Spring & Summer 2012

Since last I blogged, there, of course, has been so much going on that I struggle to choose the best things to share. So this time, I will go with some monthly highlights. . .

April:

It is the beginning of the new fiscal year, which means, in a Japanese church, the massive year-end meeting. This meeting is actually required by law for all recognized religious organizations, but we have been blessed to be able to make it a time of celebrating what God has done over the past year, and then look forward to our hopes for the coming year.

I continue on in my role as treasurer for the Church of Christ East Japan Disaster Aid Committee. And the end of the fiscal year means financial summaries for donors in Japanese and English. And a detailed financial report in Japanese for the committee members. Honestly, that is a struggle for me -- I am not trained in or particularly passionate about financial records, but all of those reporting tasks are important and almost completely taken care of . . . four months later.

One really excellent discovery from this task was that when we crunched the numbers, we were really relieved and blessed to see that we are, indeed, using the money given in exactly the way we intended -- directing as much of the funds as possible to directly assisting those touched by the disaster. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for guiding us in our stewardship of the generosity of your kingdom.

May:

Mito church accepted a one-month intern from Singapore. Cailin was with us for the month of May, and for two weeks she taught one-on-one English Bible classes under my supervision. She also spent a week doing relief work, and she was able help out in lots of other little ways during her time in Mito. It was really wonderful to have her here. And I think that she was able to grow in her faith because of her experience serving in Japan.

At the end of Cailin's time in Japan, we took a group up to the church in Hachinohe. Some of you may remember that when Joel and I lived in Sendai, we visited the Hachinohe church once every month. It had been a year since I was able to visit that church family, and it felt so wonderful to worship with them. On the way home we were able to take two nights to spend some time on the west shore of Japan. It was my first time to see the Japan Sea, and it was so beautiful! I was refreshed to be able to spend some time praising God for the wonder of his creation.

June:

This year I have felt called to help more in supporting and caring for the English speaking members of Mito church, so I have the opportunity to organize our time together before worship service on Sunday mornings and our time on Wednesday evenings. On Sundays we are studying 2 Corinthians together. On Wednesday evenings we are spending time together in prayer.

We were also planning on starting up English Bible Class in June this year, but the church calendar was really full. So we postponed to September. When everyone comes back from their summer vacations we will begin EBC again.

Coming up:

Today we will leave for Southeast Asia. First up is about a week in Malaysia. Joel is hosting this year's Asia Mission Forum. And I am in charge of registration. So from July 28th to August 1st, we will be with 200 people, mostly from Asia, learning, worshipping and fellowshipping.

Then after that I will also be joining the team going to Cambodia. This time around we are opening a language school and ministry center called Banyan Community School. We are really excited about this school that is being supported by Mito church and Bedok Church of Christ in Singapore. Volunteers from both churches will be going to organize the official opening ceremony. We will have three Cambodian teachers, who will be able to teach English for free to around 100 children.

Please pray with me . . .

~a praise for all the good work that God is doing in his kingdom, specifically in Mito. We are so blessed by the guidance of his Holy Spirit. May he bind us together and use us to be a light in Japan and all over Asia.

~that all the many seekers that we have among us with come to faith. We are praying for them all the time, please join us.

~that God will continue to bless and protect my home and my roommates. They are my family, and the ways that God uses our household as a unit is so beautiful and precious. May we continue to be a light in our neighborhood and a place for people to gather and be encouraged and refreshed.

Furlough and More

As usual, the past few months have been very full. From the middle of January, I was able to spend about 5 weeks in America.

I traveled by car from Illinois to Wyoming and then to Tennessee. Along the way, I was blessed to visit with several of my supporters and share about the work in Japan. It was, of course, pretty exhausting to travel all that way by myself, but it was so important and really wonderful to see so many good friends. Thank you to everyone who listened to me talk a lot about Japan and God work here and all the people that I love.

I also got two sweet weeks with my family. My sister's wedding was beautiful. And it was good to have a little bit of a family vacation. Thanks to Megan and Taylor for inviting us to crash your honeymoon. I am so thankful for our time together.

And because it was furlough, there was also the issue of raising funds so that I can continue to work in Japan. God blessed that element too. Although my support situation remains a little unstable, I didn't loose some of the support that I thought I would. And I was blessed with a couple of new supporters. As I look at the next year or two, I remain short $300-$400 per month. In the next couple of months a few of my supporters are moving and changing job situations, so I am not sure what that will mean. Please pray with me about this, and please be on the lookout on my behalf for people and churches that might be able to send a little financial support my way.

In Japan, this is season of transition. March is the end of the fiscal year and the end of the school year -- everything in Japan seems to come to a close in March and start again in April. So that means that we are saying, "Farewell," to several of those who have been teaching English in Mito and serving God with Mito church. In April we will welcome a group of new teachers. I am sad to watch my friends go, but I am looking forward to getting to know the new ones who will arrive in about a month. It is a joy when we can all worship and serve together.

One of the ministries in which we all can serve together is the English Bible Class ministry. We had our closing party on March 4th -- and it was a great success. I was in America until about a week before the party. So I am especially thankful for all the teachers who worked hard to make the party a really great end to this year's EBC ministry.

This year Joel is hosting the Asia Mission Forum, and he has asked me to help with the registration. I am blessed by the opportunity to be part of preparing for this time together. This year's AMF will be held at the end of July in Kuching (Borneo, Malaysia). Please pray with me that this will be a time of refreshing and learning and connecting for missionaries and ministry workers from all over Asia.

At the end of this month, I celebrate two years in Mito. I am so thankful for the relationships that God has blessed me with -- it is so good to be part of his kingdom. And I am thankful for the opportunity I have to serve in Mito and grow with this group of people.

Please pray with me . . .

~that God will continue to heal the hearts of those touched by last year's disaster, and that he will continue to be with us as we try to be his hands, his feet, his voice here.

~for God to continue to guide the Mito church family to unity in him.

~that I will see the chances that God provides for me to build relationships that encourage and strengthen my friends and bring glory to him.

~that we will be full of hope -- hope in God, hope in one another, hope for the good things God will do through us and for us.

See ya later, 2011!

How do the months slip away so quickly?! Here we are, already in 2012!

Happy new year everyone! I hope that you got to spend your holidays with loved ones, eating delicious foods, celebrating and resting.

Here is what has been keeping me busy for the last couple of months:

Relief Work

I continue to serve as the treasurer of the national Church of Christ East Japan Disaster Relief Committee. Because of that role and because we all live in the same city, I am blessed to be able to continue to work closely with and support Joel and the three young Japanese people who were selected to organize and guide regular volunteer groups. As the work has changed over the past 9 months, my role has also grown and changed. It seems that I often end up taking care of the miscellaneous needs and whenever I can, offering support by taking over small tasks from teammates who are feeling overwhelmed. It makes my role hard to define, but basically I am still managing the money, communicating with international donors, organizing food for the volunteer teams and standing in the gaps. And God is doing amazing things through all the workers in this relief effort.

At the end of October/beginning of November we were blessed to host a team of counselors. Dr. Dottie Schulz, Dr. Becky Holton, Dr. David McAnulty and Jeff Holland visited Japan to do some trauma and secondary trauma counseling for those of us who were in Japan during the earthquake/tsunami last March and for those who have been working in the relief efforts since then. They were also able to hold a one day seminar to help equip some of the relief volunteers on how to walk with people through grief and trauma.

Since Dottie and Becky are also our good friends, we were eager to host them in our home. I think that Joel, Gaku, Hiro and I were all so encouraged to have them with us for several days. It was a crazy, busy couple of weeks, but it was such a blessing to have them with us. I was so moved by how obviously encouraged those who attended the seminar were. And, personally, it was wonderful to have in Becky a trusted friend to help me articulate the feelings that come with trauma and compassion fatigue and to reassure me that (with good support and self-care) it is just temporary.

At the end of December, Jan Willis (who was here visiting her son and daughter-in-law, Ben and Erica Berry) took a few hours to do some follow up counseling with us as a team. I felt encouraged to talk about how we are healing and slowly coming out of survival mode and into some kind of normal life again.

Fellowship, Fellowship, Fellowship

Considering the rough year that was 2011, and the tendency that immense amounts of tasks has of squeezing out time for relationships, I was so very thankful for the holiday season this year. So from a Thanksgiving potluck to post-new year's dinners with friends we packed in all kinds of time with sweet loved ones for the past 6 weeks or so. And I continue to be amazed at how the Spirit moves to heal and lift us up in the relationships we have with family and friends. What a blessed time we had of celebrating the birth of Jesus, and then celebrating the blessing of a new year!

Furlough

As many of you know, my sweet little sister is getting married in February. So, of course, I will be there, and I am also planning to do some reporting and fundraising as my support situation continues to be a little precarious. I will be in the States from January 18th to February 23rd. I will be traveling and visiting supporters from January 21st to February 8th. The rest of the time I will be with my family.

Please pray with me . . .

~for the continuing relief work. God please be with my dear friends in Ishinomaki; please heal their hearts and continue to restore their lives. Spirit give us strength and guidance as we walk with those who are grieving; help us to show your love and pass on your mercy and grace.

~for Mito church. Father, please raise up a new generation of church leaders in this place. I pray that you will give us disciples to send out all over Japan and Asia to grow your church and glorify your name. Father God, we also pray that you will continue to bring us closer to one another through our fellowship -- strengthen us, unify us and make us your light.

~for my work in Japan. God thank you for giving me a place here; I am so humbled to be chosen to work in this community at Mito Church and in the wider family of brothers and sisters in Japan. Please give me strength to fight for the opportunity to continue doing the work to which you have called me.

~for my sister and her fiance. God, place your hand on Megan and Taylor's relationship. I pray that they will have a strong marriage that brings glory to you. God, please be with them, guide them and protect them. Draw them closer to you and closer to one another. Spirit, rejoice with us next month as we celebrate their wedding and their commitment to love and cherish one another.

Autumn Renewal

Since last I updated, things have continued to be busy and difficult and full and blessed and good. So I am praising God!

At the beginning of August, I traveled with several others from Japan to Thailand to attend the Asian Mission Forum. It was a much needed time of blessed rest and refreshing. I was able to learn from and be stretched by the classes, and I was filled and encouraged by the fellowship and times of worship. I think for most of us from Japan, it was a time of breaking down and being built up again for the work waiting for us to pick up again when we returned to Japan.

One of the best moments for me was being prayed over by a few friends from Singapore and Malaysia -- I was reminded that there are so many brothers and sisters all over the world that are loving and supporting us as we try to serve and obey the Holy Spirit in his work to heal Japan. It was so beautiful to connect with missionaries and other ministry workers from all over Asia -- God is definitely moving here!

Even though I felt refreshed and renewed by my experience at AMF, it was difficult to come back home. Just a few days after I got back I found myself heading back up to help in the relief work. And returning to Ishinomaki, after having a time of rest from the relief work, was almost as emotionally taxing as the first time that I went. The reality is that this recovery is a long work -- there have been vast improvements, but the scope of the devastation is staggering. So we cling to God and just keep doing what we can to help in the healing process.

There is still a lot of debris and damage, and there are lots of goods that are still needed. We are still distributing food and other goods; just last weekend we did a large distribution of heaters and other much needed supplies for winter. But the work is beginning to shift from physical labor to more trauma-care and other emotional support. We are growing closer to our friends there and seeing deeper ways in which we can support them as they try to build new lives and move forward.

One of the blessings I have experienced in service is being able to provide food for our volunteer teams. From the beginning, I felt that it was important to make sure that the volunteers that we sent had balanced, healthy meals to keep them strong enough to deal with the physical and emotional challenges of the relief work. It has been really wonderful to get to share meals with the people we partner with in the volunteer work and also to eat together with the people we have been able to serve. (Click here to see some of the recipes that I have been using . . .)

The Mito church family continues to be wonderfully supportive of the relief work -- several members have gone up to Ishinomaki to serve, many have helped by donating needed supplies and also by helping to organize and load those supplies onto the truck to be transported north. And through all of the craziness of the last 6 months, the church continues to do all their other "regular" ministries and activities.

English Bible Class continues to go well. I am so thankful for the teachers who sacrifice their time to help the students practice English. It is a blessing to see them building relationships with their students. We now have 7 classes, plus a kids' class -- that means 8 teachers, 2-3 helpers, 35 adult students and about 5 kids in the kids' class. Since about two thirds of the EBC students this year are women, I am hoping to start a monthly ladies' activity to create opportunities for the EBC students to them help connect with some of the ladies from Mito church.

Another great blessing that I have experienced recently is some opportunities for relationships with people in the community. I am thankful for the deepening friendships that I have with my language teachers. I attend a Japanese class once a week that is taught by volunteers, and they have asked me to spend some time with them after class helping them practice their English. This new dynamic in our interaction has already brought more opportunities to share my faith and to learn more about their lives.

I am also thankful for a few relationships in which God has blessed me greatly in the sweetness of those friends, but also challenged me in the ways that he is calling me to be a mentor and encourager. It is always surprising and beautiful and wonderful to be able to walk and grow alongside someone in our faith, especially with someone who has just begun to discover what life is like with Jesus.

October 9-10 was the Annual Mito Church Retreat. This year we focused on rest and renewal, and used Psalm 23 as a basis for our devotions. The next week, Joel, Atsushi and I attended the Ibaraki Area Ministry Workers' Retreat, which is a great time for fellowship and connecting with other ministers and missionaries in this area. Right now there is a team of four counselors from the States that have come to Japan to help us as we continue to heal and cope with the emotional effects of the March disaster, and equip us better for the emotional support we would like to be able to provide for those we meet in the relief work.

One more really wonderful blessing from this month was my birthday. I love my birthday! I love to make it a time of celebration and joy with my friends. And this year, my roomies outdid themselves in planning me a dinner and karaoke party with our friends! We went to one of my favorite restaurants for German food.

And then, at karaoke, they gave me an excellent birthday present -- a brand new sewing machine!

Even in the midst of a very busy, extremely taxing, emotionally exhausting season in our lives in Japan, there is still so much joy in my life. I am so thankful to our Lord for the ways that he sustains and nourishes our hearts!

Please pray with me . . .

~for strength for our friends in Ishinomaki. There is still so much to be done, and winter is coming. And there are so many grieving and struggling with the stress of surviving and piecing back together their lives.

~that all of us involved in the relief work will have wisdom and strength as we try to meet the changing needs and bring glory to God in our words and actions. Please also pray for me as my role in the relief work is in a little bit of a transition.

~for Mito church. Please pray that our church community will continue to grow closer to God and closer to one another -- pray for unity.

~as I have just celebrated 4 years in Japan, that I will know God's will for my future (at least the immediate future) and that I will have courage enough to trust and obey him.

~for rest and renewal for Japan. The changing seasons -- the break from the oppressive heat of summer, the changing of the leaves, the preparations for snuggling in during the coming colder months and the first tastes of autumn foods have all brought a feeling of being refreshed. Please pray that this renewal is deep -- that it is full of God's beautiful, comforting, healing peace for the people of Japan.

Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,

you who have done great things.

Who, O God, is like you?

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,

you will restore my life again;

from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.

Psalm 71:19-20

A New Normal

As you may be able to guess, there are tons of things that have happened since the last time I was able to send out a report to all of you, my dear friends and faithful supporters. So in the interest of keeping this report under control, I am going to give you the highlights with an option to follow a link to the more detailed account. So just click on the highlighted bits, if you would like to read the rest of the story . . .

On March 11th, there was a devastating earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan. Mito, the city in which I live, was without power and water for several days. There was minor damage to almost all the houses, businesses and roads and major damage to some older buildings and roadways. We also experienced gasoline shortages and minor food shortages in the first couple of weeks after the disaster. However, compared with Sendai and other cities to the north -- especially those hit hard by the tsunami, we received a rather low level of damage overall. I was also blessed to be able to let my family know of my safety by email within hours of the earthquake. And God was glorified as the members of Mito church pulled together to take care of one another. We were able to get our church family stabilized, and then shift our focus to reaching out into the community of Mito and over the past three months we have been able to join with the nationwide Churches of Christ in reaching out to the north -- to the cities that were severely damaged by the tsunami.

On the 29th of May, I was finally able to share my testimony at Mito church -- I had been asked to share in January, but ended up in the hospital due to my scooter accident; I was on the schedule again in March, but in the days after the earthquake and tsunami it seemed like my testimony was not the message the church needed at the time. So at the end of May, I was back on the schedule again. And the message that God gave me to share about my experience of meeting him and giving my life to him was the same as it had been in January, but somehow the timing of sharing it seemed much better.

Joel, Gaku and I got a new housemate -- Hiro moved in at the end of April. So now there are three boys living on the second floor of my house, and I continue to be amazed at the blessings that God has given me by allowing me to live in community with three men who are really kind to, patient with and appreciative of me. The Holy Spirit continues to make our home a place where we can serve him and praise him and bring others into his presence and his love.

There is so much that I want to share about the relief work that is going on, so I hardly know where to start. Three of us went up to Sendai in mid-April to seek God's guidance about where to help. Then the Churches of Christ in Japan established a nationwide committee to decide how to manage all the financial support that has been pouring in from all over the world. Starting with a 10-day trip at the beginning of April, we have begun sending teams of volunteers to work (mostly in a town north of Sendai, called Ishinomaki). From the beginning of June, we have sent volunteers nearly every week. And God is doing amazing work as we partner with the Be One and Asian Access groups to serve the people of the Tohoku region. (And that is the very, very short version -- for the long version click here and also here.)

I have been given a fairly active role in the relief work, but had to step back a little in the last month in order to concentrate on one of my main responsibilities at Mito church. We decided to start the English Bible Class ministry in June this year (since starting in September last year seemed very late), so I stayed in Mito for a few weeks to focus on preparing the text, organizing the teachers and running student registration for EBC. This year we have 7 teachers and a little over 30 students (plus about 5 kids in the EBC kids' class). We have had two classes so far, and everyone seems to be enjoying getting to know one another and practicing English conversation.

And I imagine that some of you have been wondering about my spleen, so here is a quick update: Of course it took quite a while to get my strength back up after being basically immobile for a few weeks in January, but God protected me and faithfully healed me. Now, especially since I started riding my bike to work a few times a week, my body is strong again and there is no pain or other murmurings from my spleen. I will go in this week for my last CT scan, just to make sure that it is continuing to heal properly (apparently the absorption of the 'dead' part of my spleen could take 6 months or more) before I go to Thailand in a few weeks. So thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I have been so blessed and encouraged by everyone's concern and love.

At the end of this month I will be traveling to Thailand to attend the 50th anniversary of the Asian Mission Forum. Atsushi, the minister of Mito church, will be one of the keynote speakers. Joel, Debi and several other friends and workers from Japan and other parts of Asia will be attending as well. I am very much looking forward to this time of equipping and refreshing in the midst of more hard work than I have ever had the opportunity to do at any other time in my whole life.

Please pray with me . . .

~a praise to God for all of the good things he has done this year. We have been showered with blessings and have been so blessed to see God doing amazing work in Japan. He is so good and so faithful. Praise God for being the bringer of light and hope and joy.

~for all the people whose lives have been changed by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. Please pray especially for those who have lost their family members and other loved ones. Please pray for the children who have lost their parents. Please pray for the families that have lost their homes -- for those living with friends and relatives, for those living in emergency shelters. Please pray for those who are working so hard to clean the muck off of their lives and start again. Please pray that God will lead us to those who need someone to help them, so that they will know that they don't have to face this difficult time alone.

~that God will protect his workers in Japan from the spiritual attacks of the devil. We are all working so hard and some are getting tired and weak, both physically and spiritually. Please pray that we will continue to find strength and protection in the Holy Spirit, because this is a time when we can so easily become vulnerable to temptation and evil.

~for Mito church. God is being glorified in the way that the Mito church family is coming together to support and send workers out. Please pray with me that God will continue to unify and strengthen this little part of his church as we grow and serve.

~Please pray that I will depend on God for his guidance as I try to balance my responsibilities to Mito church and my new responsibilities in the relief work. I need his strength, his wisdom and his love and patience for myself and for others.

Finally! The moment you've all been waiting for . . .

I know it may have seemed like I dropped off the face of the earth, but please forgive me for being lax in my communication and know that I am truly thankful for your continuing support, prayers and love.

I will try my best to give you the highlights of the past three months or so without getting long-winded. Bear with me.

Since last I blogged:

Christmas and all it's delicious, busy, decorated, fellowship-filled, cinnamon-scented glory descends on Mito church with more vigor than I had imagined. I had just returned from furlough on the first of December, and so, tumbled head-over-heels in catching up on things missed and preparing for all the special events in December.

Like the English Bible Class Christmas Party

Then amid all the other regular and special church activities, we had 9 people in our home for Christmas. And it was a blessed time to enjoy friends, gifts and good food.

We started 2011 with a sunrise worship at 6 am on January 1st. And I was off and running again with bible studies, cell group, Sunday school classes, Japanese lessons, meetings, etc. until the evening of the 14th, when all of that came to a screeching halt. On my way from working at the church to having dinner with friends, I had a relatively minor traffic accident on my scooter. That night I had surgery (by catheter, so no scar -- yay!) to stop some internal bleeding and put a 'patch' my damaged spleen, but, by God's grace and protection, the only other injury that I had was a bruise and scrape on my knee. And that was only the beginning of the blessings and grace that our Heavenly Father poured over me in a situation that could have easily been much, much worse.

So I spent almost two weeks in the hospital recovering from my injury, learning all kinds of new things about the Japanese healthcare system, and seeing more deeply that the Mito church community is full of love and generosity. I also received the blessing and comfort of so many prayers on my behalf from all over the world, as well as a generous gift from my sponsoring church that was so helpful in covering medical and other expenses that come with a traffic accident.

I was unable to work for about a month, so now that I am back to working full-time, I am playing catch-up again. I feel so blessed by the people here, who picked up my responsibilities while I was healing and did so much to take care of me.

Now I am looking forward into a couple of months that promise to be very full and I have faith that God will continue to bless Mito church as we go through a season of transition at the end of the fiscal year.

In March we will be saying goodbye to some of our members who have decided to return to America after this school year of teaching English. And in April we will welcome a new batch of teachers.

We have also decided that we will begin this year's English Bible Class ministry again in June, so I have already begun thinking about and preparing for that.

Please pray with me . . .

~for safe travels and blessed service for the group that is going to serve in Siem Reap, Cambodia (this includes Joel, some members of Mito church and others from Japan, Singapore and other Asian countries). Please remember the kids in your prayers too. God is working in hearts of Christians in Japan and Singapore to raise money to send some of them to school and provide others with clothes, school supplies and other necessary items.

~that God is working in the hearts of the participants in our EBC ministry. We hope that they have been touched by their time studying the Bible, and that they will be drawn into our community and to our Lord, Jesus Christ.

~a blessing over the English teachers that are preparing to return to the States -- may they be comforted as they say goodbye to life in Japan and blessed as they readjust to life in America. Also, pray with me over the preparation of the new teachers coming (7 coming as vocational missionaries, 5 coming through Mito's sister city program with Anaheim California).

~a prayer of thanksgiving for my speedy recovery from my accident, and all the other blessings I have received along the way. And also please pray for me to continue to heal without incident. (The doctor says that my spleen should be completely done with the healing process in about 5 months.)

A Fine Fall Furlough

On December 1st I returned from my second furlough since I moved to Japan, just over three years ago. I spent most of October and all of November gathering about 12,000 frequent flyer miles, driving another 4,000 miles across 9 states,and seeing the sweet faces of my supporters (i.e. my family and friends). I am not sure how to report about this except to say that there were some really good parts -- like all the kind, generous people who invited me into their homes and let me spend a night or two or several on their couches, air mattress and guest beds -- and there were some difficult parts -- like my grandpa passing away the week before Thanksgiving. But overall I feel like God gave me many opportunities to share about the work that he is doing in Japan, and I pray that he will provide the support that I need through the chances that I had to share with people about the financial challenges of my work.

Here are some highlights from my travels:

An excellent afternoon with Grandma Hazel and Grandpa Jim before he passed away

Thank you, Jesus, for the sweet gift of that time together.

A very encouraging time with the Holtons

Bonus: a mini-tour of the city for my first time to Chicago

A little time with Saprina, my friend, supporter and former roommate

Some time to be silly with my little sister

And some really wonderful time to be with my Mama

There were, of course, many more good things that I forgot to take pictures of or that simple won't fit in the report. I am so thankful for my time to reconnect with my supporters. Thanks to everyone who listened to my stories of the Holy Spirit moving in Japan! And thank you to those of you who took time out of your busy lives to encourage me and refresh my spirit.

One of the other huge blessings that I have received since the last time I sent out an update was the establishment of an official relationship between me and the Mito Church of Christ just before I left in October. I moved to Mito as Joel's apprentice this year in the spring, and I have now been invited to stay and continue working as a member of the Mito church's staff with a commitment until March of 2012. However, I am hoping to stay for at least three years from now. Please pray that God will make that a possibility.

Please pray with me . . .

~a praise for the opportunity God has given me to continue to serve him in Japan.

~a praise for the safe travels that God gave me over the last two months.

~that God will continue to bless the English outreach ministry at Mito church, and that he will give me wisdom and guidance as I try to work towards growing the ministry and the ways that the foreign and Japanese church members can find a place to serve in this evangelistic outreach.

~that God will grant safe travels to Joel and the group that he has taken to do mission work in Cambodia this month -- and that God will move through them and their service.

~that the Holy Spirit will be working in all of the unique opportunities we have to reach out and share during the holiday season.

Finally Fall

So friends, here were are -- I completely missed writing a blog for August, and the time for writing September's update has certainly snuck up on me. That should be plenty of evidence that I am keeping busy. But God has given me a couple of moments to look around and notice that autumn is finally here -- we had a long, hot summer, so I am very thankful for the cool breezes, the changing colors and the smells and tastes of fall.

One of the major things that has happened in the last two months is the beginning of the English Bible Class ministry. Our first class was on September 5th, and we currently have over 40 students in 15 classes (and 1 kids' class). One of the highlights of this year's program so far was an outing to Hitachi Seaside Park. We had a great time -- it was an excellent opportunity for church members and EBC participants to mingle and build friendships, and we had great weather in which to enjoy the beautiful park. We praise God for providing for such a wonderful day!

Another major development is that I have received an official invitation from the Mito church to continue working here until March of 2012. I am so thankful to be serving here, and I pray that God will continue to use me, grow me and bless his Kingdom in Japan. I will be leaving next week to travel to America to visit many of my supporters and share about the ways the Holy Spirit is working in Japan.

Beyond that I have continued on with the "regular" things, like my language classes, helping to teach a Junior High Sunday School class two or three times a month, getting together with my flock (small group), and connecting with the members of our young adult cell group on Sunday evenings. I have also started to meet with two of the ladies in the church for a Bible study each week. That has been a particular blessing for me in that it has given me the chance to study God's word, deepen relationships with those two sweet ladies and challenges me to share and explain deep, abstract and emotional ideas in Japanese.

This weekend Mito church will have its annual retreat, so we are all pitching in to help with the preparations and looking forward to some great fellowship. Then the day after we return from the retreat, I will get on a bus, then onto a plane heading back to the States. So I am looking forward to seeing many of you over the next several weeks.

Please pray with me . . .

~that God will use the EBC ministry to draw new people into his kingdom and his truth. Let's pray that the participants will find their hearts open and hungry for God's righteousness. And please continue to lift up the teachers and other helpers as we serve our Lord and reach out to build connections with those who don't know him.

~that my travels will be safe and blessed. My prayer and hope is that I will have opportunities to glorify God and testify about the work he is doing in Japan. And please pray that I will be able to continue trusting that God will provide for the spiritual, financial and other needs of this ministry to which he has called me.

~for wisdom for the AETs (assistant English teachers) serving as vocational ministers in Mito church as they struggle through this season of deciding whether or not to renew their contracts for another year.

July 2010 -- Some highlights

As usual, July was another busy month.

The "Flocks" began meeting, and God is blessing those connections. Our group met for lunch on the 11th of July -- we are hoping to set up some more time together in September, since many people will be traveling in August. (Almost everyone in Japan has summer vacation time in August.)

We also continued to prepare for the English Bible Class outreach ministry, which will begin in September. With the guidance of those wiser and more experienced than I am, I have been working on writing the text for the small group discussions. It has been more challenging than I expected, but I have really enjoyed the experience. I think that God has helped us to create a text that will facilitate relationship building and spiritual conversation. We will have a training session for the teachers on August 29th. And then twice monthly classes will begin on September 5th. May God bless this ministry!

On the 18th Daniel, Staci (two Mito church members) and I began teaching a class for the Junior High School students on Sunday mornings twice a month. This is a little outside my area of expertise, since I have never worked with junior high kids, but I am learning a lot. My hope is that the class will be an encouragement for the kids. I am glad that God pulled me toward helping with the spiritual development of these kids. They are wonderful!

Some of the friends in our Sunday evening Young Adult Cell Group

Girls' Bible Study -- hosted at my house in July



VBS -- hosted by the Taga Church of Christ and a group from California

Please pray with me . . .

~that God will prepare those who will teach the EBC classes, and that he will open the hearts of those who will come for the lessons. As of today (August 17) we have 14 adults and 4 kids registered.

~that God will continue to shape and protect the hearts of the children of Mito church. We are so blessed to have many children worshiping with us -- please pray that we will be able to be used by the Holy Spirit to help in their spiritual growth.

~that the Spirit will continue to work among the people of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Please also pray that God will bring the group from Japan home safely, after their time of traveling, building relationships with Christians across Asia and sharing God's love with friends in Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

~for God to help me to be more disciplined in my faith and my work. It is easy to lose motivation and feel discouraged when we are not depending fully on God -- please pray for my protection and that my dependence on God will grow as I try to do the work the Spirit calls me to do everyday.

~for times of quiet and holy rest. Japan and America are both busy countries, full of distraction and demands on our time. Let's pray together that we will make time to be still and to listen for the voice of our Lord and Savior. Praise Jesus for his desire to connect with us!

A June Jammed with Joy

June began with the National Ministry Workers' Workshop. Rich Little came from the Naperville Church of Christ to share with us about spiritual disciplines and discipleship. I felt convicted and enriched by what I learned and encouraged by the great fellowship.




Then we were very blessed by a visit from Crimsen and Saprina. They spent about 10 days in Mito with us (they also visited Sendai for about a week). We enjoyed showing them around Mito and introducing them to many of our new friends. I am so thankful for how encouraged I was by their fellowship -- it always wonderful to have good friends visit Japan!


On the weekend of the 18th, Atsushi (Mito church minister), Joel and I planned a one night retreat for the foreigners at Mito church. We had time for prayer and worship, discussion and planning for this year, and fun and fellowship. I think that everyone is excited for some of the changes we will be making to the focus of the group in our times together. I feel like God has great plans for the members of Mito church, and a portion of the potential that I see in Mito church is in this group of vocational missionaries. I feel so fortunate and exited to be working alongside them in God's mission in Japan.



Also, we assembled our "Flocks" (small groups, a little like host families) in June. Our hope is that God will use these cross-cultural groups of Mito church members to build deeper spiritual relationships in our church family. We are focusing on unity within our church in order to strengthen one another as we go out into the community, the nation and the world to glorify our Heavenly Father!

Joel and I continue to visit the Ibaraki Christian College campus every Tuesday with the intention of building relationships and looking for opportunities to serve the spiritual needs of the students we meet. This is difficult for me because I am not naturally outgoing, and even more shy in Japanese. But God is opening doors for me to slowly build relationships with some of the students. I am thankful for this opportunity, even though it takes me outside of my comfort area.

And this month we began making preparations for the English Bible Class (EBC) ministry, that Mito Church of Christ hosts from September to March. People interested in studying English (using the Bible) can attend small group conversational English lessons taught by the native English speaking members of Mito church. Joel has delegated the organization of this ministry to Kendon (one of the AETs) and me -- so, with the help of the other foreigners, we will be writing the curriculum, preparing the teachers, running registration and seeking God's wisdom in this outreach ministry.

The last weekend in June, we began hosting a cell group in our home on Sunday evenings for the young Japanese members of Mito church. Please pray for this group! The devotional times are led by the members, who all want to work on growing spiritually together, share testimonies of how God is working in our lives and spend more time devoted to praising God. These young adults are the future leaders of the Lord's church in Japan, and I am so blessed to be growing, praising God and serving with them.

Please pray with me . . .

~that we will find times of rest, times to just be with God. Mito church has a lot of ministries and other activities going on -- so please pray that each one of us will continue to find and protect times of quiet to renew our spirits and spend time with our Creator.

~a praise to God for the Mito church family's desire to be a church united by the Holy Spirit, despite the challenges that come from being an international church. Please pray that the Flocks within the Mito church family will be protected and blessed, as those relationships grow.

~that God will continue to open the way for me to build relationships with the students of Ibaraki Christian College. Please pray that I will be confident to build new relationships, and that God will work through me despite my weaknesses.

~for the EBC ministry. Please pray over the students that will come to learn English. Please pray for the church members who will lead the small group discussions. And please pray for all of us who are working to prepare the materials that will serve both as a tool for practicing English and a stimulus for spiritual discussion.

~a praise to God that Joel is getting some time to rest and enjoy his family reunion. Please pray that his family will be blessed, and that he will have safe travels back to Japan.

~a prayer of thanksgiving for all the provisions that God has made for Gaku in his life in Mito. Please pray that God will bless him with rest within his difficult work schedule, and that the Holy Spirit will continue to protect and grow his new relationships and continue to bless him with spiritual mentoring and opportunities to serve.

The Many Mighty Blessings of May in Mito

Friends, May was an excellent month in Mito!

We started the month off with some great fellowship time during the national holidays in the first week of May. And that set the tone for a month of building deeper relationships with many of the church members. Joel, Gaku and I were blessed to be able to host one of the church member's parents in our home while they were visiting from America (because God blessed us with a guest room). Chris and Sharon were a great encouragement to us!

On the 5th we got to spend some time with the Tsuneki family, Chelsea (a new AET) and Yayoi-san (who has been joining Bible studies at the church lately). We visited Hitachi Seaside Park together.


We also stretched the seams of our house to bursting one night when we had a Pizza night with the AETs and several other friends. People were spilling out into the kitchen and hallway, but I think we all enjoyed the fellowship.


We invited Olive Cell, a group that has a Bible study at the church each Monday afternoon, to meet at our house on the 17th for a potluck lunch and Bibly study/singing time, so we could have a chance to enjoy their company and get to know each of those wonderful friends a little better while we fellowshipped and worshiped together.

On the weekend of the 22nd, we went to Tokyo on Saturday with a group of nearly thirty people to worship with the Passion World Tour. I know that we were all blessed by that time of praise! And I was pleasantly surprised to meet a friend from Sendai and a friend from last year's Church Planting Institute conference there -- that definitely gave me the perspective that we were worshiping together with the whole nation. Five of the Ibaraki Christian College students that went to worship with us also stayed overnight at our house and worshiped at Mito church on Sunday morning.


On the last Sunday of May, Mito church was blessed by a message from Rich Little (minister of the Naperville Church of Christ in Naperville, IL) -- he came to be the guest speaker at the National Ministry Worker's Workshop (June 2-4), but was able to share a little time to be an encouragement to Mito church too.

Also, at the end of May we said goodbye to Tammy, one of the AETs who had stayed on to cover for the newest AET, who could not move to Japan until the beginning of June. We miss you Tammy!

We have been trying to invite the church members one by one to have dinner with us at our house -- it has been a blessing to get to know them better. And I am so excited for the opportunities I have seen for us to grow together spiritually.

I don't know if this "laundry list" of times of blessed fellowship adequately communicates the ways that God is working here, but I can say that God is moving in and speaking to Mito church. I feel like I have so many opportunities to serve, love and encourage. My prayer is that God will use me (and the church leadership) in whatever way he can to help Mito church grow spiritually, become more unified and shine even brighter in this city.

The best blessings of the month were the baptisms of Saki and Ayami -- two of our friends that are students at Ibaraki Christian College. Please rejoice with us over their decisions to commit their lives to God.

Saki's Baptism

Please pray with me . . .

~that Mito church will experience more unity among the young people, across the generations and between the foreigners and Japanese members. I think we all want this, so please pray that we will have wisdom as we work toward this goal with the Holy Spirit's blessing and guidance.

~that the members of Mito church will grow in spiritual maturity, and the Holy Spirit will raise up new leaders in the church to strengthen and grow Mito church into the future and also for Mito church to be able to send leaders out into the rest of Japan to help in the growth of new churches.

~that Saki and Ayami with overcome all of the obstacles to having faith in Japan as they continue to walk with our Savior.

~a continuing prayer for my language study -- I think that I am slowly improving, but feel like I have hit a wall with the new challenges to my study in our new living/working situation. Please pray for this, because without adequate language skills my ability to serve and build relationships with Japanese people continues to be very limited.

~a praise for the new support I am receiving (bringing my monthly support up to about 75% of my financial needs). I continue to be amazed at the ways that God provides! Please continue to pray that God will find that last 25% for me.