Newsy November

Our table in the fall

Our maple tree out front is in full colors, brilliant red and green, mixed with the wet-brown trunks, and the yellow ginko. My favorite colors, for sure! We keep reminding ourselves that winter begins in January in Tokyo - we're managing to stay warm, but this is only fall! 








Prayer update: Thanks for praying for our sweet friend Eri with us! Sadly, Eri's cancer is worse, and she's in hospital, struggling to breathe. Please pray for peace for Eri and for her husband Hideo. "Your prayers sustain me," Eri writes. 

CAJ and surroundings in the 1950's

CAJ's 65 years of blessing! This fall, CAJ approved a new head master, starting in the 2015-2016 school year. Dr Tom Norton graduated from CAJ years ago, and has been serving in various schools, including a Christian international school in Korea. This year, Tom has worked alongside both of us in the Bible and Guidance departments. We're sad to lose him on a daily basis in our offices, but glad to have his leadership for CAJ in the coming years. We're grateful to be at CAJ in the 65th year, and continuing on into the future!  

Bamboo dishes for our picnic lunch!

Neighborhood news: We traveled to an organic farm with our neighborhood friends this month. Basically, a chance for city folks to get out and play in the countryside. We're excited to deepen relationships with neighbors, and to invite a new friend from pre-school along too, Masato and his mother Maya (pictured next to us in the pink jacket). 
I (Caitlin) enjoy gathering with other Christian pre-school mothers to pray for our preschool, the teachers, the other mothers, and our children's school experiences. It is a blessing to be able to share with these moms, and definitely helps expand my Japanese vocabulary! In early December, we plan to host an open house for preschool moms. We plan to read the Christmas story and share cookies and tea - many Japanese don't know the meaning of Christmas, other than the advertisements in department stores and the jingle of holiday music. Join with us in praying for open, curious hearts!  

Future plans! As we lean into life-long ministry, we're gathering a "cloud of witnesses" to pray for us and support us in our ministry. Particularly as we're moving more tangibly into areas like our local neighborhood and a new church plant, we feel the need for richer prayer support. Like last month, we're in the throes of many big decisions: buy a house, shift our ministry focus, Japanese school vs international school, summer plans, etc. Please pray for wisdom as we discuss, dream, and act. 

We're planning an extended trip to the States in May and June!
We feel called to be here long term, which means we need more accountability, more connection and communication with established churches, and more prayer support. We are working on pursuing community and church visits in May and June, and we'd love to connect with as many people as possible. Would you like to see us and hear about what we are doing? Let us know if we can connect with your church, small group, Sunday School, or community in some way, and we will try to visit, this summer or in the near future!

Do we have your address? We love sending new year's post cards! If you haven't gotten one recently, we don't have your current address. Please let us know so we can send you one this year! We'd love to get yours too, if you're sending them out! 

October ocher (E's current favorite color)

Sports day; can you find him?

Last night, our extended family gathered (even via skype!) to celebrate the 100th birthday of Nelle Caitlin's Grandpa Foxy, who went home to be with Jesus one year ago. We remembered the time he and grandma happily napped on newspapers right in the middle of a busy beachfront on Catalina Island. The time he gave away his prized new camera to a friend, keeping his old one for himself. The time my sister and I fell asleep on the terrible hide-a-bed in their Pasadena living room, listening to grandma and grandpa pray through the list of kids and grandkids by name. Grandpa taught us to love Jesus, to love each other, and to love Japan. We are here because of him, and are humbled and blessed to continue the good work he began. 

Visiting our dear friend Eri! 

We celebrated the birthdays of both of our older kids recently. We’re so grateful for healthy, compassionate, cheerful and interesting children! Please pray for wisdom as we learn to parent them better each day. We’re especially mindful of the many relational opportunities that come through our pre-school community; please pray for all of us as we connect with the other families and build relationships. Tomorrow, we will travel out to the country with friends to play on an organic farm. 

I'm two!

I (Caitlin) have found juggling my various roles to be particularly stressful recently. The transitions between parenting three wonderful but energetic kids, managing the day care at CAJ, keeping up with the preschool schedule and community, managing Japan Harvest publications and working at CAJ are exhausting. I love the various things that I do and the roles that I serve, but it is hard to keep margins and stay emotionally healthy. Please pray for wisdom about how to balance my various responsibilities.

Ryan lead worship at our new church plant;
yes, we meet in a cafe!

We find ourselves in the midst of many conversations about long term planning: should we buy a house instead of paying rent? Should we keep our kids in Japanese school or move them to American school? Should we continue to have both of us work and our kids in day care, or should one of us stay home full time? We need wisdom! We’re not rushing any of these decisions; please pray along with us as we seek God’s plans for us.

Birthday in the park with best friend Yui!

Our good friend Loren, Yui's mom  

We're planning an extended trip to the States in May and June! As we've come to understand the ways that God uses our particular personalities and strengths, we've realized that it's no accident that we live and work in Japan! Japan is no stepping-stone for us: our application for Permanent Residency in Japan was recently approved, and we're finding ourselves increasingly comfortable conversing at length in Japanese, and fulfilled in our relationships with our ever-expanding circle of Japanese friends. As CAJ students become CAJ alumni, we are blessed to hear back from them that we had a meaningful role in their academic, spiritual, and personal maturity. As we've come to see that we are called to be here long term, we've realized that we need more accountability, more connection and communication with established churches, and more prayer support (see the section above regarding stress!). We are working on pursuing community and church visits in May and June, and we'd love to connect with as many people as possible. Would you like to see us and hear about what we are doing? Let us know if we can connect with your church, small group, Sunday School, or community in some way, and we will try to visit, this summer or in the near future!

Two months!

Love to you all!

Ryan, Nelle Caitlin, and kids