Dear Antioch Presbyterian Church! I hope you are doing well and growing as a body. I miss my friends and family and my two favorite churches, Antioch and Sojourner. I arrived on May 3rd and have been working hard for two months now for the ministries under Christ Bible Institute (CBI): · Organizing meetings/events and collecting information and updates from the team, · handling logistics for visitors and incoming missionaries, · setting procedures and processes, · communicating with CBI’s sending organizations, · managing the café (scheduling, inventory, reimbursements) · and teaching an intermediate level English class. Working at the café takes much of my time and energy. There’s so much to learn about coffee beans, drip coffee, espresso, steaming milk, etc. I still only know how to make 3 drinks out of 15. I’ve been helping the staff mostly by cleaning, restocking items, and making smoothies. At night, I get my office work completed. Once I have more time, I would like to begin Japanese language studies and build relationships with non-Christian Japanese outside of this ministry. The team here is great and I’m very thankful for that. Currently, there are five short-term missionaries and three long-term missionary families, three Japanese staff people, and about twenty seminary students. I’m surprised by the number of Koreans here – Korean Americans and Korean Japanese. It’s surprising that some of the Korean Japanese aren’t aware of their own Korean heritage until they are informed by their parent(s) and some of them keep it a secret from their friends. I’m learning about the culture and the rules here on a daily basis. Not understanding the Japanese language and ways, I have been humbled various times throughout the day, every day. God is definitely stretching me during this time. I am no longer the independent, competent person I was in the U.S. Life here is so different from New Jersey. Here are some photos to prove my point: Shinto shrine right next to CBI Gas station: uniformed attendant and elderly cyclist. There are so many elderly people in Japan. No more car for me. Inventory shopping for the café… Thank you for supporting me and sending me here to Japan. As I told you all in April, it means so much to me to know that the church I attended for 25+ years is willing to invest in this ministry and me. Until next time! Susanna Chung