Newsletter Vol 2 - Home Sweet Home
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Work Doesn’t Feel Like Work
Apologies for the long delay since our last update! The beginning of a new school year is always busy, especially for the IT Dept! Motoko was worried if I would be able to adjust to the workaholic long hours of the culture here. I get to work at 8am and on average leave around 6pm, but strangely I don’t feel like it’s a chore at all! Praise the Lord! It has been an answer to prayer that I would be able to adjust and work alongside good co-workers, both in the IT Dept and the teaching staff. The teachers are all very professional at their work and all very kind to each other and to the students. And the IT Dept here is like a dream come true!
I was used to being the “go-to person” whenever there was a tech question or problem at my previous school, and I had to do everything solo. Now, I’m working in a team of 5 in the IT Dept and both my supervisor and my superior are on a completely different level of tech ability than me! Scary!! They are doing things at school with databases, servers, network infrastructures, etc that are simply jaw-dropping! For example, my supervisor just went ahead this summer to write his own Grading App/Software that our entire school is now using, after being frustrated with the previous software/developers. That’s like: “Not happy with Microsoft Excel? Here, let me write us a software replacement that will be better!” Scary!! He is easily one of the smartest/most gifted IT guys I’ve ever met, and he is very humble and kind too. And my superior (also insanely gifted) is easily one of the nicest and friendliest guys I’ve ever met. What a team to work with! God is good!
Instant Fellowship
By God’s grace we have been living in Motoko’s distant relative’s empty home until we find permanent housing. But it hasn’t been just the 2 of us, it’s been the 4 of us! Sanna and Gord are very close friends of ours who obeyed the Lord’s calling for them to come to Japan. They left their jobs, sold their home in Vancouver, and came here with no work lined up, no ministry affiliations, and no place to stay. They just so happened to arrive in Japan around the same time we did! Our relatives gave us the ok to have them also stay here, so the 4 of us have been living here together for the past 2 months. What a blast! We all randomly take turns cooking for one another. We rent a car and make Costco runs together. We get to worship and pray together and do life together... what a blessing that is! One of the best parts of college life (if you dorm) is the “instant fellowship” and the real living in community with brothers & sisters in Christ that happens. These past 2 months here has given me that nostalgic college feel.
Home Sweet Home
We just found a home! Praise the Lord! Thank you all so much for your prayers for us to find a permanent home! We just met the management company and signed all the paperwork (it took 2 hours!). At the end they gave us 2 packs of instant curry. :) We will get the keys on Oct 1 and our sea freight shipment of all our belongings (sent at end of June) will arrive Oct 3. God’s timing is sooo good!
We really feel like this place is from the Lord for us! But it was actually difficult to say “yes” at first because it was over our budget. The old Victor would have said that God would only give us a place that fits our budget and that it would be reckless or irresponsible otherwise. But I’ve learned not to put God in a box like that anymore. Motoko recently reminded me that our beloved home in Arlington Heights was also above our budget but that we clearly got the “greenlight” from the Lord and He graciously provided the extra income we needed for it. We had been praying that the Lord would give us both agreement on the right home. We went to see many places, but this was the ONLY ONE that we BOTH agreed on. So we decided to take the step of faith and move forward. :)
It’s a 3 bedroom apartment, but only about 750 sqft (the size of 1 bdrm apts in the US), which is normal in Japan. See floorplan below. (K=kitchen, LD=living/dining, バルコニー=balcony) We can’t wait to share pictures/videos soon! Please keep us in prayer as we search for a church to attend and wait on the Lord for the new ministry He is calling us to.
Love and blessings from Japan,
Victor & Motoko Yang
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