Happy New Year

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

It has been one of the most memorable years for us all around. We have been in Japan now for more than a year and a half. We left so much back home in California but yet we have gained double here spiritually than we had. God is so gracious and loving and has shown us his favor. In this last year we have been blessed to start an ESL class with 8 kids. They are great kids and we have sown the seeds of the gospel many times now. It is a blessing to have this opportunity to love on them. The parents too have heard the good news and our Christmas party had 20 kids and 8 mom's come which was a real surprise for us. We had been attending church at the wonderful Calvary Chapel Tokorozawa with Pastor Travis Takamiya and Dawn his wife. They gave us much grace while we went through much adjusting and changing and our not communicating. In June of this year we were re-informed of a church facility that was available. There is still a small church body there. The Ai no Kyoukai family are wonderful Christians that love Jesus. The church property of 5 buildings was built in the 60's and 70's by an independent missionary couple. God used them to establish a school of coorespondence for discipling young Christians. They also had a preschool on the premises. The founder went to be with the Lord 11 years ago and the church struggled under different leadership. They were going to close the church down 3 years ago and actually shut the doors for a time. The 5 board members then were very sad and heart broken. They had been praying for God to revive the church. They were praying not for mans solution but for God to do a new work. The facility had gone into decay and was destroyed with overgrowth and garbage. We prayed about coming to visit this place we had not yet seen. When we arrived it was overwhelming. We too were heart broken. We didn't care if we were to plant a church in Iruma or not; we just wanted to see this church to once again look beautiful. It was a shame that the house of the Lord was in such a shambles. So we were given permission to go ahead and start cleaning the facility. We prayed for a car and the Lord provided one. In a few weeks things were taking shape. We then asked permission to have an afternoon service as Calvary Chapel in their sanctuary facility. They said, great go for it. So August 2nd we began services as Calvary Chapel Iruma. In September, we asked if we could fix up one of their unused buildings in the back of the property to use as one of our own. They said sure. So we began to clean and scrape and patch and paint and glue and create the chapel. We officially had an dedication ceremony on November 28th. It is beautiful. God is good. In December, we were asked if we'd like some chairs for our chapel. So we have received 44 stackable chairs. Now we have a place and everything is ready we are now turning to do more outreach in the community and getting the word out about the Chapel. We still have much to clean and construct and the grounds are always growing back so the work is endless. We are praying that God would work our the details. I am continuing to perform worship. I say perform because it is not natural for me to lead worship. I do it because I have to and I enjoy it but I find it to be an area of ministry I am willing to let go as soon as someone steps up for the challenge. Many of you know that one Sunday I was singing a song that had a long drawn out word Hosanna and I was trying my best to match the notes. I was hearing something funny down in front from my kids. They were singing the song of the vendor in our neighborhood selling gyoza. If your from Japan or know this it is really funny but I wasn't laughing as it was a worship service and my kids were mocking my singing. (Pray for me) Lately, we have been singing the old hymns in Japanese and it is a blessing for everyone. We are wanting to after the new year begin classes in the ESL school on site. They made an ESL classroom and it was used for many years and the teacher moved on. We are wanting to use it again. Pray we can get new kids and adults. There is a Women's University nearby and we'd like to offer ESL at the Church and at the school.

As we look on into next year we find many new challenges coming ahead. Mihoko's Mom and Dad moved to the US in 1993 and started a Sushi Teppan Restaurant which has done really well in previous years. They sad news is difficult times have resulted in the restaurant being shut down. The Hori's are going to move back to Japan and maybe fully retire finally at 72. We are praying.

The kids are being home schooled by us and they are doing well. We struggle like everyone..."are the reading enough?" "Are they getting the concepts?" "Do they really care or are they just acting to get me off their back?" We find the basics have a tendency to vanish into thin air if they are not daily reviewed. Times tables, spelling rules, grammar jingles, writing tips, don't read lying down, sit up straight, and the constant staring out the window and those questions about how a ladybug who is a male of the species gets black spots on red shells when they should be finding the area of a square; are what we struggle with. Yet we have fun at least I am.

Nathan is growing into a pretween. His voice cracks at 11 soon to be 12 in April. He wants a facebook account for his birthday. I say why do you want to poison your mind with the constant dribble that you read. He quickly reminds me of my addiction to post weird stuff on Japan. Nathan proceeds to amaze us with his eye for drawing. he sees things that we don't see and he can recreate scenery with amazing detail. Rachel is our lady who loves fashion. We have to keep our eye on her and what she wears out of the house. I have totally been possessed with the values of my parents and then some. I thought I'd be a really cool dad but alas I am one of those dads who tell their daughters what they can and cannot wear out side. I know we will fight about it. Right now at 8 she protests my strictness but is compliant. Her health is a constant battle as a post-transplant life can be, God has been very gracious and we have not had any real sickness or complications. Thank you for praying for her health. Jane (5) is our love bug. She still is the hug monster and we gladly welcome her very big warm hugs. She had mastered the Japanese language and performed in her school Christmas pageant and did well. She is studying both English and Japanese together. So far she is very adept in both languages. She loves to do school work like Nathan and Rachel so we haven't told her it is yucky homework yet. She still thinks it is fun activities.

Japan is a wonderful place to live. There are contradictions It's that way in the US too. Most I talk to claim to be very happy. Not all are happy people though for a 12th straight year Japan topped 30 thousands suicides. See the link http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/suicides-in-japan-top-30000-in-2009-for-12th-consecutive-year. I (my opinion injected here) just see a people and a culture still needing to be convinced through love and grace and the straight forward teaching of the Word of God that Jesus is the true God for them. Nothing hinders the gospel here and is quite well received. I am surprised that whom ever I share with will listen. On a couple occasions we were asked what Christianity was all about. Only the foreigners here respond with negativity mostly because of past misrepresentation of the Lord or false teaching that they believe. God is good to continually provide opportunities to share the gospel.

Pray for my (Dan) language acquisition capabilities. I am over 40 and I try to memorize vocabulary and bible scriptures and it is a most challenging activity to say the least. I must endeavor to work at it as I work at worship with practice it does become more natural but it is really mortifying to have to ask your 5 year old what someone just said. Jane just giggles with pleasure to help me out but then makes that comment, "Oh daddy, your really need to learn Japanese why don't you come to school with me it's real easy." I want to cry. I was able to visit a temple on New Years eve with my evangelist friend Mark. He walks up to the bottom of the stairs that people climb to pull a rope with a bell, throw and offering and say a prayer, and receive a wooden good luck plack; and he preaches the gospel open air. About 200 maybe more folks were lined up at midnight to do this act of worship. The people are so lost. Most of them don't know why they do it. More than half were drunk. They are so lost and blind to the god of this world. Pray for their salvation. Pray for God to awaken this land to the true reality of the living God who loves them so very much.

I'll end with a note to say we were blessed in December to afford plane tickets to come back home for a couple of weeks. The best prices landed us a January 19th date as the cheapest day to come back. We will be having a get together on Friday January 22nd at 6pm for dinner and a time of sharing. If your interested in coming please email or call me and we will give you the address of the Fujikura's where we will host it. We love and miss all of you. God bless.

Dan and Mihoko, Nathan, Rachel, and Jane,
CC Iruma, Japan

PRAYER: For wisdom in clean up and allocating resources to the most important projects first. Pray for the women's Bible study Mihoko is leading it is a blessing to see the ladies fellowship together in the word. Pray for some outreaches in January through a friend offering opportunities to share our testimony in a few different places. Pray for wisdom for Homeschooling and the facilitating a learning environment. Dan's language acquisition. Pray for Rachel's hand as she got nipped by a dog while it was eating and it drew blood. She is fine and the doctor said it is okay. The dog had all it's shots. Pray for a few people who have come to church and are not yet saved. There are couple of mom's and a gentleman who have been coming. The man in particular is very close to salvation but at many invites continues to not yield his heart to Jesus. Pray he will surrender. Pray for new students. ESL remains one of the most effective tools for ministry to see souls come to Christ. Pray for young Christian men to want to commit to some classes for the beginning of a School of Ministry. Pray for one man's back that is constantly going out. Pray for Kato san who has medical issues. Pray for Fujita san who keeps saying he is going to die soon pray he gets his eyes on Jesus and glorifies him no matter how many days he has. Pray for the plumber helping us at the church to receive Christ he and his wife who also has come to church a few times. Pray for our time with the Lord to be protected from all the busy issues of the day. We need like Mary to sit at his feet and receive for ourselves and appropriate the word into our hearts and not just our heads. Pray for our safe travel to American and back. Thank you for praying.