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.

Ai no Kyoukai Christmas Party

Sunday was a great day as Noda Sensei and I split the message and loved on the people. It was so much fun as Noda Sensei is a good guitarist and he travels around performing music. I was able to hit a cajon while he played guitar and Sachiko played the Piano. We shared the Christmas Story from Luke and it was a wonderful time worshiping and glorifying Jesus. We then had a great time of fellowship afterward with a great meal and a gift exchange. Sachiko invited some of the neighborhood kids to come and participate. It was so much fun. Nathan wasn't happy to receive some flash cards to learn the Japanese writing. He didn't like getting homework for Christmas. He was cool with it and we will enjoy using the cards. It will be good for me too. Coming up later this week is our ESL Christmas Party. We are looking forward to that. God bless you all.

Flower Arranging and Testimony

One of the blessings of our small Chapel is we have a new lady who has been coming with her son Tomo San. Tomo is a special person and is an adult. Mrs Kikuchi loves to share Jesus with many people. Mihoko was asked to come to a Flower arranging(ikebana) tea party and to share Rachel's testimony. It was a powerful time and many ladies were blessed. They were also able to arrange some flowers. Mihoko made a lovely arrangement. She was very happy the way her flowers turned out. She has been asked to share at a couple of other meetings as well. May God bring those who hear into his Kingdom.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer in Japanese I think?

It's Sunday night and we are messing around on the computer. Here is one for the Grandparents to see Jane adapting to Japanese language very well. I am actually jealous as her little sponge brain has absorbed the Japanese language in less than a year. Pray for me to listen to Jesus' teaching and become like a child to learn the language. I have been at it for 20 years and I am all over the place grammatically. I feel like I ride a bike with loose handle bars and it turns every which way and pops out altogether sometimes. Jane's Rendition of the song has some cute enunciation slips as certain sounds are similar but the intonation can mean something different. I guess the content of the song will be only for those who can speak Japanese. Merry Christmas Grandma and Grandpa.

More Chairs

What a blessing we now have 44 chairs in the Chapel. Lord please fill those chairs. Amen

Fabio and Sakurako

We were blessed to be invited by Fabio and Sakurako to come and dine with them in their new place. God has blessed this family. They attend Grace Christian Fellowship and we are trying to steel them away. NOT! But they are great people and we loved the fellowship with them. Fabio is from Brazil lived in the US in Boston and then Married Sakurako and came back to Japan. They have 2 Kids Sorae and William and love Jesus. It was a blessing. Gochisosamadeshita. God bless you guys.

How do you like the RED shirt my Mom got me? She likes to see be stand out. It's not enough for me to be fat and blond and foreign she has to get me this blaring flag of he look at me. I am so glad I am not a missionary in Spain cause those bulls would love me.

The Big Sandwich WOW

I was in Tokyo today and we decided to get a Big Sandwich for lunch. The packaging is appealing and looks delicious. When I opened up the sandwich to inspect the goods we found there weren't any goods. This was absolutely shocking to me. I spent about 225 yen or $2.50 for somthing that was supposed to be a Big Sandwich. It is a big surprise sandwich as to there being nothing on it. I miss TOGO's and the little green pickle. They have Subway in Japan but it not the same.

Sachiko's Birthday

From the picture below you might think Sachiko is one year old, but I think she is giving the one way symbol,or how many blows it will take to blow out all the candles. At any rate, She had a great time of fellwoship and invited many of her friends from work and church. It was a good time to share with them the love of God and to just get to know the ladies who are not saved. One lady asked Mihoko how to find a decent church to attend? Mihoko thought it was a trick question at first but just answered sincerely and she later indicated she might come to Church on Sunday so pray for God to add to his church daily as He leads.

You know it’s cold when

I am stealing material from the Brother-In-Laws website I got a good laugh out of the last one. enjoy.

You know it’s cold when
Posted December 4, 2009


What happens at these Fahrenheit temperatures:

+65 – Hawaiians declare a two-blanket night.

+60 – Californians put on sweaters (if they can find one).

+50 – Miami residents turn on the heat.

+45 – Vermont residents go to outdoor concerts.

+40 – You can see your breath. Californians shiver uncontrollably. Minnesotans go swimming.

+35 – Italian cars don’t start.

+32 – Water freezes.

+30 – You plan your vacation to Australia.

+25 – Ohio water freezes. Californians weep. Minnesotans eat ice cream. Canadians go swimming.

+20 – Politicians begin to talk about the homeless. New York City water freezes. Miami residents plan vacation farther South.

+15 – French cars don’t start. Cat insists on sleeping in your bed with you.

+10 – You need jumper cables to get the car going.

+ 5 – American cars don’t start.

0 – Alaskans put on T-shirts.

-10 – German cars don’t start. Eyes freeze shut when you blink.

-15 – You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo. Arkansans stick tongue on metal objects. Miami residents cease to exist.

-20 – Cat insists on sleeping in pajamas with you. Politicians actually do something about the homeless. Minnesotans shovel snow off roof. Japanese cars don’t start.

-25 – Too cold to think. You need jumper cables to get the driver going.

-30 – You plan a two-week hot bath. Swedish cars don’t start.

-40 – Californians disappear. Minnesotans button top button. Canadians put on sweaters. Your car helps you plan your trip south.

-50 – Congressional hot air freezes. Alaskans close the bathroom window.

-80 – Hell freezes over. Polar bears move south. Green Bay Packer fans order hot cocoa at the game.

-90 – Lawyers put their hands in their own pockets.

(from The Daily Dilly) cited in an email newsletter from PreachingNOW [PreachingNOW@preachingmagazine-info.com]

Jane's Christmas Pageant

Lot's of Mommies and Daddies and grand parents filled a large auditorium in our city. Hundreds of kids 3 to 5 years of age are running around the place. Jane has for a long time been practicing dance steps and singing Christmas songs in Japanese. She has been tired of all the rehearsals. Then as we climbed the stairs and she sees all the people and realizes she is going to be on stage performing for them all in just a moment there is a look of fear that was priceless. She had some cold feet but after a few friends reassured her it cool she went back stage and when the curtain went up she gave the performance of her life. We are so proud of Jane and all the hard work she put into getting everything just right. It was a wonderful Christmas Pageant that had nothing to do with Christmas. Her theme was a safari tribute. Why I am not sure? We just enjoyed the day and had great time. Good job Jane your doing wonderful. We love you.

Can you pick her out of the crowd? She is on the top row.

Grace and Thanksgiving

After Pastor Phil delivered a great sermon at Calvary Chapel Tokorozawa in the morning and then at Calvary Chapel Iruma in the afternoon; we went to Grace Christian fellowship in the evening and had a thanksgiving dinner and message with them. The family of God is so wonderful and such a blessing. We had a great day and are so filled both spiritually and physically. Praise God.

I'm Stumped

Nathan prior to the dedication service decided to tackle the largest stump in our yard and for two days he whacked and cut and chopped on this thing. I was quite surprised at his endurance and veracity with staying the course and knocking this thing out. He was so excited to defeat the rooted monster and we both rejoiced at the victory. It also was a teachable moment about sin in our lives that can get rooted deep down and to try and pull it up as he was attempting to do doesn't work. He learned when your stumped about sin to cut the roots and sever the ties and throw it out of the hole and get rid of it. If things are left sometimes they grow back. Also Nathan learned we can leave a hole but we have to fill it with good soil and sow the seeds of the word of God to be reassured that the monster won't grow back. Job 14:7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

Now if I can get him to dig up the 15 other stumps in our church place...

Dedication service

It was such a blessing I can't begin to describe it. It is now a blur and we are still savoring the fellowship we had with the other Calvary folks that came out to bless. The Ai no Kyoukai folks were overwhelmed and filled with Joy to see God's grace being manifested. It was shocking to for them to see Pastor Phil vacuuming the chapel prior to the service and they wanted to provide him a resting station as most Japanese Sensei require but we told them that God blesses through us serving one another. The pastor is not above the people and is first and foremost a servant of Jesus Christ and then the people and then their own needs. The weather was perfect and sunny and clean. Pastor Phil delivered an awesome message on dedication of ourselves to the service of the Lord. It was beautiful. God bless all who came and continue to pray with us as the ministry work moves forward.

Pastor Phil in Calvary Chapel Kokobunji

Calvary Chapel Kokobunji with Pastor Chizuo Sakurai. It was so cool to hook up with him and see the Lord's blessings upon his family and the church the Lord has belssed him with. We went out to a traditional Japanese restaurant and sat on a floor and ate things I can't tell you what they are as I have no idea. I discovered I might be aclimating to the Japanese culture because I actually enjoyed all the food. 4 years ago at a similar place in Shinjuku I almost lost everything when I got to a dish called chawamushi. I thought it was a sweet flan pudding but it was a tofu clam pudding and it was all I could to do to not launch it at my hosts. But today was a victory because I knew what was coming and it wasn't bad. I enjoyed the chawamushi and my mom would be proud as I ate everything. Pastor Phil enjoyed it more than me. He is quite the adventurous sort to eat everything first time out. Anyway, we went to CC Kokobunji and we had such fun that I forgot to take pictures. We were even serenaded by Pastor Chizuo and his daughter Hanna as they played the song "Hallelujah Jesus" in Japanese for me. I love this song and want to play it in Japanese. God bless you Chizuo May God continue to pour out his love through the Holy Spirit into your ministry and family.

Pastor Phil day 2 Roses are in bloom

The weather could not be more perfect for the dedication ceremony. Today, we discovered some Roses had bloomed early and Pastor Phil was taking picts but more importantly is Sachiko was so blessed to receive Phil and be prayed for. She met Phil at the missions conference in Hong Kong and it was surreal for her to see him here blessing us. After a tour of the place off to Kokobunji.