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.