We had a fabulous day at the beach yesterday with several friends who are students at Chiba University. Isaac and Eric had been planning to take several guys surfing, and it worked out well for the families to join them. While taking small children to the beach isn’t easy per se, it was fun and a great chance to be together.
Yuya’s surf school:
orange smiles:
taking a break from surfing and entertaining the little girls:
All the little girls enjoyed having all the big guys to take them in the water to brave the waves and fight the undertow. Noa with her daddy:
Annabella with Tsuguru:
We had a great spot with beautiful surroundings and good waves for beginner surfers. The weather was wonderful, with a lot of cloud cover and a nice breeze to cool us off. The biggest problem for me was that the sand was black and hot and really fine. I still haven’t gotten it all out of Noa’s swim suit. 
Everyone decided to dig a hole to bury someone. Eric lost in “jan-ken-poi” (rock, paper, scissors) so he had to be burried. 
Noa thought it was great!
a kiss for the buried man:
group picture, minus babies Calvin and Martha, Sarah and Sara-Beth, and the rest of Eric’s body
friends
Sweet Martha spent most of her day under the umbrella in her sand-free seat. She did better than I expected, sleeping well and entertaining herself with her toys and looking around. We did dip her feet in the water a bit and she managed to get a little wet and sandy while being held a few times. She did great, though, and was such a trooper.
surfer girl!
it was a long hike from where we had to park the car to where we set up. I was proud of Noa for walking the whole way back. She is really growing up!
You may notice in some of the pictures that one of the guys’ head is bandaged. Early in the day he had an accident with the surf board that led to he and Eric leaving for a few hours to find a clinic and get him checked out. Thankfully, he is fine and it wasn’t serious. Eric and he had a great time in those several hours one-on-one and were able to talk deeply about Jesus and the Gospel. We’re so thankful for God’s orchestration of the day. He protected us and allowed for us to enjoy Him in our fun and fellowship. I pray that the young men who joined us also saw Him, and are drawn into relationship with Him very soon. Would you pray with us for them?
We are really thankful that the Lord has brought several students into our lives who are not only interested in English, but also in learning about the Bible and Christianity with us. On Thursday evening we had our second life group, a monthly dinner/fellowship/Bible study that we are having in our home. It was neat because, while we had expected 5 students to join us, 3 ended up getting stuck at the library with end-of-the-term projects, and so only 2 actually came. God really had his hand in it, though, because we saw how the smaller, close atmosphere really allowed for everyone to get to know eachother better, as well as participate in the study more. The topic this time was forgiveness. I, personally, was struck with how eager “K” and “S” were to make sure they understood what Eric was saying, sometimes interrupting in order to make sure they understand correctly. I also noticed that both were interested in not just hearing the Bible passages that Eric refered to but in finding them and reading along in the Bibles we lent them. That, especially encouraged me to remember God’s promises about His WORD, that it will not return void, that it is powerful in the human heart. I confess that often when we talk about the Bible with non-believers, especially here in Japan, I have fear of it being so terribly foreign to them that everything read will just go over their heads. My tendency is to feel that we need to have a perfect, easy explanation for everything that we share from the Bible, honestly, often believing that it is our words, not the Lord’s, that will resonate in hearts. God was so gracious to remind me through our time on Thursday night (1) that He is the One who works in hearts and, while he chooses to use people, it is still HIS Word and HIS work; and (2) that it takes the pressure off of us to have “the right words to say” or “the perfect explanation. It is haughty of me to think that I have that much power and it is merciful of God to not place the responsiblity of changing hearts on me.
Would you pray with us for these two students who, I think, for the first time heard about forgiveness from God’s Word? Pray that the work of God that changes hearts would show them their need for His forgiveness. Pray also for our family and the Uchida’s (the Japanes staff family who we are doing this with), that God would lead our planning and preparation for these times, and give wisdom about timing and topics for studies. Please pray that the Lord would bring other students (who came the first time) back and maybe draw other students to these times as well. Also, would you pray overall for the college ministry that is going on here with our team in Chiba? I have shared with you before about the difficulties of this particular ministry. God has been good to bring more full-time missionaries to work in this ministry, as well as providing great opportunities to meet and get to know students. He is leading and giving vision for this ministry, which is exactly what we have prayed for. It is still hard, though, and as Isaac (a fellow-missionary) said to me yesterday, if feels like it could crumble any moment. Only God working in our own and hearts and the hearts of the Japanese students will bring any fruit. So please pray with us for God to be glorified and for many to come to know Him through his Word and work with college students here. Thanks!
PHEW! It has been busy busy busy around here and it doesn’t look like it will let up anytime soon. Here are some things we’ve been up to just this last weekend:
I was able to have my English studetns over to tea last Friday. I haven’t been back to teaching this class since Martha was born so it was wonderful for get to spend time with these dear women. I am so encouraged by what God is doing in their times together. I hope that I will get to start teaching them again in the fall.
They brought this play mat/baby gym as a gift for Martha. I was so touched by their generosity!
Martha loves this new toy!
On Saturday, we left early in the morning to go into Tokyo for the CHEA (Church and Home Education Association) Japan convention. It was our first train-ride as a family. The girls did great!
Ted Tripp, the author of SHEPHERDING A CHILD’S HEART was the main speaker. We have read parts of the book, but it was wonderful to hear him speak. Eric and I came away with many things to think about, as well as being really encouraged by the power of the Gospel even in our parenting. We were so blessed. We got to eat lunch with him and his wife, Margie. Eric, especially, got to ask her some great questions. Maybe we’ll do another post soon about some specifics of what we learned.
There wasn’t childcare for kids under 3 so Noa made friends with the other kids who had to sit through the meetings. She loves making new friends.
This is Mikuni-chan whose family goes to house-church with us. She and Noa had a great time together Sunday morning. 
* Please pray for this Toke church plant. We meet twice a month in a home, and this last Sunday there wasn’t enough room for everyone! This is very exciting but also continues to make the members hope for a bigger place to meet. Pray for God’s direction and guidance.
On Sunday evening we had a barbeque for the students of the English Speaking Society at Chiba University. Eric has been a member of this group for the last few months and it was fun for us to host them in our home. We also have a team from Texas here for a week so they came as well and were able to meet students who they’ll hopefully get to see more of while they are here. It was a fun, crazy, busy night but we really saw God’s hand in who he brought and in blessing this time of fellowship. I will post more about this later, but for now, here’s Martha enjoying the party. She and Calvin were little champs while their mama’s rushed around getting ready and then spent time with people.
On Monday, my amazing husband spent his day off braving two baby girls on his own, so that I could go to Disney Sea with my sister Hannah for her 17th birthday. I left after lunch, and while it wasn’t the easiest day for them at home, Eric didn’t complain and did a great job taking care of the girls. I enjoyed my time with Hannah and some of the other young ladies so much. I am so thankful for such a sweet sister who doesn’t mind having her old sister tag along. Going to Disney with girlsfriends is a fun past-time for me (Martha, Carly, Jodye, Tabitha, Becky – you know what I mean!) and it was so special to be with my littlest sister and her good friends and be carefree for the day. Very nostalgic…
Me and the birthday girl:
This week is busy as Eric only has a week and a half left of school, my siblings are with us because my parents are on a much-needed get-away to the mountains, and we have a short-term team here to help with college ministry. Also, the school talent show is on Saturday and we are helping/say goodbye to our teammates, the Lowthers, as they head back to the States for HMA. Also, in a week my grandparents arrive and will be staying with us for 6 days, and then we are headed home for Laura and Clayt’s wedding! We have so many things going on in the meantime, along with a lot of preparations for our trip. It’t all fun and exciting things, but a lot, so please keep us in your prayers. Thanks!
I’ll update more later with some photos and stories about some things going on.
