06.25 Update
Kyoto and Tokyo Adventure
Balancing family life and ministry life can often feel like walking a tightrope. We embrace this tension by giving both family and ministry due diligence and believing that God’s goodness is at work in the process. Recently, Chloe and Ethan have expressed their desire of making friends with English speaking kids their age and have also hinted at wanting to move to the U.S. This led us on a journey across Japan.
A visit to Iwakuni Castle
We always planned for a Japanese education up through completing elementary school and an American education for higher level through online or homeschool. What our kids are starving for is social interaction with English speakers and if we could include kids with a Christian worldview upbringing that would be a bonus. Since moving back to the U.S. is not an option, we have been researching International Christian School options in Japan the last few months and have incorporated zoom calls with seasoned missionaries who have been through this same process. We found out about a few summer camps as well.
We enrolled Chloe and Ethan in an English Bible Camp in Tokyo (put on a waiting list) with a planned stop off in Kyoto to tour Kyoto International University Academy. Two days before the actual planned trip we got word that Chloe was accepted but Ethan was not. Chloe still wanted to go even though she would be going without Ethan, so we made the 1500km (roughly 950 mile) journey. For those that know us, we like to make the most of any journey we take. To break up the drive, we stopped off at a few places where I ran last year, RUN JPN, and met with those available to meet. This made the long journey fun and meaningful outside of the International School visit and 3 night/4 day camp for Chloe.
It was such a blessing to see missionary friends along the way in Nara, Shizuoka and Tokyo as well as family in Osaka and Tokyo. There’s nothing like time spent around a table sharing a meal and conversations with family we love and missionary families leaving mutually encouraged.
Summer Plans
Since we do not plan to visit the U.S. this summer which is always fun to plan navigating all the logistics. We are putting our logistical planning skills to use by planning a family trip to Osaka from August 2 - August 5 with Meg’s parents to celebrate Meg’s dad’s 77th birthday which is a ceremonial birthday year. This will include a day and half at Universal Studios Japan. The kids are excited!
The third week of August we will hold our first outdoor jazz and gospel concert hosting our missionary friends Suro and Ayaka and Casa Lopez Music worship band. The logistics will include two road trips to Tokyo hauling band equipment and coordinating rides to the Kagoshima Airport. We are sending out invitations to every contact and relationship with have in the various circles we are a part of. We are excited to see how God will use this time to engage many who have not been to our church gatherings before.
The fourth week of August we will hold our bi-annual summer camp for kids in our community. This will be an action packed week including mountain climb, time at the beach, volunteering at an old folks daycare service. All of this to bring God’s creation story to life and make Jesus known in a way kids can understand.