Babienco Missions

Stories and Updates from Michael and Caitlyn's mission service in Japan
July/August 2026

“This study is so…so…American!” came one small piece of the feedback during one of the latest discipleship training seminars Hiroko is running monthly in a small church in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

One of the key parts of AFM’s past short-term missionary training has been a deep dive into Bible-based discipleship: What is discipleship in the first place? What does it look like? What does it take to accomplish? And so forth. Laurence Burn, former training director for AFM, wrote a discipleship manual and covered the materials during short-term training. I (Michael), Caitlyn and Hiroko have all been through that training and were appreciative of the materials and were curious if they would work well in Japan.

One of Hiroko’s many projects has been translating this manual into Japanese. While doing so, as a team we have had a few interesting discussions on how to take the manual’s key points, written from a Western perspective, and translate them—not just in language but also in culture—into Japanese. Hiroko does the raw translation, then Caitlyn adds graphics and formats it nicely for printing. Afterward, Hiroko takes it to the church members and runs through the study, asking for feedback and input along the way. Although we may have ideas on how to do this properly and in a way that makes sense, sometimes our attempts fall short, or we don’t notice something that is just not quite right culturally.

This is why, during a recent Bible study, a church member spoke up, saying the study just felt so American! It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the point or perspective of the study, but the ideas just didn’t “click” for her as a Japanese person right away, given the way the study was currently written. Although it feels like a mistake for this sort of thing to happen, this sort of feedback lets us ask the crucial question, Why? and learn more about the local culture and way of thinking.

Things that make intuitive sense to me or you or someone else from the USA—idioms, ways of speaking, phrases, logical flow and even an inherent cultural sense of right and wrong—can all be different from one culture to the next. The great thing about the Bible, though, is that it applies cross-culturally and to all peoples of the earth. The question is not “Does this biblical concept matter?” but “How can this be understood in this specific culture in this time?” For example, to our understanding, the word “sinner,” to the Japanese mind, is usually understood to only be applied to one who is a serious criminal—e.g., a murderer or thief. So, most Japanese, if asked if they are a sinner, will immediately say “no” and have no mental or social connection with how the word/concept is used biblically or in a culture like the USA.

As missionaries, one of the biggest challenges we face is taking important biblical concepts we understand from our own cultural perspective and helping them be understood in the culture in which we are working. This often takes a little bit of mind-bending on the missionary’s part—and lots of prayer! As we help people gain a biblical perspective in a way that makes sense, we can also help them apply the Bible and its principles to their daily lives in a way that makes sense and, importantly, honors and follows God. These are not two sequential steps—they are two things that happen side by side.

Please join us in prayer as we seek to understand how best to share the gospel with the Japanese people in a way they can understand and share with those around them!

Again, we want to thank you for your continued prayers for our son. In mid-July, after four months in the children’s hospital, he was discharged! He has to take meds orally three times a day, and we have regular appointments with the same doctor and hospital where he was an inpatient. So far, he has done really well outside the hospital, gaining weight and acting like, well, a baby. Because this time between surgeries can be quite dangerous for children with our son’s condition, however, we opted to temporarily rent a small apartment near the hospital to allow us to be close for appointments and any unexpected emergencies.

As of writing, his next major surgery is slated for September 15, provided he remains healthy, and all his checkups are clear up to that point. Recovery time is expected to be five or six weeks, and his final major surgery would then take place in a year or two. We hope to engage more deeply in church planting work after the next surgery, when his health is expected to be more stable. In the meantime, we are trying to utilize the time we have now to take care of the ministry opportunities before us.

• Please continue to pray for our little one, his recovery, and his tired parents!

• We’re thankful that Michael was able to take the Japanese language test in July. Thank you for your prayers. He should have results by the end of August, at least in theory.

• Please pray for some ladies we met in the hospital whose children have the same health condition as our son. Their children’s ages and our son’s age are nearly identical. Caitlyn and these ladies have a text group on their phones to stay in touch. Please pray that this will turn into opportunities to share our faith with them and that it will be an encouragement as we each fight very similar stressors.

• We are very thankful for a place to stay that is close to the hospital!

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!