Life keeps changing. In some ways, our lives haven’t changed so much. We can still homeschool, cut our own hair, work in the yard, and Chloe can continue her online classes..

In other ways, life has changed a bit. We no longer meet on Sundays; instead, we’ve crafted a system of each Christian in our group calling 1-2 people each week to share thoughts on the designated Bible passage and our prayer requests. In some ways, we are more connected than usual!

One other big change involves our coffee shop in Kikuchi (Michishirube). It’s looking very likely that we will shut it down permanently. Our main purpose for creating the coffee shop was to test the idea of being able to pay for a meeting place for church. That was a success! Over the past year, Norman and I have discussed how long to keep it in business. Though we haven’t been concerned about making a profit, it would be nice to stay out of the red. At this point, money comes from our own pocket every month. We were hoping to hang on to the business long enough for the McVicker family to have the option to decide if it was a ministry they would be interested in after their language school. But, perhaps God is giving us the direction we need.

Closing the coffee shop will affect Keiko and Chloe, who have been working there part-time. (Norman and I work there, too, but we don’t pay ourselves.) We can transfer our inventory over to our coffee shop in Minami Aso. Norman’s stress will decrease without this added responsibility, and that’s worth a lot right now with his recent appointment to Field Team Leader of ABWE Japan.

Thanks for your prayers during this time. God is at work in Japan and in our lives. We know He is working in your section of the world as well. We pray that we can all be lights in our communities and share the love of Jesus and the peace that passes understanding.

We have a gigantic praise! Tom, Amy, Veronica, and Abigail McVicker made it safely to Kikuchi, Japan, and are currently in their new home! God smoothed the way for them in truly amazing ways. Thank you all for praying!

As they left the States, certain state borders were closing along the way. Flying from Kentucky to Chicago, then on to Toronto, Canada, we prayed they would be able to leave Canada, whose borders had been shut days earlier. I received an update from the Tokyo Embassy, saying that as of March 26, anyone coming from America would need to be quarantined at a designated place and wouldn’t be able to leave Tokyo. Norman worked hard to find a place they could stay (if they had the option), but the place he found fell through at the last minute. We had to wait until the McVickers landed in Tokyo around 5 p.m. on the 26th to learn what they would be told.

Tom called us from Tokyo, saying they would need to stay 2 weeks at a hotel in the area. He was still explaining this to Norman when Tom was interrupted by an airport employee, stating that things had changed, and they would be able to take their last flight to Kumamoto! Ending the call immediately, they were rushed through immigration and onto their plane, arriving here at 8:45 p.m. as planned.

Praise the Lord! Norman took them to their home, and they have been staying indoors now for one week. Only one more left before they can start shopping for themselves, walking around their new neighborhood, and getting acquainted with life in Japan!

Thank you for your prayers! Praise God for His grace!