News

Last Sunday at church we were prayed over by the deacons and officially appointed as cooperating missionaries at Morioka Bible Baptist Church, starting our two year term where I’ll be serving as an intern, helping with various church ministries in Morioka as well as other churches throughout the prefecture, particularly those on the coast. Please pray for God’s guidance and direction during this time, that we will faithful to build up the church in Morioka, and that God will fully prepare and equip us for future ministry in church planting in the coastal areas after our time in Morioka is fulfilled.

Tomorrow I’ll be going down to Ofunato Bible Baptist Church, our sister church on the coast which is currently without a pastor. Once a month Pastor Kondo and I attend their monthly prayer meeting. The church was badly damaged in the Tsunami, it’s members scattered, and shortly after their interim Pastor resigned. They currently have only three church members. However there is one new believer who is going through a baptism class in preparation for joining the church, and the 3.11 Network has a base in that town and has been active in reaching out to survivors living in temporary housing since the Tsunami occurred. As a result the love of Christ has been demonstrated and proclaimed on a regular basis for the past four years. Pastor Kondo will also meet with a lady who has expressed an interest in hearing about the gospel when we go visit tomorrow.

We’ve been very busy lately preparing to move into a new home in the beginning of June, as well as getting things ready for our trip back to the US towards the end of June. Please pray that we get everything packed and moved over without too much trouble, and that we can get everything done before we leave. Pray for us as a family that we can avoid getting too stressed out with so much happening all at once, and that we’ll be able to get some good rest while on home service. We’re going to take a few days vacation in Korea as we have a layover there on the way back, which we are looking forward too.

This past Sunday the church voted to officially accept as cooperating missionaries for the next two years! We continue to be humbled by God’s grace in leading us to this church, and for the opportunity to both serve and learn there during the next two years.

It’s the start of the fiscal year here in Japan, and for churches that means a lot of meetings. In the past month I’ve attended numerous Pastors meetings, congregational meetings, deacon meetings, 3.11 Network meetings and denominational meetings. It’s been a little exhausting but I’ve been able to meet many pastors, missionaries and staff workers involved in ministry here in Iwate, as well as gain a better understanding of how everyone is connected and what sort of ministries are taking place. I feel that in the future as these relationships with churches and pastors grow they will prove invaluable to the work God is calling us to.

However for the moment our focus in on our upcoming home service which is now less than 2 months away. We’re in the process of preparing updates to give to all our supporting churches, and getting new brochures and prayer cards made so that we can keep all of you informed as to what God is doing here in Japan. We can’t wait to see many of you this Summer!

We are still in searching for a vehicle to use over the Summer, so if you or someone you know has an extra car you would be willing to let us borrow during our time in the states, please let us know.

We’ve also decided to move to a new house just before we leave. A friend at church who’s mother recently moved in with her, is offering to rent her mother’s house at a very reasonable rate. It will save us about $150 a month in rent, so the sooner we can move the better. This is going to make the next two months even more busy than they already are, so please pray that everything will go smoothly and that we can get the help needed to pull this off.

God has been so faithful to guide and direct us during our first term here, and we have seen Him work in so many different ways. It’s exciting to see the doors He is opening throughout the prefecture, and we can’t wait to share in person about what He is doing when we come visit this Summer!

A lot has been happening since our last update and with the sudden transition from language school to ministry it feels a little like jumping right into the deep end. Even as we struggle a little to adapt to new schedules and responsibilities, it’s also a huge blessing to be able take this next step in serving God here in Japan.

Since our last update we’ve had two meetings with church leadership to clarify what my role will be at the church over the next two years. I’ve been able to go down to the coast twice to participate in a variety of events and outreaches. I’ve also begun attending weekly meetings with the 3.11 Network staff involved in coastal outreach. We’re praising God that my teacher from my language school who goes to our church is able to tutor me so that I can continue to improve in Japanese, and that I was able to find and meet with a young man who is very excited to be a conversation partner.

• During our meeting with Pastor Kondo we set the following goals for my internship at Morioka Bible Baptist Church.
  Gain ministry experience which can be applied to building up and or starting churches on the coast by serving in an established church.
  Improve in Japanese ability by using it in practical everyday situations and speaking opportunities.
  Discover God’s direction for where to serve after internship by participating in various coastal ministries.
• Initially I’ll be simply participating in many different ministries, including Bible studies, prayer meetings and events at the church, and as my language ability improves start to move into more active roles such as giving short messages and leading Bible studies. Additionally I’ll be going to the coast frequently to help with events as needed (and there are always many needs). Also once a month I’ll be attending a prayer meeting with our sister church in the coastal town of Ofunato, where they have just three members and no Pastor of their own. Please bray for God to rebuild His church in Ofunato.

We were overjoyed to witness the start of Sanriku Hope Christ Church which will be holding services in Kamaishi and Yamada. Tomo’s father has been working in partnership with missionaries and Japanese Christians in this area since the Tusnami hit, and this church is the fruit of that ministry. Please be praying for the church to grow and for Tomo’s father who was already pretty busy managing the relief ministry and now is going back into full time pastoring as well. I believe this is the third church to be plant in Iwate to be started since our arrival here in Japan!

Additionally this past week we also welcomed a new church planter who has moved to Morioka with the hope of planting another church somewhere on the coast. He is working in partnership with South Morioka Church, where my brother and his family are serving. It’s really exciting to see God working to start churches in Iwate. Before the tsunami there was a long period where there were no new churches being planted, and even some attempted church plants being forced to be abandoned due to the difficulty of reaching people. Yet in God’s faithfulness and perfect timing it appears that a new season of church planting is beginning in this prefecture. We trust that it is for such a time as this that God has brought us here.

Last week, by God’s grace I completed my course of full time language study, graduating from Morioka Business Information School’s Japanese language program. It’s hard to believe that this period of full time Japanese study is over, but I’m very excited to begin to get more opportunities to put what I’ve learned into practice and begin serving the church here in Morioka as well as having more time to be able to participate in the coastal ministries that continue to bless the survivors of the earthquake and Tsunami that happened four years ago.

Thursday will mark the fourth anniversary of the Tsunami and despite the passage of so much time, thousands throughout the prefecture have yet to be moved into permanent homes. However it seems that this is perhaps finally the year when the majority of those who lost homes in the disaster will be moved into permanent housing. This is a both a source of joy and anxiety for those in transition. Joy in opportunity to move on, and anxiety in leaving the new communities and friendships that were established among the survivors who lived and struggled together in temporary housing parks over the last four years.

Yesterday we attended a gathering of the 3/11 Network staff and churches to learn about the current state of ministry and continue to commit ourselves to serving these communities in the hopes of reaching them with the Gospel of Salvation through Christ, through continued expressions of His love for them both in words and deeds. It was amazing to see the little church we met in nearly bursting at the seams with international missionaries, Japanese relief staff, pastors, and volunteer church members, all with a heart to reach out to those who have been affected by the disaster.

In little ways here and there we are beginning to see the fruit of that labor. Tomo’s father is planting a church which will be meeting in one of the coastal cities that previously did not have any Christian churches in it’s borders. Opportunities to share the gospel are increasing, and we’ve heard testimonies of new believers coming to faith. It is into this environment that we find ourselves preparing to serve, in God’s perfect timing. Pray for wisdom, for boldness and that we will be used by God to build up His church in Iwate, and to preach the gospel to those who are in such great need of God’s mercy.

By God’s grace I survived my final exams at language school. They were incredibly difficult, and I haven’t gotten my results back but I’m still on track to graduate on March 4th! Prior to coming to Japan I was really involved in a lot of ministry at our home church in California, so it’s been sort of an odd feeling being in school full time, and being unable to participate much in church ministry due to my limited language ability. I’m really excited to finally be able to start helping out more and seeing the ways that God can use us as we begin the internship phase of ministry here in Japan.

We’ll be meeting first with our Pastor next week, and then with some of the other ministry leaders at the church the week after that, to talk about the areas that I can help out in. As my language ability grows our prayer is that I’ll be able to preach on occasion, as well as helping with coastal ministries and outreach at our church in Morioka. Currently in Iwate there are more churches than Pastors, so there is always a need for someone to preach somewhere, with Pastors having to rotate around frequently to minister to believers all over the prefecture.

We’re praising God that Tomo’s father is planting a new church among the coastal cities of Kamaishi, Otsuchi and Yamada, which will be officially launching next month. Please be praying for him as he leads this new church, and for the seekers who have been attending Bible studies and outreach events over the course of relief ministry which has been ongoing since the Tsunami nearly 4 years ago.

I’ll also be continuing to study Japanese, Lord willing under the guidance of a tutor. Please pray that I’ll be able to continue to get better at speaking as I begin serving the church. We were also hoping that I could find a conversation partner to practice with on a regular basis, so Tomo’s mom asked her physical therapist if he’d be interested, and he said yes. I haven’t gotten spoken with him yet, but please pray that this will work out and that I can be witness to him even as he helps me practice Japanese.

Finally we’re also getting really close to our first home service. We’re tentatively planning to be in the states from June 26 – August 19. Thanks to God’s amazing provision and your generosity we have all the funds needed for travel arrangements, and are planning on purchasing plane tickets in March. We’re also in need of a place to stay from the time that we arrive until August 1, at which time we’re planning on going to stay with my parents. Currently my brother and his family are back in the US also on home service, and they are staying with my parents till the end of July (not enough room for all of us!). We’re also in need of a car to borrow during the three months that we’ll be in the US. If you are able to help with any of these needs, or know of someone who can, please let us know!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It’s amazing to see how God has brought us this far, and we can’t wait to begin this next stage of ministry and see the ways that He will work in the coming months and years here in Northern Japan!

First off, I’d just like to share a big praise report. We just got our December giving report from JEMS and were totally blown away at the generosity that was reflected in it. Thank you all so much for your support, and a special thank you to those of you who gave year end gifts. Through you God provided above and beyond even what we asked for in our year end letter. As a result we have all the funds needed in order to cover our travel expenses back to the US this Summer for home service, as well as enough to supplement our monthly support throughout most of the 2015.

As I’ve mentioned before, our monthly support is currently low, however God has been providing through people who have given special gifts as He enables. One of our big focuses for our time in the US this Summer is to find more monthly financial partners so that we can serve without interruption here in Japan for the long term. Our first two years in Japan has been quite a lesson in trusting God, and we’re constantly humbled by God’s relentless faithfulness towards us in spite of our own lack of faith at times. Thank you for your faithfulness, generosity and partnership as we continue to press on to accomplish the calling which God has laid before us.

Last Friday we had our January English Cafe. At the end I shared from the Bible about the parable of the unmerciful servant, explaining how God’s abundant forgiveness enables and compels us to forgive others. Pray that the non-believers in attendance would be confronted with the weight of their own debt of sin towards God, and be drawn to His generous offer of total forgiveness through Christ.

Language school has been challenging lately, as I approach the end of my full time term of study. I met with a disappointing set back when I received the results of the N2 Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Unfortunately I did not pass. My intention was always to continue studying after I was done with school, so now this gives me some clear goals to work towards in the coming months, during which I hope to be able to study part time with a tutor. Despite this my confidence in speaking Japanese is rapidly improving, and communicating in Japanese is becoming easier and easier, for which I am very thankful.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support. The last few weeks have been exhausting on many levels, yet God continues to sustain us and remind us of His goodness. THank you for standing behind us and supporting us.

After returning to Morioka from our trip to Tokyo we promptly packed up again and headed up to the mountains for a church winter retreat. But before that we helped my brother and his family move out of their house and saw them leave to head back to the US for their first home service since they arrived in Morioka two years ago. We’re going to miss having them around, and Titus will certainly miss seeing his cousins on a regular basis, but we’ll see them again in about 6 months when we also head back to the US for our first home service.

While Tokyo was relatively warm (rarely did the temperature drop below the high 40s) and snow free, Morioka is cold and covered in ice, and when we went up to the mountains for our church retreat we spent time in a beautiful camp covered in over a meter of light fluffy powdered snow. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with our church family here in Japan, and for me one of the best opportunities to practice Japanese since my arrival. One highlight was playing a game of “Mafia” in Japanese, there’s nothing like the motivation of trying to convince people not to execute you to get over the nervousness of trying to speak a foreign language. Lately it feels like I’ve really turned a corner in Japanese speaking ability, I’m getting fairly comfortable at having one on one conversations with people (though I quickly get lost in group conversations which tend to flow much faster). At Prayer meeting last Wednesday I was able to share what I learned from the sermon on Sunday and my prayer requests without writing all that down ahead of time like I normally do. Please continue to pray that I am able to communicate well in Japanese, and particularly that I can navigate spiritual topics which is significantly more difficult than talking about the weather.

There are two college students at our church who recently became Christians, which is very exciting. One of them is a student at a college where Pastor Kondo teaches a class on Christianity, and the other is a student in Okinawa who took time off to come volunteer to help out Tsunami survivors. Both of their stories are quite unique and it has been a tremendous joy to see them at church every Sunday and to see the way that Christ is working in their lives. Pray that God works in the hearts of many more to bring salvation to the lost. Next Friday we’ll be having our January English Cafe, please pray that God would use this ministry to reveal the truth of His gospel to those who attend.

Thank you all for your faithfulness in praying for us, supporting us and helping us in so many other little and big ways throughout 2014! You are all such a blessing to us as we continue to adjust our new lives as missionaries in Japan and prepare for the work God is setting before us to do. It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly two years since we’ve first arrived, and yet so much has happened in that time. We became members of our receiving church here in Morioka. God blessed us with a beautiful baby girl. And in almost exactly 2 months I’ll be graduating from language school and starting out into full time church ministry here in Japan.

When I first arrived I knew just a few helpful phrases in Japanese, and now by God’s grace I’m able to carry on basic conversations, give announcements at church, share at prayer meetings, and with enough preparation time, even give short messages. I still have a difficult time communicating, and will continue to study Japanese long after I’m done with language school, yet the difference between where I was two years ago and now is pretty huge. Please pray that I continue to grow in my ability to communicate in Japanese, and that God uses me to speak for Him in this place.

After language school is finished in March we will begin getting more involved in our home church here in Morioka, while at the same time preparing for our first home service in the US from June to September (If any of you know of a place in South Orange County we can stay for a week to a few months during that time please let us know!). We’re looking forward to seeing my family, especially as there are two weddings and one new baby expected during our time there (not us having a new baby, my brother and his wife)! After returning to Japan in September I’ll begin serving as a missionary at our receiving church, helping with the ministry there as well as working with the 3/11 Network to participate in various ministries among the coastal towns. During this time I’ll be putting into practice and improving the Japanese I’ve learned, as well as gaining invaluable experience doing ministry in a Japanese context while serving under Pastor Kondo.

This past December we had to go to Tokyo to take Felicity to the US Embassy and get her US citizenship and passport taken care of. We also were blessed to be able to see all four of Tomo’s grandparents, and introduce them to their new great-granddaughter. We really enjoyed the “warm” weather, which rarely dropped below 40F and only snowed briefly. We had a wonderful time, but have now returned to our currently snow buried home town which despite being entirely different from California is somehow beginning to feel like home.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support, we hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and pray God’s Blessings upon you during this new year!