2011 Newsletter

So, I actually managed to get a newsletter out for 2011... our email contact list is horribly out of date, so I'm also posting it here.  Hope you enjoy... and sorry if you're getting this twice! :)

 

Happy New Year!

Every year when December comes, I start thinking about getting family pictures taken and sending out beautiful Christmas cards… obviously this hasn’t happened yet, so this year I’m sending greetings through a New Year’s newsletter… and I'm not even late because Japan celebrates the new year for almost an entire week.  It is also a Japanese tradition to send cards for the New Year, not Christmas, so you could also say I’m just adapting to the culture. J  Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!   I can’t believe 2011 is over.  As usual, I have a goal to be a better communicator this year (this is a goal every year), so here’s a brief re-cap of what our family has been up to lately…

This was our 2^nd year living in Okinawa, Japan, and serving as the pastor of Keystone Nazarene Church.  We continue to fall more in love with Japan every day, and it’s so exciting to see how God is working in the lives of our church members and challenging us personally as we learn and grow.  Since a large portion of our church is U.S. military, we lose about 1/3 of the congregation every year.  We’re getting used to this, and it helps us cherish the time, however limited, we have with the families God brings to our church. We are also greatly blessed with international friends and missionaries who are here on a more permanent basis, so we’re very thankful for those relationships.  

Brian was able to travel to Sendai, Japan, twice this year to assist with tsunami relief.  These were life-changing experiences for him and our church members, and if I can ever get him to slow down, I’ll have him write a longer blog about his time there. :)  Brian is still serving as the Asia-Pacific youth coordinator for the Nazarene church, and this was an abnormally busy year for his NYI responsibilities.  With meetings in El Paso, Nazarene Youth Congress in Kentucky, a regional conference in Manila, and the 3^rd Wave conference in Thailand (that’s where he is now), he’s been building up his frequent flyer miles…. all on different airlines. ;)  But seriously, he still very much enjoys his work with youth leaders and somehow balances all his responsibilities while continuing to make progress in his Japanese language studies. 

Justin turned three in January 2011, and Noah celebrated his first birthday last June.  Both boys are full of energy and amaze us every day with their creativity and imagination.  Justin is quite obsessed with cars, trucks, and really any form of transportation.  He also loves to read books and spend time with friends.  Noah loves to follow Justin around and do whatever his older brother is doing.  :)  He has a quieter personality than Justin, but he is quite fearless and adventurous, which keeps us on our toes. It is such a joy to see how much they love each other and are learning to play together….. most of the time. A definite highlight of the year was getting to see their grandparents and other extended family on a short trip to the states last summer. We’re thankful for family who forgives us for keeping their grandchildren and nephews halfway across the world. :)

And, I guess that leaves me (Julie).  Well I’ve been busy trying to keep up with the rest of the family.  :) This last year I was blessed to teach an adult English class at a local language school, and I was elected to the board at Okinawa Christian School International.  It’s very easy to stay busy with only church responsibilities and language study, but it’s a blessing to also be involved in organizations and relationships outside our church family.  It’s definitely been a challenging year as I continue to transition to life with two young children on top of other responsibilities, but God is so faithful in the strength and grace he provides daily. 

There are so many more stories I would love to share of how God is working in our lives and in the lives of our friends, but this is already longer than I expected.  As usual, I hope to be a better communicator through our blog this year, so please check for updates and keep me accountable!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  We couldn’t do any of this without the amazing network of prayer partners God had blessed us with.  Please continue to pray for us as we seek God’s guidance in every area of our lives.  And let us know how we can pray for you!  We will be in the states for home assignment in April, May, and June 2013.  Please let us know if your church would be interested in having us speak.  

We love you and pray you will be amazed by our great God in 2012!

-Brian, Julie, Justin, and Noah

God answers prayers...

Just saw this update!

"All 4 Nazarenes who have been missing at sea for almost 48 hours have been found alive and safe!
Praise God Who is the sustainer of our life! Thank you for praying!"

I'm sure they have an amazing story to tell... how great is our God!  Thank you for praying!!!

Please PRAY!

Hey friends,
Brian is now in Bangkok, Thailand for the 3rd Wave Conference (Global conference for Nazarene youth leaders).  Some of our participants from Papua New Guinea were trying to get to the conference, and we just found out the following news... please pray for our friends!

"Urgent prayer is requested for four Nazarenes from Papua New Guinea who are missing en route to the NYI sponsored "Third Wave" gathering in Bangkok, Thailand.
The four young man and at least three others were last seen departing Aitape, a small town on the North coast of PNG, at 11:30 AM on Saturday, local time. They were traveling in rough seas in a 23' fiberglass boat with a 40 HP outboard motor. They were to have arrived at their destination by 4 or 5 PM on Saturday but have not been heard from. They are now more than 24 hours overdue.
The PNG Defense force will launch a Search and Rescue at first light tomorrow (Monday) morning, coordinating East out of Vanimo. Please join us in praying for the safety of these four young men as well as the other passengers and crew."

I'll keep you updated as soon as I hear anything... thanks for your prayers!

 

Merry Christmas!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/O4iTjrVxlJfb7Lwh

Every year I have wonderful intentions of getting family pictures taken and sending out Christmas cards... you know, before Christmas, but it just never seems to happen.  So this year, I'm aiming for a New Year's newsletter... we'll see how it goes. ;)  In the meantime, please click on the link above and enjoy this Christmas greeting from the Woolery family! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch yesterday with the students from my English class and a dear family from our church.  It was such a blessing to have my students share a special day with us in our home... we are so thankful for all our friends around the world who have become family. 

We also finished our "Thanksgiving Tree" yesterday, so here's the final list of all the things we were thankful for this last month.  We had so much fun doing this together every day at breakfast...  I'm excited to make this a tradition every November. :)

Woolery Thanksgiving Tree 2011

(in no particular order)

Thank you God for...

music

the Bible

singing and dancing

clouds

Legos

playgrounds

Daddy

our oven, washer, and dryer

the cars on the road

Brian

family days

grandparents

cars

our family

hearing us

your peace that surpasses understanding

rain

our beds

old friends and new friends

your peace

macaroni and cheese from Ms. EmiLou

our bathroom

opportunities to serve

trees and branches

talking cars

our Thanksgiving tree

gifts of food

our food

candy and costumes

our 2 little pumpkins

coffee

books

sunshine

oatmeal

sleep

Julie

Noah and Justin

the leaves on our Thanksgiving tree

dessert

snacks

trains

Giraffe and Lamb

holidays

Now, it's time to decorate for Christmas! :)

Giving Thanks

November is a month to celebrate Thanksgiving, and this year we are trying to be good representatives of our passport country by not decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving... please understand this is very difficult for us.  After living in the Philippines, I feel like all our Christmas decorations should have been up for at least a month now (Christmas decorations hit the malls in September in Manila!).  And even here in Japan, all the stores transition from Halloween to Christmas promptly on November 1.  We're also not used to celebrating Thanksgiving on the actual day... in the Philippines, we celebrated on the weekend, because the actual holiday was just a normal work day....but since most of our congregation here gets to celebrate on the actual day, we're slowing getting back in the correct mindset. ;)  But, I recently read a book that encouraged me to cherish this special time of year even more...
 



If you haven't read this, I HIGHLY recommend it... it's the story of how a woman's life was changed by intentionally and habitually thanking God, every day, throughout the day, for all the big and little things in her life.  I haven't started my "One thousand gifts of thanks" journals yet,  but our family is starting a new tradition this year, thanks to this book and my recent obsession with pinterest.com. :)

Justin calls this our "Thanksgiving Tree."  Every morning at breakfast we write one or two things we want to thank God for that day and hang them on the tree.... this is how it looks so far!

 It's been so great starting every day with this, and it's so much fun to see how Justin has embraced it and looks forward to it every morning... I'm really impressed that he's also trying to remember what has already been written down so he can think of something new every morning.  We're also really looking forward to Thanksgiving day this year.  Since the English class I teach normally meets on Thursdays, we are just going to have class at our house and practice English conversation as we eat a Thanksgiving meal!  Some wonderful friends from our church are going to help us get the food and share in our time together.  The six Japanese ladies in my class are so excited to experience this holiday, most for the first time, and I am so excited for them to be in our home, meet Brian and the boys, and share our family's traditions as we give thanks to God for who He is and what He has done in our lives... please pray for our time together, and pray that I remember how to cook traditional Thanksgiving dishes. :)  What do you thank God for today?

The amazing Justin SUPERHERO

Not a bad way to spend a Friday afternoon....

Godstops

Right now our ladies Bible Study is reading Believing God by Beth Moore. One of the greatest things about this study is the section at the end of each day's homework assignment entitled, "Godstops". It's a time for you to reflect at the end of the day where you have seen God working in and around your life. It's a great practice to build the habit of seeing things through God's eyes... that even in the normal routines of life, God is active, and amazingly, he invites us to join Him in His work.

We've only been doing this study for a month, and of course, God is showing up and doing amazing things! Over the last few days, I have been amazed at the many opportunities God continues to give our family in our place of ministry here in Okinawa. Of course, leading an international congregation is more than a full-time job, but we've always seen that as only part of the reason we're here. We live in Japan and are striving to learn Japanese and build relationships with the Japanese people God puts in our lives. Japan is very different than Guam or the Philippines; it takes much longer to meet people and build relationships, and it can take a lifetime to learn the ins and outs of Japanese culture... but our God is so much bigger than these things! He continues to provide us with opportunities and friendships that don't fit the norm, and daily, He is overwhelming us with His guidance and grace. Here are just a few examples:

*The pictures you see are the daughters and nieces of the wonderful Japanese family who lives next door to us. They have given us such a warm welcome to Okinawa and are always so eager to help us learn how to live in Japan. Even though we saw them frequently, a few months ago, Nami-san asked me if they could come to our house twice a week to work on English and Japanese language skills with our children... not only did God put us next to this family, but they asked if we could have more time together in our home! Please pray that as we continue to share life together, they would see Jesus in our family and seek to know Him.


*As we looked at language schools when we first arrived, we were overwhelmed by the cost. Brian studied on his own for a while, and I was able to take a 3-month conversational class at a local language school, but it was just too expensive to continue. A year ago one of our church members introduced us to a Japanese minister who offers Japanese language classes and gives a discount to missionaries. Brian and I are now both taking classes from him, and the other day I realized that the money I make teaching English every month is the exact amount we need to pay for our own language lessons!

*Our Japanese teacher's nephew has been living in Okinawa the last year to study English intensively before he starts college in mainland Japan. He asked Brian to tutor him, and they have been meeting together every week for the past 6 months. Sho doesn't know much about the gospel, so together they have been studying the Bible as a way to practice his writing and conversation skills. God continues to use this time each week to draw Sho closer to Himself as he learns more about Jesus and what it means to follow Him. Please pray for Sho as he continues to search!

*Just last night our Japanese teacher introduced me to 2 college students who just returned from going to school in California for a year. They are not believers but have previously studied the Bible as a way to learn English. Since they don't want to lose their English skills, they will now be coming over to our house once a week so we can study the Bible together in English. Please pray for Ryoko-san and Erina-san as we get to know each other and talk about the difference God can make in their lives!

There are so many more stories, but I will save some of them for Brian to tell you about. :) Honestly, at times in the last few months I felt like I was in a fog and just going through the motions of life with no real meaning... but as I look back, I know people were praying for me and praying for us to keep going and keep trusting God... thank you so much for your prayers! We are partners together as we seek how God can use us right now in Okinawa. Again, God is doing so many amazing things, and we are humbled that He asks us to join Him. Please keep praying for all our friendships and interactions!

Psalm 146

¹ Praise the LORD!Praise the LORD, O my soul!
²I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³ Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
⁴When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
⁶ who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
⁷ who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;

⁸ the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
⁹ The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰ The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!

Sometimes you just need to get away...

We were so blessed to visit family in the states this summer, but it was a pretty hectic time, so we never had a chance for the four of us to just relax. It's been super busy the last couple months and we were all feeling pretty tired and drained. So, my wonderful husband (yes, I'm going to brag just a little) recently informed me that for the last couple years he has been saving all his coins at the end of every day and then changing them to cash every few months. I had no idea he was doing this... I just figured he eventually spent them. :) Anyways, he saved enough money for our family to get away for a couple days, and last weekend it happened! We found a good local rate at a hotel about 30 minutes away, and we had a wonderful 48 hours together of just us, relaxing, sleeping, exploring... just what the doctor ordered. :) Even though it was cloudy, we still got in some beach and pool time... here are a few pics of our handsome boys enjoying God's blessings...







God is doing so many amazing things in and around us... maybe I'll actually post 2 blogs in a day and tell you more! I am so thankful for these wonderful boys and my incredible husband... God's blessings are overwhelming!

Typhoon days...

Well, it's typhoon season once again, and we're in the middle of a typhoon right now... literally. :) After 8 years of living on islands in the Pacific Ocean, we're pretty used to typhoons coming and going, and now that we're in a developed country where there's not much destruction at all, we kind of look forward to typhoon days... think of it as our equivalent of a snow day. :) So right now Typhoon Muifa is still slowly moving past Okinawa... as in we've been in the middle of this typhoon for 24 hours, and the winds seem to be getting stronger tonight... it will eventually move on, but here are a few pics of how we've been spending our time...
Brian and Justin have spent hours building airplanes, airports, towers, etc. with duplos (Legos for younger children) and then they eventually let Noah destroy them. :)

making pictures of trains with stamps

playing Brian's new X-plane game

watching movies

During a lull in the wind this afternoon, Brian and Justin decided to enjoy the wet weather and get rid of some energy on our back porch...

Noah wanted to join them SO desperately :)

and tonight we even watched a movie while we ate our snack-y supper.... :)
So even though we've been a little stir-crazy at times, we're really enjoying all this time at home together... but we do want to leave the house again someday... happy typhoon day! :)

Children's Fellowship with Urasoe Church of the Nazarene

Last weekend one of the Japanese Nazarene churches on Okinawa invited us to be part of a summer children's fellowship... So about 20 of our kids, youth, and parents went to their church and enjoyed an amazing evening of fellowship and making new friends!

Urasoe Church of the Nazarene

This is Tomoyosei-sensei, the pastor of the church.
We began the service by singing songs in Japanese and English, and then Brian gave a message.

After the service, we played a game where the kids started to get to know each other.... and for the rest of the evening the new Japanese/American friends were inseparable!

making a craft together...
Justin was so excited to be part of all the big kid activities. :)
And then it was bbq time - oishii!!!!

After dinner they played one more game, and it was so great! The kids were blindfolded and given a bat... similar to a pinata, but they were hitting a watermelon in a plastic bag on the ground... when the watermelon finally broke, everybody got to eat it... so fun! :)

We had such a great time making new friends, learning about cultures, and worshiping together, even though few spoke the same language... how great is our God!