So far the Lord has been kind in my English classes and they are going very well. Thank you for your prayers. As Christians we are all under a close examination by those around us. We are hoping to maintain a strong testimony and example here, as many people have a lot of intrigue on why we are here – including my students.

 

Two of my students are Mr. Kunihiro and Mr. Eigetsu, or E.T., as he likes to be called. These are the only students in, Pro English, my smallest class. They are very successful business men that want to learn English for business purposes. This past week was only my second class with them, though Mr. Kunihiro repeated a question he asked me during our first. “What is your motivation to come to Japan?” This time he insisted on a more detailed answer. Despite my reluctance, this eventually led to a very open conversation about the gospel. We ended up talking about Buddhism, Christianity, Jesus, the Bible, and what I personally believe in as my motivation to come to Japan!

 

Mr. E.T. said that “Buddhism is a very peaceful religion”, and began to talk about violent ones, like Islam… and Christianity. He mentioned that he has experienced seeing many Christians talk about Jesus but brandish guns around with passion. They appear more concerned over defending their rights more than demonstrating God’s peace. This was a very convicting claim. Jesus came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them, and commands us likewise to do nothing but good to all (Luke 9:56, I Thes 5:15). It was at a time like this that I was glad to be a Mennonite and to be able to explain the difference.

 

We would like to ask you to pray with us that the devil wouldn’t have the opportunity to use that conversation to bring condemnation to the school, but contrarily wise that the Lord would use it as a seed to plant the love of Christ in their hearts. Hiroko (the principle) is appropriately concerned about the success of the school, but she is also very sensitive to what plans the Lord may intend. We will plan to give more updates as they come, Lord willing.

 

Thanks as always for your prayers and support as you fulfill an important part of reaching the lost for Christ!

 

A lot of people know some of the story, but only some people know a lot of it – here is the full story of how the Lord began our going-to-Japan.

 

After getting saved, I had an almost immediate attraction to Japan – to this day I still don’t know why exactly. Traditional Japanese culture was appealing to me as a youth, but I soon learned about one of Japan’s great depravities – it’s spiritual state. As of the last CIA national listings, Japan is second in the world for the number of suicides in first world countries. It also has one of the lowest percentage of known Christians – less than 1% (excluding groups such as Mormons and J.W.’s). This became a big burden on me at that time and was one of many stepping-stones to my heart’s leading to missions work.

 

This leading eventually led me to the Philippines. Once in 2005 and again for a longer duration in 2008. I was blessed greatly by this experience. It was there that it was confirmed in my heart that I should serve God on the missions field to do the work of an evangelist (See II Tim 4:5). In 2014, the Lord was working on mine and Mia’s hearts in several ways, and he was teaching us to trust in faith more than circumstances. It was also at this time that we began to seriously pray about doing missions work in response. God eventually led us to be introduced to OMF, formerly the China Inland Mission (CIM). CIM was started by the work of James Hudson Taylor. The story is amazing and I HIGHLY recommend any Christian who has a healthy burden for the lost to read The Spiritual Secret of Hudson Taylor. If you can’t find a copy and would like to read it, please let us know! Anyway, through working with OMF we had gained valuable experience and had learned of several areas in which we could improve.

 

Mia and I went and visited Ireland in May of that year, but didn’t sense the Lord’s leading there. I had asked the Lord to show us exactly where to go, if anywhere. It was immediately after that prayer that my computer “randomly” notified me of a disaster that occurred in Joso, Japan. In September of 2015 we visited Japan (kind of sporadically, but very prayerfully)! It was there that we saw countless answers to prayer. Within 2 ½ hours of us finishing our relations with OMF, we were introduced to other missionaries in Japan, both in Tokyo and Takasaki. We learned more of the many spiritual needs of Japan. I was praying for a “white harvest field”, and that is what was described to us. We were told of the specific ministry areas in Japan, the same of which we’ve felt led to. I believe it was the next day that we prayed specifically if Japan was where we needed to consider and pray for. That same day we, not knowing where to go, ended-up going to the Kaminarimon Gate, and the Lord gave me these verses:
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Mat 7:13-14).

 

It was at this place that we saw, first-hand, the throngs of people (especially children!) offering worship to devils and to gods that would never give them life – only enmity from the one true God. It broke our hearts, and we were convinced that Japan was the place to serve.

 

Trying to return to the U.S., only on available seating, with over 20 different flight paths we could have taken back, every one of them was oversold. Regardless, trusting that the Lord was in our trip from the start we had hoped that he would continue to show himself to us – even in the end of it. We went to the airport anyway. When we got there, the flight we tried to get on was oversold by 10 people and the gate agents were offering cash vouchers to paying passengers. There should have been no way for us to get on, but we did anyway! Mia even got the aisle seat she hoped for and God also gave us adjacent seats! The same thing also happened on the connecting Columbus flight. It was amazing to see God provide each moment of the way. It’s absolutely true, there is no better place to be in than the center of God’s will. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).

 

Since that time God gave us another very specific answer to prayer – our daughter Hannah… though perhaps more about that on another post! A few months after Hannah was born we got in contact with a lady who was serving in Japan as a missionary. Her name was Raine Sakka. I was praying about three specific places that caught my attention in Japan – one of which was a small place called Fukui. Raine had later asked in an email if we had heard of a place named Fukui – we were both surprised when I said yes. That is where she was. Though only intending to network and learn more about Japan’s needs, she passed on our information to a nearby Christian friend of hers. That friend’s name was Hiroko Umaarai. Hiroko had asked Raine if she knew of any English teachers, as she is the owner of a language school in Fukui and needed a new teacher. She asked me if I happened to have English teaching experience, and I was again surprised to be able to answer “yes” to her question. I had actually just acquired a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification a couple of months prior. Hiroko wanted to know more.

 

We soon found out that she was praying for us before we even knew each other. She considered offering us the teaching position, but it is difficult for foreigners to stay in Japan unless they have a master’s degree, are single, and have sponsorship – all of which we had none. But Hiroko (as we later found out) told us that God told her to treat us as “angels sent from God”, like Abram did in Genesis, and offered us the job, even though she thought the tasks were too great for her. Along with the immigration impossibility, she said she needed someone almost immediately and I expressed that we couldn’t come any sooner than the middle of June because of VBS obligations. She said that she actually needed a teacher starting from mid-June! Before the job proposal I asked the Lord for a five-fold witness. That myself, Hiroko, Raine, Mia, and our head pastor, Lonnie, would all agree on a decision. I mentioned it to Mia, of which she expressed her willingness, despite past concerns. We were convinced that Lonnie would definitely not agree because of his wise objections in the recent past – so we thought it would end there with a final obstacle – but it didn’t. After telling the whole story (some of which I probably forgot to include in this), Lonnie gave a complete approval – which was a huge surprise to us!

 

Hiroko began working with the Japan Immigration to somehow manage getting not only myself, but our whole family VISA sponsorship. She was given road-blocks several times. She requested a recommendation letter from us – of which Nate, one of our pastors, kindly agreed to write. With time against us, Hiroko needed the letter by Wednesday of the following week, but Nate didn’t know. We prayed specifically that he would be able to finish it and get it to me in time. He emailed it to us Wednesday evening – just in time! After more difficulty (I guess a lot more than we know), immigration somehow approved VISA for all three of us – and yet there was another problem. We had to be there on June 15th but the VISAs wouldn’t be ready until the end of the month, but we agreed to go anyway.

 

We flew from Newark, NJ to Detroit, MI on June 14^th, and prepared for our flight from Detroit to Nagoya, Japan. However, yet another problem. A technical error made Hannah not appear on our boarding pass – this became a big problem. The gate agent said we would have to pay for a separate ticket for her, and then they would book us on the same flight the next day, of which we couldn’t do. Mia prayed while I spoke with the agents. They made some changes, found out that they made a mistake, and we were still able to board the flight with only two minutes to spare! Upon arriving in Nagoya the customs officials needed our information. Come to find out, the VISAs went through completely only an hour before we arrived!!…. and the story isn’t over.

 

We flew with a LOT of baggage – actually too much to carry on our own (probably my own faulty planning), but God took care of that, too. The airline left our two biggest bags behind in Detroit, and we were offered for them to be delivered for us to our destination, which was nearly four hours away. We received them, just like they said, a couple days later (with some much-needed clothes)!

 

I also want to say that we have had a tremendous amount of support from our loved ones and home church! We could list so many people, but even now our pastors, Lonnie Beachy, and Nate Yoder (and their families), are making great sacrifices for us to be here. Many may not know all that they do for us, but we are overwhelmingly appreciative, and we know that the Lord not forget their labour of love to support reaching the lost for Christ.

 

That is the beginning of a journey in which we do not know the full purpose or length. What we do know is that many people are without Christ, we have an obligation to tell them, and that God is faithful to fully equip all of us to do so! Praise the Lord Jesus, and the Father of our Lord, for their provision and grace! This is all to be for HIS glory, and we pray that you will join us in prayer and service, that many will be saved and encouraged in their walk with God.