Packed and ready!

On July 1, after making final preparations at our house, we locked things up, hopped in the car with our friend Mr. Shimazu, and rode to the bus stop.

With only minutes to spare, we boarded the bus to the Fukuoka airport. We flew to Seoul, Korea, at 9:30 p.m., arriving at 10:30 p.m.

There was a bit of a snafu at the Seoul airport, trying to locate the shuttle bus to the hotel we had reserved. But finally we found the loading area, the hotel, and a talkative Korean who could speak English and tell us where to go. We had a short night in the hotel since we had to leave the next morning at 5:30, but the accommodations were very nice.

On the shuttle bus in Korea

We got on our flight with little trouble, and soon we were flying over the Pacific! Some 14 hours later, we landed in Atlanta, GA, where Norman’s parents were waiting. Then came the 4 hour car ride to their home in Alabama. The two youngest kids didn’t sleep the entire trip, until maybe in the car.

We are grateful to the Lord for giving us traveling mercies and a safe trip.

Playing ukelele in the Fukuoka airport

Killing time in the Korean airport

The Smith family — America, ready or not, here we come!

After sending out 5,000 fliers in the Kumanichi Newspaper, we opened our doors at Michishirube to have our first Sunday morning Bible study in Kikuchi City. One dear woman saw the flier and attended. We continue to meet there each Sunday morning, and each Sunday afternoon, we meet in Kumamoto City. Our lives have gotten busier with the new additions we’ve seen lately, but we praise God for good health and the strength to keep up with things for now!

There are two things we could really use. First, we desperately need your prayers. The devil is alive and well here in Japan. Recently, two missionaries have left the field. Problems are springing up in relationships here and there. I can see how the evil one could use this to his advantage to keep people from coming to the Savior. Pray that God will protect the seedlings of faith that have been gently planted and watered.

The second thing we really could use is more workers. Have you noticed we mention that a lot? It’s because it’s true! There is so much more we could do if there were three or four more of us! Japan could use even more than 3 or 4, but that would be a start to help us out.

Thank you for your prayers and interest in missions in Japan. Encourage those around you to consider working for God here.

Welcome to Michishirube, our new storefront building! Michishirube means guidepost or road sign. Our desire is to guide people toward Jesus Christ. This building will be used in a variety of ways. In March, we have two weeks of showing and selling Mr. Uemura’s pottery. The last week of the month will be an art event including four artists’ work. Three concerts are on the schedule for upcoming weeks and months, including a gospel concert.
We are making a flier to put in the newspaper to advertise these events as well as a Bible study. Please pray for God to help us as we meet many new people through this venture!

We are thrilled to be able to host Tom and Amy McVicker (and two of their four children), who are visiting Japan now and planning to be here as missionaries as soon as possible! Here for just over a week, they are meeting ABWE missionaries, visiting Japanese churches and churchplants, getting a feel for the culture and people, and doing whatever they can to be a help to the work here. We are spending time with English-speaking friends and acquaintances, through English groups we’re involved in, and Saturday will be a lunch for others who like English.

Today, Amy and I went to the local laundromat to attack the piles of laundry, and just as we were about to leave, a lady walked in and started talking. It could be we’ve met once before at this same location, but either way, she started the talk by asking if I am a teacher. I said yes, a teacher of the Bible. Her first thought was, “We’re all family.” She told me of a past experience with a religious teacher who met with her parents, mentioning Adam and Eve and a Creator God. Impressive! But she added that it was difficult to believe in Christianity. I gently disagreed by saying the message of Christmas was very easy to understand…that God sent His Son to earth because He loves us…and He loves her, too! She switched the topic after that, but she still seemed open to talk. In fact, she gave me her phone number and invited me over for lunch! There’s something about country folk…and God’s promptings. Please keep Mrs. F. in your prayers. I hope to take her up on her offer next week.

This interaction reminded me that we need to be ready to share our time and testimony with people at a moment’s notice. I certainly wasn’t expecting to meet someone new today or have a chance to speak of God’s amazing message to her. But God is at work all around us. I’m so glad to be a part of it!

The McVickers — Please pray for God to send them quickly to Japan!

Our family has been performing small concerts this month. God keeps giving us these opportunities. We are wondering how this might lead to something else in the future. Something bigger maybe.

On October 2, we had a family concert at the nursing home center. Maybe 25 folks were there, not counting staff. The former neighbor who set this gig up invited a few of his friends to attend, and afterward, one of them introduced himself and relayed that he is musical, too. It was an opening into his life in the future.

A bigger concert was held on Oct. 19, at the community center. This was at the same location and with the same staff people as when we did the canjo workshop about a year ago. They did all the advertising, and a good number of families with children attended, as well as four young Chinese women. We were able to meet new people, and afterward the one person in the audience who really seemed to enjoy our music asked if we did concerts by invitation. Yes, we do! He works as a sound man and has worked for major concert events. A good person to know!

We never know where this musical path will take us, or what people God will introduce us to, but we’re in for the adventure!

Now, we have the bigger concert yet, coming up on November 1st. Please keep us in your prayers! We always sing some gospel songs which we explain before singing. May God reach the lost in attendance!

It seems that God keeps dropping new opportunities into our laps! We had one concert lined up, but now we have a total of three in the works!

October 2 — Our family will do a concert at an area nursing home.
October 14 — Our family will do a concert at a community center.
November 1 — Our family, plus a couple friends, will be doing a charity concert at a cafe. The money will benefit a Christian-run farm in India, who provides food for the poor.

This week and into next, Norman is a part of a 12-artist exhibition at the Shimada Museum in downtown Kumamoto City. In addition to hand-made flutes and whistles, he is displaying paintings that include conversation pieces. Norman hopes to meet many new people, as well as be able to explain his paintings that have spiritual meaning behind them.

We are currently in the planning stages for building cabins for GRIT next summer. Depending on how the money holds out, we may build only one of the two we need. Last summer we had 6 participants in the summer program, but next summer we are opening it up to 12. We are also seeking helpers to drive the group around, help with meals and laundry, and possibly help in the teaching times. An older couple could do some of this. A seminary student or associate pastor could gain cross-cultural experience. It could be a great opportunity for anyone with a willing heart!

We are excited at the new prospect of being able to purchase land adjoining ours. Buying this land would make building cabins a whole lot easier and cheaper than trying to place them on our steep mountainside as we had been thinking. Nothing is settled yet, but we are waiting to see what God will do.

Homeschool is in full swing these days. We have multiplication facts flying around in our brains, learning how to take careful care of our teeth, relearning how to find the area of triangles, and searching for those elusive nouns and verbs.

We have chances to share things about God here and there. Sometimes it is in more detail than others. We really need more helpers here in Kumamoto to reach the 1,000’s of people. A family interested in serving in Japan will be visiting in November. Pray that God would send them quickly!

We are currently praying about beginning a new Bible study/work in our new area, Kikuchi. With about 35,000 people in the area, and no real church worth mentioning, it is a field ready for work! We are researching a place to meet and have found a place we could lease for 2 years in a great location right next to a McDonald’s. Pray with us to know God’s leading in this.

Saying good-bye to our neighbors

Before the four GRITers left, the neighbors next door waited for the van to be packed to say a final farewell. The night before, they invited all of us over to light sparklers and shoot off some little fireworks in our street. We have definitely made some deeper relationships these past six weeks with our neighbors!

At the airport….One last picture!

Now, we are figuring out the schedule for Rachel who will be staying on for a while. (She’s the one who came just two weeks ago.) Tonight, she and Chloe are at a restaurant meeting with a Japanese girl who is helping Chloe with her conversational Japanese, and they are helping the girl with her English. Tomorrow, Rachel has been invited to help all day at an international preschool! She sounds excited to do that! Thursday, some of us will go help a fellow missionary move from one house to another in a different city. Friday means attending my monthly English conversation circle, and then she will stay overnight with one of the members for a homestay.

Meanwhile, I am gearing up to help my children finish up their schoolwork, so we can be ready to begin a new school year in August. After a month or two off, this could be challenging! (For all of us!) And there’s always a lot of cleaning up to do following GRIT. How many soda bottles can 6 kids go through in just 6 weeks?! We have to rinse out each one, tear off the plastic labels, and recycle them on the appropriate day…which is Wednesday. Hope I don’t forget!! I’ve got 2 large trash bags full so far…with a few more to process. Today, we cleaned out the house the girls stayed in, did two loads of laundry (limited to two since we hang out the wash, and it’s still kind of overcast), worked on more bottles, cleaned bathrooms, made pumpkin bread for the lady whose house we used for the girls to stay in, etc. Whew! And we rested a little, too!

Our kids are glad EVERYone didn’t leave yet! Rachel is a lot of fun!

Keep us in your prayers! A lot of good things have come about from this year’s GRIT. We pray that we’ll see dividends for many years to come. Please pray for the GRITers who have gone home, back to their normal routines, old friends, and the many distractions of life in the U.S. Our desire is that they take what they learned, run with it, and share it with those around them. To God be the glory!

Well, there are only two more days left of GRIT this year. It has flown past pretty quickly. It helped that last week the entire group left Kumamoto area to help another ministry in Kagoshima prefecture. They sounded like it was lots of fun, and hiking, and English, and hiking, and good food, and a little hiking! 🙂

Today (Friday), we had our normal morning activities (exercise, breakfast, quiet time with God, group session, lunch preparation). Then Mr. Matsumura came for lunch. We had invited several others, but only he came. He enjoys speaking to native English speakers, and this was a great chance for him! Following lunch clean-up, I took the group to do a few errands, then dropped most of them off to shop for an hour while Dixie and I visited my Japanese tutor. Shortly after supper, the group loaded up to drive to a nearby town to converse in English with a friend’s English students. I stayed home with our two youngest and made banana bread for tomorrow’s breakfast. I have a feeling there will be some happy GRITers tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the last full day the young people will be with us. It will be spent mainly at the home of Nathan, a man Norman has been discipling this year. His family is inviting other friends to attend the barbeque, and we hope to be a blessing to them.

After that, I have a feeling there will be lots of packing and squeezing things into suitcases and last minute details. Sunday morning, Keiko and I will be driving four GRITers to the airport for their flight which leaves around 1 p.m., and dropping off Cassy to stay the next week at the home of a fellow missionary. That will leave us with one lone GRITer, Rachel! She will get to see “normal” life at the Smith household! (Have I ever seen that?)

We appreciate all your prayers during the summer. God has been at work, and He will continue to work in coming weeks and months through the doors opened during GRIT. Praise the Lord!

HOMESTAYS!
We don’t always do homestays during GRIT, but this year we had some Japanese friends who wanted to show the students what Japanese living is like. Most of the team went two by two, but one had to go alone…and to a family who spoke very little Japanese. Good thing she studied Japanese before she got here!

Josh and Amanda with their homestay hostess

Dixie and Cassy with their homestay family

Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of Amanda’s hostess, so I took this cute picture instead!

CONCERT
Directly after the homestays, the group put on a concert at the same tearoom our family sang at last month. The small restaurant was full of people, and we all stayed to mingle afterward to allow the Japanese people time to try out their English. The kids did a great job, and had been busily practicing for this event for four weeks. Whew! Glad that’s over!

Concert picture

Concert picture

Of course, we can’t have GRIT without daily time spent with God and daily exercise!

I was caught in the act of taking embarrassing pictures during exercise!

PERSONNEL CHANGE
This week, one GRITer returned home as scheduled, and today the group is at the airport to pick up the final GRITer of the summer.

RAINY SEASON
It is currently considered rainy season in Japan, even though this year has seen very little rain. However, one of the best parts of rainy season is that it ushers in beautiful hydrangeas! God is the Master Artist, isn’t He?

Hydrangeas!

The GRIT team continues to learn and grow, and we (the leaders) are not exempt from it either! I’m so grateful that God isn’t finished with us yet! We all have so much to learn and change to be like Jesus Christ. His promise is such a comfort, knowing that the work He began in us will be completed one day.

LOCATION CHANGE
This week, the group heads south two hours to help fellow missionaries and another ABWE work in areas such as English classes and the singles ministry. Pray that God will use them in Aira Town.

Again, thank you for your prayers. We need them so much.