Exploring our region

Reiko’s Bakery –

We have befriended Reiko, the owner of our local bakery close to our house. Stephanie visits with on a regular basis and drew her a picture as a thank you for her kindness. She has amazing fresh baked cheese pizzas and other wonderful baked goods which are among some of our favorites. She hung Stephanie’s thank you picture and pipe cleaner flowers on her bakery wall as you can see in the picture below.

The last time we stopped to buy bread, Reiko informed us she would be the kids’ “Japan Grandma” since they do not have grandparents in Japan. On the way home from school yesterday she stopped Alex to give him Grandchildren gift bags for him and Stephanie. The bags contained an assortment of Japanese candies and treats. She has been so warm and friendly to our family and really has been a bright spot on my way to work each day when she comes out to greet me and say hello. 

Reiko's Bakery

Reiko and Stephanie 

We continue to visit new churches each weekend looking for a home church. Last week we traveled with a KCS teacher and her son to New Hope Osaka. It was a really nice church, with the service in English and translated into Japanese. They also had youth group after the Sunday service. We spent the rest of the day in downtown Osaka seeing the sights.

Downtown Osaka –

The sea of people in downtown Osaka made it feel like a city of almost 9 million. You can see from the pictures the roads were totally full of pedestrians and I think we only saw a handful of cars on the roads until we were on the outskirts of town.

Downtown Osaka, Japan

Popular photo spot in Osaka. This is an ad for an ice cream company. 

 I tried my first Ika (deep fried squid) at a local Osaka restaurant. It reminded me of deep fried clams and honestly, it was really good. I ate more than just the obligatory piece, I ate a few because I genuinely liked it to my surprise.

Deep Fried Ika...Yum!

We went on a hike over the Silver Week holiday with the Clark’s and some of their grandchildren to a local national park. The park reminded me of the Olympic National Forest with a lot of ferns, moss and lots of hiking trails. There was a huge climbing wall at the trailhead near the concession stand. The climbing wall is the largest I have ever seen, maybe three times as tall as the Valley YMCA.

 

Climbing wall in the national park

 There was a really cool suspension bridge about 60 meters over the valley floor. I was a little unnerved as I surveyed the bridge. This was especially true when it started to sway from all the pranksters who thought it oh so funny to rock it back and forth.

Alex and Stephanie on the suspension bridge

So cool to look over the trees in the valley.

Suspension bridge over the valley from the top of the mountain.

You can see Kyoto and Hirakata in the distance from the top of the hiking trail. This is quite a ways North from where we live. We had a picnic at the top of the mountain after enjoying the amazing view.

Kyoto and KIirakata in the distance

When we arrived, a fellow missionary gave me some great advice. She told me to just try stuff. She said, “You will make mistakes, but don’t be afraid to try.” The adventures to the post office, to buy groceries, to converse with the crosswalk guard on my way to work and even answer my front door, are not for the faint of heart. Each week I find I am more comfortable in the grocery store, I have successfully mailed a few packages now and am learning some key Japanese phrases to get by.

Some days I am more courageous than others. Some days to be honest, I prefer not to venture out because I cannot read the street signs, labels in the grocery stores or understand what they are saying on the train much less have a conversation off the KCS campus.

All that considered, we are growing in ways we can see and in many ways we can not yet see I am sure. We are grateful to be here and see God at work in the larger "church". We have been blessed to fellowship with others who are strong in their faith and passionate about Jesus. The students at KCS are such an encouragement to me when I see their zeal and fire to serve the Lord. 

We really appreciate the generosity and kindness the KCS families, staff, students and the larger faith community have extended to us. Thanks be to God for His faithfulness and wisdom for putting us just where we needed to be in Japan. What an amazing God we serve.

In Christ,

The Chadducks

First full week of school

We have all officially been back in school one week and are still adjusting to the early start and longer school day. School begins at 8:15 and lets out at 3:15 each day. The kids are up at 6:45 and out the door by 7:30 to be at school on time.

They are enjoying new friends and both say they really like it here. I am not sure if Miss Yamada’s class rabbit, Gracie, the turtles the 5^th grade teacher is getting and oh yeah, you can share food at this school, have anything to do with their perspectives.

Bob and I are busy with lesson plans and teaching. I have two classes and spend about as much time prepping as Bob does for 3 times as many classes. I am really enjoying my English class and made my first vocabulary test yesterday. We will take our first test in my class tomorrow. The students are great and the staff really supportive. We are glad to be here and establishing a new school year routine.

We attended Nara International Christian Church (NICC) on Sunday. The Sunday service is in English and translated into Japanese. We are looking for the right church and plan to attend a few more in our area. There are not many churches with English services each week and many are an hour or more away by train or car.

The pastor and his wife hosted a BBQ after service that lasted until 4:30. We met many wonderful people, ate great food and even met a gentleman who attended Eastern Washington University when I was there. Amazing how small the world feels when that happens. He is a huge Seattle Seahawks and Mariners fan, go figure!?

Donna Reddington and friends at the NICC BBQ

Please pray we will soon find a church community where our whole family will thrive.  There are not many Sunday school options in English in our area. NICC has forty members and is pretty large for a Japanese Christian church. I anticipate we will be back again in the next couple of weeks since we all liked it so much.

Still waiting for our car and internet service but we are making progress. We now have the parking space approved and they are coming next week to pull the internet cabling into the house. Not having a car or internet service is inconvenient but we are managing. Just means more planning and prep time on our part for grocery shopping, getting to school and all internet communications must be completed on campus.

We made it through our first typhoon. It was not as exciting as it sounds. We had rain for 9 days straight and yesterday was just like a really heavy rain storm. We shuttered our windows only to have a friend tell us Heguri does not get that kind of typhoon activity. Because we are in a valley and virtually land locked, and typhoons generally mean heavy winds and rain our way. More frequently just A LOT of rain. So our shutters are now open again, and it has stopped raining this morning.

This past week one of my favorite people and biggest fans passed away. My grandmother, Sheela Stevens died September 2, 2015 at the age of 90. She was an amazing woman. She was so strong, loving and caring. Her support and love have been constants all my life. I lovingly nicknamed her “Plain Grandma” as a child because I did not want to explain which grandmother I was talking about when I said grandma. In my mind Plain Grandma was grandma Sheela. She signed my birthday cards and notes, “Plain Grandma” all my life. She loved well, whether it was baking your favorite cookies, attending a special event or remembering your birthday. She made you feel special and deeply loved.

I will miss her notes of encouragement, blessings and reminders she loved me. She was the kind that hugged you so tightly you just knew she could not get enough of you. I am grateful she is at peace now, free from her earthly body and with the Jesus. I admire her for so many reasons and I rejoice knowing one day I will see her again in Heaven. May we all love as well as she did. I am indeed blessed to have been loved so richly, fully and unconditionally by her. I love you my dearest Plain Grandma.

Grandma Sheela aka "Plain Grandma" at her 90th birthday.

 One last note, thank you to our faithful supporters. We really appreciate your commitment to pray for us as well as your generosity. We are grateful for your partnership and are excited about what God is doing in Japan and at Kansai Christian School.

In Christ,

The Chadducks

Highlights since my last entry

I am writing to you overflowing with joy. I was just at Kansai Christian School (KCS) this morning for the start of the 2015-2016 school year. There were introductions of new staff, students, a time of worship, a brief message by the school Chaplin as well as announcements regarding fall after school activities. What an experience to be in the midst of parents, teachers and students representing six different nationalities all joined together in unison worshiping the Lord. It was amazing! We are so incredibly blessed to be a part of what God is doing here at KCS.

So many new experiences and adventures it is hard to select only a few. I would like to tell you everything but I know it would be boring compared to living it so I will just give you the highlights.

We were blessed a week ago to have dinner at the Magner’s. They invited new KCS staff and their families for taco rice. It was a wonderful chance to interact with families in our community and socialize with other new teachers. Since then, the Magner's got us in touch with a mechanic friend and found us a car!

The Chadduck' New (Used) Car!

The car thing here is really hard to understand. Basically this family is giving us the car for free and we need to pay the shaken (maintenance so it will pass inspection). This shaken is no small deal though and it can be fairly costly if the car is old but ours is a 2003 with only 75K on it! The shaken comes due every two years and must be completed in order to license a car. Seems like a great deal to me. This car would sell for way more in the states. Apparently the general rule is most people would rather purchase a newer car than pay the shaken to maintain an aging car that is still running with low miles.

This is a HUGE answer to prayer and we hope to have the car in a couple of weeks. Also, get this, we had to obtain a form from the police station verifying we have parking space. Apparently the police will come to our house next week and measure our parking space to confirm our car fits in our carport. I guess that is why houses and streets are neat and tidy around here.

We made a few large purchases for the house this week from the Recycle store (thrift store with all kinds of housing items). One being an electric washing machine and I for one am really grateful! I had to do laundry by hand this week. No, I am serious, and as I type this I cannot believe I did it! It took over two hours and then I had to hang it out on our balcony to dry. We are having unseasonably rainy weather which makes drying clothes outside virtually impossible. It took two days for the clothes to not feel damp to the touch. I am so thrilled to have this washing machine! The limiting factor now is I may only wash as many loads as I have space to hang up on the balcony. Oh well, definatley first world problems right!?

All the controls are in Japanese but I am figuring it out.

The other item I am thrilled to have is our kitchen hutch. We were desperate for additional counter and storage space. Now we are able to move the microwave (given to us by another teacher for FREE) and our toaster oven off the gas stove. We had them stacked one on top of the other and had to relocate them each time we needed to use the stove. Amazing how you take things for granted until you do not have them. 

Kitchen hutch with additional counter space.

We had one last bit of summer fun last Friday and went to the Osaka aquarium with two former home-stay students.The aquarium is one of the worlds’ largest and it took about four hours to walk through. They have a whale shark on display that is about 20 feet long as well as a really interesting jelly fish exhibit. We enjoyed taking the hour train ride to Osaka as well. There is a really long tunnel we travel through to get from Heguri to Osaka through the mountain.

The population of Osaka is roughly 8,894,000 and I was so impressed by the cleanliness and organization of the city for its size. I knew we were in a huge city because of all the concrete, trains and roads but it was so orderly and quite for being so enormous. Really exciting to actually be in Osaka after looking at it for months on Google maps. So cool! I still cannot believe we are ACTUALLY here!

Osaka Aquarium

Amazing Jelly Fish Exhibit

So as I mentioned earlier, school started today, Wednesday, 9/2/2015 at 8:15 a.m. The kids packed up their backpacks last night with new supplies, put on new clothes this morning and we walked to school. They were pretty good sports about my traditional first day of school picture in front of our house. Truth is I think we were all pretty excited to start the school year.

First day of school 2015 - 20216 Kansai Christian School

I could go on but I will save the rest for next week. May God bless you and keep you. We think of family and friends often and send our love you.

The Chadducks

  

Heguri, Japan - We Made it!

Thank you to the Pelland’s, M. Chadduck’s, Van Horn’s, Milewski’s, Garrett’s, auntie Beth and Jackie who helped us pack the house, provided timely play dates and fed us when our kitchen was boxed. Thank you also to friends, family and neighbors who had us over for dinners and visits prior to our departure. We really appreciate all of your kindness and generosity!

We arrived Thursday, August 13^th, 2015 at Kansai International airport. Our baggage made it through to Osaka and we had only one brief delay in Spokane prior to departure. The twelve hour flight to Taipei, Taiwan went quickly and we slept about half of the trip. We are now officially residents of Heguri, Japan and are settling into our new home.

Chadduck Family at Kansai International Airport

Our house has hardwood floors and tatami mats throughout, is very efficient and presently is really hot and humid. We are busy making the house our home, setting up the kids’ rooms, buying a refrigerator, toaster oven and such. I have been startled by a gecko and a large cockroach so far (about two inches in length). I am hoping these critters are only temporary guests.

We sleep on futons, (think camping pads with colorful covers), eat breakfast from our toaster over and drink coffee from our electric kettle. We are grateful to the Dugan’s, Clark’s, Sainio’s and Miss Yamada who have been wonderful helping us get settled. We are a five minute walk to the train station and twenty-five minute walk to school. 

We rode the train to Ikoma and met some of our Mukogowa Fort Wright Institute (MFWI) students. It was great to see the students in Japan and catch up. They left the states nine months ago so this was a much anticipated visit. We went out to lunch and they introduced some members of our family to octopus?!

Train ride with MFWI students 

Trying octopus, she said it was really good?!

We met a retired neighbor who hosts a conversational English class for the elderly. He offered us a place to live after he realized we were native English speakers. As best we could deduce, if we taught at his English class, he would provide us with a place to live. We thought we must be mistaken but graciously declined and let him know we already have jobs.

The residents are very friendly, striking up conversations and asking where we are from. I am sure this is in part to being in a small community where everyone knows each other.  We have been to our classrooms at Kansai Christian School (KCS), City Hall where we registered as residents, and the local bakery about one block from our house. The weather reminds me of Hawaii where it may be pouring rain in the morning and by noon it is muggy, bright and sunny the rest of the day.

Kansai Christian School

Bob's homeroom

I made my first trip to buy groceries and found stuff to make pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers and ham sandwiches. I had trouble finding mayonnaise and to ask a local if I was looking at mayo. After some charades and using what little Japanese vocabulary I have, I was able to decipher I had picked up low fat mayo and traded it out for regular.

We are enjoying the experience and getting use to the weather. I guess it has been unseasonably cool this week and we are appreciating the milder temperatures. I will begin posting updates on a regular schedule once we have internet access at the house. They were able to turn on the power and water the first day we arrived however, apparently it takes about a month to get internet set up.

We are all excited for school to start and get into a routine. In the meantime, we are exploring our surroundings and getting acquainted with our community.

Local wildlife are about 10 minute walk from our house

In Christ,

The Chadducks

One week until departure

We are grateful for our friends, family and faith communities who have been so generous and helpful as we wrap up our house and time in Spokane. What am amazing group of cheerleaders and friends we have!

Sunday, July 26th, we addressed the congregation at Summit Ridge and shared what God is doing in our family regarding Japan. What a special time with our faith community inviting them to partner with us on this journey and having them pray for our family. This time was bitter sweet saying goodbye to so many but also acknowldging what God is doing.

Friday, July 31st, we met several families at Silverwood for our annual trip to the waterpark. We had a great time and closed the park. Our family spent one last night in the trailer at the lake after we returned from Silverwood.

I admit, I was sad as we watched the trailer pull away. So many memories of the trailer when the kids were little. Lots of laughs around our little table playing hearts, eating cold cereal and them picking thimble berries along the road. Though I am excited about what lies ahead, I was meloncholy and emotional to close the chapter.

Our beloved little trailer at the lake

We spent the rest of the day at the lake Saturday and were blessed by a young osprey who seemed content to perch near us and hang out for an unusually long time. The weather was perfect, kids played in the water all day and as we prepared to leave there was and incredible sunset.

Young Osprey who hung out with us during breakfast

Today, we were commissioned by Bethany International Ministries via Skype. During chapel they introduced all the couples being sent out into the mission field. We are one of three couples going out in the next month. One family is going to Panama, one to Kenya and we are headed to Japan.

The Director of International Missions said one year ago they did not have anyone in process to send out so they prayed the Lord would send laborers into the harvest. Today they have 27 couples who are in the process of being commissioned. What an amazing and faithful God we serve.

We are grateful to be part of something so wonderful and a part of such an incredible faith community in Summit and Bethany. Only God in his great wisdom knew we would go out as missionaries if he first called us as teachers to Japan. I am in awe of what He set in motion two years ago in our hosting students and now we are moving to Japan! So incredibly excited to see God show up and navigate this journey with us.

They prayed Psalm 138:8 over us at chapel today, "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of your hands".  I am reminded this was His idea before we caught onto the plan and He is leading us through this adventure.

One of my favorite places on earth

My next post will likley be from Japan next week. Ready for the adventure to begin!

God bless you all,

The Chadducks

  

One month until departure

Let me catch you up on the Chadduck Family activities since my last post in May. Seems I completely missed June with all the activity at work and wrapping up my position at Sacred Heart.

Bob, Stephanie and I all ran Bloomsday this year and I must admit I am impressed with Stephanie's performance. She finished only five minutes after I did and ran her fastest Bloomsday ever posting 1:28.

The first weekend in June the Chadduck boys headed to Issaquah for the WA Cup. A lacrosse tournament on the west side hosting the best teams in WA state. This is where the heavy hitters show up and typically to put it plainly, we have had our backsides handed to us the past few years.

The South Hill Stingers played five games and went 5-0 on the weekend winning the Silver bracket of the WA Cup. They defeated some of the best teams in the state including Mercer Island and Bellevue who are heavy favorites in this tournament. They rarely lose but they did that weekend and we are really happy they did!

The Stingers finished the season 25-5-1 to wrap up a really great year with a fun group of parents and kids. Way to go Stingers we are so proud of you!

South Hill Stingers Lacrosse - 2015 WA Cup Silver bracket 5-0 on the weekend. Way to go Stingers, we are so
proud of you. Congratulations!

Matthew and Alex 

Stings Lacrosse 2015 - WA Cup

Mid June we traveled to Tri-Cities to celebrate Grandma Sheela's 90th birthday. What a great day celebrating one of my favorite people and also saying goodbye to many family and friends before we head to Japan.

Alex, Stephanie, mom, me and Grandma Sheela ,  Happy 90th Birthday!

The week school let out, Paul and Rickie Clark arrived from Kansai  for a couple of days. They were in the Pacific Northwest visiting churches, family and friends. We had a nice visit and they shared a wealth of information about living in Japan. What kind people with so many amazing experiences in the field. I was pleasantly surprised to learn Osaka has a Costco and I will be able to buy Dr. Pepper in Japan.

The end of June brought Hoopfest and oh so hot temperatures! Both Alex and Stephanie played again this year. Alex with a group from school, the "Smoking Piglets" and Stephanie with a couple of friends known as, "Just Net". Both teams lived to play on Sunday with Alex's team going 1 - 3 and Stephanie's team going 4 - 2. I admit, by late Saturday, I was relieved they lost so they did not have to play in the heat anymore.

Hoopfest 2015 - Smoking Piglets

 Hoopfest 2015 - Just Net

The first week of July was my last week at Sacred Heart and though I am relieved to be finished with the long hours, I am really going to miss my team. Such kind, thoughtful and fun loving women. We had a wonderful farewell dinner at the Davenport with much laughter and great memories. What a privilege to be part of such an amazing group of women. I am truly blessed to have worked with you all.

Lori, Bev, me, Kathy and Becky - (not pictured Candace and Shannon)

We officially kicked off summer with our annual 4th of July party at the lake. My parents came up for the week and we had a great time boating, fishing, eating, napping, golfing and catching up with family and friends whom we love dearly.

Alex w/a large mouth bass at Spirit Lake 

As I write this entry, the phone is ringing off the hook because Bob listed a bunch of stuff on Craigslist. So far today he has given away the "kids cave" couch, TV and has a buyer stopping buy tomorrow morning to look at another piece of furniture.

The Jeep went up for sale today as well, and between the time I went to lacrosse practice with Alex this evening and returned, it sold too! To put it in Alex's words, "Well, this makes it seem all the more real now". I have to agree. I know we are going, we have visa's in hand, and are saying our goodbyes but for some reason, giving away your stuff and selling one of your cars seems like, oh my...this is really happening.

We are one month from departure and continue to learn a lot about Japan, the school and ourselves as we push forward with this adventure. I regularly get asked if I am scared and the answer is no. I am really not scared, just excited and ready to begin our adventure. The tough part is having so many details to wrap up here while our minds are shifting towards life in Heguari.

Our support is growing steadily as we share our plans with those who are interested. We are so grateful for the prayers, financial support and warm, loving gestures of friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. I am really touched and overwhelmed by the genuine, kind expressions of friendship and excitement others have shared with us as we prepare to leave the states.

Praise be to God who is faithful and has blessed us richly with true friendship and a strong faith community. I apologize this post is so long. I will try to post more frequently and keep them shorter in the future. I had a months worth of activities to catch up on so now you are in the know.

In Christ,

Bob, Kelly Alex and Stephanie Chadduck

Less than three months until departure

We continue to make preparations for our departure August 11, 2015. 

Bought one way airline tickets recently. We fly through Taipei, Taiwan then to Kansai International Airport. We will leave August 11 and arrive August 13th. The kids will have more stamps in their passports at ages 10 & 13 than I had at 28. Makes a definite impression when you actually write a departure date on your calendar.

I received my ACSI Educator Certificate yesterday so I am now credentialed to teach Secondary English at KCS. I have been working with staff at KCS to select grammar text books and the Great Gatsby as our first novel in the fall.

We had a few leads from neighbors and friends regarding potential renters. Met with a couple last week and it looks like they will rent our house for the next year.

Missionary cards and Christmas letters went out last week updating family and friends about what we are doing and our move to Japan in August. 

 

Reality continues to set in as we wrap up the school year and work. I do better when I do not think about what we are leaving but what we are being called to in Japan. We Skyped with several staff at Bethany International last Friday and I was very inspired and encouraged to hear about the organization. 

They helped to cast a vision about what we are being called to in Japan and specifically at KCS. They also gave us a better understanding of the spiritual climate and significant need in Japan. Apparently a large church in Japan consists of 20 to 30 people. Hard to believe when you consider the millions of people in the country. 

When I am reminded it is God who has called us to this adventure I get excited and the excitement carries me through all the details that need to be addressed before we actually get on the plane.

I continue to camp out on 2 Thessalonians 5:24 "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."  

Grateful for His grace and faithfulness,

K. Chadduck