Thankful for God's "No"

Three years ago when I moved to Mizunami and began life here, I met and talked with several mission agencies. We considered raising support but over and over again the door was shut. Well in that time the US economy has tanked. Many of my friends in ministry in the US and Japan are really hurting. I have had friends working as assistant pastors in churches who have been let go. I have other acquaintances in missions who have had to leave the field or are far below support. 3 years ago we started down the road of tentmaking in Japan. Tentmaking is a term for a Christian who works in a business in an area, while also seeking to serve the church. It is a reference to the Apostle Paul who funded his missionary work through the making of tents.

It has been an up and down road here, but I praise God that we are in a position to not only support ourselves but also begin to hire people around us to form a team. Kazumi and I still hope to raise support for specific tasks and projects we have in mind that can not be self funded this next year. But we do so knowing that whether the support comes in or not, God's "No" 3 years ago is providing for us now.

We are also thankful for Takezawa Futaha who will finish her degree at Pensacola Christian College this coming term and Lord willing return to work with us in January. Thank you for your service the summer Futaha. We also give thanks again to God for his continued leading in all things.

One Small Step at a Time

Is the glass half empty or half full? It depends on the day. Yesterday was Sunday. 5 people were at church that we invited. A single international student, an international married couple like ourselves and their daughter, and a Japanese speaker of English. The previous week we had either emailed them or called them or talked to them personally. Now I considered this to personally be a miracle.

Sounds Great Like a really blessings. I was happy about the situation but throughout the day it became evident that my family needed more of my time and energy. There is a need for a new transition. Next week summer vacation starts for us and it is time to begin working on raising support so ministry is not being paid for by sacrificing family time. In working full time and doing ministry things on top of that it is often the case that my family time is sacrificed

Right now, my sister-in-law Roxanne Van Farowe in the US is putting together documents explaining our ministry so we can begin raising support in the states. We need to raise support to free us from some of my work responsibilities into more ministry. As our income comes from a patch work of our own private students, community classes, and contract work it is possible for us to rearrange things at anytime. We also need to expand things by developing a team of workers here. Well the thoughts are kind of random so I hope you followed the line of thought.