Moved to Nagasaki - May 2021 News - 2023 Church plant in Japan - Church Mission Japan, Mission work Japan

Dear Family and Partners,

So we are in Nagasaki and finally able to “take a breath”.

In case you missed it, we came to Nagasaki in March for a visit to see what doors God might open. One thing we were praying about was to find a more spacious house that could fit our “little troop”.
Thankfully, out of many realtors we visited, we ended up finding ONE house with a small yard for rent which, after a few days of prayer and consideration, we decided the time and place was right.

*Due to Covid-19, JEMS mailing address for checks is different. Please make sure you have the updated address: JEMS, P.O. Box 86047, Los Angeles, CA 90086-0047

Since then, we have been incredibly busy packing up, repainting, and fixing up some things in the church house where we stayed, wrapping up all the documentation and formalities at the local schools, city hall, etc…

But more than that, we were able to see many friends and people we reached out to during the time we were there.

Thankfully, we were not only able to openly share the Gospel with them, but we also received much exciting feedback about the past three years that we have been planting seeds. Although they don’t typically make a quick decision for Jesus, we are glad that Reiko-san, who walked closely with us as we did outreach, is now continuing to reach out with the tools and creativity that God gives her. Pray for her to remain encouraged and continue on, watering the seeds until the time to harvest comes!

We left Tokyo at 5am and to our surprise, a bunch of people came to see us off. We felt very special 🥰.

So we drove 10 hours to Hiroshima, where we stayed for a night, then continued to our new Nagasaki home, the next day. As we arrived, the realtor and the guy from the gas company were waiting outside. After a few minutes, the Nakashima’s showed up and surprised us with tons of house items to get us started! (Future post coming about this special friendship that started WAY back in 1992!!!)

Soon after they left, the Garrotts came bringing us lots of futons (bedding) which they gave to us! That night, we were not going to sleep on a hard floor! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jack and Cathy! (The Garrotts are missionaries that live about an hour from here. We met via facebook a few years ago.)

For the first week we had no refrigerator, table or washing machine 😭, etc., so it was a lot like “camping” inside the house – hahaaa. It also took us a while to get internet as, for some reason in this area, we could either not get good internet or it would take about 2 months for them to come and activate it! Now we have a temporary one until they come and get it hooked up. Oh yeah, and we also have a refrigerator and washing machine. Hallelujah!

It took a lot of work to figure out things around here, moving registration at the city hall, driver’s license, bills, electricity, gas, water, stores, meetings with the principals of two schools, education department, hospital for Serenity’s follow up, dentist for Annaliese who was complaining of some pain, orthopedics for Israel’s hand, bus usage for the kids to go to school, unboxing, furniture and house items shopping… aaaahhhhhh !!! 😱

We were concerned about how well our children would adjust to the new location and the local school, as it’s all new, different and challenging in so many ways for them. Besides the fact that the new schools are a good 30 min walk for the girls and 40 min walk for the boys through the hilly roads of Nagasaki.

Thankfully, as Monday came and they faced the new school life (as practically the only foreigners in the area), we encouraged them and prayed a lot! Thankfully, they all came back home excited! The following day Olivia brought some kids home to play, and Israel went out fishing on that Saturday with about five other boys! Johann and Annaliese are enjoying it as well, thriving in the language and have not complained about the fact that now they have to walk so much further, compared to Machida, where they walked 3 blocks to school… We are so thankful for God’s favor and so proud of these guys!

We have been meeting people, talking with others that serve in the area and learning from them. There are many tips we have gotten from various people and we are starting to get some ideas of things we can do to connec with the community and reach out. With the increase of Covid-19 cases in the area, caution is needed but we are encouraged!

As things start to become clearer, we will share with you so you may pray and also rejoice with us.

Please pray with us for His name be known and exalted in this land! This is the land of many martyrs in the past – of people who refused to deny the faith they had in Jesus.

If God specifically called us to this place, we can confidently say that He has not given up on Nagasaki. God loves Nagasaki, and so do we!

Thank you for your partnership and faithful prayers. They are very important. With this move, there are new expenses with rent, utilities, internet and transportation. We are grateful for those of you who stepped up to partner with our ministry. If you would like to give, one time or monthly, please click on the green button below. If you would like more details, let us know!

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We know that everything we do, we must do as unto the Lord and that He will bring forth the fruit. His Word does not return void. But everything has to start somewhere and by someone. As for us, we will continue to walk forward, press in and believe always. It all may start small, but it doesn’t stay there! We saw that in Brazil and believe He will do the same here. We know that everything in this world will pass, and it is passing (we feel it man!). But all that is done for the Kingdom will last forever and will have a reward, even now and into eternity.

Thank you for joining us, my friend. You and I know it’s worth it !!!

Once again, ARIGATOU (thank you).

“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Romans 4:20,21

Not wavering,