The backdrop is a snowy night at a famous Buddhist temple. There are no shepherds, no wise men, no angels. But there are Santas. Many of them. In fact, the temple is crawling with the little red-clad characters, some of them carrying paper umbrellas.
 
This Japanese advent calendar isn’t like any I’ve ever seen in the U.S. The Santa labeled the 25th seems a little more familiar, flying a sleigh across the sky. But the 25th isn’t the final date. The really big date, the date the whole calendar is leading up to, is January 1—the biggest holiday of the Japanese year.
 
Sure, the stores in Japan play up Christmas. (Anything to move more merchandise.) But it’s still a small celebration. When dad gets home from work, there might be a small Christmas cake (white sponge cake, white frosting, and strawberries on top) and a present for each of the kids. Few Japanese have any idea that Christmas is about God being born as a human baby so He could grow up and die for the world.
 
The good news? Japanese want to find out more about this “Western” holiday. This means that friends and neighbors who usually decline an invitation to church are interested in coming to a candlelight service or a Christmas party. So, missionaries put on Christmas events during which they share the Gospel.
 
We’re grateful to be a part of this Gospel presentation. We’re glad we can:

• Invite friends to our church’s candlelight service.
• Decorate our front windows with the manger scene.
• Answer any questions that come our way.
• Support the massive outreach effort by educating missionary kids and by training/coaching missionaries.

And we’re grateful for your prayers, financial support, and friendship.

5: # of slideshows & videos I posted online in Sept.

4: # Japanese adults who were baptized on 9/29 at Kurume Bible Fellowship. Before getting baptized, each person shared a testimony. Please pray these 4 Christians will continue to grow in Christ.

3: # of coaching sessions I have next Tuesday with CAJ staff.

2: # of airplanes Kim will take to fly to see Caitlin in Ancaster, Ontario (Oct. 9-15). Please pray for travel safety and a really good visit.

1: # of essays Kim's English 10 students wrote this week. Please pray that Kim's students will continue to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.

Thanks for being involved in God's work in Japan.

During the past 2 weeks, we:

• Shared with supporters/churches about God's work in Japan. We showed a short video of square watermelons!
• Planned some curriculum and worked on some school improvement projects.
• Visited with family—we stayed with my folks/sister and visited aunts/uncles.
• Got Caitlin her Canadian study permit.

Kim, how’s your summer going?
We’re having a good time. So far, we’ve shared with supporters and churches in Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan. We’ve talked with family and friends. And we made a special cake to celebrate July 4. Read More...

Read More...

Michael, what changes have you noticed at CAJ since you started in 1987? The student body has grown from 280 to 460, the curriculum now includes Advanced Placement courses, and buildings (constructed in the 1960s) have been refurbished or replaced. What’s stayed the same is CAJ’s commitment to providing Christ-centered education. Read More...

Our weekly forecst is cool, rainy weather, with sunny progress.

Cool, rainy weather: We've been having unusually cool, rainy weather. Rainy weather poses problems for the many people here who use bikes to get around (slideshow). Today's low is 48, and today's high is only 61. Feels like October. How's your weather/

With sunny progress: 

• Tuesday: I'm looking forward to this afternoon's workshop where CAJ teachers will be discussing "How can you increasingly target Biblical perspective?" Last week, the group discussed "How does your Christian worldview affect your educational practice?"

• Friday: Kim's English 10 students will be writing movie reviews.

Here's what's gone well for us:

• Monday: Kim talked with 2 students about books they'd been reading.
  
• Tuesday: I got to facilitate an hour-long discussion about Christian worldview education. Fifteen teachers participated.
  
• Thursday: Kim read an essay in which a non-Christian student reflected on a Christian worldview.

Praise God for providing a band director and a home economics teachers. Ask God to provide a middle school English/social studies teacher.

Thanks for praying for us:

(1) Praise God for  Easter baptisms, including that of Mrs. T at Kurume Christ Church and 3 Japanese at Kurume Bible Fellowship. Read More...

Spring has arrived in Japan—cherry blossoms, good weather, and 6 baptisms on Easter Sunday!

Here's how ours went:

• Mon: No school!
  
• Tues: Michael attended an all-day meeting of 70+ mission leaders, where he gave a 10-minute presentation on ways to encourage missionaries.
  
• Wed: Kim's students did well on a poetry reading quiz. 
  
• Thurs: Michael submitted a workshop proposal for a Nov. conference in Hong Kong.
  
• Fri: Kim's students listened to Noah Pashapa, a Zimbabwean pastor, speak.

Kim just got done teaching English 10, and now we're off to Starbucks! 

Recent highlights for us include:

• Having one of Kim's CAJ students write on a test that he's grateful he's learning how to apply a Biblical perspective.
  
• Getting snow.
  
• Finding an English web site that gives a local weather forecast.
  
• Publishing a set of Biblical perspective teacher training standards. CAJ adopted them yesterday.

Michael, how did you see God working in 2007? God continued to answer prayers. There were baptisms, including the baptisms of 7 middle schoolers on one Sunday at Kurume Christ Church, baptisms at mission posts (including Mr. and Mrs. Shimizu), and the baptism of Yuga Takizawa, Kim’s Sunday school student. Read More...

Though our home computer died this week, we have much to be thankful for:

• Salvation
  
• Health and safety
  
• Autumn colors
  
• Turkey and stuffing

What are you thankful for? 

Our week went well:

• Sat.: Mr. and Mrs. Nagai got baptized.
  
• Sun.: We had rhubarb pie for dessert.
  
• Mon.: Kim helped 10th graders commit to a service activity.
  
• Tues.: Kim went on a 3-day leadership training for CAJ's 10th grade.
  
• Wed.: Michael shared his Biblical perspective tutorial with several CAJ staff.
  
• Thurs.: Michael further developed his workshop on self-management.
  
• Fri.: No school today!