This past week both Tomo and I each took a one hour driving lesson in preparation for taking the test to acquire our Japanese drivers license. Since we arrived we’ve been using an international driver’s license that expires in April. Getting a license is much more difficult here in Japan than in California. Normally everyone has to enroll in a driving school for about 6 months (at a cost of up to $5,000 or more), after which they have to pass a written test, and a closed course behind the wheel test, which nearly everyone fails at least once (and according to the guy who gives the exam here, it’s not unusual for foreigners to fail it 10 times. We think he was exaggerating.)
Because both of us have a valid US license, we’re exempt from enrolling in driving school, and only have to pass the written and behind the wheel exam. Recently a couple of our missionary friends have taken and passed the test with varying degrees of difficulty. One friend failed it three times, while another managed to pass it on his second try. Please keep us in prayer over the next few weeks. Tomo’s California license expires in April, so our plan is for Tomo to try to get hers first, and then me second. In Wednesday and Thursday we’ll go to file an application to take the test, which includes an interview where they want to establish that we’ve had sufficient experience driving in the US in order to be exempt from taking driving school. After that we’ll gate dates for actually taking the test, and see how many tries it takes us. Please pray that we do well, and that the weather doesn’t get too snowy and icy, in which case they don’t let you take the exam.
One big praise is that our December giving report came in, and we’re praising God for His provision and your generosity. We received more support in December than in any other month this year (or at any time since we started support raising for that matter). Our goal was to raise an additional $6,000 at year end in order to cover our needs in 2014, and praise God for providing $5,700 above our normal needs from October through December!
Our two biggest concerns are, first that Tomo can pass the test before her California license expires (if she doesn’t, she’ll likely have to enroll in driving school), and second that we can both pass before our international licenses expire in March (if we don’t we won’t be allowed to drive in Japan till we pass the test, which will make things pretty complicated for a bit).
A few other things that we would appreciate prayer for are:
- There is an English Cafe on Friday that we’ll be helping with. Please pray that God will bring non-believers and for Him to work in the hearts of those who come to draw them to Himself. Pray that His gospel would be clearly presented that those who come might hear and believe.
- We’ll be returning to the US for home service next year, in 2015, but we’re still struggling to figure out a workable Visa solution for Tomo. So far all the options that we’ve come up with will require us to spend at least some time separated.
- We have to file Japanese and US taxes soon, and expect it to be somewhat complicated. Pray that everything goes smoothly, and that our estimations were accurate and that we saved up enough to be able to pay our Japanese taxes.
- For me to be able to learn lots and lots of Kanji really quickly. I have a small Kanji test tomorrow.
We had a wonderful time chatting with three of our prayer partners during our first Google Hangouts, and look forward to planning another one sometime in the future. Life in a new culture, learning a new language, preparing for a new vocation, constantly meeting new people is challenging and stressful basically all the time, yet it’s a huge blessing and encouragement to know that you are praying for us, standing behind us and serving with us here in Japan.