Fall Event

On October 25th, Taka spoke at our Christar missionary friends' (Bobby, Reisters, Luethys...) "Fall Event". This was an outreach put on by the Christar Church Association and was held at a park about a 2-hour train ride from Shimonoseki. About 45 people (missionaries, Japanese Christians & non-Christians, and even some Chinese students from one of the local universities) attended. They played lots of games, ate and Taka shared the Good News through the message. One of the Japanese Christian women who attended later wrote me and said it was a blessing and that she was excited to see that a non-Christian man there "looked like he tried to stay as long as he could to listen to the message until he absolutely had to leave for his son's soccer game." It was encouraging to hear and we pray for the seeds that were sown/watered that day.
PHOTOS: Taka sharing from the Word....The group shot (Thanks for the photos Bobby and Reisters!)

Friendship English Camp 2009

Back in August, Taka took 4 of our youth to the annual Friendship English Camp which is put on by Christar missionaries and some churches in another part of our prefecture. FEC is a great outreach opportunity where the kids have morning devotions, English lessons, games and Bible times. (You may remember posts we wrote about that in the past years). Taka gave the message on one of the nights & he also led a small group. PHOTOS (provided by our friends & Christar missionaries, Bobby Baden & The Reisters--THANKS!): The group shot...Taka preachin it:)....Taka gettin soaked in one of the many games....Taka showin off his b-ball skills:) Did he make it?....a photo of some kids & adults in one of the games

Sunday Mornings With Mika

Just thought I'd put in some shots of Mika at church. She's the only one in the nursery these days, although today she was joined by a girl who is 2 or 3, who comes to church sometimes with her two older brothers who are elementary school age. The 3 of them live in the neighborhood and come on their own from time to time. PHOTOS: Mika in her stroller and ready to head off to church...Mika in the nursery with her favorite toys...Mika with her Aunty Kiyomi (Taka's bro's wife) checking out some books....Mika coming in for fellowship time (I call the 2nd to last photo "Here comes trouble.")

Happy Birthday Mika (October 15th)

Our little Mika turned one on October 15th! Time flies! We are so thankful for her. Thank you for your prayers for her. She is a very healthy and happy baby and we love that she loves people and brings smiles to many people's days. She also made it to her first birthday (and today) without even a cold! Now that's a miracle! Aki's parents came out to celebrate Mika's bday with us, and the partying continued on into the 16th (Aki's birthday). Good times:) PHOTOS: Mika w/mommy & daddy in her party hat, which she didn't like so much.....Mika with a big smile after eating cake for the first time....Mika w/Grandpa & Grandma...Mika opening presents...Mika sporting her new jacket:)

Our New Home

We are thankful for this spacious home that God provided for us, just when we needed it. It went into foreclosure (so we got a great deal) a couple of months before the time when Taka was to start working from our church's main location instead of the downtown Christian Center location. Our apt was close to the Center, but a 20 min. drive from the main church. This house is a 10-minute walk from the church, is 3 times bigger than our old apt. and the monthly payments are less than our apt's rent! We also moved just when Mika started to roll over, so that was great timing as well as there wasn't much space to roll over in our old place. PHOTOS: Our old apt (1st floor, last balcony on the right)...The house....Taka, ever the servant:), giving his mom a boost so she can detach our light fixture @ our old apt....the moving truck in front of our old apt....laundry hanging in our new back "yard." So exciting to have more space (& space where sunshine hits for more than 2 hours) to hang things!......Happy Mika visiting daddy at work. Another perk of the house is that Mika & I can go for walks to the church and visit daddy from time to time.

Mika's Baby Dedication

On Mother's Day, we had Mika's baby dedication at church. Mika's name comes from my wanting to choose a name using my two grandmothers' name (Miki & Edra). After thinking through various options of combinations that would work in Japanese, I decided (Taka would've gotten to pick the name if our baby had been a boy) on "Mika", which is a common Japanese name. The kanji combination that we used for her name is pretty unique, though. The kanji for "Mi" (pronounced like 'mi' in do-re-MI-fa...) means beautiful; the kanji for "ka" means song, thus her name means, "beautiful song," and we pray that her life is a beautiful song of praise to God. Fun fact: The way that Mika's name is pronounced is also the pronunciation for the Bible book of Micah in Japanese, so many people at church asked if we named her after him.