Author: David

God did many amazing things in the last year. Please download our photo filled annual review and join us in praising God for the work He’s done so far, while also looking ahead to what He has in store next for the Miyako Megumi Christian Church Plant

We’ve got a lot of ideas. For instance we’d like to start a dinner fellowship where Christian topics can be discussed in a casual setting. We’d also like to expand our children’s Sunday school ministry. We want to start some sort of a mid-week Bible Study for both believers and seekers. We could easily expand our Children’s English Program to a fourth class. Our new church building has a little storefront that we could open up to serve Coffee and Desserts. We think it would be wonderful if we could start a monthly bi-lingual international worship.

However the reality is that we are already close to our capacity for ministry. Because of this we continue to pray and trust that if it is God’s will for us to branch into these new areas that He will either send or raise up workers to help us. Until then we’ll plan and pray while continuing to serve in the areas He’s called us to.

Please join us in prayer for Miyako. Pray that God would use our church to lead people to Salvation in Christ, that we would be able to disciple them to serve and honor their Creator, and that He would establish this church permanently in Miyako. Pray that He will provide all the workers necessary to accomplish His work. Pray that we will remain faithful to continue serving for as long as He has us here.

After spending two years meeting out of our home for private worship, building relationships and prayerfully laying the ground-work for the Miyako Megumi (“Grace”) Church plant, last year we began renting a building in the heart of Miyako and hosting weekly public worship services. Because Miyako is such a small town, and because our church building is located on one of the main roads, everyone in town has noticed our presence! By God’s grace we’ve seen an encouraging number of visitors over the last six months and we’re excited to enter into this new phase of church-planting.

Dave preaches three times a month in Japanese, while Tomo manages the church finances, Administration and Sunday School. Once a month we host an evangelistic worship service where we invite friends and people from the community to come hear a message from the Bible that’s both relevant to their daily lives and connected to the gospel.

In addition to the weekly worship service we also host regular outreaches teaching English to children and adults, and community events for elderly people. Our weekly children’s English program has also grown to three classes with 25 kids participating. Each month we host an “English Hour” where adults can come practice English Conversation while their kids watch a movie in another room. Additionally we’re working in three neighborhoods in Miyako to help put on monthly community events to support elderly residents. These involve tea-time chats, arts and crafts, and even a little bit of English lessons.

Through these events God has allowed us to get to know dozens of families in our city, and earn a good reputation for His church in the midst of a place where Christianity has historically been looked at with much suspicion.

In 2022 we look to continue these ministries while at the same time developing deeper relationships with families we’ve met in connection with teaching English and through our children’s school. We’ve already seen a few of our friends show some interest in learning about our faith, and our hope is that in 2022 God will work in their hearts to draw them to Himself.

When is Tomo is taking the US Citizenship test?

This Wednesday! Can anyone name one of the rights defined in the Declaration of Independence? How many representatives are in the House? When was the constitution written? Tomo’s been dilligently studying up on US government and history to take the civics test as part of her US citizenship interview that she will finally have this coming Wednesday! Please pray that she passes and that there are no further obstacles to her receiving her citizenship.

When will we return to Japan?

If all goes smoothly at the interview and test, the next step is for Tomo to be sworn in as a citizen. This takes place at an oath ceremony that we think will be sometime in mid September. Tomo then needs to get a US passport before we can leave. All that said, Lord willing our family of five will be flying back to Japan in early October.

If you are able to help give to help us with the cost of airfare and train tickets, a special gift can be given using the button below. As always we are incredibly grateful for your support!

Click to give towards return travel costs.

Will Tomo have to give up Japanese citizenship?

While US law permits a person to hold dual citizenship, Japanese law does not, so unfortunately this means that Tomo will have to surrender her Japanese citizenship. Many have asked why we’re doing it this way given that we live in Japan. Immigration laws are tricky, particularly in the US, and our current home assignment schedule has us returning to the US every 2 – 3 years for a six month period. This makes it very difficult to keep a green card active (as you are required to be living in the US), and in fact Tomo has already lost her green card once, requiring us to go through a very lengthy and expensive process to return to the US for this home service.

On the other hand Japanese immigration laws are a little more relaxed, particularly if you are of Japanese descent. It should be pretty easy for Tomo to secure permanent residency in Japan after giving up her citizenship. My current visa is Souse of a Japanese citizen, so I’ll be required to change to spouse of a permanent resident, but for there aren’t really any significant differences for us between the two statuses.

Still, even after going through getting US citizenship we’ll still have some work to do in Japan once we get back to get our new immigration status sorted out, so please be praying for that process as well.

What will we do when we get back to Japan?

As we’ve mentioned before, we’ll begin a working in a new city to help with a church plant that is being started by our receiving church, Morioka Bible Baptist Church. But immediately upon getting back, things are going to be pretty chaotic. As mentioned above there is a lot of immigration issues on the Japan side we’ll have to deal with. Additionally, all of our stuff is in storage in Morioka. Lord willing our house in Miyako will be ready by the time we get back, and we can get movers to take everything down to it. We’ll probably have to spend a week or two in Morioka to take care of these things, and then we’ll have a lot to do getting our house in Miyako set up, and getting Titus enrolled in Japanese school.

In the midst of all that we’ll be meeting with our partners to see how we can start getting involved in ministry, and try to help set a vision and direction for the church plant, which is still in the planning phases. We’ve really been enjoying the slower pace of things here the last month as we’ve been delayed in our return, but things will be pretty hectic when we finally return and it’ll be awhile before they calm down. Please be praying for the whole process of returning to Japan, moving into a new home in a new city and beginning a new ministry.