Delicious December

Repair is a radical act. In the blur of holiday commercialism, one phrase gave me pause. Repair is a radical act. Catchy marketing aside, this phrase stuck with me as I lived through this month. 

I got to pray at my friend Chieko's baptism!

For our neighbors, the new year is a time to value the clean sweep, the new purchase, the clean slate. While of course, we love a good do-over as much as anyone, we've been sinking deeply into repair, renewal, renovation. Rather than sweep it all away and start over, we dig deep into repair, acknowledging that - in some mysterious way - the beauty is more profound because of the brokenness. This month, we renewed some tough relationships, working to re-engage instead of move on. We celebrated repentance and new life through the baptism of our dear friend. We renovated our very-old-new house, repairing, insulating, making it stronger and safer. 

"Finding baby Jesus" with church friends

When we re-install the sink. . .

We're grateful! Thank you for the many of you who prayed and sent quick emails on the morning of our "party week!" We had a wonderful series of celebrations with so many reminders of grace. Particularly, I'm grateful that I was able to make a better connection with Kiyomi, the mother of one of our pre-school classmates. She and her kids will come over next week, after the new year holiday, to play at our house. She's very shy, but is willing to make time. Please pray for our conversation and friendship! 

We're humbled and challenged by our hopes for our new house. As we moved, we prayed over a theme for our house. We chose the image of a tree: a place of welcome, shelter, strength, and sending. A place to learn and grow, and receive restoration and retreat, and then a place to be sent out from and scattered, to heal the nations. We love the parallel verses in Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22 which speak of the "leaves for the healing of the nations." Please pray with us as we dedicate our home to be a place of healing, welcome, and of sending out. 

The garbage bins are taped shut for the week of New Years

Please pray for the spread of grace in our community. As I look ahead to this new year, I pray for my friends to know grace. I pray for my family to know and live in grace. In Japanese culture, even the trash we put out for pick up must be clean, tidy, sorted, and acceptable. It is scrutinized by the neighborhood and can be returned to you if unacceptable! To me, a mother of little ones who generate many piles of unsightly trash, I struggle to have even our waste be neat and proper. 

Flowers from Enomoto-san

In my experience, Japanese culture is the most generous culture I have yet engaged, and also the most grace-less. Last week our kids and dog wandered into our neighbor's field and made mud pies. We fetched them apologetically, and chatted. That night, she came over with a bag of apples, and a beautiful evergreen wreath and table arrangement because I said her garden reminded me of my mother (a florist, as many of you know). Today, when I took a small apple crisp and bag of cookies to thank her for the flowers, she immediately filled my hands with boxes of chocolates, cookies and a roast beef! Incredibly generous! Yet, at our pre-school, when a boy is labeled a bully, the family resorts to quietly move to another school and cut all ties rather than face the pressure of the group. So much generosity and so little grace. 

Speaking of grace... we didn't manage to get Christmas/New Years cards sent this year. We still love you! Thanks for loving us anyway! We love hearing from you! 

Our new address is: 

3-23-16 Chuo-cho, Higashi Kurume-shi, Tokyo 203-0054

or

〒203-0054 東京都東久留米市中央町３−２３−１６

Newsy November

Life in a construction zone!

So there's a great story about one of our local train stations (Shibuya). One evening the line closed at midnight as usual, as an above ground train line. Then, out of the shadows, 1200 construction workers flocked and worked busily all night. At 5AM, the train resumed service as a subway! You can watch the transformation here. November felt a bit like that for us. We moved houses the first weekend of this month - and life couldn't miss a beat!

We're so thankful for the many friends and family (our crew of 1200!) who helped us keep up with life, brought birthday cake to celebrate our girl who turned three on the first day in the new house, chased the kids on bike around the park next door, brought us chili and donuts and coffee, hauled endless boxes, and generally loved on us.

You know we've been praying about how our location can facilitate our ministry. And we've been praying about a house that we can renovate to help keep our kids healthy (older Japanese houses often leak chemicals that are used to seal the lumber; it's a known problem called "sick house syndrome" and leads to breathing problems, especially with kids). We are so thankful to have found a place and moved in - and begun construction! Ryan has researched extensively and has a plan for renovating this house to clean out the chemicals and install purifying insulation and sheetrock.


We're thankful!
- our weekly moms prayer time is growing! Hikari came today with her two boys, and shared her desire to be a light at our pre-school. I'm so blessed to befriend, kneel beside, and raise kids next to these wonderful women.

First "English Play" in the new house!

- our neighborhood "English Play" time is also growing! We renewed friendship with a family who is now just around the corner from us, and they have started coming to our weekly play time. Shino has four kids (which is very unusual for a Japanese family) and I'm so excited to have her company on a weekly basis in my home! Please pray that these women and children would be drawn to Jesus through spending time in our home.

Preparing gift boxes for Operation Christmas Child

- Ryan's seniors spent time discussing morality today in Bible class - and ended with applause! Students wrestled with the nature of God, and the nature of Love. Please pray that Ryan and other CAJ teachers can continue to facilitate honest, open dialogue with these wonderful students.

250 boxes ready to ship out to the Philippines!

- On a personal note, my dad, Ethan Pettit, leaves tomorrow for Liberia, where he will work with a construction crew to renovate a mission house, one of the headquarters for the Amani ya Juu project. Check out their work developing sustainable economy for women, and pray for my dad's team!

Waiting for pre-school to end!

Only in October

His mom co-leads the moms-in-prayer with me!

It was that series of silly moments. I hastily apologized as my kids cut her stroller off with their little bikes in the entrance to the convenience store where I was grabbing a coffee. Then we smiled as we left the bread store, and saw her again (also coffee in hand, from the same convenience store). By the time we all showed up at the same park around the corner, we had to laugh. The inevitable exchange of kids’ ages, admiring of each other’s “gear:” “you made that baby-carrier cover your self?!” and commend each other's taste in park-day snacks (same coffee and cinnamon rolls). Then we got into the real conversation. “So, are you a missionary? Are you connected to that international school next to the station?” 

Because our kids had the day off from school, we decided to turn our prayer time into park fellowship, and let our kids play together. As the Spirit would have it, three other moms happened to also come to the park that day; these moms happen to be enrolling in our preschool next April. Each of them was friendly, and Hikari, who I played tag with all the way there, is a Christian! We exchanged emails and look forward to our next prayer time, when she will join us. 

This month, I sensed a strong movement. Something is happening in this city. Not only is this city becoming a hub for young families, but there are several new ministries right at our fingertips. Please pray for those meeting to plan these new ministries. Right now, we're praying for who to invite into leadership, and the values we want to shape the ministry. 

1. Thanks for praying with us! This month, high school students at Christian Academy experienced “School Without Walls” week, going out of their normal school routine to focus on servant leadership, collaboration and stewardship. Ryan, together with the HS principal plans and implements this curriculum. It was a great week! This year, Ryan had conversations with his group, several of whom are non-Christians, about the figurative ways we can “carry each other’s burdens” while they worked on physically carrying each other’s loads on their week long hike. This is an excellent way to bring to life the teaching from Bible class!
2. We’re grateful! Our two older kids each celebrated their birthdays recently, and E is just starting to read! We’re so grateful to have happy, healthy, growing kids. Thanks for your prayers for our family.
3. Exciting news: Remember my friend Chieko? I wrote about her last year. Although she has been attending a church with her daughters for the past few years, and she comes to our moms-in-prayer meetings with a well-worn Bible, she hasn’t formally committed to Christianity because she doesn’t want to offend her parents. Just this past Sunday, she told her pastor that she wants to become baptized! This woman is remarkable for her courage, humor and humility. Her younger daughter is one of E’s best friends at preschool (sometimes the only reason we can entice him to go in the mornings!). It is an awesome privilege to walk toward her baptism beside her. 

Soggy September

As an American, I was raised to value efficiency. Stock up, and shop for a month's worth of groceries in one trip! Send out emails to the whole group. Lead a large meeting, to be sure everyone is welcome.

English practice with Japanese school friends

In contrast, my neighbors bike to the grocery store daily, to shop for one or two meals. Invitations come in person, with a smile and comment for each friend in turn. News travels from mouth to mouth. Each piece of laundry is hung on the clips to dry, taken down, folded, placed on each tiny body. I am often struck with what feels like staggering inefficiency of daily life.

In our roles of teacher and worship leader, we pray for an amazing lesson, one poignant uplifting song set to draw the congregation toward revival, or to awaken epiphany in our students. Yet, life more often takes a daily, walking pace. Catching a student in the hall to discuss a plagiarized paper. Stopping mid-song to deal with a broken guitar string.

Yet, I think about the life Jesus chose. Traveling on foot, eating long, slow meals, welcoming long, interrupted, rambling conversations and inconvenient relationships. The theme for next week's bible study is the Eternal God. It strikes me, an Eternal God has little need for efficiency, which is a product of those bound by time. God, being outside of time, engages each moment without rush. Eugene Peterson calls it the "long obedience in the same direction." Lamentations says, "Your mercies are new every morning." The Israelites found manna each day, and had to trust for more tomorrow.

Rainbow over our river path!

As we give thanks and petition this month, I am mindful of the need for daily faithfulness. For the need of God's eternal perspective - outside of the tyranny of efficiency, outside of the urgency of time.

1) We're grateful: Plans are underway for a rich and meaningful "school without walls" week for CAJ high school students. Ryan works together with the HS principal to plan this curriculum, spiraling servant leadership and teamwork qualities for each grade level. Please pray for safety and great learning experiences for the students and teachers as they spread out all over campus and all over Japan next week!

2) We're grateful for the group of wonderful Christian moms at our public school. I'm so grateful for the new members, and for my wise and patient co-leader. I'm grateful that my language skills are developing too! Please pray as we meet on Monday to pray through the theme of God as Eternal Father.

3) We're grateful for our local church, Kurume Bible Fellowship and our church plant, Tokyo Life Church. We will go on a retreat this coming weekend as a whole body, to rest, pray and enjoy fellowship. Please pray as our church goes through a re-visioning time, and continues searching for a new pastoral team to lead the congregation as our current pastoral team plans for retirement.

Leaving August

Come morning, our entry way is once more filled with assorted bags, helmets and shoes; the kitchen counter a jumble of lunch boxes amid breakfast fixings - we're back in the swing of our regular life!

Our suitcases are empty, and the last waft of American dryer sheets has faded from our clothes. Tonight we're catching our breath after the first English play time with neighborhood friends after the summer holidays. We miss each of you! And are so grateful for the time we had together with many of you this summer. 

We're grateful!

- Ryan's summer studies ended well, with a clearer focus for his final semester of masters work. 

- CAJ is back in full swing, with a theme of Love God, Serve Others. We even had a special concert last week from Christian artist Michael W. Smith! Many students don't know who he is, but the staff were happily snapping pictures. 

- We were concerned that the long summer away from pre-school would mean a hard transition back, but instead, there were many smiles and hugs and excited reunions; we're all growing up! 

Please pray with us:

Baptism for V, with some of our "cloud of witnesses"

- Ryan has a full month ahead with many student events, and a week of hands-on learning for the whole high school, which he plans with the high school principal. Please pray for wisdom and attention to detail in planning. Please pray that students would learn about servant leadership, and experience God, the world, their classmates and themselves in new ways through the curriculum Ryan plans. 

- I'm leading the Moms in Prayer group for our preschool along with another mom, and feel the weight of the former leader's absence, and my lack of vocabulary. On the one hand, a friend commented, "wow - you remembered your Japanese when you were in America!" but on the other hand, I struggle to describe how praying for your child on his way to school is different from hanging a good luck charm on his backpack. Please pray for me as I lead this group of wonderful and inquiring women. Pray especially for Yuko, who is curious about Christianity. 

- Please pray for our children's spiritual, emotional and intellectual health. We know we're asking a lot of them, functioning in multiple languages daily, and between a variety of sometimes conflicting cultures. Pray for their development of truth, values, sense of identity, formation of friendships, as well as language development. 

A prayer from this month:

"Let me use disappointment as material for patience; 

Let me use success as material for thankfulness; 

Let me use suspense as material for perseverance; 

Let me use danger as material for courage; 

Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering; 

Let me use praise as material for humility; 

Let me use pleasures as material for temperance; 

Let me use pains as material for endurance." (John Baillie, 1949)

Back home!

Almost 5,000 miles of driving later, we are back in Japan from our whirlwind support-raising trip! It was wonderful to meet with our supporting churches and those who are partnering with us as we work on reaching our Japanese community and serving the missionary community in Japan! If you'd like to commit to supporting us in the work we do, or have questions about how you can help, please let us know.

As I write each month, I picture many of your faces, reading on the other end of the screen. Today, I have fresh memories, as I remember laughing across your delicious tables, sharing cozily on your couches over a cup of coffee, and enjoying the breeze in backyards overflowing with bug spray, wafting barbecue and damp children. Thank you, each, for the delicious food, the laughter, the tears, the attention and time for us and our stories, for sharing your lives with us. 

On the plane home I had a few moments when all three littles slept. A line from a movie (Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) lingers as I reflect on this summer: "There is no present like the time." Thank you for the gift of your time. 

Gratitude!

1) Our kids are healthy and resilient! Nearly every night one would ask, "are we sleeping here?" They were overjoyed to return home to their familiar territory. Yet we are grateful that they grew in their capacity to handle change and unfamiliar. They engaged deeply with so many new and old friends - and cousins - so many cousins! 

2) As I told many of you in person, we rest heavily on your prayers. "You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation . . . . I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise" (2 Corinthians 1, The Message). We feel loved and supported, having connected with many of our cloud of witnesses first hand. 

Prayers

1) The kids and I came back to Japan early to spend some time with my siblings and parents. Ryan stayed in the states for two more weeks to finish his last on-site class at Calvin College for his Masters of Education. Please pray for me as I solo parent, and as we all adjust to home and this time zone! Please pray for Ryan as he works through his research and ideas. He will spend the next school year doing his research project, in addition to teaching. 

2) We're on the cusp of many new opportunities and changes as we move into the fall. Please pray for wisdom as we choose between various options, take on leadership positions and renew responsibilities at CAJ and in our community. 

We love hearing from you! Thanks to each of you who take the time to pray for us and to send us a quick encouragement! 

On the road (again)

Dear community,

Greetings from muggy north Texas! The benefit of having family move to new parts of the country, is that we get to visit them in new places!

My grand father taught us to use the contrasts in life as fuel for gratitude. This month, we have a lot to be thankful for, with so many changes and contrasts!

Thanks for the many of you who are just now joining us! Please feel free to look through our blog for our past letters. As I've said to many of you in person, your prayers and thoughts are so important to us, particularly as I move into neighborhood ministry full time! We're so grateful that we've been able to share about Japan, our neighborhood, our church and our school with many of you.

- We're grateful for the 4 churches and groups we've shared our stories and challenges with. For the 6 different homes in which we have stayed. For the 66 relatives and 17+ friends we hugged, shared legos, laughed and cried with (so far!). For the hours and hours of safe miles flown and driven. For the comfortable, reliable little car we're borrowing for those miles. For healthy and happy kids, who engage with each new cousin, despite being home-body introverts.

Coming up next:
- We've got another 2 weeks of family visits, and then on to grad school! Please pray for Ryan as he finishes pre-course work this week, and then starts his on-campus classes at the end of July. He will return to Japan in early August for a quick family vacation week, and then back to CAJ to prepare for the new school year.

- Because of our complex schedule this summer, we decided that I will return to Japan ahead of Ryan so that our kids will get more cousin time, and a longer time to transition back to home. Please pray for me, traveling solo with our 3 small children! We are currently seated in different areas of the plane - the airline assures me that the check in counter will do everything they can, but please join us in praying for a good seating arrangement, supportive traveling neighbors and a smooth flight!

- I've mentioned to many of you that I end my formal contract at CAJ this month. After much prayer and deliberation, I am excited to make the choice to focus on ministries I can do with my kids, rather than in a classroom or office. I have been asked to lead two different small groups (Moms in Prayer at our preschool, Japanese Homeschool moms interested in Christianity and English) in addition to continuing the neighborhood English play time each week. I will also begin more formal English home schooling with our kids to be sure they keep up with their English while they learn Japanese at school. Please, pray for discernment as I choose the right commitments for the next few years.

May on the mountain

Many of you have been with us for these newsletters for several years. Some of you are here for the first time. We're so grateful for each of you! Please know that we think of each of you as we send out these stories and pictures on the last day of each month. 

A few airplanes and a few thousand miles and, we're happily adjusting to our America days! I wrapped up this month earlier, while my brain and heart was still in Tokyo, so this is just a quick update while we're on the road. 

We shared from this passage in 2 Corinthians 1 earlier today: "We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part." (Peterson, The Message)

Here are a few of our thanks and a few requests as we look ahead:

- We're grateful for many safe and relatively smooth miles; for kids who handled multiple flights, unfamiliar beds and new circumstances with courage and relative calm (for pre-schoolers!). 

- We're grateful for the wonderful hospitality of Ryan's aunt and uncle, who allowed us to rest at their house for a few days, while we spent time with them and let our kids spend time with their great grand father. 

- We're grateful Ryan had the chance to share about our ministry with one of his home churches; thankful that more people will be aware of the great things God is doing in Tokyo!

- We're grateful for the many miles driven to pick us up and drop us off at airports and other appointments. 

- Today, we were able to connect with our home church and spent a day of lavish fellowship and many warm greetings. I've known since my youth that this is a church that lives its mission with astounding generosity, intentional prayer, and sacrificial faith. It is a joy to soak in this community for a few weeks and be filled and challenged as we share face to face about our ministry. 

- Please pray as we begin a month of car travel. We're so grateful for the use of a family car, but also praying for many safe miles to come. 

- Please pray for deepened relationships and chronos time - the time of the heart - as we connect with family and friends. 

- Please pray for Ryan as he prepares for his upcoming classes next month. 

Citizens of May

We're traveling! Today, we'll get on a plane and head toward where most of you are - America! We've been planning for almost a year, and we're excited to see all of you. I wanted to wrap up this month while my thoughts are still centered in Japan. We will update throughout our travels. Thanks for your prayers for us today and in the next few weeks as we fly and drive many hours with young, wiggly ones.

This was a week of goodbyes. Even though we're only traveling for two months, we still brought intentional closure to this season, in preparation for engaging with our lives and family in the states. Two of our friends will move when we are traveling, so those were harder goodbyes. Both we, and our children, are Third Culture Kids; we live a rich, full, global life, but also feel the intense pain of being stretched across continent, ocean, and culture. 

See you in 2 months!

We will miss graduation for the class of 2015!
The seniors gathered for a special picture with Ryan in the school plaza on Friday

Rice planting with neighborhood friends

40 year celebration t-shirts are now 25 years old!
This year we celebrate 65 years at CAJ!

Recently, E started asking me, "Are we American?" "Well, yes, we have passports from America, and we belong to America as citizens. But we also are permanent residents of Japan." I try to explain this tension he already feels so deeply, below the level of his awareness. I am loath to watch him struggle. Yet, I am mindful that he is practicing the struggle of every eternal soul. 

We do - and yet don't - belong on this earth. We are free, eternal souls, wallowing in sin, illness and death. 

We find ways to compromise and balance. Recently, we reached a new compromise that helps us wrestle with the tension of our various loyalties. Pre-school and elementary aged children are not allowed to ride bikes when commuting to school. (From the moment he leaves his house, a child is the school's responsibility, not the parent's) But, the 4 of us are not allowed to ride one bike (we learned this only recently, after the picture from this winter). This is disconcerting - how do we travel to pre-school when we cannot all ride on the same bike, but E is not allowed to ride his own bike (although he is pretty good at it!)? We've worked out a compromise. We bike to CAJ, where he is allowed to park his bike, right next to Papa's bike. Then we walk the rest of the way to pre-school. This turns our 2km commute into about an hour process. But, we also practice the balance of cultural values, national laws, and personal freedoms.

Field trip!

April alive!

Inaba sensei!

We walked up the stairs to the new classroom on the first day of this new school year and guess who was smiling at the top of the stairs? Mrs. Inaba!! After a tearful goodbye last month, we are so thankful to be surprised by another year with this lovely woman, who has worked hard to communicate with us pesky foreigners, and to encourage and teach our quiet son.

First day of school!

April is the start of the new school in Japan, which feels perfectly fitting as the island dresses in fluffy pink and white cherry and plum blossoms, and the breezes blow warm. Everyone feels newborn after the winter.

Happy Easter!

Under rainy cherry blossoms, we celebrated resurrection, baptizing two young children from our church, as well as one teenager and several adults. Since 2002, our church has celebrated 82 baptisms.

Table full of friends

Flying carp flags over the playground!

For me, the start of this new year brings waves of reflective gratitude. My grandfather, who routinely called himself the world's most grateful nonagenarian, taught me that it's the contrasts in life that make us thankful. The wash of stress from last year - all the new challenges, new vocabulary, new grief as I forced myself to leave my stressed-out crying son in his teacher's arms. Now I am flooded with gratitude. We wrestled long and hard about whether to put our kids in Japanese school. Would they be too stressed to learn? Would they be bullied for being different? Would they ever be able to say goodbye without tears? Would they regress in their English ability? Now, we can joyfully say that our son and daughter are learning Japanese, playing happily with non-English speaking friends, connecting and engaging with Japanese culture.

And - what I did not at all expect in this country of 1% Christians - our public school has a growing, steady group of praying Christian moms! I am so grateful for Lisa, Lena, Hosanna, Seiji, Misaki, who are our daily playmates. And we continue to pray for Keito, as his mom begins to engage her curiosity about Christianity.

I can draw on the mailbox, right?

After much deliberation, we are also grateful that our summer plans are settling into place! We're visiting many of the churches, families and homes that have nurtured, supported and loved us throughout our lives. We are so excited to see you all in person! Between the end of May and the beginning of August, we will be in Seattle, Atlanta, Lookout Mountain/Chattanooga, Denver, Grand Rapids, Chicago and possibly Philadelphia and further north, if time allows. Can we connect when we're in your area?

8 months!

All this travel makes us thrilled and nervous. We have plans in place to have our house, jobs, pets, car, plants tended to and used when we are gone. Please pray for those we leave behind here - it's a long time to be away from our relationships, our neighborhood, and our church. But we value the opportunity to share our excitement, our vision and our hopes with many of you in person.

Mosey on March

Warm enough to wade~

"Japanese fathers want to do that too, you know" my friend Yumi said, as she watched our two older kids sprint across the park in the late afternoon, toward Ryan, coming home from work. Often, her husband homes home on the last train of the evening, around midnight or 1AM, only to turn around and leave again early the next morning. Today, as I headed home with my kids, I chatted with Akiko, whose son is a few months older than our youngest; she hasn't seen her husband in over a month, as he stays overnight at the company dormitory most of the time. That Ryan gets to come home at 5 most evenings to eat dinner together with us as a family is very unusual, and we are very grateful.

Christian pre-school moms, play time after prayer meeting!

Work hours are by no means directly tied to religion, but do reflect cultural patterns and values. We are humbly grateful to work at Christian Academy, in an environment where policies are built on biblical patterns of work and rest, that allows us to live a different pattern for family time and family commitment. However, the mission of CAJ is most valuable because of the contrasting example it provides, since the school is located in an environment that is completely foreign to these values. Our friends outside of CAJ do wonder and ask - why do we do things differently in our family? Why don't teachers at our Christian international school have to work all evening on campus, away from their families? Yesterday, a student asked Ryan again - why are you a teacher? Why did you come to work at a place like this?

Working hard to provide for yourself and not be a burden on others is a deeply rooted value in Japanese culture. Without hard work, how will I know that I'm living a meaningful, successful life? Isn't that lazy, to take breaks or take time off? If I don't work hard, others will have to cover for me, and that causes stress to them. The biblical concept of sabbath, a resting in grace, trusting that the work has been done for you, and your task is to live in faithful gratitude - this concept is very foreign to the typical Japanese mind. Sabbath is not antithetical to work, but in the biblical model, work is a grateful shouldering of stewardship, not a desperate race for success.

Finished first year of pre-school!

Class of 2015 in Thailand

Please pray with us, as we approach Easter, as we in the CAJ community live out a different pattern in our neighborhood, and set a different model of sabbath and work. Our students and friends are watching. 

This month, Ryan traveled with our senior class to northern Thailand, where they played, learned, and laughed with hill tribe kids, and mixed concrete and prepared the ground for a foundation for a new building at a local hill tribe school. Throughout their high school years at CAJ, students raise money for their senior project. Each senior class is connected with a hill tribe school in northern Thailand. We love the way the curriculum spirals to build capacities for collaboration, communication, care taking and leadership, culminating in this very hands-on trip. Ryan has worked extensively with our principal to refine and enact this curriculum, and we're so excited about the learning that happens.

Ryan catching up with Neung!

Personally, we also have the privilege of supporting one of the local students, Neung, through the organization and wisdom of the couple who run the organization we work with in Thailand. Neung attended one of the local schools, and is now approaching graduation and looking forward to starting nursing school at a local university in Chiang Mai. Your support of us allows us to invest in the life of Neung and others like her! Thanks so much for giving us this privilege!

Birthday sushi

Flower making party

We were so grateful that my mom, Linda Pettit, was able to be with us during the time Ryan was gone. Thanks to the many of you who prayed to help that trip happen! We had a "flower making party" with our neighborhood friends, and then a surprise early birthday party for her, complete with sushi and cherry pie!



This week, please pray for our church's Children's Easter Party on Saturday, April 4! We're excited to be able to invite many of our neighborhood friends (and their parents!) to hear about Jesus' death and resurrection!

How we roll

A little sad, saying goodbye to Mrs Inaba on the last
day of pre-school

Please pray with us as we finalize plans for this busy summer ahead! We're excited to be able to connect with many of you in person, and hoping to have an itinerary set and tickets purchased within the week.

Finally February

Children's message at our church plant, Tokyo Life Church

February is our longest-shortest month. You know what I mean? Every day we bike past the same budding trees on the way to pre-school and CAJ; every day we watch the blossoms open a bit more. Now, in nearly-March, the plum blossoms have begun to snow down, and the cherry blossoms are just around the corner. Yet the runny noses and fevers persist!

Nightly ritual: Owl Moon

the way things work

News from CAJ: From the start, Ryan and I have lived out our relationship in a fairly public venue; as high school teachers, our lives and our relationship remain largely accessible to our students. During this year's Spiritual Life Emphasis Week, our chapel coordinator lead the middle school and high school in a series of talks and panel discussions about various aspects of love: agape, romance, dating, and sex. The questions students asked were profound and honest: "how come love sometimes disappears after marriage?" "how do I deal with mistakes?" "what should I do if I found out my friend had sex?" It is a humbling challenge to live our simple, daily life in front of these precious, inquisitive students, and to stand beside them as they question their way through adolescence. Please pray for wisdom!

All home sick

Ryan's classroom: Recently, Ryan has been meeting with a student who comes under the guise of homework help, but usually ends up talking about all sorts of other things. "As a father, if you found out your child was questioning Christianity, would you be angry with him? What would you do to your son?" this student asked Ryan. Thinking through the source of these questions, Ryan realized that this boy is himself struggling with his faith and struggling with his studies (although one of the top students in the class). We pray for courage for this student, as he works to both please his parents, but also to work out his own questions faithfully. Please pray for Ryan as he continues to work and meet with him. 

Art project display!

New year of pre-school: In Japan, the school year ends in March and begins in April. It's a beautiful time to welcome the new school year, with the coming of spring. We're so grateful to look back and see this year of transition from this vantage point. We've made some great new friends, connected with our neighborhood in a richer way, and learned a lot of new kanji! From April, E will be in the second year class at his Japanese pre-school, and L will start attending one day a week "practice" with the other two year olds, to adjust to the routine and new environment. While last year, we were very nervous, this year, we're a little more excited! We look forward to meeting new mothers and kids, and strengthening relationships we have with our current friends. I'm especially excited that Yuko and her son are interested in joining the group of Christian moms. Yuko isn't a Christian, and felt shy about coming, but we encouraged her to come and just sit and watch. Please pray for me, and for the other moms in the group: Chieko, Tomomi, Jamie, Madoka, Anna and Megumi.