Dear Antioch Presbyterian Church! I hope you are doing well! Almost five months have passed and I still miss my friends and family and my sending churches, Antioch and Sojourner. This is one of my main prayer requests: to be able to worship at my new church in Japan. I’m having a difficult time because everything is in two languages. When one sentence is said, it is either translated into Japanese or English. I get distracted with every translation and when I don’t refocus, I stop listening. Currently our church rents a nursery school room and there are usually not enough seats for everyone. So there is a physical distraction as well. Here is a picture of the people in our church:There have been some changes to the team here. One family has returned to California to raise support and one intern finished his commitment here. Three additional interns have arrived and I’m very thankful that they are such great people. Here is our team picture, which was taken before the Kim family, missionary parents, and intern left: We also have many people visiting in October to check out our ministry to see if it’s a good fit for them. Please pray that I would coordinate their time well and be patient and gracious in my communication to them. Since the Japanese way of life is so different from the states, many explanations need to be made. Also, since very few Japanese people have English conversational skills and since visitors are unfamiliar with the area, people on staff really need to schedule time to meet with them and chaperone them, sometimes even hosting them in their homes. In my previous letter, I had mentioned meeting Koreans here. Well, right around the corner from our building is a North Corean school. We have started building a relationship with them. They invited us to their school BBQ and I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had there. Here’s a picture from the BBQ!My sisters arrive in Nagoya, Japan later today and I am so excited to see them. It will be good as I have been struggling with homesickness and the busyness of administratively running multiple ministries here. There are so many events and visitors that take time away from my regular workload. Fortunately, some of the missionaries here have started meeting weekly to study the book of Hebrews. One of the points that the Bible study leader shared was about Hebrews 2:18, “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” We learned about suffering that results specifically from our being tempted. I think sometimes that is why I feel like I’m struggling here. I struggle with knowing that I can return home, where my family, friends and church are, where everything is more familiar and comfortable. Again, thank you for supporting me and sending me here to Japan. If you would like to be added to my email updates, please contact me at soochung@gmail.com. Until next time! Susanna Chung