CPI Bootcamp

Bootcamp?
Yup, bootcamp, but not a physical one, a spiritual one! I (Caleb) had the opportunity to go to a Church Planting "Bootcamp" conference in Chiba-ken a week ago. For three days we fellowshiped together, listened to different presenters who had been asked to share on a particular aspect of church planting. We worshiped together, prayed and wept together for Japan, encouraged each other, etc! It was a great time of encouragement, getting to know other missionaries and getting a firmer vision and direction as to where God is leading Amy and I.

Some highlights of the 3 days are:
- I was able to spend some good time with Richard Nakamura, a SEND missionary that I have had the privilege to get to know. I stayed at his place each night and we had long talks during the hour and a half to 2 hours that we drove (each way).
- I had great fellowship with many like-minded believers (in particular, those who are dedicated to seeing the Kingdom of God advance in Japan; those who see the importance of planting self-reproducing churches)
- increased my network of contacts in Japan
- got thoroughly excited and pumped as I listened to what the various presenters had to say
- so many speakers and discussions kept coming back to the basic command and promise of Jesus; namely that we are to MAKE DISCIPLES and HE WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH =D
- received some good advice and guidance from several missionaries
- came away with many things to think about and pray about
- came away with a more concrete vision of where God is leading
- confirmation from God on several things:
• that He wants Amy and I here in Japan
• that He is leading us to Gifu-ken (soon or later I don't know)
• that He is leading us into house church planting

Akiko

Please be praying for Akiko, she is a young (baby) believer whose mother is opposing the Faith. She has graduated from college but until she finds a job she is staying at home and that is causing problems for her growing in the Lord. She doesn't come to church on Sunday mornings for that reason as well. Nevertheless, Amy, myself and one other believer have been getting together with her on Saturdays for a fellowship time together. She is hungry for the truth, for God, and is grateful to have the fellowship time. We had another great time together, and were able to go over the gospel again in greater detail, helping her understand better the salvation that she has received, and how she could explain it clearly to others. We also talked about baptism, what it is and that it is a command of the Lord for believers. It is also important for the growth of a young believer as she proclaims that she believes and follows Jesus, regardless of what others may say or think. She recognizes this as important and wants to obey her Lord, but she is very timid and lacks courage (her own words).

This last week we did a summary of the Bible - what each section is about and how it is useful in our lives. She was taking notes in her bible and she seems to be doing this more regularly. :) We've been having pretty deep study (but fun) for about 1 and 1/2 hours and then enjoy lunch and some games for another hour and a half.


Please PRAY for Akiko, that:

-God would give her the boldness to obey Him in baptism, being unashamed of her faith in Him
-that she will have courage to go through with baptism while still showing love and kindness to her family
-God would protect her from the Evil One
-her mother (and father and brother) would be saved
-she would grow much in the Lord
-God would grant her a job so that she may not be hindered by her family

Baby!!!!!

Yup! God has blessed us with a wonderful gift! Lord willing in May we will have a little Eby. We of course are very excited as this will launches us into a new stage of parenthood. May God grant us the wisdom to be the parents He desires for us to be. Meanwhile we wait in excitement as Amy's stomach is beginning to grow! =D

Teaching English

Another blessing is that we were able to meet up a friend who has great contacts for English teaching opportunities and has also informed us of many of the events taking place in the area. He has been a blessing to us and through his contacts we were able to get hooked up with just enough English teaching opportunities to provide a little bit of money but keep us free enough for our other activities. Amy has been working a couple hours on Wednesdays and Caleb has been working several hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. One of these is a language school in Kawanishi run by believers (International English Center), so it is a blessing to be able to help them out for a few months. I (Caleb) have really enjoyed these classes because they are all one-on-one with adults who want to learn. I have even had several opportunities to speak directly of Christ or to speak truth into their lives (most of them are conversational classes).

College Outreach

Colleges started up again around the first of September and Amy and I have been going to one of the universities to meet with some of the students. I (Caleb) was able to reconnect with a few of the college students that I had befriended two years ago. We have been going every Friday afternoon together (and every Tuesday afternoons by myself) to Kwansei Daigaku (also called Kangaku). We join the students in their lunch time English club meetings and then spend time with some of them afterward individually or in their club room. Everyday they meet for about 30 minutes at lunch. They get into groups and have three English questions that they pick from and answer one at a time with the others asking further questions of clarification. We join in with one of the groups and sometimes get a chance to have lunch with some of the students afterward (if they don't have to rush off to class). The English club is divided into three smaller groups: speech, symposium/presentation, and one other that I can't think of right now.
Recently, I have been helping a couple of the club members with their speeches. I helped one guy in particular and was able to attend the speech contest on campus which he was a part of. The contest was a lot of fun, I was able to visit with some of the other members, and I also learned a lot from the speeches because they were topics of concern in Japan.

Our Home In Takarazuka

We are both thoroughly enjoying our time with the two guys in the house we are living in. Amy has considered it an extra special blessing with the new culture to be around some Japanese people she is able to converse in English with. We have also been able to meet some of their Christian friends and been blessed with some good times of fellowship. In fact, not long ago, our house experienced a time of celebration as one of Kazuya's and Souichiro's good friends was getting baptized.
What can we say about the guys . . . Kazuya . . . well, he is one of those guys that when you talk about him with others who know him you all laugh and say, yea, that's Kazuya! He is a crazy guy, a lot of fun, has incredibly good English pronunciation and speaking skills for the considerably short time he has studied English (prior to spending a mere two months in Canada he knew barely any English). He is growing in the Lord and active in his sharing Jesus with his friends and family. Money has absolutely no hold on him and he is always giving of himself or his things.
Sou-chan . . . is a really sweet guy with a tender heart for things of the Lord. His English, while not as good as Kazuya's, is still quite good. He is also really growing in his faith and is very consistent in his time with the Lord! I have had many good talks with him about spiritual things and like Kazuya, Sou-chan is active in sharing Christ and desiring to see his friends come to Christ.

The Church

Several members of the church here have been a huge encouragement and blessing to us. One is a college student from China named Lynn. She has a big servant heart and has been very involved with helping us out whenever she can with various things like translation and organizing things for the International Nights. Another woman in the church who has been a great blessing to us is Konno-san. We go to her house once a month for a house church gathering. She spends most of her time each day caring for her husband so selflessly as he has suffered from a stoke a few years ago and is very weak. She also spends much energy in cooking and serving delicious food for the church whenever she is able.
Speaking of the monthly times at Konno-san's house, they have been such a blessing! We arrive around 11:30 and have a big meal (prepared by Konno-san) and just talk and enjoy each other and the Lord together. After lunch we gather in a different room where the pastor gives a brief message after some songs. There is a lot of sharing and some praying with each other, and, well, it is the sort of thing that I long to do and be a part of. One of the ladies that consistently comes to it is an older member of the church. Koyama-san (小山) is a sweet 88 year old lady whom we have also gotten to know better. She came to Christ as a 24 year old and and served Him since! It took her a little time to remember Amy's name (she remembered me from before) and kept asking again what her name was. Now she smiles knowingly and greets エイミちゃん (Amy) and I =D.

English Bible Discussions

Wednesday Nights have also been going well, though it was a little rough at first. It has been a little tough with the language barrier, especially the couple times that we didn't have someone who could translate if things got confusing. But each time we have been able to get the discussion questions translated into Japanese and those who participate have been very involved in discussion....it is difficult to move on from each questions as there has been so much to talk about :) It really seems that God has been blessing these times with His presence. The group remains small but the fellowship is rich. After the discussion, one of the older men in the church leads a prayer time. We have been very blessed by these times as he has a big heart to lift up the requests of others to the throne of God.

International Nights

The International Nights which we have twice a month at the church have been going well and we have had about 20 to 30 people attend each time with all but a few staying right up until the time that we have to usher them out of the church. Each week there is a different focus/speaker. (we ourselves gave the first one in mid-August shareing our testimonies and how God had led us to Japan.) We have a discussion time afterwords in which we prepare questions with scripture references relevant to the topic that evening. After this, we enjoy a time of games, refreshments, and fellowship.

希望の家 - Kibonoie

It has been such an incredible blessing to go each month to Kibonoie (House of Hope) which is a care facility for the disabled/handicapped. We meet at the church around 9:30 and drive out in the countryside to the facility. (I don't think I would ever find this place if I didn't go first with someone else). We arrive, greet the staff and then go upstairs to a meeting room. We drop our stuff off there and go to pick up those who want to attend. There are two buildings connected by a little hallway. The one is where those who are not as bad off physically stay (attendees from this building come on their own to our fellowship time) and the other building is where those that take a lot more constant care, nearly all of whom are in wheelchairs. All told, there are about 12 people who come (of which about 8 or 9 are believers).
Once everyone is together, we sing some songs from hymnals, the pastor gives a brief message, we sing another song and then we have communion. Our meeting time takes about an hour, maybe just under.
So that's what we DO, but what we experience is the joy of the Lord written all over those dear believer's faces! Many of them have marbled speech and are difficult to understand, some of them have very awkward motor skills, and many of them have been in the facility for a long time. One of the ladies entered Kibonoie as it first opened some 40 years ago, and has been a faithful follower and worshiper of Jesus the whole time. They are always excited to see us and are full of the love and the joy of the Lord though they have no reason to be joyful from an earthly point of view. I am looking forward to seeing those believers in heaven, when they will have perfect bodies and where they will receive great rewards. I will not be surprised in the least to see them receive greater honors than myself, for they are the least now, but they will be called great in His kingdom!

Settling in . . .

Arriving in Kansai after a long over-night bus trip we found our way to the house that we'd be staying in, briefly met one of the guys staying in the house, then plopped down our things and took a long mid-morning nap. The weather was certainly a lot more blistering than what we had at Nojiri but thanks to the location of our home stay we got a nice cool breeze that the lower parts of the city didn't get.
The guys we are staying with are two great Christian guys, Souichiro and Kazuya. Both are single 29 year olds (though Kazuya is getting married in December) and growing in the Lord! Kazuya's younger, Sarori, is also staying with us.
Our responsibilities while in Takarazuka are the following:

* Tuesday evening (a couple times a month) - marriage counseling/discussion (a recently married couple along with several of the single youths in the church)
* Wednesday evening - English Bible Discussion (believers and unbelievers come)
* Sunday mornings - help with set up, etc. (a retired pastor will be bringing the messages each Sunday)
* Sunday evenings (every other week) - International Night (an outreach to people in the community)

In addition to these things we will be involved with:

* college outreach (there is a university about 30 min. from the church)
* once a month visit to a handicap hospital (where we, along with the fill-in pastor, hold a church service with the believers among the handicapped)
* English classes (enough to supplement our income but still leave us enough time for our other responsibilities)
* language study

Nojiri

Ahhhhh, Nojiri . . . . Praise God for a place of relaxation and beauty, much time with the Lord in the Word and in prayer, time with family and relatives and other believers, as well as opportunities to testify of the Lord to unbelievers!
Arriving up at Nojiri only a week after climbing Mt. Fuji (which was barely a week after JBC) it was a blessing to be able to relax and recuperate.
Both of us were able to get a LOT of reading done in the cabin while we enjoyed the sounds of nature and the incredible view of the lake out the window. I (Caleb) got more reading done in those first couple weeks than I had the previous months of the year AND last year!
We were able to head up a "youth group" which really was a praise and worship time with sharing from the Word (and a few games). Both of us were involved in teaching Sunday School and I (Caleb) was given the chance to preach on one of the Sunday mornings. Of course having family and relatives around was wonderful as well!
All in all, it was a great time from the Lord!


family/relatives movie night via the computer

cousins and friends getting baptized! =D

Climbing Fuji

On July 5th Amy, myself and my two brothers, Victor and Ethan hiked up Mt. Fuji, and had quite an experience! To start off, we got lost driving to Fuji so that it took us twice as long getting there. Second, by the time we got to Fuji, we couldn't find the starting point that we desired (there are several routes up the mountain). Thirdly, we were climbing at night so we could try to catch the sunrise at the top. Fourthly, it was getting late, so we just picked a starting place and happened to pick the lowest one we could have picked! We started at 1440 meters elevation (the lowest start point) where as the normal start point was at 2500 and the summit is at 3776 meters. It took us 8 and a half hours to the summit and 3 hours back down (we started at 1:00 a.m.) Thankfully we were on the east side and so were able to see the sun rise halfway up. It got significantly colder on the way up so that we were all bundled up as if for winter but coming back down during the day, the sun beat down and we got quite a bit of sun and heat, especially as we got lower and lower in elevation. Also, at the summit I was able to give a Bible a a small tract along with it to a man we met up there. We got back, tired and sleepy, but having had a lot of fun!

Joy Bible Camp

Amy and I hit the ground running when we arrived in Japan. We had 5 days to recuperate before we began three weeks of a Christian camp called Joy Bible Camp. It is located in the mountains of Okutama, about a two hour train ride from Tokyo. It is only about an acre big on the side of a mountain with a highway immediately below and the Okutama river flowing about a ten minute walk below. There were three camps; the first was for kids going into 3rd, 4th and 5th. The second camp was for those going into 4th, 5th and 6th, and the last camp was for those going into 7th and 8th. I (Caleb) was the head boys counselor and Amy was in charge of the crafts throughout the camps and was a counselor during the last camp. Counselor training was held for one and a half days (which Caleb led) and then camp #1 began! Oh, I should mention that for the last ten years there has been a tradition at the camp in which all the staff have nick names. Since I have worked at this camp all those ten years, I kept my nickname, "Grover" and Amy took the nickname, "Ducky," and thus we were called for the next three weeks! =D
Each camp had so many highlights, and I wish I could write them all! However, that would take a really long time! I'll try to narrow it down. All throughout the three camps, things were run basically the same (with a little change during the last camp) and we were kept quite busy! For crafts, Amy had the kids working on a Japanese style bracelet braiding called "kumihimo" and it was a hit! Many of the kids loved the craft so much that they came back to make seconds and thirds. It was not uncommon to find kids during free time or even during meals with their "kumihimos!" It was also neat because while craft time was usually spent concentrating on the craft, the affect of this craft was similar to a scene of ladies sitting around knitting and talking! As the kids worked during the craft activity, much conversation went on, both trivial and spiritual!
In addition to all the fun activities (which included a lunch down at the river, several incredible all-camp games, a space theme dinner, quizzing, and much more) there were some great chapel messages and great cabin discussions and devotion times. God blessed us immensely through the chapel speakers. Each one spoke on the camp theme of "Choose Life" but each chose a different approach and each was perfectly suited for their particular camp of kids! God's awesome, isn't He?!
I also want to share some highlights in the cabin. In my (Caleb) cabin during the second camp, I had a great co-counselor (nickname of Pork) whose heart was very tender to the Lord and on-fire for God and for His glory. We prayed a lot and asked and expected great things from God and God answered in a number of ways! One way was that from day one about half our cabin was already thinking about raids and pranks and such. While Pork and I didn't see those things as wrong, they have a tendency to distract kids from more valuable things of camp and such things tend to escalate and get out of hand. Anyway, we began praying that God would help us direct their love for such things into desiring God. God answered in several ways. First, we got the kids excited about brainstorming uplifting and encouraging "raids" or "pranks." One result was a"hug raid." We snuck up on one of the cabins at night and burst into their room yelling, "Hug raid!" and started hugging them. After they caught on, we together with them, "hug raided" the other boy's cabin! Another result was to do the opposite of messing up a cabin. We had already won the Golden Broom Award (a daily awarded trophy for the cabin with the cleanest room) once and decided to clean up one of the cabins. The guys got all excited about it and it was fun to see them plan it out and try to keep it a secret and all! Then during one of our cabin reflection times, we got talking about what Paul said, that everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. One question or comment led to another and soon they were questioning a lot of things that they did, and whether it was good or not. We looked at 1 Corinthians 10:31 and then everything began to fall into place! They began talking about how we could bring God glory in the different things that we did. This even went to the degree that we changed a favorite card game we played to be more God glorifying!
In the third camp, God continued to do great things. To name a few . . . one of my campers came to the camp a Christian and a growing one, but God did more, He set a fire in this camper's heart. He devoured the chapel messages, cabin devotions, and asked many questions and grew in leaps and bounds! One area especially was in the area of prayer. He began praying a lot, throughout camp, on his own, or with me or my co-counselor!
Another camper and I spent about 2 hours talking about salvation. After spending about 45 minutes clarifying on sin and salvation, I pointed out what Jesus said concerning both the Christian life being the hard way but also the best way. Then I asked him the question, " Are you willing to give up everything for Jesus?" The remaining hour was spent with him deliberating over that question, clarifying it. I sat near and prayed a lot, and shared from time to time, and finally reminded him that he didn't have to decide right then, but he stopped me and said that he wanted to follow Jesus! The first kid I mentioned had been praying a lot for him too during camp, and wants to be there for him throughout this next year since they are classmates! Praise the Lord!!! One other boy in the cabin also chose to follow Jesus and I got an e-mail from him a couple days after camp and among other things he told me that since choosing to follow Jesus he had a strong urge to get baptized (I never even mentioned baptism to him!) and I sensed a hunger for God as well!
So, there you have it, as short as I can make it, when God did so many great things! =D

Arriving at Narita Airport

The flight over to Japan was smooth and rather uneventful. The "fun" began after we landed. We had been praying that God would provide for Amy's visa situation. We had applied for a "spouse of a permanent resident visa" and had received a Certificate of Eligibility. We were told to do different things from the immigration office in Japan and the Japanese Counselate in Chicago, and we followed the advice that Amy could enter Japan on a regular visitor's visa and finish the process after arriving in Japan. Well . . . things didn't quite work out that way . . . we got in the immigration line and after about 30 minutes of waiting, we got up to the front (it seems that several international flights all came in around the same time =P). Amy went first and they explained to her that what we were planning to do was the incorrect process and that she had to have the visa already complete in order to enter! They pulled her off to the side and I quickly went up, showed my things and explained that Amy was my wife. They told me to go through and wait for her on the other side. Well, I waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . and then waited some more . . . no Amy. I asked to get back over to help translate or answer questions, but they wouldn't let me. I called my mom (who was waiting for us outside with the car), explaining why we going to be late. Well, to make a long story short, God used what appeared to be a hassle and used it as a blessing. Instead of having to take a separate trip to the main immigration office, a trip that would have taken anywhere from 5 to 10 hours, to get the visa finalized, they simply finalized the visa process right there at the airport! So, 45 minutes later, Amy came out with a "spouse of a permanent resident" visa, good for one full year! Praise the Lord! He loves to surprise us doesn't He?! Lol

Takarazuka!

So here are our plans for this coming year (as we know it now).

Next Year (Fall 2010 through Spring 2011)
Following God and His leading is guaranteed to bring us surprises since God's ways are higher and greater than ours! Well, God has surprised Amy and I with an opportunity that we neither saw nor imagined for this next year. During the early Spring months we received an e-mail response from Nathan Mikaelsen. I have known Nathan and Inge from my summers up at Nojiri, and then I also completed my college internship with them at their church in Takarazuka, Hyogo-ken, Japan. Nathan mentioned that he and Inge will be leaving for Norway for a time of furlough from roughly mid-July until the beginning of December. They already had someone to cover for them on Sunday mornings, but they also needed someone to cover for their Sunday evening and Wednesday evening ministries and to help with some of the other activities as well.
Amy and I prayed about this option and God confirmed it upon both of our hearts to go! We are both excited about this opportunity and are excited to see how God uses our time there. It will be a good initial introduction to Japanese life and people and culture for Amy too.
Following the four months in Takarazuka, we plan to live with my parents in Tokyo while looking for a place to live, teaching English, and beginning language school. It will also be a time where we can fellowship and minister with my family's church there, ICCS (International Community Chapel of Saitama).


Raising Support
I mentioned some of this in my last update, and would like to bring it up again. One of the tasks that we have to do before leaving for Japan is to raise enough financial support for us to be able to live there in Japan. I explained before that we want to be partially supported through others and partially self supported. Once we start language school (Lord willing starting the fall of 2010) we would like to have roughly $1,500 per month financial support. However, since this next year will be feeling out Japan and ministry there and living costs should be considerably low, we would like to leave for Japan this coming June with $700 per month financial support. Especially for the time that we are serving the church in Takarazuka.
We would love for you to take part in this, if the Lord moves you to do so. Since we are being sent out directly from Grandview Heights Baptist Church (Amy's home church that we attended this last year) the plan is for any money to be sent to them at 835 Grandview Hts. Dubuque, IA, 52003 and they in turn would get it to us.

Jail Ministry

During the month o February I (Caleb) had a wonderful opportunity to minister to inmates in the Dubuque County Jail. Myself and a couple of other guys were able to go in during the four Sundays of February to hold Bible Studies. There are two sides of the jail with women on one side and men on the other. The two other guys went to the men's side and I went the women's side.
Before going each Sunday I would come before the Lord in prayer, seeking His guidance as to what passage of His Word He wanted me to do a study on. I also prayed for strength and wisdom and power for myself and for tender hearts that were ready to receive the words of the Living God. Lastly I prayed for grace in the eyes of the prison guards, that they would not only cause no hindrance but that they would be very favorable towards us and even draw to Christ themselves through our being there.
After being buzzed in through several locked doors, I would be taken to a visiting room with a glass (with little holes in it so we could talk) dividing it in half. Each week I had between two to three groups of about two to three women in each group. I would arrive around 6:00 p.m. and not leave until about 9:00 p.m.
God is great! I love to see Him at work and He has certainly been at work in the Dubuque jail! I got the whole range of women, from those that were kind of interested but not really, to those who were hungry for truth but knew nothing, to those who knew a lot but had all knowledge and no faith, to those who had found Christ while in jail and were wholeheartedly following after Jesus and desperately hungry for more of Him!
Each Bible study began with prayer and then we would go through the passage one verse at a time, taking it for what it said, and trying to bring as little of the rest of the Bible to it as possible, simply letting the passage speak for itself. It is awesome how faithful God is to show Himself through His Word! We try to bring so much "wisdom" and "logic" to the Bible to exlpain it when it explains itself so well already! The passages we looked at throughout the 4 weeks were: Ephesians 2:1-10, Philippians 2:1-11, Colossians 1:13-23, and Isaiah 53. It was AWESOME each time! The only passages outside of the texts that we went to were to reinforce or expound on the truth that was found in the texts.
With the window of opportunity now closed, there are a number of ladies (from my side) and men (from the other guys' side) who are reading the Word, hungry for God and drawing nearer to Him! Praise the Lord! Is He not so incredibly awesome!!!! =D There are three ladies in particular that I want to share about. These three had all found Christ before I came to the jail, and are following Him with all of their hearts each day. My coming was a huge encouragement to them and they hungrily listened and participated in the Bible studies, which usually went for about 60 to 90 minutes. God is using them mightily too within the jail as they shine Jesus everyday through their words and their actions.

Friday Nighters

One of the ministries that I have been able to be apart of while I was at Emmaus Bible College and am involved with again this year is called Friday Nighters. It is an outreach to downtown elementary kids of Dubuque. It is a ministry of a local church and most of the leaders are Emmaus students. We meet downtown in the gym of one of the elementary schools. We start with about 30 minutes of free time fun with the kids with balls flying etc! Next we play some group games and then we head to the bleachers. In the bleachers we sing songs and then one of the leaders gives a lesson that they had prepared. Lastly, we get into small groups with the kids (about 1 to 2 kids per leader) and have about ten minutes to talk about the lesson or the Bible or just get to know the kids better.

This last Friday, God gave me a neat opportunity with a couple of the guys. I met with a boy named Akyron who I had earlier given a Bible to. I asked him if he had been reading it and he said he had and shared with me some the places he had read. He also told me that the Psalms was his favorite book to read. I shared a verse with him relating to what we were talking about and he looked up the verse and wrote down the reference, saying he really liked that verse (it was Matthew 28:20). It was neat for me to see how he had grown in the Lord and how he had a tender heart to Jesus and His Word! Before leaving I asked him if he has ever been to church and he said no. I asked if he would like to go to church and he brightened up and said "YES." =D His friend Zae (short for Xavier) said he wanted to go too! So that night I walked over to their respective homes to ask permission of their parents for me to pick them up on Sunday mornings to bring them to church. Zae's mom said yes and Akyron's mom said she'd like to think it over. Praise the Lord! The next day I was also able to get together with Zae and my brother Victor. WE went up to my house and sledded on the hill behind our house!

PRAYER request:
-that Zae's parents would continue to let him come over on Saturdays and for church on Sunday mornings.
-that Akyron's mom would decide to let him come
-that Zae and Akyron would grow in the Lord
-there seems to be something hindering or opposing Akyron's being able to go (aside from his mom's wanting to think about it first) pray that the Enemy will not succeed in deterring him

Status on the move to Japan

We continue to wait on the Lord as He unfolds His plans for us in regard to Japan. We have found a language school that we like that is not too far away from my parents, and we have a couple options as far as jobs go. I have been looking into a possible part-time job at CAJ, but also have some English teaching opportunities opening up as well. It is important that we find some sort of job for two reasons. First, we have both felt led by God to be only partially supported missionaries. The reasons for this are the following

* We want to use English Teaching as a means of getting to know people and families.
* We want to serve people in areas that they have needs (speaking English is a skill that many Japanese desire to have).
* We want people to see us as "normal" people (as normal as foreigners can be) who have a legitimate job.
* We want to be seen as "normal" people who are crazy about this "Jesus" and whose lives and words attract people to want to know more.
* We also want to set an example for believers in the churches that the Lord will grant us to start. An example that one does not need to be a seminary graduate or to be fully supported by others to serve God and do His work. (In no way do we condemn workers who are fully supported. They do a wonderful work for God and it is Biblically supported. Rather we have been drawn to this by God for how WE should go about serving Him.)

The second reason that is is important that I find a job is that it will be much easier for Amy to get longer term visa status with it. I have permanent residence in Japan (Praise the Lord!) and by working at a legitimate job, the Japanese government would be much more willing to grant Amy a permanent visa down the road.

Another big step that we are taking is that we are not going to be moving to Japan under a mission board. We would have been going with CMML (a Plymouth Brethren mission) had we stayed with Great Adventure Church (CMML only accepts people who are commended from Brethren assemblies of which Great Adventure is one). However, with God leading us to Grandview Heights Baptist Church, and not leading us to join the Southern Baptist Mission or any other mission board, we will be going without one. We know that it is very important that we have good accountability (one of the best things that a mission board provides) so we have sought out another way to have good accountability. First, we are planning to be sent out from our Grandview chruch (and they want to send us too =D). We want them to be our accountability and to be actively involved in our missionary work. We are also asking that each of you, who pray for us would hold us accountable. We greatly appreciate your prayers and your encouragement to us and we long to continue to receive your prayers, knowing that as you pray, God will do wonders. Our work in Japan will be a waste of time without God's guidance, power and presence with us. And your prayers greatly increase these!

We also want to offer to you an opportunity to be further involved in our work; that is financially. The Bible teaches that those who pray for and give to those in the ministry, are partners with the workers. As partners, they share in the burden (both the burden of intercessory prayer and the burden of finances), but they also share in the rewards. What a great God we serve! I know that many of you cannot afford to give of your money, or are already giving to God in other areas. Praise the Lord! Please keep on doing so! However, if you feel God leading you to partner with us in giving, praise the Lord as well! Most of all, and we want to make this clear, we desire your faithful prayers. Thank you so much for that, it is the best gift that we can receive from you!

Teaching & Y-Care Supervising

Things have been going well for both of us with our jobs. Amy is still enjoying her teaching and comes home regularly with stories from her classroom. It has been neat to hear how her twelve students have grown and developed throughout the year. There are also the times when Amy comes home with a problem with a student be it lying or bullying, or not doing homework or not studying for tests. By God's grace, she has handled each situation well with the help of the school principle and other teachers too.
I have continued to enjoy my time at Carver Elementary School with the Y-Care program. I have enjoyed the many opportunities that God has given to me to be a light, get to know the kids and their parents, as well as opportunities to share of Jesus Christ. However, this has not been without opposition. I was approached by my boss about some concerns. Some were related to things that I could change (things I was unaware of before), but mostly it had to do with my faith. In essence I was being asked to be quiet about my faith. Even if the kids brought God up in conversation, I was being asked to steer it away into something else, or at least keep it very general (god, the golden rule, etc, not Jesus). I have been careful to not to push anything on anyone, but have simply talked about Jesus in natural conversation and nearly always in relation to my own relationship with Him. The times I was more direct was when talking about the origin and purpose of Christmas. I have also been more bold to talk about Jesus with children whose parents go to church (be that Catholic, or mainline Protestant or other). I have gone only as far as I have felt God leading me to go. In the process of talking to my boss and later to the school principal, I was able to be light as I shared where I stood and where I could not compromise. Praise the Lord that I have not been approached further on this, despite my making it clear that while I would be more careful, I could not stop from speaking of Him.
One of the other blessings from the job is that I have been able to connect to several of the parents and in a couple of them have been able to speak of Jesus and spiritual things with them. The first day of Christmas break Amy and I had two of my Y-Care kids over (two girls, Amelia and Grace) along with their older brother. We spend an afternoon of sledding and hot chocolate and playing Hungry Hungry Hippos!

A Christmas Funeral

A Christmas funeral
Yes, a funeral. A few days before leaving for Wisconsin, we found out that my Grandpa Eby had suddenly died. At 83 years of age, with Parkinson, God took His servant home. Praise the Lord, my grandpa was a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. The morning after returning from Wisconsin, we took off for southern Michigan for the funeral. We had smooth sailing and clear roads all the way across Illinois until we reached Indiana. About 30 miles into Indiana, our car slipped on a patch of slush while changing lanes and that was all it took. We ended up smashing into the guardrail on the side of the freeway. We praise God for His protection during that time. We were the only car involved, we were both perfectly fine, the only thing was that our car was damaged enough to not be able to drive it. We got towed to a towing station, played cards together for a couple hours, were picked up by Linnea and Tom (my sister and brother-in-law) who graciously drove about 3 hours out to get us, and finally made it to Michigan! Whew! Then God provided our way back through a rental car at a very good price. Isn't God so good! =D Plus, the rental car was a 2009 model, the nicest car that either one of us had ever driven! Not only that, but only a week after returning to Dubuque, God provided a good car for us. It is in good condition, only 140,000 miles on it, well taken care of, with recently put on snow tires, for a grant total of $1,100. I love watching God provide for us!
My grandpa's funeral went very well and I was so encouraged by the message that was given by my grandpa's brother-in-law, Uncle Billy. It was a very appropriate message full of God's truth and a clear message of salvation through Jesus and an urge to know Him as my grandpa had. I was praying throughout the ceremony for my cousins who were sitting around me; all but one of whom are not believers. I was also praying for my grandma who has not shared the faith of my grandpa. We stuck around for another day after the funeral and had some good time with family and relatives (this time on my side of the family). My dad had flown in from Japan so we got to spend some good time with him as well. All in all, we both thought that it was all worth going to Michigan, even with the accident. =D

Christmas with family

For the actual Christmas celebrations, we spent our time with Amy's parents and sister (who came up from Chicago) and we all drove up to Wisconsin together for an annual Christmas time with Amy's mom's side of the family. It was a crazy time of people and gifts, and games, and icy roads, etc! God kept us safe as we drove (it was freezing rain conditions most of the way up) and on the way back. It was a fun time but on the other hand, a hard time. Amy's mom is the only believer in her family. Her own parents are religious "Christians" but that is as far as is goes. Spending Christmas (or any extended time) among unbelievers is so different from spending it with believers (as many of you know and have experienced). Amy and I spent time praying each morning and night for the relatives and praying that God would use us a lights among them. Please pray especially for Amy's Uncle Jeff and Grandma Schultz, who we feel are close to the kingdom.

Church Dilemma

Don't let my title fool you, this was a good dilemma! From the start of our living in Dubuque, we were torn as to which church to attend. I had gone to the one church while I was at Emmaus and it had become a family to me. On the other hand, Amy had attended another church with her family for a number of years as well. We loved both churches; the teaching, the people, etc. We had decided to attend both for a while. Anyway . . . to make a long story short, I was meeting with the elders of the church we we attending the most, Great Adventure (the one I had gone to at college), about being sent out from them as missionaries to Japan. This has been the desire on my heart for a while. In the course of the conversation in which ideas and thoughts of mine were bounced off them and I received good encouragement, advice and council in return, one thing surfaced above the others. They suggested, as Amy and I had also concluded, that we devote ourselves more fully to one church, so that we could invest more in them and they in us. Throughout the next week, God began to show me that the church He wanted us to devote more fully to was Grandview Heights Baptist Church, the one that Amy and her parents had been attending. This totally took me by surprise! I was not even looking for this option. It just goes to show yet once again that God has His sovereign plan and we need to bend ours to fit His! So, we spent our last Sunday at Great Adventure Church in which they sort of sent us off with their blessing to invest in Grandview church. It was such a blessing for Amy and I too see how Great Adventure handled it all. The elders and others were naturally disappointed, but at the same time they were supporting us and excited for us, excited to see how God would use this and use us! It also spoke well for the church, that they are not focused on themselves and on numbers but on what God wants and on the spiritual health of the members of Christ's Body!

Caroling

Caroling
One of the blessings that God has given to us this year has been that we both had the same days off for our Christmas break since we are both involved in the school system. One of the first things we were able to do together was to go caroling with the church (Grandview Heights Baptist Church). It ended up being just a small group of us, 6 in all, but God blessed our time greatly. We began by going to a clinic for handicapped people or people unable to take care of themselves in society. We were given a room to sing in and then anyone who wanted to could come and listen. It ended up being more of a sing along caroling as some of the people there joined us up front while others sat and listened or sang along as well. We stayed for about 45 minutes with people suggesting Christmas songs from some hymnals that we had brought along. Before we left we had a time to just talk with them. I love the simpleness of those people and how tender many of there hearts are to the Savior. I believe that many of such people will be populating heaven! We even had a man sing for us a Christmas song that he had written which was all about Jesus, His love for us, and His coming as a baby so He could die for us! What a blessing! We came to bless and were blessed in return!
Our caroling also took us to a hospice in which we sang songs as we walked down the halls. We stopped at section where several patients were sitting out in the hall way and as we sang for them, several others were wheeled out to sit and listen. One man (a former choir singer) joined in as well. We pray that the truth of the songs that we sang sank into the hearts of our listeners as well as being a blessing and a gift to them.

Witnessing at work

This is late, but i had this written and simply forgot to post it, so I'll post it now. =D

We had asked God for a job for me in which I could be among unbelievers and be a witness. We knew that there might be complications or opposition to my sharing Jesus with others, but I can't not share. I have been careful, however. I made sure that my sharing never interfered with my work and made sure that it was at appropriate times. I didn't shove it toward anyone or any sort of preaching. I only spoke of God and Jesus in conversation and mostly spoke of Him in relation to my own relationship with Him, how good He is, what He is like, etc. Shortly before Christmas break, I was approached by my boss about my sharing my faith. It was put very nicely but the gist of it was still clear. Don't talk about Jesus. Now I find myself in the situation of how to proceed from here. I can't stop sharing about Jesus, for to remain silent is to condemn the children I work with and my co-workers. It is like Peter said to the Sanhedrin, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Amy and I are praying that God will protect me as I seek to remain faithful to Him and His gospel. I will be as careful as I can, but I cannot keep silent. God knows what lies ahead, so I commit it all to Him. Despite the now opposition, I have had numerous opportunities to speak of my wonderful Savior at work, both to kids and to my co-workers! =D Praise the Lord and I pray that He will bring to fruition the seeds that I've sown! =D

First 6 month summery

This too, I had written but had forgotten to post. Oops. =D

God is truly a wonderful God! Is He not?!!! =D Amy and I have experienced so much of His abundant blessings this year! Having lead us together, God then cemented our relationship with marriage on July 11th, 2009. After a honeymoon/family visit to Japan for the remainder of the summer, we returned to the States where we decided to spend our first year together. Among many of God's blessings we have experienced, such as providing a house for us in the parsonage of Amy's home church and paying only utilities, Amy's parents live only ten minutes away. It has been great for me to spend time with them and get to know them better and it is of course wonderful for Amy and her parents to have this time together. =D I've also been able to get to know more of her friends, relatives and church family. An additional blessing has been that my brother Victor is also only ten minutes away at Emmaus Bible College.
God has also provided jobs for Amy and I. Amy is teaching at Tri-State Christian School in the 6th grade and has been enjoying that a lot. God provided an ideal situation for Amy's first year of teaching. First, it is her Alma Mater; second, she did her student teaching there for her last semester of Moody Bible Institute; third, she only has 12 students and good ones at that; and last, the previous teacher left behind lots of material and sample lesson plans. God is indeed good! =D I have been working for the YMCA as a child care supervisor at one of the Dubuque Elementary schools. Two and a half hours before school and two and a half hours after school I get to spend time with kids! How cool is that!?! It was exactly what we had been praying for. I wanted a job that allowed me to be free when Amy was free, was with unbelievers (so I could be a witness), and not too time consuming so that I could work on improving my Japanese and prepare for going to Japan. Not only did God answer each of these, but he also threw in the fact that I love working with kids! =D