We were really blessed by a trip from Michael this past week. Michael and Michael, they share a first name, were roommates in Chiba as MTW interns. Michael S. married a Japanese gal and the family tries to visit Japan once a year. He was able to sneak down to Okazaki for a night this week. It was a great time of catching up and fellowship. Below you’ll see a present day picture and one from 6 years ago.
Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! We have many things to praise and thank the Lord for as we reflect upon this last year. We are especially thankful this year for the many family and friends who partner with us as we proclaim Christ to the Japanese. Thank you!
Every summer towns all over Japan celebrate with spectacular fireworks displays. Our town is especially know for their 2 hour fireworks show. Over 500,000 people were estimated to attend this year. (Our town has a population of around 400,000.) We went with a Japanese family and thankfully they had the opportunity to join a party at the Sport’s Club where their kids belong. This means we had the best view in the house because we up at least four stories high. The show was fantastic and so was our time of fellowship.
Before the show we were able to walk to the castle in our town. Unfortunately it was closed due to the festival, but we took a few pictures along the way. It was very HOT and HUMID. Reminds us of home! In some of the pictures you can see the women and men dressed in their summer Yukata, or Japanese traditional wear. Our friend told us the design is from Europe though and no longer the Japanese designs.
Monday thru Friday our family heads off to language school. The school we attend is quite rigorous and excellent. We are grateful for the challenge and feel like we are learning more and more Japanese every day. We celebrate the small steps and pray as we see how far we still have to go.
Last week one of the students, who was 16, had to return to her home country. We decided to have a party during lunch. We had an international potluck. (There are 11 students in my class from 5 different countries.) We all thought it would be “so-so” but our class pulled together for an AWESOME party!
We are not sure if the most recent earthquake which happened approximately 3 hours ago will make American news channels, but we wanted to send a quick update in case you do wake up to the news.
There was a 7.1 aftershock/earthquake that hit Northern Japan Saturday night (EST). Originally they anticipated a tsunami of 1 meter but from what we have heard/read there were only very small waves. We did not physically feel the quake in Okazaki and from reports everyone from the Nagoya team is okay. We personally have not heard from the Tokyo MTW team, but usually no news is good news.
Thank you for your continual prays. Please continue to pray for Japan and the hearts of the many Japanese affected by these scary aftershocks. Many of the moms at church expressed great fear to Cathalain as they talked about the most recent quake. Please pray these will be inroads to share the Gospel with so many questioning life right now.
“Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.” – Psalm 119:76
On Tuesday we met a Japanese friend in Nagoya who took us to see firsthand where Christians were tortured and persecuted. You won’t find this “attraction” in any English tourbook but our friend knew of the temple because her Jr. High class toured the museum. Not only had she toured the Buddhist temple, but this was her family’s place of worship. She is now a Christian and amazed how even early in her life God was exposing her to the Christian faith although her family was worshipping Buddha.
The best way to show you the temple is through the pictures.
This is the entrance to the Buddhist Temple.
Outside the temple was a sign in Japanese and English explaining the historical occurrence of the persecution of Christians.
This sign was put up throughout the town to announce Christianity was banned.
This is the box Christians were told to step on to renounce their faith. Otherwise they were tortured and killed. At least 200 in this location refused and died martyrs.
This is inside the Buddhist Temple today.
We can’t remember exactly what this marker was, but it is placed in the cemetery where many of the Christians were executed. We think it is in remembrance of the Christians.
This is the sign in the park next to the temple where criminals and Christians were killed. The dead bodies were often used for scientific experiments.
This past weekend we went to Gamagori with some Japanese friends. Our family benefited from a company discount and appreciated such wonderful guides. We stayed in a traditional Japanese hotel/onsen (Japanese hot tub.) On Saturday we toured Takashima Island which is a nationally protected Shinto Shrine, a museum in honor of a Japanese man who won the Nobel Prize, and then a local aquarium. This was a great time of fellowship and a great learning experience as we continue to better understand Japanese culture. As we often like to do we will give a tour through pictures.
If you click on the pictures and use the arrows below the pictures you can navigate through the slideshow. (The titles give a brief explanation of the pictures.)
Today we started the day with a walk to the Post Office to withdraw yen from our bank account. The Post Office has the best ATM’s because they don’t charge a service fee. We then met up with our team leader to get insurance/registration for the car we purchased in December. Unfortunately our car had been parked for so long it needed a new battery. (If you remember we purchased our 2004 VW Passat for $350! Awesome deal!) The battery for the car cost $450! Just one example of how things are differently priced compared to America.
Please pray for the remaining transition needs we have left. We are still waiting on our visa and once we can transition visas we will buy cell phones, open bank accounts, etc.
Thank you for your continued prayers!
First Purchase for Cathalain in Japan
We wouldn’t be proud parents if we didn’t already start showing off our beautiful son. Last week we enjoyed the opportunity, thanks to a great auction win, to have a 4D ultrasound. We’ve already started trying to figure out who our son takes after the most. Six weeks and counting! 
Resting
Opening of the Eyes
Hiding from everyone!
