Here are some blog posts that we hope will make you feel a part of things, and help you understand how to pray better for us and Japan. Please see our external blog in Blogger, if this page does not display correctly.
Putting a dollar to good use?
October 12, 2008 08:44
| Currency, Japan, Yen
| Permalink
The dollar has fallen and it can't get up. Such is life of any worldwide missionary these days. What does an deflated dollar mean? First the technical definition: it means that the purchasing power of a currency is falling so that a given unit will buy less of a product or service in the future than it does today. Now for the modern definition: it means that artists in Tokyo are feeling much better
Harvester's Scholarship Foundation
I have great news to share with you. I (Kevin) received notice that I am the recipient of a generous scholarship award. I have been wanting to finish the MDiv program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, but challenged by the financial end of paying for the tuition costs on a missionary salary. This is of great encouragement and enablement to us in finishing the last part of the program. We are
New School is Cool!
September 9, 2008 06:11
| Family, Justen, School
| Permalink
There's nothing quite as intimidating as the first day at a new school when you're 12 years old. What a week of adjusting it's been for Justen.Justen's old church school closed its doors this past summer after 6 years because of personnel and financial struggles. Now Justen is attending "Fountain of Life International School." It is a tiny church-based school (all church-based schools are tiny in Japan)
Why I Needed to be Back in Japan in August
I needed to be back in time to remember how God works. And why our being missionaries is worth the sacrifice. This past week was a reminder. Let me rewind the clock to set this up.Last Sunday as Mr. Ubukata entered church, I asked how his father's (Kenzo) surgery went. Cancer had forced the doctors to remove a portion of Kenzo's colon. Mr. U replied that things went very well, thanked me for my prayer,
Readjustment
We've grown to expect and understand the adjustments and readjustments needed when traveling between countries and cultures, but that only makes the process slightly easier. We are a week into our readjustment to life and ministry in Kawasaki, Japan. What a week it has been!1) The jetlag (14 hrs. difference from Chicago time) is one of the first and largest obstacles. For the first several days no
Laverman Atlantic Adventure
July 30, 2008 12:21
| Atlantic, Baptism, Beach
| Permalink
Sounds like a movie title or a waterpark ride, but it is just the three Lavermans in the Atlantic ocean near Ocean City, NJ. We've swam in the Pacific (hard not to if you live on an island in the middle of that ocean like ourselves), but the Atlantic was a first experience for all of us. Impressions: saltier than expected, big and powerful wave action, clean beach but foot-scalding hot sand, many too
How's it Growing?
I had heard about these. The famous square melons of Japan. But I laughed off the idea as nothing more than a funny rumor. Until I saw them myself, that is. Yes, Virginia, there is a square melon! And they are very expensive (around $100 each). Japanese farmers form these by placing them in glass cases while the melon is still young on the vine. Click the picture for a bigger view.But other than being
More Powerful than Bombs: the Power of God's Word
A friend recently related this story to me. I was only vaguely familiar with it. It illustrates the power of God's Word, and His work to change the hardest of hearts: Mitsuo Fuchida & Jacob DeShazer. The two are reading the Bible together at right. I've copied the article intact from a 1997 issue of "Christianity Today."Fuchida grew up loving his native Japan and hating the United States, which treated