Babienco Missions

Stories and Updates from Michael and Caitlyn's mission service in Japan
-March/April 2026-

We ended our last newsletter with the following thought: “Thankfully, despite all the changes, whether easy, hard or nearly impossible, God is with us through them all, helping and guiding us in each moment… Whether times are good or bad, look up to Jesus—He is with you, and He will be with you through these times.” Little did we foresee how much this would apply to our lives since the last newsletter.

You probably remember that we had a big announcement at the end of our last newsletter: We were expecting our first child! The pregnancy had many of the “normal” ups and downs one would expect. After a bit of a scare in the first trimester, things seemed to go fairly smoothly until the 32-week mark, when the baby threatened to come out way too early! Thankfully, with some bed rest, meds and much prayer, the baby decided that avoiding the outside world was more desirable for quite a bit longer.

On March 8, late in the evening, Caitlyn had contractions come on very quickly. We confirmed with the hospital that it was time to come in. After running over to Hiroko’s apartment and waking her up, we all piled into the car and got to the hospital at around 2 a.m. At almost 11 a.m. on March 9, our little—well, not so little—one was born! He was 55.5 cm (21.85 in) and 3.998 kg (8.81 lb) at birth. With great relief and big smiles, we happily held the little addition to our family after the nurses checked him over.

In Japan, the standard hospital stay after a birth is five days. During this time, the hospital medical staff keep an eye on both mom and baby, help the new mom learn the ropes of taking care of their baby, and also take care of the baby (even at night!) so the new mom can rest and recover from the birth itself. Unfortunately, visiting hours were only in the afternoon, so I (Michael) kept myself busy wrapping up a few work and language study projects and preparing the home for the little one’s arrival.

Caitlyn and the baby were slated to be discharged on Sabbath morning, March 14. The day before, Caitlyn had felt exhausted due to her new responsibilities as a mother, and the wonderful nurses were only too happy to take care of the little one overnight so Caitlyn could get some more rest. Caitlyn happily packed up her room, ate breakfast and prepared to leave.

Suddenly, a nurse entered her room. “Is your translator here?” Caitlyn let her know that Hiroko was arriving at 10 a.m., our scheduled discharge time. The nurse replied, “No, she needs to come now.” Caitlyn called Hiroko to tell her to get me and to come right away. Right after the call ended, the doctor entered the room and began explaining what was happening: Our little one had refused to take any food from the nurses all night. At around 2 a.m., our son had turned blue and was put on oxygen. By the time the doctor came into Caitlyn’s room, he had been on oxygen for about six hours. Every time they tried removing the breathing apparatus, his oxygen levels quickly dropped.

Meanwhile, at the church where Hiroko and I were, Hiroko told me about the call, and we rushed to the car and drove to the hospital, which was about five minutes away. The front desk staff rushed us to the second- floor nurse’s station. Our little one was there in an incubator, surrounded by several nurses and the doctor. The doctor began talking to Hiroko in rapid-fire Japanese, and I got caught up on the situation with Caitlyn. The hospital had already called an ambulance to transport our baby to another, bigger hospital nearby. The doctor and Caitlyn would ride in the ambulance with the baby, and Hiroko and I were to drive to the larger hospital immediately!

When we arrived at the central hospital, the doctor from the birthing hospital passed along the required information to the NICU doctor at the larger hospital, and thus began a long wait while they ran tests to see what was going on with our little one. We waited. And waited. Eventually, a very kind and patient nurse came out and walked us through a lot of paperwork, which we signed.

At last, the doctor came out: This hospital was not equipped to deal with our little one’s issue. He had a very, very serious heart condition that needed treatment right away. They would be airlifting him by helicopter to another hospital on the island of Kyūshū, and this time Hiroko, Caitlyn, and I were to go to that hospital as quickly as possible, which, in this case, meant by bullet train, since it was about 2.5 hours away by car. Hiroko, Caitlyn and I quickly went to the car. While I drove to our apartment above the church where we have been living (while researching unreached areas to work in), Hiroko got in touch with the church members, and one of them quickly volunteered to drive us to the station to catch the next bullet train.

We hopped on the bullet train and sped off towards a station on Kyūshū. About an hour later, we hopped in a taxi to ride another half hour to the hospital. Once there, the staff pointed us to the NICU, where a very kind nurse informed us that, despite our little one being transported via helicopter, we had somehow beat him to the hospital! There had been some delays in the airlift process. When our little one arrived at the hospital, they immediately began testing him and giving him the needed medication.

Eventually, a doctor came into the room and gave us a very detailed explanation, including diagrams and translations from Japanese to English, of exactly what was going on with our little one’s heart. The doctor was very kind and patient, and he took a lot of time to make sure we understood everything, including what medicines were being given and the treatment plan. Thankfully, Caitlyn and I did get to see our little one in the NICU that Saturday night and pet his little head of hair, even though it was quite late. We found a hotel for Hiroko to lodge in overnight, and Caitlyn and I went next door to the volunteer-run Ronald McDonald House, which kindly opened its doors to us despite our arrival at an awkward time on the weekend.

Thus began our adventure into parenting. Since then, our little one has undergone further medical treatment, had his first surgery on March 16, and, as of writing on March 17, has his second (of four total expected surgeries) slotted for the week of March 22. He is staying at a very reputable children’s hospital with excellent care, and the medical team has been nothing but kind and professional every step of the way. Having Hiroko here has been a wonderful blessing, translating for our tired brains for hours at a time, helping us sign and complete paperwork, and working hard to make sure we have what we need.

The last few days have been some of the most difficult of our entire lives. We are exhausted.

However, God is still working.

We have seen His providences throughout this journey. These are only a few examples:

• The early labor signs were caught and successfully treated at the 32- week mark, enabling our little one to grow in size and strength, which has been helpful for his survival thus far.

• Caitlyn was overly (and perhaps strangely) exhausted on that final night at the hospital and chose to let the nurses take care of the baby that night, allowing him to be under constant care with the nurses who were able to notice the problems quickly and begin treatment.

• The reputable hospital where our little one is now has had space and time to take care of him and meet his needs since the moment we arrived.

• We heard from one of our contacts, who talked with someone associated with Loma Linda, that the treatment plan our little one is on is the right plan, giving us much relief in an area where we do not have much knowledge.

• There is a good grocery store within walking distance of our current, temporary living arrangements.

• I had decided to go to the ATM and put money in my wallet a day or two before the original discharge date, even though I didn’t need cash at the time. This came in handy when we quickly needed funds for lodging, taxis, etc.

• One of the doctors showed interest in why we were in Japan and that we were Christian missionaries.

• We have many, many, many people praying for the whole situation. We do not know where we would be without these prayers, which have sustained us.

Please continue to pray for us, especially for our little one’s healing. We love him very much. Please also pray that we can somehow be a blessing to those we meet and come in contact with during this time. We do not yet know how long we will be in this area of Kyūshū, but we hope to be a blessing to others for God while we are here.

We may not know what the future holds, but we do know this: “We have nothing to fear for the future except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history” (EGW).

You may have noticed that our project name changed a little bit online and in the magazine. You will now see the word Chūgoku attached to the name. Japan is divided into eight regions, and Yamaguchi Prefecture, the long-term focus of our work, is located in the Chūgoku region, which comprises Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori and Yamaguchi prefectures. This name alteration is to distinguish our project from those in other areas of Japan where AFM missionaries are working. While we are all focused on reaching the Japanese in Japan, we are working in different regions, and we wanted to make that clear to you, our donors, as well as those who read the magazine.

• Please pray for our little one. We want to see him healed, well and active.

• We are incredibly grateful for the love and support shown to us by so many people in this very, very difficult season of life.

• Please continue to pray for us as we navigate the unknown and uncharted waters of not only parenting but also parenting a child with a serious congenital issue.

• Please pray for our families as well, that they would be comforted in this time of difficulty.

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!

Michael & Caitlyn Babienco
Adventist Frontier Missions
Career Missionaries