered the message to the members gathered there that morning...

The two Oh's. :) The slide on the right reads "Message「Like A Child」Luke 18:15-17 Peter Oh Missionary"

Peter started out by saying おはよございます (ohayogozaimasu) and Oh-san said "Good morning" in English.  Everyone laughed. =D  It set a good tone for the rest of his message.  He pointed out that Asaminami Chapel is blessed with many kids.  And indeed we are!  You might think that it's a natural thing to have kids at church, but it's actually fairly unusual for a church in Japan.  Approximately 1/3 of churches in Japan have no Sunday School / kids' programs because they have no kids.  The average age of Christians in Japan is 60-70...

Top left: Moms and kids just so happened to all sit together in that one section on that Sunday. There's a mom in each row + a kid to the left of each mom + the three kids toward the bottom right, our J & SJ and a girl named Noah. Top right: J quietly practicing her numbers while daddy preaches. Bottom row: SJ and his partner in crime - they stuck all of the stickers onto their little fingers and then onto the back of the chair - and then back onto the sticker sheet it came from!  Kept them quiet for a long time... :)

During Sunday services, J sits in the main chapel with Peter and quietly (most of the time -_-) does a variety of activities such as fold origami, draw, color, practice numbers / letters, etc.  Kids are encouraged to stay in the main chapel from when they're 4 years old.  N's older sister is the same age as J, and N's parents are usually tag-teaming during service too, trying to keep them both quiet.  For the first time on this Sunday, SJ and his friend N stayed in the main chapel the whole time...  Which means that it was the first time that the moms and dads got to stay in the chapel the whole time too!  N stayed with me almost the whole time.  She really likes me. :)  The mom was really happy that she got to stay in and that N was being taken care of.

Left: For a church that started less than 6 months ago, it's amazing that almost all of our seats are already full.  God has sent many to this baby church and we are so grateful for what He is doing here!  Top right: As part of his sermon, Peter prepared the old time hymn "Jesus loves me" in English and Japanese.  It was supposed to be on a powerpoint slide but it ended up being too complicated -_- so he made print outs for everyone to sing along to.  Bottom right: N really likes Peter too.  After Peter's sermon, N went to Peter to present him with some pens... :)

I really enjoyed Peter's sermon.  I thought he did a great job in analyzing what it means to be like a child and used illustrations that everyone there could identify with of being child-like.  Having faith like a child...  Completely trusting, crying out without pride, without doubt...  He also illustrated the heart of a parent in a way that we could all relate to easily too - and I'm sure it wasn't just because he was using things that our kids do as examples! =D

Humility and trust.  Knowing that He's there and wants only the best for me...  Because He loves us.  He loves me.  And I want to be able to humbly receive that love with joy, just like a child accepts the words "I love you" without trying to second guess the reason behind the statement. ;)

It was so wonderful to be able to sit in on a full service.  It was even more wonderful that I could understand a sermon!!!  The last few times Peter preached I wasn't able to attend due to one reason or another so this was the first time in a while that I'd heard him preach and heard a sermon in English while at a church in Japan.  It was awesome!!! :)

Lord, help me to be humble and grateful in receiving your love, which you pour out to me in such great measures.  Help me to cling onto you with unwavering faith and trust, for I know that you only want the very best for me, the daughter whom you love and chose to be yours.  Thank you for the word that you gave to Peter and for providing someone who could interpret for him.  Thank you for loving us first.  In your son's name I pray, Amen.

Juhee's Painting

I receive letters from Juhee and Sungjae's school often.  Now as we're in our second year, I'm usually able to decipher them enough to figure out the information that I need.  When I feel that it's something important, but can't understand enough, I ask the first person available. :)  On this particular day, it was Juhee's teacher and I'm so thankful that it was!  She explained that the letter was about an art exhibition of preschool kids' artwork in the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum downtown.  As she was telling me, she remembered that Juhee's was one of them!  Yay!!! :)

The following week, we received this postcard that was a special invite to the parents of the kids whose artwork was being exhibited...

55th Annual Exhibition of Preschool Kids' Artwork from Hiroshima Prefecture, Sept. 4-9th 2012, 9am-5pm, etc.

We got there, and there it was!  Her painting was titled "くだものいっぱい" (Lots of Fruit): a bunch of grapes, a slice of watermelon, a (long) strawberry, a peach, an apple, and a few bananas.

Of course we had to take a family picture in front of it, and thankfully, there was another family there from Juhee's preschool that I know from the flower arrangement class that I attend who offered to take the picture for us.  Yay! :)

Juhee's painting was one of many.  It was awesome to see hers there among the best chosen from many classes in many preschools in Hiroshima prefecture.  We were so proud!  Juhee was super happy too. :)

Juhee had fun looking at the other artwork too.  Sungjae had fun running around, trying to "swing" the chains the painting were hanging on and trying to play with the clay models. -__-  Daddy tried his best to get a good close-up of Juhee's painting.  It was hard 'cause of the glare and 'cause it was high up but he got this one...  Yay!

There was another exhibition going on in the area next door and Juhee and I went together to take a look (Peter and Sungjae had already disappeared by this point).  I walked around slowly, Juhee's pace was a little quicker. ;)  

After disappearing for a little bit, she ran back to me, excitedly grabbed my hand and told me that she found her "favorite".  It wasn't too much of a surprise that her favorite painting was that of a ballerina. :) She posed too, just like the ballerina, for one final picture before leaving the museum...

Good job my little Juhee!!! We're so proud of you! :) 

Jul-Aug Newsletter

Here's a preview of our latest newsletter. This is the resend version, WITH pictures. :)

5-7월 한글 소식지

여기 약간의 preview만... ^^

Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

"Out of Sight, Out of Mind", is something we never want to be.  Thanks to modern technology, I don't think that it happens as much with missionaries these days as it used to.  Although maybe back in the days when missionaries packed their possessions into a coffin when moving to the land that God was calling them to, the churches, friends, and family, prayed for them more fervently as the dangers were more real and constantly present, and each (news)letter / update was more treasured as it was much more precious.  I can't imagine what it must have been like to have been a missionary back then...  Can you???

I read this article title "What I want for all missionaries" and found myself relating to a lot of it.  Some of it is sad, but true.  And I admit that when we first came to Japan, it hurt a little bit that we seemed to have been forgotten by many.  But then reality hit: we're out of sight, out of mind, and people are just busy.  It's not they they've stopped caring.  They still do.  Well, I think so anyway. :)  Besides, most churches don't have missions committees that send care packages / cards / presents to their missionaries or have a main contact person who gets in touch with their missionaries now and again.  I am grateful for technology that allows us to keep in touch with friends and family back home so easily: email, Skype, Facebook, FaceTime, iMessage...  I am grateful for those with a passion for missions overseas and the care of missionaries.  When we receive a reply to one of our newsletters, an email or card letting us know that someone has been praying for us, a comment on our Facebook wall, a care package, they touch our hearts and fill our hearts with joy.  They even give us energy and courage, too. :)

(Sungjae standing on the sofa (right before he was kindly :) asked to sit down) in our living room. Our curtain is decorated (mostly) with cards from loved ones back home. <3)

Here are a few more about life as a missionary.  One on the pressures of writing newsletters, presenting/doing reports, one fun one about a cute guy in jeans =D and a funny one on language learning.

Life as a missionary may be many things, but it's definitely not boring!

Thank you for keeping us in your hearts, minds, and prayers, even though we're usually out of sight.  We really do appreciate every contact you make with us and look forward to being able to see you again face-to-face (and maybe get a hug too!). :)