Nagano, March 2013

God’s Blessings to you Dear Loved Ones & Prayer Partners!

             YEAH! Maybe spring has come!  But like many of you, we still have the occasional cold snaps and even snow come through, but the trees are starting to bud out and in a matter of days the plum trees will begin blooming followed quickly by the cherry and other fruit trees.  For the next month we will be able to see God’s splendor in the beautiful blossoms where ever we go.  We are blessed that every month here, including the winter months, some tree or wildflower is blooming.  We are constantly watching God’s wonderful paintbrush.  I always kid my students that the reason for the flowers to bloom all year is because God even worries about the little bee!  They need those flowers to continue their lives and provide us with honey.  Is it no wonder that honey is the only food that never spoils!!!!  What a wonderful God we serve!

            Last month we told you about the school system here and how it changes every year.  We are still waiting to hear from one of Kim’s schools, but it looks like there will be scheduling difficulties this coming year and about ½ of her classes will be canceled or given out to another teacher.  We are making plans now to how to adjust, and know and trust that God has the answers, and it will all work out for His GLORY!

            This coming Sunday, Easter Sunday, we will be showing the movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’, during our English service.  We hope that some of our non-Christian friends will come to watch and that the film can touch their hearts and they can see how much Jesus loves them. 

            We just finished our annual church meeting, and many different things were discussed.  We are hoping to start a new women’s group, and possibly change our children’s church from happening before church, to being conducted upstairs during the service.  For both of these ideas, they may sound easy to most of you, but remember here our church only has a total of about  8 women, so scheduling ‘when’ is a huge difficulty.  Quite different from a church that has 50 plus women, where it is very easy to get 10 to commit to any certain date or time.  Please pray that the women can find a date and time that will allow all of them to at least participate sometimes.  For the children, even though we are a small church, weekly attendance averaged last year 17.4 people (data from the annual report) of those 6 are young children, 1 kindergarten, 3 elementary school and 2 junior high.  So we would need to provide only 1 class, but reach all the groups.  Hopefully the junior high children will remain in the adult service, but the next question is which person wants to do the class.  Remember out of the 17.4 people 6 are kids, 4 are the pastor and his wife and Kim and I so that leaves only 7 people available.  Definitely it seems many days we are facing uphill battles to grow the church. 

            This coming year we have tentatively scheduled many events.  The first will be the showing of the movie on Easter Sunday, then during May our church will work with others for a retreat, our annual March For Jesus, where we go down town and spend about 2 hours marching and singing songs for Him.  In June is the annual Ladies Luncheon where we normally have between 150 and 200 people attend.  During the end of July or the beginning of August we will be having our annual ‘Summer Bible/Sausage party’.  We usually get close to 100 people come out and enjoy the bible study, play games and enjoy the sausage and salad that John makes.  October will see us helping with a large Halloween party to build friendships and relationships.  Last year over 150 people attended.  The beginning of December is our community Christmas Party at a local hotel.  Last year John played the piano and other members from our church sang.  We plan on 200 people to attend. We also participate in a couple of Christmas parties for students and church children.  On December 23^rd, we have our annual Christmas Caroling at the main train station, followed December 24^th with our Christmas Eve service!  Last year 50 people attended!  Not bad for a church with only 17.4 average people attending!  Of course December also brings out Santa and our passing out of bibles and candy to many people.  Last year we were able to pass out 450 bibles and about 3,000 candy canes, so Christmas joy was spread to many.  This year with your help we hope to pass out ONE THOUSAND BIBLES!  To do that we need your help as each bible costs us about $1.50, so if you start setting aside a little each week, maybe you can help with 10 bibles come December!  If 100 of you will each contribute $15, we can make it HAPPEN!

            As you can see, we have a few things planned, not including the things we do during our normal week!  John has started a new Friday friendship group, with one member already coming to the Tuesday Bible Study, he hopes that this coming year will bring several more. We do several cooking classes, last year the summer children’s class was televised!  John was left alone as Kim was back in the states and our pastor had a previous scheduled meeting, but some how John enjoyed the 3 hour class and the pressure of being televised during the whole time!  So with the things that we have listed and the other normal activities, it looks like we will have no trouble keeping our plate full.  Luckily God is a great scheduler and still gives us time to support our children here and hopefully provide a way for Kim to come back this summer to visit everyone.

            This past March 11^th was the 2^nd anniversary of the tsunami that devastated much of the north east coastline of Japan.  I would like to say that all is back to normal, but that just isn’t true!  The government is reacting so slowly to the troubles of those affected.  Over 100,000 people are still without homes living in some kind of temporary housing with absolutely no idea when or where they can eventually move.  The government said 2 years ago that they would help in the rebuilding or relocating of those affected, but so far NO MONEY!!!!  Only government talk!  The good part is that the churches in those areas have grown stronger and more visible.  I don’t know how many people have found God since the disaster that killed over 20,000 people, but I know it’s a lot!  In our area, outside of a talk sometimes about the nuclear fallout from the Fukushima plant, or should we use nuclear power, you would never know that the disaster happened just 2 short years ago.  We pray that the government will finally release the money to help those families and they can return to a normal life, and in the meantime the churches continue to grow and strengthen. 

By His grace, God continues to equip us for every challenge and opportunity that He presents. Should God ask any of you to partner with us in our outreach for Him, please send any love offerings to: Bethlehem United Methodist Church, for Baranski John Alan Mission Fund, c/o Becky Wack, 1003 Rowan Cove, New Albany, Ms. 38652.  In addition to our needs, if your heart leads you to send us financial aid for the 3/11/11 victims please make a note with your love offering that it is for the on-going disaster relief. Thank-you all so much for your prayers and giving hearts.

We hold you always in our hearts and prayers with praise and thanksgiving.            

In His love & always walking before Him, the Baranski Bunch   

Oh yes! He did!

Yes!
My sweet husband does love me just THAT MUCH!!!
Last Monday was my birthday.
John always makes me a birthday cake.
It is always delicious!
This year he also prepared my birthday breakfast.
Those of you who read our newsletter (posted below) got a bit of the story behind the breakfast. I thought you might like to see the finished product - just before we devoured it!! The platter was slathered generously with freshly whipped cream, the lovingly cut waffle letters were placed on top of the cream, Reeses's Pieces were strategically sprinkled around (I love pnut butter!) and it was all finished off with a drizzle of warm vanilla butternut syrup.....

Then it was off to morning class for the Chef.
I am off on Mondays so stayed home doing pretty much what ever I felt like ;-)
John got back just in time to take me out for lunch.
We went to a shop that had all-you-can-eat pizza, plus a pasta dish, salad and beverage.
Then, before my Sweetie had to head back off to more classes, he whipped up this taste treat for later after he got back home.

 I had been telling him not to make a cake because with just the two of us here we would never finish it - his cakes are never on the smaller end of the scale.
Also, on the evenings he has later classes we usually don't have a real dinner, rather just some sort of snackie type food to tide us over.
So he opted for a cream cheese 'cake', and a ritz cracker side dish.
With pineapple pieces and chopped walnuts mixed in, coated with walnuts, and trimmed with cherries... shaped in a heart, because he loves me so much... and with two candles - one for 'totally' and the other for 'completely'!
(his words :-) <3 )
It was the perfect end to my very special day.
Thank you God for giving us each other to share it all with!

I received phone calls, emails and more FB wishes than I could count.
God is so great and blesses me so much more than I can ever imagine.
Thanks to all who make my life special by being a part of it!

Feb. from Nagano

God’s Blessings to you Dear Loved Ones & Prayer Partners!

            I don’t know about you, but for us the year is going by TOO FAST!  Can you believe it, February is almost over!  I kid my students that Christmas will be here soon.  This time of year is a time of uncertainty to so many Japanese people and because of that also for us.  The school and business year conclude at the end of March and restart the first of April.  Japan is very much a ‘transfer’ country as MANY companies transfer workers every 3 to 5 years.  We have a difficult time justifying the transfers, but it is accepted by those here.  The trouble is twofold. First, it is common for the company to give the employees less than 1 month notice of transfer. Can you imagine?!  Your husband comes home March 10^th and tells you, ‘hey honey, we are moving to Osaka and we need to be there by March 30^th’!  Now you are forced to do many things; pack, find new housing, new schools for the kids and close out and reopen so many accounts!  We are not sure why they give such short notice, but it does take away the element of worrying!  THERE IS LITERALLY NO TIME!  The second and, to us, most troubling problem is that when the children enter junior high school the mother often refuses to transfer with her husband.  Thus the families are separated to the point of the mother and children living in one location and the father living in another and having the opportunity to visit only occasionally throughout the year!  It is so sad, and really difficult for us to understand.

            Now of course we don’t have to worry about transferring, but the schools here do the same as companies.  Every 3 to 5 years the teachers rotate to different schools.  The same is true for them, they usually don’t know until the end of the school year (March 15^th) where they will be teaching on the 1^st of April.  Normally they try to keep the transfer to a distance of less than 45 kilometers so they don’t have to move, but there is so much uncertainty.  Unlike in the states, a teacher here (elementary school) teaches the same group of kids for 2 to 3 years depending on the school.  For instance if you have 30 students this year as a first grade teacher, next year you have the same 30 students and teach them as a second grade teacher, and in many schools, you will continue with the same 30 the third year.  Very difficult for the teachers as every year they have to teach a new grade.  This years 6^th grade teacher maybe next years 1^st or 3^rd grade and so on.    

            In the high schools, children must take entrance exams to each school, and these tests are not universal but different for each school.  The children are allowed to take the test 2 times, and also can take exams for entrance to private high schools, just in case they fail the entrance test to the public schools.  This is where our uncertainty comes in.  Kim teaches at 3 elementary schools and one private high school.  Presently the schools don’t know what teachers will be coming/going, or in the case of the high school how many 1^st year students.  Now mind you, school will be starting in just over a month!!!!!  The 3 elementary schools have set their schedules for next year, but unfortunately one school demanded to change English to Friday, a day Kim presently had another school.  Luckily, that school was willing to reschedule to Tuesday.  The unfortunate part there is Tuesday was when she had 6 classes at the high school.  Since they don’t know how many students they have coming, or how many classes, they have NO IDEA whether they can schedule the classes on either Monday or Thursday.  So we will live with the uncertainty of Kim’s schedule until the end of March, only a week or so before school starts!  The trouble with that is, it doesn’t leave anytime to find any alternative classes.  So please pray that the high school will be able to schedule the classes for either Thursday or Monday next year.

            As you know, we use ‘The Raven 4 God’ as the title of this letter, plus for our email address.  We relate so well to the ‘raven’ as mentioned in the bible.  In Leviticus, the raven is called one of the despicable birds.  Well, like all of us, we definitely often feel that we are probably despicable in many of the choices we have made in our lives, and definitely not worthy of His wonderful love, yet so thankful for His unfathomable grace.  When you read the story of Elijah (my favorite prophet), God chose the raven as the bird to feed him.  So we can easily relate to the fact that God chose us (no matter who we were or are) to feed (spiritually) His people.  The final use of the raven comes in the story about worry.  God even takes care of the ravens, so certainly He will take care of us!  PRAISE GOD!  That is SO TRUE!  As for most people, our main stimulus for worry often comes from financial concerns.  For us, we are concerned yet DON’T WORRY about that!  Like the ravens, God continually takes care of each and every need that we have!  It is so INCREDIBLE!  We have so many examples of needs that have been supplied often by people we don’t even know!  So concerning Kim’s work next year we don’t worry, we know that God has a perfect plan….whether it’s teaching or giving her more time for outreach, it will all be in His perfect plan and with His perfect timing!  The same holds true for EACH OF YOU!!!!

            The last couple of Sundays we have been talking about the ‘Joy of being a Christian’ and how Satan tries to steal that joy EVERY DAY!  This past week, I had a stark example of how it worked against me.  Now, we don’t worry about the big things, but it is amazing how even the smallest things Satan can use to try and cause worry in our lives.  Last Monday was Kim’s birthday, and I always make a cake for her.  Well, Monday she is home and I have classes most of the day, so there was no time for the surprise cake!  So I decided I would use waffles and cut them up into letters and make her breakfast with waffles spelling out     ‘H B-DAY KIM’.  It seemed so easy, and we had frozen waffles in the freezer!  Cool! For many nights I laid in bed thinking how I could cut the square waffles into the right sizes and shapes to spell out the birthday message.  I worried about how many, how long it would take and how to make the B and D with the square waffles.  Many nights, my mind was thinking, robbing me both of sleep and the basic joy of surprising her Monday morning.

            I woke up Monday morning, Kim took her shower, I was checking my mail and news on the internet, not worrying about the waffles, it was taken care of!  (at least I thought).  After her shower, as we do every morning we read our devotionals together, listened to a couple of chapters from the bible and prayed together.  Now it was time!  I went downstairs to get the waffles and start my creation!  I opened the freezer, reached into the box and found ROUND WAFFLES!!!!!!  So don’t waste time worrying!  God can use the smallest things to teach us NOT TO WORRY! 

P.S.They came out GREAT!!!  

By His grace, God continues to equip us for every challenge and opportunity that He presents. Should God ask any of you to partner with us in our outreach for Him, please send any love offerings to: Bethlehem United Methodist Church, for Baranski John Alan Mission Fund, c/o Becky Wack, 1003 Rowan Cove, New Albany, Ms. 38652.  In addition to our needs, if your heart leads you to send us financial aid for the 3/11/11 victims please make a note with your love offering that it is for the on-going disaster relief. Thank-you all so much for your prayers and giving hearts.

We hold you always in our hearts and prayers with praise and thanksgiving.            

In His love & always walking before Him, the Baranski Bunch   

If I want to...

Today is my birthday.
It's been a very wonderful day of being shown and reminded of how super blessed and much loved I am. My heart is happy!
For some unexplained reason, since early this morning this little ditty has been replaying itself in my head....
It's my birthday, and I'll smile if I want to, smile if I want to, smile if I want to...
You would smile too if it happened to you!
I know - not the way the original was written - but I rather like this version ;-)
It was snowing lots when we awoke today and has continued all day. I've sort of just enjoyed watching those flakes fall and gather together to cover everything in their beauty. Makes me think of the way God's grace and blessings continually fall all around us, covering us with His wonderful and pure love.
For all that I have and all that You help me to be I thank you!

A Difference

After ten years, there are still lots of moments when I stop and wonder just how it is that God, in His infinite wisdom, chose us, to "go out into the world" and help spread His word. Just another in the long line of examples that He does not choose the equipped, rather He equips those He chooses!
As in all things in life our experiences here have their ebb and flow. There are times when there are many, many people joining in the activities we hold/help with, and times when we think maybe we must've forgotten to tell anyone else. It's the life of a missionary. And although we still have to remind ourselves once in awhile, it's all part of God's big picture. He uses every single opportunity to achieve His purpose and we are merely vessels He places in His plan. Whether the group is many or few God is always there!
The Tuesday Bible Study that John leads was the two of us, the Pastor's wife and one church member when we first came to Nagano. In time it grew to more than 20 regular attendees! Recently it has dwindled some for several different reasons; transfers, kids schedules, health issues, work schedules...     In the group that regularly attends now there are a few that have been coming for several years. At least four members, that are not yet Christian, really believe in the Bible and the story it tells, yet for different reasons haven't taken the "leap of faith" to become Christian. We continually pray for each one.
For John it sometimes gets very personal. (Not only for the Tuesday group but also the Sunday service he leads) Meaning that he listens to them each week and watches them and how they respond and react to the readings and to their questions and answers. He spends lots of time with God to determine how to deliver the message each week to reach the members and help them hear the answers they are searching for.
Sometimes God gives him a glimpse of the positive difference he is making. This week was one of those times. He shared with me how the day's message had touched the group, and one member in particular. She became emotional and felt she should excuse herself. This is a normal response here. Emotion is not something openly expressed as a rule. As she got  up to go out, John got up, walked over and told her he thought she just needed a hug - and gave her one - then sat back down..... and so did she! She DID need that hug! That reassurance. God's love! She thanked him later and told him how much it means to her to be there each week and how it is helping her in her daily life.
I wanted to share this with you because I know it is often a struggle to realize that in Japan missionaries are needed and make a difference. For this person, on this day, one missionary made a difference! A postive difference in letting her experience God.
We thank you each for the prayers you pray for us and what we are here for. Every single prayer makes a difference! God hears them all.
Wishing you blessings,
as we are, walking before Him

2013 January Nagano News

* I realize I have missed LOTS of months posting our newsletter here... I will try to do better

God’s Blessings to you Dear Loved Ones & Prayer Partners!

            WOW! The first month of the new year is almost passed!  Is it just me or does the time go by faster as we age? With winter here we are thankful that it is going by fast. As it is so cold here, inside and outside, we are thankful that the time is going quickly!  We are a little thankful because the dollar has recently gotten stronger (up over 10%) which helps when we get money from the states, but with it also goes up the price of all of the imports….which are MANY!!!!  Meat has gone up over 20%, gas 10%, kerosene is up over 25% and our only source of heat comes from kerosene heaters.  It costs about $4.00 per gallon and it takes almost 20 gallons a week to heat only 3 rooms in our house!  So it is a huge expense to us, but our hallways, bedrooms and other areas have no heat!  It isn’t unusual to get out from the covers in the middle of the night, and be frozen by the time you walk the short distance through the hall, into the kitchen then to the bathroom!  The average temperature in the night in those rooms is under 40!!!!!  So we have to be fast!  Ha, ha! Last week the water pipe in the ladies room at our church froze and broke!  That is the flex pipe that goes from the water supply to the tank!  INSIDE!  FROZEN!  BROKEN!  There is no such thing as central heat, and only areas being used are kept warm!  Same for the schools, they are ALL built with the windows facing the winter sun, and that is their MAIN source of heat!  Most have kerosene heaters, but the smell is so bad, that as soon as the rooms are comfortable, the teacher opens up the windows for fresh air!  CRAZY!

            December is our busiest month, as you could see from our last newsletter, but after Christmas until around April is our SLOWEST time of the year!  We go several weeks around New Years with out any classes, then January is entrance test time, so the high schools don’t have classes for a week, then in February the schools are getting ready for the end of year ceremonies so many classes are canceled!  So we enjoy the slow down time, but it sure hurts with the loss of revenue!  Luckily there are very few activities scheduled in the winter, so our expenses are probably at a minimum! 

            We have told you before about the lack of religion in the Japanese people.  Christians represent well under 1% of the population, and although most people will tell you they are Buddhist, or follow Shinto, or a combination of both, they are unfortunately used only to carry out customs and traditions, rather than any religious meaning.  Never is this more evident than at New Years!  Most Japanese people will visit both a temple (Buddhist) and shrine (Shinto) during the first couple of days of the New Year.  When you ask them why they go, they undoubtedly say to pray, the follow up questions is almost never answered, “Who do you pray to?”  Yup, that question goes unanswered, but gives us a wonderful door to open to tell about who we pray to. 

            One of the main traditions at New Years outside of the temple visits is in food.  They have several different foods that are traditional, but the biggest one is called ‘Osechi’.  It is made up of many different small dishes that are all pickled, so they don’t need refrigeration or special care and can easily last over 1 week.  When we first moved here in 1989 the stores were all closed from 5 to 7 days, so having food on hand was necessary.  It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that most houses had actual refrigerators, (most then only ice boxes) so the mom wasn’t required to go shopping daily.  With each one of the foods that make up the ‘Osechi’ comes a special meaning, I will give you several examples:

            1) Daidai (Japanese bitter orange) Daidai means “from generation to generation” so it is a wish for children in the New Year.

            2) Datemaki (sweet rolled omelet mixed with fish paste or mashed shrimp. It is a wish for many prosperous days.

            3) Kamaboko (broiled fish cake, which are red and white color) They are symbols of the Japanese flag (rising sun) and have a celebratory, festive meaning.

            4) Kazunoko (herring fish eggs) Kazu means “number” and ko means “child,” so it is a wish for numerous children.

            5) Konbu (type of seaweed) is a symbol for joy.

            6) Kuro-mame (black soybeans) is a wish for good health.

            7) Tazukuri (Dried sardines cooked in soy sauce) in the old days fish were used to fertilize the rice fields, so it is a symbol of an abundant harvest.

            These are only a few examples, in total there are around 15 special foods, they are usually stored and served in special boxes, that are usually stacked in three’s with each layer having an assortment of dishes. 

            The next month leaves us in some amount of uncertainty as the schools don’t make their decisions about next years English programs until 2 weeks before school starts!  So for Kim, she doesn’t know what her schedule will be until the end of March, with school starting the beginning of April, so we only pray that God will work it out to make enough classes that it will allow us to meet our financial needs.  John’s classes are almost all ongoing, so his don’t change so much, but April is always a change time, so usually he loses a few, but fortunately always gains students at that time of year.

            In the past Japanese children had to take 6 years of English, but the focus is totally on grammar as a testing tool.  Starting last year that number was raised to 8 years, with 5^th and 6^th grade elementary students required to take English once a week.  Starting this coming April (supposedly) English only will be spoken in the high school classes, by both teachers and students.  We say supposedly, because the goal of English is to pass entrance tests to the university, not to communicate, so we think the teachers will continue with Japanese in order to prepare their students for the exams.  We get that impression, since history is not a testing subject for the entrance exams, most high schools (even though required) won’t waste class time teaching either Japanese or World history.  It is kind of sad, and leaves the graduates really uneducated about the world! 

By His grace, God continues to equip us for every challenge and opportunity that He presents. Should God ask any of you to partner with us in our outreach for Him, please send any love offerings to: Bethlehem United Methodist Church, for Baranski John Alan Mission Fund, c/o Becky Wack, 1003 Rowan Cove, New Albany, Ms. 38652.  In addition to our needs, if your heart leads you to send us financial aid for the 3/11/11 victims please make a note with your love offering that it is for the on-going disaster relief. Thank-you all so much for your prayers and giving hearts.

We hold you always in our hearts and prayers with praise and thanksgiving.            

In His love & always walking before Him, the Baranski Bunch   

Almost two years later....

Today as I sat... being still and just thinking of all I have to be thankful for, I began to pray... and when I allow myself the time my prayers lead from this to that to ....
I began to think of the 3/11/11 disaster that hit Japan. I still pray for all those touched by it. I hope you do, too. It's been close to two years now. There are so many still displaced with uncertain futures. I decided to try to get some current information on the hardest hit areas and their recovery. Sadly, there is almost nothing current concerning these areas and people in the news. I did run across this short article from Japan Today dated almost one month ago, so I thought I would share it here. I hope you'll take a few moments to read it and then to say a prayer. God bless you!

MIYAGI —
Police and Maritime Safety Agency personnel on Tuesday conducted another search for missing tsunami victims in Okawa, Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, which was one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami on March 11, 2011.

Tuesday marks one year and nine months since the disaster. Searches for missing people are conducted in many hard-hit areas in the Tohoku region on the 11th day of each month at the request of families of missing.

In Ishinomaki, the Okawa elementary school was completely destroyed by the tsunami which killed 74 children and teachers. Thirty-eight people, including four children, remain missing, according to the National Police Agency. As of Nov 30, the NPA said that the death toll from the tsunami in Miyagi Prefecture stands at 10,402, while the number of people still reported as missing is 1,324.

Japan Today