A July Update by Kyong A.
Thanks to all who have journeyed with us back to Japan through prayers, financial support and care! We have felt so supported by God’s Body around the world—praises to Him for your love– I’m sure it is a fragrant aroma, pleasing to Him! We’re feeling much more settled now, and I don’t ever want to move again (hee hee) and all of us are grateful to soon shift from the settling phase to normal routines.
Smiles
After living temporarily in 4 homes during our Colorado sabbatical and furlough, it has been especially WONDERFUL to unpack this time, knowing that we have some sort of permanency to settle. Some things that have brought smiles to us have been:
· having a team that has servant leadership as a high value
· being in a great location where you can walk or bike to the grocery store or convenience store
· watching Sam (11 months) and Isabella (2 ½) begin to play together and laugh
· watching Isabella’s vocabulary develop.
· having a room upstairs devoted to homeschooling!!!
· getting connected to a online company that sells organic whole wheat berries
· having a huge yard in Japanese standards (our back yard is big enough to put another house in)
· catching frogs for the kids and TJ – mini ones the size of a fingernail to a toad that is two fistfuls large!
· meeting other believing Japanese homeschooling moms – they amaze me in how they go against this society’s educational flow
· having a shed in our yard
· getting a new heavy duty vacuum cleaner (thanks mom!) that collected about 4 cups of dirt and dust in just one of our carpeted rooms!
· having a stock of nutritional supplements on hand to help boost our immune systems when we’ve needed it
· getting some process/thinking time (Kyong A) to work on an article for the Navigators’ People Resources Team on the topic of Identity
· Kai-Ten-Zushi [conveyor belt sushi that is $1 for 2 pieces]
· Japanese packaging – most things come in smaller quantity containers than in the States. This is particularly convenient for some things such as tomato paste, olives,
This time around
With all of the preparations to return to Japan (especially support raising), I forgot we’d experience culture shock again, even though we lived here for 5 years before. What’s been especially encouraging in listing these things is that in the past we felt more irritated by such challenges, but we’ve sensed God’s Spirit walk through these bumps with us this time around, they have not jarred us quite as much. We really feel that His Presence is ours now and He has changed our experience of things. In the past I would have shared challenges out of a need to be understood, I think now that I am convinced of His love for me, I don’t have that need. Sharing the list below is to give a realistic picture of missions for those who are interested since sharing just successes give only part of the picture. Most of these things have brought a heightened sense of stress but have normalized, or we’ve gotten used to it now!
· Trying to get a home internet connection that surprisingly took over a month to get set up. Our previous high-speed connection was unavailable in our area and so the only option was going with fiber optics (expensive). I admit I went through withdrawal the first two weeks of being disconnected to the world through email/internet—and especially the first week when we didn’t have a home phone either! But I see it was good for us—we were forced to not get tied up on the computer as it is so easy to do, but focused on working to get unpacked. TJ faced dead ends repeatedly as he tried to get wireless internet connection at cafés.
· Being almost able to buy a new computer printer, then being denied since they couldn’t guarantee it’d work with an English operating system.
· Becoming basically illiterate again in Japan (for Kyong A). Not being able to read food label descriptions when the word usage is beyond my vocabulary stock.
· Things just taking a long time because it is another culture’s way of doing things that does not follow one’s experience or common sense. Not being able to open up a bank account to pay rent or get phones until our alien registration cards came through…
· Kids getting lots of mosquito and other bites – unlike Colorado
· HUMIDITY you can cut with a knife
· Connecting our clothes dryer taking 2 weeks – thankful it is operational!!!
· Not having a dishwasher anymore and having limited counter space – I feel like I spend my days washing dishes and drying them and putting them away and getting ready for the next meal…
· Roaches – about 1 ½ inches long. Pray they eat the poison and take it to their nest!
· Rice – we were surprised that it is rare for Japanese to eat whole bowlfuls of brown rice, which became our family’s custom in Colorado. So it took time to find a supplier of large bags of brown rice. It has been an adjustment eating rice often, especially while we searched for a supplier of various whole grains.
His heartbeat through the Word
Starting new in an ongoing ministry, TJ’s leader has given him advice to see how God leads him and to sit in on different gatherings to get a feel for the ministry that is going on. Also, TJ’s gotten several opportunities to teach the Word and it has been a joy for me to watch his heart delight in God as the Spirit ministers to him during his prep times. Here are some of the topics/messages that he’s gotten to teach on. Let him know if you’re interested in dialoguing in any of these topics…
The church
How to read the poetry sections of the Bible
Spiritual Gifts (topic for this coming Sunday)
PRAYER
His open doors
We echo Paul’s prayer that God would open doors for us and that we would walk through them with boldness. Pray for a sensitivity to sense where He is leading and guiding us to serve and minister.
Again, thanks for partnering with us and loving us! Drop us a line and let us know how we can be in prayer for you!
Kyong A, for us all
PS–Sam turns 1 year old this month (20th)! Time flies!
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