CPJ Update – Nov. 2019 – ChurchPlantJapan

It’s almost the middle of November! Can you believe it? Thanksgiving… Christmas… New Years and we will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary as a missionary family in Japan. This time, 2 years ago, we were finalizing all our travel plans, meeting with friends in our community (some for the final time before departure) and soaking up the holiday atmosphere and food we all enjoy this time of year.

summer recap

This summer brought the most rain and typhoon activity wreaking havoc in many areas across Japan with the most recent being Typhoon Hagibis claiming 80 lives, destroying 2,000 homes and causing 33,000 homes to flood.

Our Summer was packed with keeping Chloe and Ethan active over their break. The place we enjoyed the most was a beach we found a little over an hour from our house.

Summer is also a time for festivals and sports day events. Whether volunteering to participate or attending, it makes for some family fun and a great way to connect with others! Sports Day is a BIG DEAL in Japan. We had a community sports day where we competed against neighboring communities. And Chloe and Ethan had their school sports day. This was Chloe’s last sports day at her pre-school and Ethan’s first. It’s hard to imagine Chloe will move on to 1st Grade in April, 2020 (Japanese school calendar runs from April – March).

We ended our summer with hosting our very first Kids Camp! It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. We shared the Creation Story over the four day camp and we had a theme for each day: Hope, Joy, Love, Give. Friday, we ended with a family BBQ. It was a success and a great way to connect with families in the community. One of the families now attends our weekly church service.

engaging and inviting others

Engaging others in what we do is the best way we have found to invite others into community. We are always looking for ways to engage members of our community in being the hands and feet of Jesus with us as a way to have a conversation about God and invite them into community. A few weeks back, we had the opportunity to respond to Typhoon Hagibis by inviting our community to donate new and used towels to send to one of my friends outside living close to the area most affected involved in clean up and mucking out homes. In a 48 hour period of time we had 19 families drop off bags of new and used towels totaling 300 towels. We were so thankful for the response of our community.

short-term mission trip

God is not done with us yet over Typhoon Hagibis. We know that disaster response is a part of our overall mission and we have forgone responding other disasters not really hearing God for us to GO, but this one is different and we are hearing Him on this one. A Japanese friend of 20 years is in the thick of it requesting for more manpower. This is a great opportunity to love on those needing help and to come along side a friend (who is an unbeliever) and help him and others he is pulling together. This will be a learning experience for me and I am also hoping for an opportunity to share Jesus with my friends during this trip! I will fly out to Tokyo next Sunday, November 17th.

Here is the kicker, we don’t have the funds for this trip.

The estimated cost for this short-term mission trip is $1,400. We have currently raised $200 as of November 10th. We need help. Would you consider supporting us in bringing aid to the people affected and creating an opportunity for them to experience the love of Jesus for the very first time? You can donate by selecting this link: Church Plant Japan Ministry Page. In the comment section, please type: Disaster Relief Effort

This is my friend Yuzo. I love his heart for people and I want to help him and the people he is serving. AND I want to put myself in a situation where God can use me to share Jesus with Yuzo and whoever else God puts me in front of.