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Getting Settled in the New Year
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Happy New Year! We hope that you are doing well, are healthy, and have had a positive start to the new year. Many stressful things are going on in the world today, but with our Savior always here for us and guiding us all on a daily basis, we can walk forward into uncertainty in faith, knowing that He will guide us through the uncertainties of life in both the short term and the long term.
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We have jumped into a new type of the unknown feet-first here in Yamaguchi Prefecture. In late November of 2024, we moved to Shunan City, which is a stop on the main bullet train (shinkansen) line between Hiroshima and the island of Fukuoka. The Japan Union Conference has graciously allowed us to live in a parsonage above the small SDA church located in this city, and it has been a blessing to have a place to call home while we continue to learn the ropes of life here in Yamaguchi. Upon our arrival in Yamaguchi, Caitlyn immediately fell ill for two straight weeks, and then we were into the holiday season, so it was a little slow-going for getting settled; however, God was (and is) faithful, and we are both doing well and are healthy. Now the question we are trying to answer is: how do we continue to move forward in language learning and culture acquisition while simultaneously looking for opportunities for friendship-building, ministry, and church planting in the city where we live as well as neighboring cities?
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One of the tasks we accomplished in December was the purchase of two bicycles to improve our ability to travel around the city. While we are planning to get Japan-issued driver’s licenses and a car, a process that could take some time, we decided to purchase bicycles and use them for shopping and traveling around our city. Purchasing them with our limited Japanese skills, including registering them with the police through the store and setting up bike insurance, both requirements for Japan, was challenging. The bikes have been a big blessing; because we live in a smaller town with less public transport than in east Japan, we use our bikes quite often.
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Caitlyn walks home from the station with her bike and Hiroko.
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We are working to become actively involved in the local SDA church in this city as well. In December, our local Japan team put together an agape dinner for the last Sabbath of the year. After the church service, we gathered for a special meal of soba noodles, good conversation and a testimony time of thankfulness for how God had led in 2024. In January, Michael preached at the Tokuyama Church in Japanese on the topic of sharing your personal testimony (1 Peter 3:15-16); he will preach again and lead out in Sabbath School in February.
The church also has weekly Bible studies and a meeting on Christ’s Object Lessons that we have participated in most weeks. In addition to these activities, we just began hosting a weekly prayer meeting with church members in our home, which has already proven to be a blessing both to the team and the church members. While our long-term focus in Japan is training leaders and church planting, while we are in the language and culture acquisition process (and even after that is “done”), we want to support the existing SDA churches as much as we can.
Team-building has also been a focus of the last couple of months as we work here with Hiroko, our platinum missionary. We have come together for many meals in our home, enjoying conversation and discussing ideas and plans on how to support the local church while doing new outreach and friendship-building here in the city. We held a week of prayer in our home as a team in late December/early January to seek God’s guidance for the new year. Hiroko has been a huge blessing for us both. She has come along on several trips with us to help translate and lend her wisdom as a native-born Japanese. Hiroko has also started a Bible reading session in her home for two church members and one non-member once a week.
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Our setup for the agape feast at church included lights and origami cranes.
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Language learning and culture acquisition are still a major focus, and we are by no means finished with either task. Although we have made major strides in learning Japanese and are no longer in a formal school environment, we often feel our inadequacy in conversation and attempts at reading native materials. This especially applies to Scripture and other religious materials, where different words and terminology are used compared to the everyday life conversation we learned at language school. So, we have been continuing to ponder, pray and try to work out ways to move forward in language learning while staying busy with everything else. With God’s help, we will acquire this language and be able to use it to minister here in Japan, but the journey has, in many ways, only just begun.
Thank you for your continued support, prayers and encouragement while we work here in Japan to help reach this country for Him! May God bless you as you continue to walk in His ways, wherever that may be.
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Praises & Prayer Requests
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- Please continue to pray for our language and friendship/community acquisition process.
- We are glad to be fairly well settled into our new home city, having purchased some needed furniture for the home, obtained items like bikes and local library cards, and, yes, even figured out where to buy some whole wheat bread at a local grocery store.
- Please pray for the man who cut Michael’s hair recently at a barber shop. He expressed interest in learning about Catholic and Protestant history, and Michael is hoping to connect with him in the future and maybe even share some literature with him.
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We would love to hear back from you. You can email us at adventure@shoesatthedoor.net. We are happy to pray for any prayer requests you might have, so please feel free to send them our way.
Thank you so much for your support!
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