Fall 2023 Update

It's time for the training wheels to come off.

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SAYING "GOODBYE"

Over the summer my friends Levi and Mayu were married in a beautiful Christ centered ceremony in the mountains of Karuizawa, Japan. Many of the Friday Terrace families came and were impacted by the event. One family in particular was moved in such a way that they started to read the bible, listen to Christian music, and seek out Christian community. We really have the sense that God is moving in this community, and our Friday Terrace ministry is growing.

However, as I mentioned in my last update, Levi and Mayu planned to leave Japan to reconnect with friends/family in the US & England, raise support, and enjoy a honeymoon. This means that for the next 6 months I am on my own, and if I want to continue my relationships with the Friday Terrace families, I must do so using my own Japanese ability.

Before they left, the Friday Terrace families and I went to the airport about an hour before Levi & Mayu arrived in order to properly send them off. This was the first time that I spent time with the families without a translator present. So, to say that I felt inadequate for the situation would be a huge understatement. I felt terrified! However, I love these families and my friends (airport picture below), and I did not want the fear of being inadequate stop me. I definitely made a lot of simple language mistakes and some moments were a little awkward, but you know what?? This is my life now. This is what I signed up for.

頑張ります ! 🙂

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THE FUTURE OF FRIDAY TERRACE

Speaking of embracing the unknown, I asked many of you to pray for the future of Friday Terrace since Mayu and Levi would be leaving. With both of them there, we had a growing and well oiled ministry. With them gone, what would we do? Well, our ministry team (Mayu, Levi, Rob, and I) sat down to talk with Mayu’s family and we decided to continue Friday Terrace once a month, with the option to add special holiday events on the weekends.

This is great news. However, this also means that I will be put in more situations where I will need to depend on my Japanese ability to communicate, and kids ministry is a messy ordeal. These lil' boogers are prone to hurt themselves while playing, sometimes argue with each other, and occasionally have bathroom accidents. Do you know how I learned the word for "pee" in Japanese? Let's just say that it was on the job training were I used my powers of deductive reasoning to come to a surprising conclusion.

All this is just to say that a beautiful, messy, wonderful challenge awaits me.

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MY FUTURE WITH FRIDAY TERRACE

I have one more year of full time language study and then I will need to find a direction for my ministry here in Japan. Will I go with a team to plant a church? Do I concentrate on making videos? Will I stay in Tokyo, or move? What about Friday Terrace?

I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that God has given me a love for these families living in Meguro. We have prayed with these families, loved these families, shared with these families, and have been accepted into this community. Sometimes I think to myself, did God introduce me to them just for the language experience or is there something more here?

I can’t help but feel like God is giving us favor for a reason. So, with this in mind I want to explore putting down roots in Meguro and consider what long term ministry with Mayu and Levi could look like.

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VIDEO PROJECT

I just finished my 4 month long video project!

I believe this is a powerful and moving video of how Mayu came to faith, and how God is using the Friday Terrace Ministry to share Christ with the Japanese people. This video has both English and Japanese subtitles, and is meant to reach both the Japanese people and encourage believers around the world. Please take 7 min to watch this video and if it has impacted with you, share it!

Less than 1% of the Japanese population is a bible believing Christian. I can not stress to you how rare it is to have a native Japanese person choose to spend the rest of their life reaching out to other Japanese people for Christ. I mean, this is the reason why I am here!

This video has so much potential to impact lives, just give it a chance and try to tell me you disagree?

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Language learning! I am in over my head with a lot of wonderful ministry opportunities. I may never be fluent, but I want to give my best effort to this.

2. Future direction in ministry. As I mentioned before, I have an interest in putting down roots in Meguro, Tokyo. What does God think?

3. Support. As I mentioned in my previous update my support has dropped. Thank you to those who have helped out! Let’s continue to ask God for His provision.