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.