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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Finished first year of pre-school! |
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| Birthday sushi |
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| 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!
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| How we roll |
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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.
