Here we go!

Hello everyone!

Since our last update, Anna began her work at a private high school and is already enjoying it despite the long hours and difficulties she’s facing as a first-year teacher. Audra and I are both part-time at the kindergarten this year, which is a huge help with studying Japanese, and I’m not a complete greenhorn anymore, so I would no longer say I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off like I did at the beginning of last year. All-in-all the new school year has started off well for all of us, although we’re still figuring some things out with all of our classes, but what I want to focus on in this post is some exciting new developments.

One of the main prayer requests from our last update was finding a church that would partner with us to create an English conversation group as a form of ministry. Already that prayer has been answered! At the start of the new year, we began to attend a church that we had previously visited with our good friend Noriko and her children. We joined the regular service, even though Audra and I understood (and still understand) little to none of the sermon, and then sometimes stayed for tea time along with a handful of other members so we could start forming connections and building relationships. After talking with the pastor, who was quickly interested in our idea for a ministry, and meeting with him and some other members he thought could be involved in the group, he presented the idea to the church’s elders. Fast-forward several weeks, and we got the go ahead to meet twice a month for the conversation group, starting this month! For the first several meetings, we’re planning to have only church members come so we can work out any kinks and so those who attend can better understand how the group can be a way to reach their friends and other unbelievers with the Good News.

Well that’s it! As many of you know, joining or forming a ministry like this was one of our biggest hopes and goals in coming to Japan, so we’re excited to see what God will do through it. Thank you so much for hoping and praying with us, and we’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Praises

• Even though we thought Audra might have to be responsible for taking up all the hours I wanted to drop, the kindergarten hired a couple of more afternoon teachers, so she is only teaching until 6:00 a few times a week.
• Anna is staying healthy and is getting accustomed to her workload and responsibilities.
• And of course, we found a church to partner with and are starting to form the English conversation/Bible study group we had been hoping for.

Prayer Requests

• That God would guide us as we move forward with the conversation group. That, when the time comes, many nonbelievers would like to join, and that through it, they would be exposed to the truth and life-changing power of the gospel.
• That Anna would stay healthy and have a lot of energy and that she would do her best and have peace of mind that doing her best is enough.
• That we would all have opportunities to form closer connections with our coworkers and to share our hope and joy in Christ with them.
• That Audra and I would do the most with the extra time we have to learn Japanese and that we would see noticeable improvement and for Anna to improve her Japanese as she is around her Japanese coworkers every day.

For members of the Things Hoped For Facebook group, we have a more detailed list of prayer requests posted there. Thank you for praying!

"but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" 1 Peter 3:15