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. 

Jazzy January

"English Play" with neighborhood friends

Being January in Tokyo, the first train of the morning carries an unusual little crew. Along with the smattering of all-nighters returning home and morning shift workers, a small huddle of middle school students, laden with extra sack lunches, made their way into the heart of Tokyo. Each winter, our middle school students brave pre-dawn chill to travel down town with lunches for homeless men and women sleeping in train stations. Once the first trains have gone through the stations, those who took shelter in the station overnight will be kicked out, or get up to mingle with the day's crowds. As the first train arrives, they are often still around, and will receive the food prepared by a thoughtful student. As the students return for their school day, Ryan, along with the high school student leadership, welcome them back to campus with breakfast. (Yes, we realize the irony of the small benevolence that students enact, rewarded by a quick welcome back into their comfortable school life. One step toward empathy and value of each person’s human dignity at a time!)

"Please read to me Mariko," she says

One afternoon several years ago, as we raked 

profuse piles of leaves in our tiny yard, a neighbor stopped to chat. A few days later, he sent his daughter to ring our bell, asking for English conversation time. After this bit of unconventional boldness on the part of her father, we’ve added layers of many evenings around our table. We’re delighted to have Mariko sit on our couch from time to time, and read Richard Scarry with our daughter. Please join with us in praying for Mariko and her family. 

Ryan was able to lead worship on the day that our tiny church plant celebrated her first official birthday! Join with us in praying for Nori, Ai, Mori-san, Michie and the Sugaya family, who have come to this new church, and will begin studying Christianity in the Alpha course, beginning next week. 

Sisters reading

At both our home church, Kurume Bible Fellowship, and our church plant, Tokyo Life Church, new Alpha courses are starting this week. Alpha is a thorough introduction to Christianity and the gospel, with a weekly discussion and shared meal. We’re so glad to walk beside these individuals as they explore the ideas of our faith. 

CAJ celebrates 65 years!
Ryan's students restore the old Gym floor as a table top

Next week, CAJ begins a week of “spiritual life emphasis.” This year, we welcome speakers from within our community to encourage, challenge and inspire our community. Please join with us in praying for a blessed and challenging week! 

We find ourselves in the midst of many long-term planning conversations. In addition to planning for the finish of Ryan's masters program, a short "home assignment" this summer, and looking into different housing for the future, we're also parenting three delightful and lively children, and working several jobs each! Please pray for wisdom, joy, and patience. 

Delicious December

Dear community,

Decorating our tiny tree!

Last night, chatting with my sister-in-law at her cabin, we remembered Eri. We talked about the precious women and men, like Eri, who surround our children, speaking truth into their lives and loving them for who they are. We are grateful. We miss her.

Today, the brink of the new year, Ryan and I look back to remember the rich heritage that surrounds us, and we look forward with "bright hope for tomorrow." Thanks for praying us this far! We're so excited about what is to come.

We slipped from a warm cabin early this morning to watch the sun over a snow-covered beach in Sendai, northern Japan. The beach-snow tracked with many footsteps of others who came at dawn - the first sunrise of the new year is a sacred beauty in Japan. We give thanks for the beauty of the sunrise, the many blessings of the year past - the gift of our delightful new daughter, the life of our friend Eri, the rich visits with friends and family, the warmth of our home and table, and the restoration that our beach retreat affords. Now, we return to our Tokyo life, refreshed and ready to engage again.

During advent, one of our pastors spoke about the role of the magi. Recalling the advent story: the shepherds witnessed a stunning angelic miracle, dropped sheep and dignity and ran whole-heartedly to see Jesus for themselves, and then proclaim to the neighborhood their news. The magi, on the other hand, perused and researched for years to recognize patterns in the stars; traveled slowly, a great distance, with gifts in hand, and then returned home to further ponder their encounter with Jesus.

"Birthday Party for Jesus" outreach at our church

Japanese, in our pastor's experience, and in ours, tend to be magi rather than shepherds. Rather than the rough, eager enthusiasm of a shepherd, we see our friends and neighbors pursue a life-long encounter with the Messiah slowly, with much thought and research. More apt to ponder in their hearts than to broadcast joy to the neighborhood.


Prone to introversion ourselves, we understand this perusal. We are here, in Japan, for the long haul, to ponder with the magi. Although we welcome the shepherds with their contagious exuberance, we expect that our journey toward Messiah, across deserts and cultures, will take many years, filled with much study and contemplation. 

Welcome home

Dear community,

This morning, our dear friend Eri was welcomed home to Jesus. We've been asking you to pray along with us for Eri during her struggle with cancer in the past year. Today, she is free! We told E that we had a sad-and-happy thing to tell him, that Eri's body has died, but her spirit is now with Jesus. Sad for us, because we won't see her until we die, but happy for her, that she is healthy and strong, with a new body, and her same sweet spirit, made perfect. He thought for a while, and then in a tickly whisper in my ear, "can I tell you something happy? You know, when I die, I will get to see Eri in heaven!" Even in death, Eri offers such beauty and grace as we gather to mourn, remember, celebrate and anticipate when we're all together again.

Please continue to pray for Eri's husband Hideo, who is not a Christian, and who is facing much grief tonight and in the coming days. We will celebrate Eri's life at a service this Sunday night.

Advent is coming; all that is evil and wrong will be not only rectified, but actually undone, and re-formed into beauty and truth. Amen!

Eri, last winter, just before her first round of surgery

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!