"But the Lord said to me, 'Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you to deliver you" -         Jeremiah 1:7-7

Partners in the Gospel,

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and financial support so that our family can be here ministering in Japan! We are grateful and so humbled by your partnership in the gospel so that we can share the good news of Jesus with so many who have not heard.

I have recently been reading Jeremiah during my devotions. God says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations”. To this Jeremiah replies, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But God replies “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid...for I am with you”. Despite the fact that Jeremiah would only have two known followers who listened to him, that he would die while exiled in Egypt at the hand of his own countrymen, he was faithful to proclaim God’s word. Despite the fact that he wrestled with God’s call on him and replied that he was young, inexperienced, and afraid, God still called him, used him, and was always with him. Friends, these passages have brought me tremendous encouragement. Since assuming the role of interim team leader for our church planting team eight months ago, I have felt weak, insufficient, inexperienced, and at many times afraid. But God has brought me through this difficult time, reminding me that He is with me, that He is sufficient, that I don’t need to be afraid, and that I can trust in the one who gave himself for me. Difficult circumstance have brought my own idols to the surface. I thank God for revealing those, and in so doing, drawing my heart into repentance and joy and in the gospel. I praise God for his work in and through me, despite my fear, my faithlessness at times, my insecurities, and my many weaknesses. He is faithful to complete His work in me! Praise Him!

We have had a very busy summer! We had the pleasure of hosting a two month MTW intern from Colorado. Jacob Seay stayed with us and helped our team with many different things. As well as tutoring our team kids in English, Jacob helped with connecting college students to our bilingual Bible study, and helping with odd jobs such as painting the exterior of our house and helping our teammates move. We were very grateful that he chose to use his summer loving on our kids, and serving in any way needed. We had our last bilingual Bible study for the summer in July and were encouraged how God continues to bring people. Several of the international students who were coming are headed back to their home countries this September. Please pray for those gospel seeds that were sown with our Japanese and international students. We pray that they will bear fruit in the future!

It has been so encouraging to look back over the last year and realize how many relationships and connections we have in our community. Many of our friends have consistently joined us for our once a month picnic at the city park. We have enjoyed meeting friends of team mates and forming a new place for them to belong. The main purpose for our picnics is to get to know each other’s friends and create a community where people feel welcomed and loved. We frequently gather as a team to pray for these friends by name, and have realized there are a couple hundred people that we have gotten to know in Chiba City! Praise God! Most of these friends are just beginning to trust a Christian for the first time. Our hope and prayer is that they would soon became curious and open to change in their lives. We are also discipling and mentoring a few young Christians through Bible study and living life together. It is not uncommon to a have a few extra people around our table for dinner and times of family worship. Please pray for our friendships in the community, that God would continue to move in their hearts to draw them to Himself. 

As many of you know, our previous team leader and church planter John Evans and family left in January this year. While we have mourned their loss as a team, we have also been brought together through this difficult time, and have been seeking a new team leader. Through God’s provision, we have formally called Tom Mirabella (MTW) and his family to join the work in Chiba City and be our new team leader and church planter. We are so thankful! The Mirabella family will be joining our team this Fall. Please pray for the remaining support they have to raise before returning to the field, and that God would provide a great house in Chiba city for them to live in and minister from. 

In amongst all of the transition on our team, our family is preparing to return to the USA for a six month home ministry assignment. While we have mixed emotions about leaving Japan, we are looking forward to seeing family and many of you during our time in the US. We will be coming back to America this month, and returning to Japan in March 2019- just in time for our boys to start their new Japanese school year. During the six months that we are back in the US we have decided to homeschool our boys. We believe this will best serve our boys and the needs they have. God has also placed a desire on my heart to pursue a formal seminary education. I believe that seminary will help give me more tools and equip me to be more effective in Japan. My goal is to do seminary work part-time while on the field, and finish my Mdiv over the next five or six years. Please pray for me as I look into seminary options and the God would guide me to the one that would best fit our rhythms of life and ministry in Japan. Please also pray for Carly and I as we enter into homeschooling! This will be an opportunity for growth and learning for all of us. Pray that our time in the USA is fruitful and restful.