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