Sunday, April 20, 2014

2013년 사역 보고서

한국에 있는 저희 협력교회 중 하나를 위해 2013년말에 준비한 사역 보고서입니다. 쓰다 보니 2013년에는 거의 매달 새로운 경험, 사역을 시작했더군요. 왠지 엄청 바쁘고 정신 없는 한해였습니다. ^^; 작년에 한글 소식지는 초기에 한번만 보내드리고 블로그도 늘 영어로 업데이트 했는데 이번에는 한글로... ^^ 아래글은 업데이트된 버젼입니다. 

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2013년 한 해도 주님의 은혜 가운데 새로운 사역들을 시작하고 많은 친구들이 교회행사들에 참석하는 한 해였습니다. 

2012년 12월 중순쯤에 가족이 다 같이 한국으로 갔습니다. 온 가족이 함께 간 것은 3년만에 처음이었습니다. 주희의 5번째 생일을 외할머니, 외할아버지, 그리고 제니 사모의 친척들과 함께 보내고, 크리스마스, 설도 오래만에 한국에서 보냈습니다. 

2013년 1월에는 제니 사모가 친정어머니께서 졸업하신 합동신학대학원의 동계강좌에 참석해, 고린도전서 강해를 들었습니다. 선교단체에서 지정한 성경공부 과목 중 하나이기 때문에 아주 좋은 기회였습니다.  그리고 수요예배, 그리고 어느 주일에는 교회를 3군데를 다니며 선교보고도 틈틈히 하러 다녔습니다. 이번에 처음으로 대전에 있는 교회에서 오선교사가 설교를 하고 대전에 있는 극동방송에서 인터뷰도 하게 되었습니다. 일본 동북지역에서 사역을 하고 계신 일본인 목사님 두 분께서 후원금 모금차 오셔서 서울 극동방송, 기독교 신문사들, CGNTV등을 연락해서 인터뷰를 계획하게 되었습니다. 주희는 매일 동네에 있는 영어유치원을 한달간 재미있게 다니며 한국말이 많이 늘었습니다. 성제는 모든 사람들에게 주로 일본말로 이야기했습니다.

2월에는 파이오니어즈 선교단체에서 2년에 한번 아시아 전지역 선교사들을 위한 retreat에 참석했습니다. 2년전 retreat는 참석을 안했는데 이번에는 참석을 하게 되었습니다. 서울을 떠난 날 부터 태국에서의 첫주는 주희와 성제가 아프고 두번째 주는 오선교사가 아팠지만, 그 가운데서도 쉼을 얻을 수 있었습니다. 히로시마를 갑자기 떠나 태국으로 발령 받게된 친한 선교사 가정과 함께 좋은 시간도 가졌습니다. 서울로 돌아가 며칠 후 히로시마로 돌아와 2개월 동안 비워뒀던 집을 다시 정리하고 다시 정상적인 일상생활을 시작했습니다. 어느새 히로시마에 있는 오래되고 허름한 집이 "우리 집"이 되었다는 것, 그리고 동네 분들, 유치원 친구들, 교인들이 보고 싶었다는 것을 새삼 느끼며 하나님께 감사를 드렸습니다.

3월에 제니 사모가 그 동안 코요 채플과 카베 채플에서 한달에 한번씩 가르쳤던 Kids’ English Club을 마치고 7월 부터 코요 채플, 카베 채플, 그리고 (2012년에 개척된) 아사미나미 채플에서 Kids Brown을 매주 가르치게 되었습니다. 선교단체 팀원이 코요 채플과 카베 채플의 수업들을 맡게 되었고 제니 사모가 아사미나미 채플에서의 2개의 수업을 맡게 되었습니다. 주님의 은혜로 저희가 기도했던 2배 이상인 50명의 아이들로 프로그램을 시작하게 되었고 그 아이들 중 반 이상이 딸 주희의 (미신자 가정)친구들이었습니다. 광고지를 보고 온 엄마들과 아이들도 있어, 교회와 전혀 상관이 없던 아이들도 교회에 매주 오게 된 것을 감사하게 생각합니다. 이 아이들이 7월에 있었던 아사미나미 채플의 아이스크림 전도행사에도, 12월에 있었던 아사미나미 채플의 아이들 크리스마스 파티 전도행사에도 참석했고, Kids Brown의 크리스마스 발표회를 통해 아이들과 엄마들이 크리스마스의 참 의미를 깨닫게 되는 의미 있는 시간을 가졌습니다.

4월에는 아이들이 새 학년을 시작하게 되었고 하나님께서 너무나도 좋은 거처를 마련해 주셔서 더 저렴하면서도, 더 좋고, 더 크고, 아이들 유치원에서 더 가까운 곳으로 갑작스럽게 이사하게 되었습니다. 마침 동생의 남편이 일주일간 히로시마에 단기선교차 와있어서 이사하는데 큰 도움이 되었습니다. 이 집을 통해서 아이들이 친구들과 더 자주 놀 수 있게 되었고 그 친구들의 부모님들과 더 많은 교제의 시간을 가질 수 있게 된 것을 하나님께 감사드립니다. 

5월 부터는 아사미나미 채플에서 제니 사모가 한달에 한번씩 0-3세 유아들을 위한 영어를 가르치기 시작했습니다. Smile Club이라는 이름으로 시작된 이 프로그램은 한달에 2번 있는 모임이고 현지 교인들이 인도하고 계획하는 모임에 제니 사모가 한달에 한번 영어를 20분간 가르칩니다. 제니 사모가 영어를 가르치는 날들에 엄마들과 아이들이 더 많이 모여 교회 측에서도, 저희 측에서도, 영어의 끌림을 다시 한번 깨달았고 영어를 가르칠 수 있도록 예비해 주신 하나님께 감사를 드렸습니다. 성제가 만3살이 되었습니다. 

6월에는 제니 사모가 코요 채플에서 인도한 Korean Fair을 통하여 친구들을 여선교회 전도행사에 초대하고 또 많은 교인들이 특별한 행사에 친구들을 초대할 수 있는 기회가 되었습니다. 주님의 은혜로 한글, 한복, 태극기, 한국 문화등을 잘 소개하고 그리고 부족한 아내로써의 간증도 일어로 나누었습니다. 오선교사가 그 동안 머레이 선교사님을 대신하여 가르쳤던 Ladies' English Classes의 마지막 수업으로 저희 집에서 두 반이 함께 점심식사를 했습니다.

7월과 8월은 단기선교팀들로 바빴습니다. 한국과 미국에서 3개의 팀이 와서 다양한 사역들을 잘 감당하고 갔습니다. 단기선교팀들이 오지 않았으면 못 했을 일들, 계획하지 않았을 일들을 통해 더 많은 사람들을 교회의 여러 가지 전도행사들에 초대할 수 있었습니다. 단기선교팀원들의 간증과 찬양, 연극등을 통해 행사에 참석한 아이들과 부모들은 물론, 교인들도 은혜와 격려를 받는 시간이 되었습니다. 2014년 여름에는 단기선교팀들을 모시지 않게 될 것 같습니다. 저희가 협력하고 있는 일본교회들이 아직 단기선교팀들과 함께 동역할 준비가 되어 있지 않은 것 같습니다. 7월에는 1년반 동안 자리를 갑자기 비우게 되었던 저희 팀리더이신 머레이 선교사님 가정이 히로시마로 돌아왔고 8월에는 제니 사모의 친할아버지께서 갑자기 돌아가셔서 다시 한국에 잠깐 들어가게 되었습니다.

9월에는 피터 선교사가 홍콩에서 열린 전아시아 복음자유교회(Evangelical Free Church福音自由教会) 모임에서 파이오니아즈 히로시마팀과 히로시마 복음자유교회의 협력에 관한 내용으로 많은 목사님들과 선교사님들 앞에서 발표했습니다. 우연히 대학생활때 옛 친구도 그 conference에서 만나게 되었고 홍콩에서 선교사로 오래동안 섬긴 신학대학원 친구도 만났습니다.

10월에는 코요채플의 운동회 & 바베큐, 카베채플의 가족 캠프, 아사미나미 채플의 첫 야외예배 & 바베큐에 참석해 현지 교인들과 재미있는 교제의 시간을 통해 관계가 더 깊어지는 기회를 갖게 되었습니다. 10월말에는 파이오니어즈 선교단체와 또 하나의 선교단체가 합하여 일본에서 섬기고 있는 두 선교단체 선교사들이 모여 retreat를 가졌습니다. 베테랑 선교사님들, guest speaker로 오신 부부, 오래만에 본 동역자 선교사님들과 함께 많은 것을 듣고 배우고, 함께 기도하고 찬양하고 웃으며, 저희도, 저희 아이들도 몸과 마음이 쉼을 얻는 2박3일이 되었습니다.

11월에 영일 2개국어 예배가 시작되었습니다. 매주 토요일 오후 4시에 예배를 드리고 장소는 아사미나미 채플이지만, 이 모임을 또 하나의 개척교회로 여겨 "아사미나미 바이린구아르 채플"(Asaminami Bilingual Chapel 또는 간단하게ABC)로 이름을 지었습니다. 피터 선교사는 ABC에서 매주 찬양인도를 하고 있으며 선교단체 팀리더이신 머레이 선교사님께서 계시지 않으실때는 설교를 맡게 됩니다. 부목사 역할로 보시면 될 것 같습니다. 설교는 영어로 하며 일어로 통역됩니다. 일본인 중 영어에 관심이 있거나 해외에서 살아본 경험이 있는 자, 외국인들을 위해 세워진 교회입니다. 해외에서 주님을 영접하고 일본으로 돌아온 일본인의 80% 정도가 돌아온 후 일본교회에 적응을 못하고 함께 교제할 크리스챤들을 찾지 못해 헤매다 결국은 신앙을 포기하게 된다는 통계도 있습니다. 주희의 발레 친구들과 가정들을 초대해 저희 집에서 식사를 함께하게 되었습니다. 엄마들은 매주 만나지만 아빠들이 한자리에 모인 것은 처음이라 처음에는 좀 서먹서먹 했지만 아이들이 신나게 놀아 분위기가 곧 풀렸습니다. 피터 선교사가 아빠들과 함께 여러 가지 이야기를 나눌 수 있는 좋은 기회였고 식사전에 식기도를 함으로써 신앙도 조금 더 나눌 수 있는 좋은 기회였습니다. 11월과 12월 사이에 약 15개의 크리스마스 행사들이 있었습니다. 코요 채플, 카베 채플, 아사미나미 채플, 아사미나미 바이린구아르 채플, 4개의 교회의 크리스마스 행사들을 계획하거나 참석했습니다. 주님의 은혜로 많은 일본인들이 크리스마스의 참 의미를 처음 깨닫게 되는 시기가 되었습니다. 저희 미신자 친구들도 여러 가지 행사에 참석했고 "고요한 밤 거룩한 밤"등을 부르며 멜로디는 알았는데 가사는 몰랐고 참 의미는 생각해 본적 없었다는 친구도 있었고 Kids Brown영어 수업의 크리스마스 발표회때 제가 크리스마스의 참 의미, 크리스마스 트리에 있는 별, candy cane등, 그리고 가장 큰 선물을 예수님이었다는 것 등을 설명했을 때 애들은 물론 많은 엄마들도 이 나이가 되도록 크리스마스의 참 의미를 몰랐다는 엄마들이 있었습니다.

12월에는 5인 가족이 단기선교를 와서 가장 바빴던 한주 동안 많은 도움이 되었습니다. 주희가 생일파티를 기대하고 있었지만 크리스마스 며칠전이 생일이어서 교회 행사들로 스케쥴이 꽉차 파티를 해주지 못했습니다. 하지만 주희 생일날에 주희의 발레 친구들과의 파티가 계획 되어져 있었는데 그 날이 주희의 생일이라는 것을 알게 되고 케잌을 준비해 크리스마스 파티겸 주희 생일파티가 되어 주희가 친구들에게 생일 축하를 받게 되었습니다. 그리고 저녁 먹기 전에 주최한 가정에서 제니 사모에게 식기도를 부탁해서 미신자들의 모임에서, 미신자의 집에서 예수님의 이름으로 기도하고 식사를 하는 작은 기적이 이루어졌습니다.

Friday, April 4, 2014

April Focus - extended version

Happy new academic & fiscal year. :)

April is the month of new beginnings - flowers blooming, new schools, new jobs, new friends, new homes... We have a few beginnings of our own too this month! Pray for the many people in Japan who are transitioning from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from their safety zones to new territory.

Peter's private tutoring classes - His student has a busy schedule this month so can only make one lesson, but we're grateful for every one! Pray that they continue to have a great time chatting in English. His last email to Peter ended with "I am looking forward to your lesson and happy time." :)

Peter's Friday Japanese lessons - He'll be resuming classes next week after Spring Break. Pray for the relationships that he's developing there too. Last month, a few days after class, his teacher called him to give us a discount coupon to a cave that he'd mentioned during class that we might visit during our Vision Trip. She drove to our area to give it to him. During their next class sometime this month, Peter can thank her and show her pictures that we took in the cave. Maybe through the pictures of the shrine and alters inside the cave, some spiritual conversation might be able to take place. Pray for Peter to be open to the HS's leading and that more opportunities will arise.

Kids Brown - Our new class started last week!  It was a great beginning and the kids are excited about coming back.  I'll be supporting her again this week and then she'll be running the classes on her own.  Praise God for an additional teacher and eager-to-learn kids & parents!

Smile Club - The first class of this new academic year will be on Friday, April 18th. I've been asked to teach English as the attendance is always higher when I teach and they want a strong start to the new year. Pray that we will have a strong start, and that mommies & babies will continue to come. At one of the last gatherings, one of my friends who lives 40-50 minutes away, told Pastor Yamada at the end that she really appreciates the talk bit at the end that Pastor Yamada leads and that it makes it worth the drive for her. Hurrah!

Kids - Juhee will be having her elementary school entrance ceremony on the 9th. I still have a lot to prepare before she starts! I think she's excited but also a bit nervous too. Pray that we'll be able to prepare her well and that I'll be able to have everything ready by Wednesday too. Sungjae's loving being a "big kid" and can't wait to turn 4 just like most of his friends!

Vision Trip - We had a GREAT time during our Vision Trip. It was wonderful to visit with friends, get to know them better, and pick their brains too, as many of them have been missionaries in Japan for at least 10-20 years longer than us. We were treated to picnics on beautiful Spring days and meals on China plates with placemats too! It was great for us to be able to go and see the places of ministry that we've been invited to and to meet the pastors/missionaries there. We still have a lot of processing and praying to do. Please pray with us!!!

Pray that we'll be able to get our English e-newsletter out soon and a Korean one too... We still haven't got one out... :(

As always, thank you for your prayers and for your love. :)


Monday, March 17, 2014

Japanese-y Things

We still have so much to learn about living in Japan, Japanese customs and traditions, where religious boundaries and cultural boundaries lie / are blurred, how to responds to various things, how to live life here... Here are a few stories about Japanese-y things that have challenged us in many different ways...

A few months after we first arrived, I was at a community center playtime with the kids and learned a song about throwing beans at demons. I thought it was just a weird song. I soon found out that this is part of a MAJOR Japanese tradition. A "demon" even comes to our kids' Christian preschool every year and gets beans thrown at it (poor volunteer dad!). At the end of winter, people "cleanse" their homes by throwing beans while saying "Demons out! Luck in!" There are LOTS of different kinds of beans available. I posted something on facebook about the whole demon and bean thing and a new local believer wrote that she's sad that she can't eat the beans anymore because she's Christian now and they're so delicious. Well, I didn't know what to say! I didn't know enough about the cultural and religious significance of the beans, what exactly they do with the beans, etc to be able to answer her clearly. Many months later, I had the opportunity to ask a bilingual Japanese pastor who had spent some time in America about this and his reply was, "Well, let me ask you this. Do American Christians eat Halloween candy?" All of the American missionaries sitting in the room smiled. As did I. :)

As you can imagine, there's a lot of "Engrish" around. I usually just smile and don't usually take photos, but I did of this one. The spelling errors on this sign "Fride steamed Bum in custard" though actually stopped me from taking one. It wasn't until I got home that I read the Japanese above and realized it's something that I actually really like! One of those rare occasions where I would have been better off ignoring the English!



Did you know that Hiroshima is famous in Japan for its oysters? I had no idea that oysters could be served in so many different ways... The middle one in the last picture is fresh oyster with Japanese-style kimchi on top. We don't eat out very often and the type of restaurants we go to don't tend to offer fresh oysters, but it's a fun treat when we get the opportunity!

This is a story from almost almost a year back now... Before we were given our second car, I had to take a taxi a couple of times because Peter needed the car. I knew it'd be expensive, but I just remember being so completely shocked the first time I rode in one - the 10 minute drive from the kids' preschool to our home cost more than I care to remember. :/ After one particular playdate with other moms from Juhee's preschool class at the mall, I had to go home because I had to teach later that afternoon, but the mom who had offered to give me and Juhee a ride back home on her way home was nowhere to be seen. I tried calling her, but no answer. I tried calling Peter probably about 10 times to see if he could come pick us up as he was back home, but no answer. So I decided to get a cab. It was a white one, very much like the one in the picture. The cab driver started speaking a mixture of Japanese and English to us when he realized that Juhee and I were speaking in English. Two parts of our conversation are still vivid in my mind. As usual, when someone asks about why we're here, I mention about us being Christian missionaries. His reply was, "Oh! I'm Christian too. Do you know Jehovah's Witness? I'm Jehovah's Witness" Ummm... We talked about life in America and Japan and the taxi driver asked Juhee, "Which do you like better, America or Japan?" Juhee put her head to the side, thought for a minute, and then said, "America" The driver's response was "I hate you!" Wow. Seriously?!?!?! To a 5-year-old?! We were insulted AND had to pay way too much for the 10-15 minute ride home. I was not a happy bunny!!!

Strawberries, like most fruits in Japan, are fairly expensive. I don't tend to buy them in the Winter when they first come out but usually wait till March or so when they're cheaper. Now and again, if there's a packet of strawberries in the discounted area 'cause they're starting to go bad, I'll grab it. I wash them, cut off the tops (although now that the kids are older, sometime I leave them on) and the parts going bad, count them, and divide them evenly into four so the four of us get the same number. Japanese strawberries are similar to Korean ones - a brighter & lighter red and sweeter with no tartness. I don't know if they're still around, but if they are, I'm looking forward to buying one of those boxes with six quarts of strawberries for $10 from the guys who sell them on street corners when we get back! :)

We have cable. When our home was set-up for us, our home set-up team ordered cable for us as part of our internet package. We're so grateful for cable!!! Being able to watch familiar TV shows in English at night after the kids have gone to bed is a great way to detox from language and cultural stress. One evening during the Sochi Winter Olympics, I was watching Korean news on KBS World. Everything was normal until they got to the part where they were going to show footage from the Olympics. And then I got this! A notification saying that due to copyright laws, the footage cannot be shown on KBS World. :( The commentary continued but no footage... :'( We have this issue with some videos online too - praise songs, sermons, drama :) ... It's very sad when I get a message telling me that the online video cannot be viewed in my country of residence. :(

During a visit to Korea a couple of years ago, I was chatting with the taxi driver and I told him that we live in Japan and were just visiting. He then said, "I heard Japanese people brush their teeth in the kitchen / kitchen sink." "Uh..." "That's gross!" "Uh..." At that point, I didn't know anything about it and I didn't know that brushing teeth in the kitchen was something gross. Weird, yes, but not sure if it was gross. Well, fast forward a few months and we're sitting in the home of one of the Japanese pastors that we work with and are having a conversation about life in Japan. I'd just shared a testimony about how difficult our first couple of years were and they wanted to know more. As an example, I told them about how it was a challenge for us to brush the kids teeth and do bath time in the Winter because our sink & bath area (toilet's separate) were so cold and would take a while to heat up because our insulation was so poor. The pastor very matter-of-fact-ly said, "Why don't you brush your teeth in the kitchen? It's already warm." Well, we hadn't really thought of doing that... We didn't think it was something that people did... And then I remembered what the Korean taxi driver had said... So as of Winter of 2013, the Oh family brushes their teeth in the kitchen during the Winter too... Gross or not, it's the most practical solution and one that we're very happy with!

When we first went to visit our first house, there was a very powerful, distinct, not-so-pleasant smell. I asked what the smell was and I was told that it's the smell of new tatami mats. Thankfully it aired out pretty quickly. When we first came to our current house to view it, the tatami mats were used, but still in very good condition. When we moved in, we found out that the owners had replaced them with new ones - eek! For us, it meant more pressure to keep it "gently used". We don't really like tatami - it's hard to vacuum and sometimes little splinter like parts come off, so to kill two birds with one stone, we bought a carpet to cover our tatami. One of our close friends came to visit soon after we moved in and she told us that she did the same with her tatami. She lifted it up one day during rainy season and found mold covering the bottom of the carpet and tatami! So whenever we get the chance, we air out our tatami/carpet. We've had so many problems with mold on our futons, blankets, shoes, etc and clothes, towels, etc smelling like dirty rags in Hiroshima... We definitely try to be more proactive now - we found out the hard way!!!

On April 1st of this year, the Japanese government raised tax from 5% to 8%. Next April, it's rising to 10%. As you can imagine, there was a rush to buy big items (like cars!) before April 1st and I'm sure people will be buying more throughout this year before next April hits. On March 31st (Monday), we'd just come back from our one week Vision Trip and I needed to do some grocery shopping. I went to the discount grocery store that I usually go to and was met with a big surprise! There was hardly any parking and it was PACKED inside!!! All of their tills were open and they still had long lines. It was already close to dinner time, so I decided to just grab a few things. I chatted with the lady at the till and she said that it'd been crazy since the weekend, and not just that store but most stores around the country. Price tags are also different now. Japan used to have the same system as Europe (or at least the countries I've been to) and most of Asia (ditto) - what you see is what you pay. But now, it's changed so that it's like America - what you pay is what you see + tax, so the amount you pay at the register is always higher. It was hard for me to adjust to this when I moved to America. I always felt like I was being ripped off. I often felt like something that I thought was affordable, or at least OK for the price, was no longer so and ended up leaving the store wondering if I'd actually made a smart purchase. I'm sure it's going to take a while for people in Japan to get used to too. We're going to have sticker shock BIG time when we return to Japan in early 2016!



Wednesday, March 12, 2014

3rd Anniversary of 3.11

Yesterday was the third anniversary of 3.11.

First, let me share with you a few links...

This article called "Still hunting shadows" gives you insight into the efforts that are put into pacifying the spirits of the dead in a culture where spirits never find rest.  Here, they don't say, "Good-bye.  Rest in peace."  There are so many ceremonies / times of the year when spirits of the dead supposedly come back and need to be pacified again and again.  I know that being able to bury remains is important in any and every culture, and that a lot of closure comes from it too, but in Japan, it's a different level...  It's not so much about closure for the people who are remaining, but for the well-being of the spirit of the dead.  The author also writes this...

"Midorikawa believes that many Tohoku residents are currently in worse shape than they were in 2011. The number of volunteers has shrunk to a fraction of the number that used to travel to the region to help cleanup operations.

In 2011, residents were genuinely hopeful of a brighter future. The reality now, however, couldn’t be starker. Over the past three years, more people in Fukushima Prefecture have died as a result of stress-related illnesses as a consequence of the quake and tsunami than the number of people killed on March 11, 2011, a joint report released last month by the prefectural government and the local police showed."

With regards to the statement beginning "Over the past three years," I don't think it's accurate as the number of people killed on 3/11/2011 is over 15,000 and I don't think it's possible that over 15,000 people died in three years in just one Prefecture where most of the area is actually empty now.  This article, "Survivors still overwhelmed by 3/11 losses", mentions that approximately 3,000 have died since the tsunami due to stress-related illnesses and suicide in the Tohoku region, and I think this statistic is more credible.  I was shocked to read more in this article about the number of people suing the Japanese government.  This would have been pretty much unheard of pre-WWII.  From a nation that used to worship the Emperor as a god and had so much respect for its leaders/politicians...  Filing lawsuits is a big change...  And for a natural disaster nonetheless...

There are so many other titles, "Tohoku kids stressed, haunted by trauma", "Widower to tsunami dives on in hope", "Survivors cling to memories of lost and missing"...  And these are just some of the articles from Japan Times.

But let me turn the focus now from the immense grief, sorrow, and pain to one of hope...

We have friends in the Tohoku area, friends who have moved up to the Northeastern area of Japan after the Triple Disaster.  They uprooted themselves, took themselves out of their "comfort" zones, and started loving on the people there as best as they could.  They have my complete and total respect.

The largest group of volunteers that flooded the area after the Triple Disaster were Christians.  The only group of volunteers that continues to constantly send volunteers are Christians.  Most of the international organizations are now no longer there and most other religious organizations have stopped coming.  Well, at least regularly anyway.

As I already mentioned, we know amazing men and women of God who have moved up there.  Colby & Theresa are doing an amazing job working together with a Japanese pastor, working on the Ippo Ippo Project and their church plant.  Stephen worked with Samaritan's Purse for two years and is now Director of the Ishinomaki Christian Center, drawing Christian leaders and churches in the area together (cooperation and being unified is important!).  Dawn's Facebook posts never cease to amaze me as to how difficult living conditions are up there.  There are people like Sue who have started a business, helping women to make beautiful jewelry out of broken pieces of pottery (short youtube clip, long youtube clip, watch both if you can!).

These people left their homes in Japan to make a new home in an area that was full of heartache and devastation.  Can I just say...  There are two very important parts to that last sentence.  It takes a long time to make a "home" in a country where you don't speak the language and you don't know the culture.  It takes a lot of faith and guts to follow God when He calls you to leave that place where you're now finally feeling settled in and have friends, to go somewhere else, especially a disaster zone!  I can imagine how concerned their friends and family would have been when they found out...  And perhaps the missionaries that are there now, they themselves had fears too.  But they're up there and God is doing amazing things through them.  There is more work being done now there than ever before and people's hearts are being opened as they see the love of God through short-term volunteers and long-term missionaries.

Pray for the survivors in the Tohoku region of Japan.  Pray for the missionaries living there.  Pray that a revival will start there and spread throughout the country!

That would be amazing...  Absolutely amazing...!!!  Nothing is impossible with God!!! :)



Saturday, March 1, 2014

March Focus

In Japan, March is when many things end. It's the end of the fiscal year, end of the business calendar year, and of course, the end of the academic year.
This month, Juhee graduates from the preschool that she's been attending for the past 3 years. She leaves with lots of good and bad memories and is actually looking forward to not seeing her bully again for a long time. :/ Pray that she'll enjoy her last couple of weeks and that everything will go well on her graduation day. She's really looking forward to getting dressed up! :) Big day is Friday, March 21st.
After a break, Peter has begun meeting with his private English student again. Pray that their relationship will deepen during the next year and that Peter will always remain open to following the HS's guiding.
Due to popular demand, we have a new Kids Brown class starting up in April at Asaminami Chapel. Praise God for the provision of another teacher! We now have 3 classes and about 35 students total + more at Koyo and Kabe Chapel. I'll be training the new teacher in March so pray that she'll be able to prep well and feel confident before her classes begin.
During March, the Kids Brown teachers (me, Jess, and the new teacher), will be planning a special Easter class during April. Pray for us as we plan! Pray that the kids and moms will come to know the importance of Easter and spend some time thinking about the new information that they've been presented with...
The biggest thing happening in March as a family is probably our vision trip at the end of this month. We were going to try to make it a half vision trip, half vacation kind of thing, but it looks like it's going to be mostly vision trip. Hopefully we'll be able to have fun and be encouraged as we talk to different Japanese pastors and missionaries in Shimonoseki and Fukuoka + surrounding areas. Hopefully the kids will have fun while the adults talk?! Juhee and I don't travel well - car sickness - so we're trying to time long drives during possible nap times to try to minimize car sickness. We'll be driving a lot and staying at four different places so pray that we'll be able to not get too tired and stay healthy and vomit-free during our travels. In our minds, we are nowhere near qualified for some of the possible "jobs", but we've been asked to at least come and see so we are. The church members here in Hiroshima too, as more and more are finding out about the possibility of us not returning to Hiroshima, are asking that we please return. There's a LOT of work to be done in Japan and a HUGE need for more workers. Pray that the trip will really help us to discern God's will for us for when, God willing, we return to Japan in January/February of 2016. Pray for more workers too!
Peter continues to attend Japanese conversation classes at the local community center. Pray that he'll continue to make good connections there with the students and teachers and that his Japanese listening & speaking skills will continue to improve.
Pray for me as I continue to prepare for Juhee's entry into elementary school! Still lots and lots of prep to do... :/
And last, but definitely not least, March 31st is our 7th wedding anniversary. Yay! :) We praise God for the crazy 7 years that we've been married and all that He's held our hands through. Thank you, God! Thank you for an amazing hubby. I'm so glad he's my hubby. *^^*
Thank you so much for your constant prayers and encouragement. :)

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Quick prayer request...

Hey everyone!

Just writing up a quick prayer request post before I head out the door to teach my English classes. :)

Pray for health for our family - I've had a couple of days of not quite being sick but not really being not-sick either.  I had forgotten that days like those exist.  Today the fog's cleared (yay!) but Juhee was talking about not feeling so good this morning so pray for her.  She's had a runny nose (for like the 10th time this winter!) since last week so I'm debating on whether or not to take her to the doctor on Tuesday if she still has a runny nose.  Sungjae had a fever last Friday and had to be picked up early from daycare.  I was sad having to ask Peter to go pick him up while I went to teach English... :'( It was the first time I wasn't able to be there for my baby when he was sick. :(  Peter's had a cold since the weekend. :(  It hopefully peaked during the past couple of days and is now going into recovery mode.  I hope!!!  He's leading praise again tomorrow as usual but with a nasal-y voice and less practice...  He's just gone out to put a few hundred of our latest flyers in mailboxes 'cause he's feeling a bit better.  Hopefully he won't feel worse after!  

Hahaha...  Well, it's not very funny...  But I just realized that as I post this, most of you will be going to bed or are already in bed...

However!  I'm still going to ask for your prayer 'cause I know at least some people are still up and someone might see this blog post. :)

Pray for March too - LOTS of things happening in March!  Will update with March Focus hopefully soon.

And pray for those that are depressed.  Spring = more energy = more energy to attempt suicide.  It's a sad and horrific truth.  Blog posting coming soon about that too...

Thankful for your prayers :)

Monday, February 24, 2014

Spring Suicides SOS

Today, my friend from High School (Germany), texted me to tell me about how things have been going.  She sent it to my old-style not-smart cell phone and I started getting tired of constantly having to scroll down, so I forwarded it to my gmail - it was pretty long. In the text, she wrote about how difficult life has been.  She had an argument last night and she became so depressed, she decided that she would commit suicide the next day.  In her mind, it was the last straw and life was just too hard.  So she was going to commit suicide today but thankfully, decided not to - phew!  I think she'd gone a whole year without contemplating suicide which I think is a big achievement!

I was glad that she made an active decision not to, instead of today becoming another failed attempt - or worse.  She now wants to live so that her children won't be branded as "the kid who's mother committed suicide"...  I'm glad she now has something that is making her want to live.  But she's going through a tough time so I don't know if this will be enough motivation.  She said she just wants somebody to say "Good job!" and let her know that she is doing things right, doing things well, that someone does appreciate all of the mundane housework, etc that she's doing, that it's not all in vain...  And for someone to understand how hard it is for her to even get up in the morning because of her depression, let alone live the life of a "normal" housewife and mother of two young kids.

I've talked to her about God, Jesus, forgiveness, love, hope, have sent her a couple of things...  In her text, she wrote that she cannot pray because she does not believe in God.

My SOS to you is this.  Pray that she will open her heart to the Holy Spirit knocking.  Pray that she will be able to have the courage to go to a new place with new people and visit a church nearby 'cause it's something that's really hard for people with depression.  She doesn't drive so takes public transportation everywhere but has to swallow a few pills before she can do so 'cause of various anxieties and phobias.  Pray that other encouragers will come alongside her.  Pray for her marriage.  He's stressed and tired.  He's tired of caring for a wife with depression too.  He's a friend of mine too from the same HS.  Pray for the health of her children, especially her daughter as she's developed signs of psychological distress.  Her daughter's in the first grade, just one year older than our Juhee.

I always thought that more suicides happened in the winter.  I'd heard that depression is worse in the winter when it's darker for longer and it's cold.  I'd heard some statistic about the most suicides being committed on the day that the night is longest.  But recently, I heard from an expert on depression that spring is actually when the most suicides occur.  In Eastern Asian countries, for those that are not depressed, it's because of the pressure from entrance exams or "not good enough" results after.  Or not getting the "right" job and letting people down.  For those that are depressed, the winter months are usually really tough and they have very little energy.  In fact, for many of them, they actually have too little energy to attempt suicide.  In the spring, they have a bit more energy - which also means just enough energy to attempt suicide.  I was so shocked when I found out about this...

Here's a bit more info on suicides in and outside of Japan.  The links are from an old blog post that was started but never finished.  Suicide has become very real to me since I became reacquainted with my friend from HS several years ago through Facebook.  I was so sad to find out out that the bright, cheerful, outgoing girl I once knew had been suffering from depression after being bullied at college when she and her family returned to Japan.  Bullying...  At college...  Because she spoke English and had grown up abroad...  When she first told me, my response was, "Bullying at college?" "Jenny, this is Japan.  Bullying happens everywhere and anywhere, regardless of age."  I guess that's true for most countries, but something seems different here in Japan...

Saving 10,000
Third Day - I Need a Miracle
Suicide is a Lie

Depending on the year, Japan has either the highest or second highest number of suicides per year.  One thing I learned from when I was in the pharmaceutical industry is that Japan is one of the highest consumers of mental illness related medicines too.

PRAY for those that are depressed!  PRAY for the hundreds who are contemplating suicide today.  PRAY for someone to reach out to them and just listen to what they have to say.  Sometimes, that's all it takes.  PRAY that their families and friends will have renewed energy, patience, and love for them.  PRAY that they will one day soon come to know the love and hope that we have in Jesus Christ.  That we have eternal life in Heaven to look forward to...

I mentioned a Christian group called enochinodenwa ("phone call of life") to my friend once and suggested that she tried calling them.  She said she tried calling them several times and most of the time their line was busy.  She did get through to them and talked with them but she said it didn't help. Suicide helplines in Japan always receive more phone calls than they can handle...

Pray for the depressed...  Pray for those helping, living with, or related to those with depression too.

Pray that the sufferers will soon one day becomes survivors.


Monday, February 17, 2014

Dec '13 - Jan '14 Newsletter

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Sunday, February 16, 2014

Lice... ^^; (No, not rice)

I can laugh about it now, but I couldn't back then... I was brushing Juhee's hair one morning to tie her hair like I always do and noticed that there were a few small white.. um.. things in her hair. I tried to brush it off, but it wouldn't come off easily. I thought "it can't be.. it can't be.......", checked Sungjae's hair and saw that he had some too, had a discussion inside my head as to what I should do, and then sent them off to kindergarten/daycare. ^^; Probably wasn't the wisest or the most responsible decision...

Peter and I spent some time that morning reading up on lice. LICE! We couldn't believe it... Neither of us had ever had lice nor knew much about it so we had a lot of reading up to do! We live in Japan, one of the cleanest countries in the world. One of the most hygiene-and-bath-obsessed countries in the world. How could our kids possibly have lice???

We also needed to find out what "lice" is in Japanese... Our English-speaking Japanese friends sometimes joke about how the Japanese pronunciation of "rice" and "lice" are the same and then explain to their non-English speaking friends what the two mean in Japanese. It's usually followed by some measure of shock and horror. I know what "rice" is in Japanese but never paid close attention when "lice" was being explained. Maybe I should have?! :/

Before picking up the kids, I went to a drug store nearby and looked for lice treatment shampoo. I tried to do it without asking for help, but alas... :/ I was shocked at how expensive those shampoos are! We were able to make out most of the instructions from the explanations and pictures but having general instructions online in English definitely helped. That evening, we used our "special shampoo" and our "special comb" for the first time...

Sungjae was the first to get out of the shower and when Peter went through his hair with the lice removal comb, he got lots of eggs and a female too! It was SO GROSS!!! Ach!

I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say that many many hours were spent going through the kids' hair searching for eggs. We learned that I have a talent for finding eggs that are invisible to Peter. I couldn't believe how lo~~~ng it took for us to become completely egg-free. And no, that wasn't a typo. I did mean "us". I sleep in between the kids so did not escape... :( Peter did though! :)

I also did something like 7 or 8 loads of laundry in the first 24 hours after finding out that we had lice and then a few more after that too. Laundry was hanging everywhere downstairs! I don't like using our dryer 'cause it's expensive to run, takes forever, and everything tends to come out wrinkled, but I had to use our dryer once.

This is just some of it... There was lots more... :/
I called the kids' kindergarten / daycare to let them know that our kids had lice but that we're treating it and washing everything. Their teachers checked their hair too and said they seemed fine. Their teachers thought it was kind of funny that I was so horrified and grossed out about our kids having lice. One of their teachers said, "Oh~ It must be because Jenny-san doesn't like bugs!" I guess the Japanese perception of lice is different..?! Their teachers told me that there's been an outbreak of lice in the surrounding elementary schools since fall and so some of the kids with older siblings have had it too. There was another kid in Sungjae's class who had it at the same time. It actually ended up spreading in Sungjae's class so instead of the kids' hats all hanging together on the hat rack, they're being put away into their individual lockers and I think the kids are still being checked regularly. I really hope our kids don't come home with lice again!!!

I bumped into the mom of Sungjae's best friend last week and asked her why she had so much stuff to take home mid-week (on Fridays the kids bring everything home to be washed, but mid-week they don't usually bring home a whole lot). She said that the teacher told her that her son had lice. She had had no clue. I was surprised back then that she hadn't realized, but thinking about it now, I completely understand... We don't brush Sungjae's hair and I don't tend to look carefully at it. It's only 'cause I tie Juhee's hair every morning that I realized...

Anyway...  I think it took us three bottles of the special shampoo, many hours of me running laundry and both Peter and me trying to figure out the best (quickest, most energy efficient, and cheapest) way of drying everything, and many hours of checking through hair and removing eggs. Needless to say, every time I see a speck of anything on our kids' hair now I go on high alert... @@

Man did those little creatures make our "quiet" January a lot busier and stressful than we ever could have imagined!

I'm sure there's a really good reason why God created lice... ^^; Why, God? Why???

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

"Participation Day" and "Explanation Day"

Today was one of my busier days.

I had to be at Juhee's preschool by 10:00am for their "(Parent) Participation Day" performance. They have these days I think twice a year and today's was her last ever one as a preschooler.

They had lots of little mini performances showing the moms (and the couple of dads that came) what they've learned and how they play at preschool.  It was really cute and very Japanese-y! :)

So the preschool thing was supposed to be from 10:00-10:30 which would have left me and the one other mom from Juhee's preschool class who has a son who will be attending the same elementary school, plenty of time for us to get to the elementary school for the 11:00 "Explanation Day".  However, it ended closer to 10:45 so we RAN out of the preschool, drove down, and then RAN into the elementary school and up the stairs to the fourth floor.  We made it in just as the Vice Principal started speaking - so thankful that two other moms who have kids in the same preschool saved seats for us! But before we went in, we had to get our information packs. I said Juhee's name and the teacher at the registration desk actually went straight down the list past Juhee's name, the only name written in English. So when I pointed it out to her, she looked up at me in surprise. :) I think she was expecting a non-Asian to go with the name written in English. ;) She then asked me to speak to the VP after the meeting as there were a few things that she wanted to discuss with me.

The mom from Juhee's class has a son already in that elementary school so it was great having her sitting next to me.  I asked her questions about different things that various teachers informed us parents about, and filled in two forms with her that needed to be submitted as we were leaving.  I almost ended up buying double the number of PE clothes than I needed!  I spoke to the VP afterwards and I could see the look of mixed alarm and relief when I introduced myself to her.  I knew I needed to speak to somebody about how Juhee's name would be written and sure enough, that's what she wanted to speak to me about too.  So we discussed various options and came up with おうじゅひ.  Now I can go start making the hundreds of labels that I need to label everything for elementary school.  And no, I'm not exaggerating!

The Principal greeting the parents; The VP thanking all of the parents for attending - everyone bow!; Moms looking at PE uniform sizes - short sleeves & shorts all year round, names are all stitched on, all special order; When we were leaving, there were kids outside for PE, despite the fact that it'd been snowing earlier that morning and was still super cold, they were all in short sleeves and shorts with their school uniform blazers thrown on top of beams in the playground area of the field... 

It was nice meeting her and putting behind us the tension of who-are-the-foreigners-and-how-much-Japanese-do-they-speak from the school's point of view and how-understanding-are-the-Principal-and-VP-of-this-school from our side.  I told her that Peter and I would like to meet with the two of them sometime to officially introduce ourselves and explained that although Juhee would only be a student there for one year, that if there was anything we could do to help in terms of English, to just ask.  They both seem really nice so seriously seriously Praise God for that!!!!!

I was supposed to have lunch with the moms from Juhee's preschool class, but as I would have been very late (due to the "Explanation Meeting"), I organized a last minute lunch with the moms from Juhee's preschool who would be going to the same elementary school.  They were all up for it and we had a great time!  It's great to have friends already before going into our next big adventure of unknowns.  The moms and their kids are all really nice too so I'm looking forward to hanging out with them more.  We went to an Italian restaurant really closeby that I didn't even know existed.  The food and atmosphere were great!  Price was reasonable too.  We all found out each other's first names and decided to go on a first name basis.  Going from Last-Name-san to Abbreviated-First-Name-chan is a big step here in Japan!!!  We talked about preschool things, elementary school things, kids' after school activities...  I found out that there's one more kid from the same preschool who will be attending the same elementary school too.  We're all in a similar phase so we didn't really have a shortage of things to chat about. ;)  Today was hopefully the first of many hangouts together with these moms. :)

Lunch with the moms; my delicious seafood risotto which came with a salad appetizer, a drink, and creme brulee dessert all for about $12; lots of paperwork for me. SO GRATEFUL for God providing awesome friends who are willing and wanting to help.

Thank you, God!!! :)