Christmas Ministry Highlights

Christmas is one of our favorite times of year here in Japan. It's fun to see all the Christmas lights and hear Christmas music and even more fun to experience Christmas in another culture. But that is only part of the reason why we love this time of the year. We love it because we get to share with our community the real meaning behind Christmas.


This year we once again participated in the Christmas program at the homeless ministry that Justin volunteers at with his students. Noah and I usually do not get to go for various reasons, but this time it worked out for us to join him. We also got to bring my family along and serve with them as well. It was a wonderful experience.


The homeless tend to be forgotten in Japan. It was a wonderful blessing to us to be apart of a church service that gave them hope and also gave them some physical needs as well too.


One of the homeless men at the service gave Noah a small red toy car. He had so much joy in his eyes watching our little man play with it at the small park we had the service at. He told me in broken English that it was nice to give something to someone and that he was happy to hear a child laughing. It brought tears to my eyes.

We were also able to participate in ICAN's musical this year. Justin had a part in one of the skits about the real meaning of Christmas and little Noah got to sing a Christmas carol on stage at the end of the presentation. It was so cute to watch him up there with a huge smile on his face. To say he was adorable would have been an understatement. I know, I am his mom and I'm a little biased, but hey when your kid is cute, he's cute! ;)

Another neat blessing that came our way was the chance to spend Christmas with my family. My mom and dad and one of my brothers came to Japan and spent Christmas with us. It was a Christmas with chicken instead of turkey or ham, Japanese candy and other new experiences. It was a very different Christmas, but one of the best I've had.


All and all it was a fantastic holiday season this year. I hope all of you have had a wonderful 2012 so far!

Our Time Together/Shinto Shrine

Justin and I have been really blessed to be surrounded by single ladies who LOVE to babysit Noah. This is so wonderful for us because when we are constantly in ministry either with others or in our home, it is nice to just have time to build our marriage.

We were able to each lunch at a cute little Hawaiian restaurant and during that lunch we were able to see a kids dance off at the same location. It was so much fun to watch the kids dance. They were incredible. I couldn't believe kids that age could move like that.


The second part of trip consisted of visiting a very famous Shinto shrine here in Nagoya. It is called Atsuta Jingu.


The shrine itself was very beautiful. It is a hard place to be as Christians because there is no light in this very dark place. It made me realize how much the people here need Christ.


Pray for the people of Japan.

A Japanese Green House

There is something about greenhouses that make me smile.

Maybe it's the beauty of new life:


Or the how colorful they can be:


Or maybe it's being able to see the different stages of plant growth in one place:


Whatever it may be, finding this little gem really made my day.

Cherry Blossom Photos

Spring is an absolutely beautiful time here in Nagoya. Especially during Cherry Blossom season. Here are a few pictures of the cherry blossoms around where we live:

Our Bowling Adventure

Please excuse the blurry picture of my son. I really need a new camera.

So this weekend a group of us got together and decided to try bowling in Japan. And here are some things I observed from our little adventure:

Japan has better bowling shoes. In other words, they don't look like they were borrowed from the circus.

Japanese bowling balls were not made for Americans with big fingers. So as you can imagine the majority of us were major failures when it came to big numbers.

And I'm pretty sure the food is way better at the bowling alley here. Check out this value meal. Yeah, I'm pretty sure this would have filled all of us up.


All in all it was pretty fun. Different in some ways, the same in others. Will we go again? I think so, we gotta try that burger!

Pictures of a Japanese Shrine

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures I took at the shrine down the street from our house. Enjoy.






But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see. Psalms 115:4

The Power of Prayer.

I've had many people ask me recently, "How can we pray for Japan?" or "How can we pray for Nagoya?" or "How can we pray for you?" I would like to answer those questions tonight so that we can have more prayer partners for this country, this city, our ministry, and our lives in general.

Thank you for asking such important questions.

We NEED prayer partners. We need people from all over the world lifting these three things up to the Father DAILY. Thank you to those who have consistently been praying for us. And thank you to those who are going to begin praying for us. We need you!


How to Pray for Japan

*There are over 1,700 towns and villages in Japan that have no church. Pray that God will call new leaders to share the good news of Christ in each one of these places.
*Less than 1% of the Japanese people are true born-again believers. Again, pray that God will change their hearts for Him. Pray that they might see the truth.
*The churches here are very small and usually consist of around 30 people or less. Please pray that God will bring many people to know Christ this year.
*Many professing Japanese believers fall away from the gospel within one year. Please pray that God will use the people he has placed here for ministry to continue growing new believers and disciplining them in the Word of God.
*Many people here think because they are Japanese that their identity comes from Shintoism or Buddhism. Pray that the Japanese will understand that they have freedom to choose what they believe and what they will follow, and that the culture into which they were born does not trap them in any particular belief system. This is one of the greatest obstacles to receiving of the gospel in Japan.


How To Pray for Nagoya.

*Over 400 people are homeless in Nagoya. Pray that God will bless the homeless ministry in downtown Nagoya. Pray that they will have enough food for each week. Pray that these people will find hope in the Gospel when there seems to be no hope at all.
*All Nations Fellowship is the church we attend in Nagoya. Please pray that God will continue to bless and grow this church and that many will come to Christ through this church.
*The International Christian Academy is where Justin is teaching. Please pray that this school would continue to see students come to know the Lord. Pray that they will continue to see new students every year. Pray for the teachers as they minister to the children.


How to Pray for Us.

*Life can be very busy as Missionaries/Teachers. Please pray that we will be diligent in spending some time with the Lord alone every day.
*It can be hard sometimes to raise children overseas. Please pray for us as we raise Noah in another culture. Pray that we might be the best parents we can be for him.
*Japan is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. Pray that God will help us raise the support we need every month to continue living here in Japan. Expenses continue to rise.
*Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world for English speakers. Please pray that we will continue to have patience as we learn Japanese so we can interact better with the people in our community.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16