Obeying God's Call

God decided to begin our year with a huge transition, which we are feeling lots of emotions about -- so let me try to give you all the abridged version of what is going on.

Last fall Joel was offered a position working with the leadership of the Mito Church of Christ in Mito, Japan. Since Joel is my supervisor and I have one year remaining in my apprenticeship, the Mito church agreed to invite me as well. At first, I was not at all convinced that God wanted me to leave Sendai, but in December, He revealed to me a vision for the work that we could be part of in Mito. I was convinced then that God has opened an opportunity to leave to work in Sendai, heartbreaking as that idea is, and join with the Mito church. Joel has been invited to help in the spiritual development of the youth and young adults, work with the leadership to enrich fellowship and worship and, hopefully sometime in the future, partner with the Mito church in their goal of planting more churches in the city and in other parts of Japan. I will continue to study and practice Japanese, and I am hopeful that God will give me a chance to build relationships in which I can be give and receive spiritual mentoring.

In January, we made the final decision to accept the invitation to move to Mito in faith that God's hand is guiding us there. It has been heartwrenching to begin preparing to separate ourselves from Sendai -- we've been telling our close friends individually in Sendai and Hachinohe, and since the Mito church was able to announce the decision last Sunday, I can now share the news with all of you. Joel and I are, of course, concerned about the future of the Sendai church family, but we know that the Holy Spirit is in control.

Debi has accepted a position at the Christian Academy in Japan, an international school in the Tokyo area -- she will be moving there in August. Akiko with be getting married and moving with her husband to Yokohama. Also, Gaku has decided that it would be best for him spiritually to move to Mito with Joel and me. So that will leave only 4 regular attending members here at the Sendai church. They will be faced with some difficult decisions regarding the future of the church, so please join us in praying for them.

We will be moving at the beginning of April, and Joel will be gone to Southeast Asia for most of March. So we have made a few trips to Mito already to look for housing and make other arrangements for our move -- Gaku is also looking for a job, and we are trying to sort through all of the things in our house and pack most things up before Joel has to leave.

Also, God has blessed me with a few new supporters and some people have given one-time donations, for which I am so thankful -- I was able to receive my regular salary for February. However, the monthly support committed for my salary and ministry fund is still only about half of what is needed. So please, please continue to pray about that on my behalf. And if you know anyone at all who might be willing to help, please let them know about my needs. I know God will provide, so please be listening prayerfully to hear if you are part of his plan to provide for this work.

Please pray with me . . .

~a praise for the way that God has spoken so clearly to Joel, Gaku and me. I am so thankful for all the ways that God has worked to show us that we should make this transition now, and for the ways that God has begun to clear the path for each of us, as we maneuver all of the difficult part of moving and changing jobs.

~that God will help Gaku to find a good job in Mito, with Sundays off, so that he can attend worship and have more opportunities to connect with the Mito church community.

~that Joel (and his mom, who will also be traveling to Japan and Southeast Asia next month) will have safe travels and lots of opportunities to be a blessing to the mission work in Cambodia.

~that God will provide financially for me to continue living the life to which I have been called. (And also, please pray that I will have peace in this season of higher financial stress because of this move, taxes and other higher-than-usual expenses.)

~for the Sendai church family -- that they will have wisdom to make the best decision for the church, and that they will continue to feel loved and supported by those of us who are being called away from Sendai this year.

~for Debi, Akiko, Gaku, Joel and I -- we are all excited about the opportunities that God has opened for us in other places, but we are all sad to be leaving our friends in Sendai. Please pray that we will have time and emotional strength to show the love we feel and say the goodbyes that we need to say in order to make this transition as smooth as possible for our hearts and for those of our close friends we are leaving behind.

These next couple of months will continue to be very busy and very full of packing, goodbyes, cleaning, planning, praying and traveling. I need your prayers!