New Beginnings
Even though January is the official New Year, April feels more like the beginning of the Year. You see in Japan everything starts in April. Fiscal year starts in April, school year starts the first week of April where Chloe entered 6th grade and Ethan 4th grade. Recent college grads entering the workforce all start their careers in April with an Entrance Ceremony. And my birthday is in April. I turned 54! What?!?
A big project that took up most of February and March was renovating the floors in two joining rooms we spend the majority of our time for all things family and ministry. In January, we had some unexpected financial blessings from a couple of our supporters that allowed us change the tatami to completely weatherize the crawl space, insulate, install a subfloor, and wood flooring. What a difference it makes in temperature and humidity levels. We are so grateful!
Other new experiences we have enjoyed this spring are various visiting missionaries from Singapore and Australia that came to love, serve and encourage churches in Kagoshima through the first ever Pastor’s Conference held in March. And in April we had another group that came to love on our kids at CASA as well as offer support to Christian professionals on how to live out their faith in the workplace. What a blessing it has been to welcome and be encouraged by these groups who are a part of the Love Japan Movement that was formed out of Singapore churches. We look forward to hosting two more groups already scheduled to come next week and in late August.
We also had Japan Younglife leaders, Daisuke and Cheryl from Chiba (just outside of Tokyo) come and stay with us for some rest and relaxation as part of their spring break and anniversary celebration. It was such a pleasure having them here, sharing Kagoshima food and showing them around Kagoshima.
Co-laboring Efforts
We have been growing deeper in relationship with many pastors in the Kagoshima area and are now beginning discussions on ways we can unite as the body of Christ to reach, love and serve the people of Kagoshima. One of the local pastor’s opened up their home to host the first Pastor’s Lunch where fellowship and friendships were forged allowing space for conversations to share struggles and successes we all experience as well as cast vision for the future of the big C – Church in Kagoshima.
We are redefining the meaning of church hopping as an outreach for our local community of Christ followers to visit area churches in and around Kagoshima. We know this will be a way to encourage and to be encouraged as well as promote unity and future opportunities to co-labor in various ways. The average church size in Kagoshima is roughly 15-20 people with many elderly making up the majority of those numbers. We welcome and invite God to use these efforts to expand our reach as one unified body.
Summer Plans
One of our big summer plans is – we WILL NOT be going to the U.S. this summer! We will definitely miss this time but we made a commitment to God to allow other things to happen in place of us going! We expect and know God will do big things in, through and around us because of this decision.
Prayer Requests
We see change and growth coming in mission and ministry. We are excited about what God is doing and how he will use our family and our community. Please pray for wisdom, direction, protection and provision as we our willing to be used in whatever capacity God calls us.
We are preparing for change regarding Chloe’s and Ethan’s education. We have sought out and continue to have discussions with other missionaries with decades of experience being raised in Japan and/or raising their kids in Japan. Our desire is an International Christian Education not just for the education but also for the socialization with English speaking children. This would require a move inside Japan and also a hefty education investment. One exploratory step we are looking to make is sending Chloe and Ethan to an English Bible Camp in Tokyo. We could really use your prayers as we continue to educate ourselves on options and opportunities for our kids to grow alongside other Christians their age.