Today is our one year anniversary of moving to Japan. We are so thankful for all God has brought us through, and all he has added to our lives here in Japan including, but not limited to:
~the addition to our family of sweet Martha Evangeline
~so many new, wonderful friends
~a new appreciation for other cultures and people, even ones so different from our own
~new depth and growth in our marriage
~learning about new and wonderful and difficult ways to trust the Lord
~the great joy of seeing God build His church up close and on personal levels
He has been so good and we are so thankful that He has us right here, right now.
I have so much I want to write, but it is just too late and I am just too tired. I hope to post soon, though, about some fun things going on, including:
~ Noa, our little jabber-mouth. She is talking SO MUCH!
~Andrew, a new volunteer on the team is living with us for 2 weeks and we are really enjoying him. We’re excited that he and Eric will be working together a lot this coming year.
~The new school year starts on Tuesday! Eric is in the thick of preparation for his new class of TEN students in THREE different grades! It’s going to be a great year!
~Martha’s wedding in a few weeks!!!! the girls and I will leave in only ONE WEEK for the States with my mom and siblings. Eric and my dad will follow closer to the wedding. SO EXCITING!
~Cloth diapering, my new endeavor. I have prayed and researched this a lot and am getting very excited to get started once we pick up our supplies in America.
~Martha, very soon to be a WHOLE HALF YEAR old, is simply delightful.
and I know there’s lots more too. for now, I am off to bed and will just leave you with some photos of our crazy cuties…
One of my favorite things about being a missionary kid was all the other missionary kids who felt like my family. Our team is still blessed with many MKs and I am so thankful for each one of them. Right now, there are 9 pre-school-age kids here on the team! The Pfeils have three of those kids, and we are super thankful for them. We have really enjoyed serving with them, doing college ministry together, adjusting to new little babies together, and just being friends. We also trade baby sitting with them often, so that we can have date nights. As you can imagine, those are always fun nights, knowing what it would be like if we have 5 kids, all 15-17 months apart and twins at the end 
We actually really enjoy it and are so thankful for the sweet friendships between the kids, and our growing friendship with Jon and Sarah. God is so good.
Calvin and Martha are only 10 days apart in age and it’s great to watch them grow together. The other day Sarah and I did a little photo shoot of them, since professional baby pictures are so expensive here in Japan. We got some cute ones of them together too:
kisses for a friend!
During a date night/play date. Don’t they look like they’ve been caught in mischief?
holding hands
Olivia and Annabella (Noa calls her “Abba”) are like big sisters and the sweetest playmates for Noa. She learns so much from them and they are so patient and kind to her.
They taught Noa her original funny face and the three of them continue to create all sorts of silliness
The other day, the three of them had a blast playing dress-up with my head scarves.
group hug!
We are so thankful for these special friends!
To give you an idea of our excitement for getting to play with these friends, here’s a conversation Noa and I had the other day:
Me: Noa, do you want to go to Abba and Olivia’s house?
Noa (squealing and clapping her hands): Yea! (She runs to put on her shoes).
As I am getting Martha strapped into her seat, Noa comes over to her and grabs her hand, gets her face real close, and in her best mama-talking-to-a-baby-in-a-really-high-voice impersonation says,”Baffa, pay Alvin’s house? Yea?” (Martha, play Calvin’s house?, yea?). Hilarious little interaction that showed me two things:
1:Everyone should be as excited as Noa is to go to her friends’ house. She couldn’t help but share that joy with her sister and make sure she was just as excited to play with her little friend.
2:My daughter is learning more from me than just words. I am always amazed at how she mimics my tone and pitch in many things, especially when interacting with Martha. Makes me want to be so careful about how I speak to people, especially their father, as little ears hear and copy so much of what I say and how I say it.
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.
Above is a picture of our daily Japanese stretching time. We listen to a song in Japanese that directs us how to stretch ( I do not understand most of the Japanese, but I follow Ai-Sensai who is stretching next to me on the right). This is one of the many cultural activities that we share. Stretching is important enough for every Japanese student to take a break from their very busy schedule and stretch each morning.
Much like our muscles needing to be pulled, sometimes in an uncomfortable way, I am realizing that our lives with Christ need to be stretched daily as well. The more we are stretched (especially when we think something is impossible) the more we are forced to depend on the wonderful grace of Christ Jesus, and not on our always tempting works of our own flesh.
One practical way that this happens is through Covenant Community School International. CCSI is a school that is constantly stretching. It has too, to survive as one of the few (possibly only) schools in the country to combine a Christian education with homeschooling, as well as an English section of the school and a Japanese section. There are many times where I do not know where the time, money, energy, people, wisdom, or help is going to come from, yet in my short 8 months here God has continually provided abundantly for this school. There are times when it is uncomfortable for the staff, students, and/or parents, and each time God provides answers and resources. Please pray for all of us, as this school is stretched and God continually provides. Pray for Robert Stewart, for wisdom, as he is the headmaster of the school. Please pray for Ai-san as she is not only teaching the Japanese children full-time, but also creating a Japanese-Christian elementary curriculum and helping with most of the many translating needs of a bilingual school. Please pray for the 21 students, that they would grow in their understanding of God’s grace and that they would share Christ’s love with many.
Well, Eric finished up school on Friday for the next two weeks, and we have had a great Christmas season so far, celebrating in many new ways with many new friends. However, we are realizing that we need to pace ourselves a bit, as there is so much to do and so many great opportunities at this time of year. All three of us are quite sick and our house sounds like a coughing chorus. I took Noa to the doctor on Thursday morning because she was running a pretty high fever and was not herself. She is doing significantly better now, though she’s still coughing a lot, like Eric and I.
Tomorrow is a big day for the congregation at Toke (the church plant we’ve been attending) as we will have our first ever candle-light service in that town. I am particularly hoping that some of my English students who live there will attend. Please pray for this service, that God would be glorified as we celebrate Christ’s birth in a town where there has never been such a celebration. Also, we would ask for you to pray for our family. We are pretty worn out physically but are longing to be involved in several events over the next few days. Pray for strength when we need it, and discernment for when to stay home and get well. Here is a picture of our sick girl who has been quite the cuddler these last few days. Pretty much all she’s wanted to do is read books and snuggle. 
Right now (hoping that we will all be feeling much better), we plan on spending Christmas morning as a family at home, joined for a late brunch by two guys on our team and two Japanese girls who are good friends. In the afternoon we will head over to my parents’ house to spend the rest of the day and have our Christmas feast. We are excited as this is our first Christmas as a family to be in our own house on Christmas Eve and Morning, and to have some time with just the 3 of us on this holiday. We will so miss our family far away! But we’re so thankful for the gift of each other and that my parents and several siblings are close by to join for part of the day.
I probably won’t get around to posting again til after Christmas, but be sure to check in for pictures late in the week.
We so appreciate you keeping up with us and especially for your prayers for our family and Japan. May you have a very Merry Christmas, as there is so much to be joyful about! May the miracle of Christmas – God becoming man to save sinners, Light finally coming to a dark and waiting world – truly bring merriment in your hearts and homes.
“God rest ye, merry gentlemen, let nothing ye dismay. REMEMBER, CHRIST, OUR SAVIOR WAS BORN ON CHRISTMAS DAY! To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray. O tidings of comfort and joy!”
Merry Christmas!!