Are you having a far-fetched, fun, frivolous, fantastic fall? Frankly, we hope so. Let’s focus on some fall facts from the field of Japan!

Fall Retreat

First, we enjoyed meeting with our church family from various groups with whom we fellowship. We met at a local resort/meeting area, discussing how as a church we are like a three-strand cord that is not easily broken. With Japanese churches being so small (as well as few and far between), we find that meeting together can be a huge encouragement to fellow Christians. The church is so much bigger than simply our small group of believers!

Falks’ Visit

Dakota and Ashley Falk from Michigan visited Japan on a survey trip, considering missions here. They were able to attend the Fall Retreat, as well as spend time with each of the three ABWE church-plant areas. Thank you for your continued prayer support for the Lord of the Harvest to raise up new workers for His harvest field. We are still praying for more help! If the Lord leads, we will gladly welcome the Falks to our team!

Folk Music with a Family Flair

Our family – all five of us! – have participated in three different concerts in the past month or so. Mostly, we do this to generate funds for our coffee shops (and to pay our employees!). But we also sing and play to cross paths with new people and old friends.

Finally, I am finished. Farewell! (Aren’t I funny?)

Norman and I visited the USA (Chicago and Baltimore) for two weeks in July. Our main purpose for going was to attend the Missionary Enrichment Conference with ABWE. (We are required to attend every five years, and it had been six years! And flying in July of 2020 from Tokyo for our normal furlough time would be super-expensive with the Olympics.)

In Chicago, we attempted to recover from jetlag and visit my family. I got to see both my sisters, my brother, their families, and my mom. We were also able to meet up with Blake, whom Norman had mentored some years earlier in Japan. Blake is now leading a multi-cultural Bible study in downtown Chicago. What a blessing to see one of our “children” walking in God’s paths!

My mom and me

In Baltimore, we were happy to be able to meet up with Tom & Amy McVicker (and their two girls) who will be coming to Japan to work with us as soon as January 2020, God willing. Please pray that the McVickers are able to gather the remaining portion of their monthly support to be able to come.

Tom, Veronica, Amy, and Abigail

Norman and I had a great time together during this trip. It was a chance to really reconnect and remember what it was like back before we had kids and so many responsibilities!

A special thanks to Keiko for gifting us with money for good coffee in America!

Our son Cameron has this new venture of taking shelter dogs home and training them to walk on a leash, to respond to a human’s commands, and, in some cases, to allow them to be petted by a human. A month ago, Cameron took in two dogs for the first time. Today, he and his dad planned to return them to the shelter, in hopes the dogs will be more adoptable now.

But. . . .

About two hours before they were to return them, Cameron and Melodie took the two dogs out for a walk together. Somehow, Kay (the dog pictured above) got loose and ran for the hills. Her leash was still attached, but, being out in the country as we are, she took off into the tall weeds and disappeared into the woods. Melodie returned to the house in tears, and I joined in the effort to try to find the dog.

As I walked behind them, I started talking to God, realizing that maybe this happened to build the faith of my kids. I said to God, “Lord, just as You helped the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, You are the God of the Impossible. Though this situation seems impossible to me, this is the kind of time that You like to use to bring Yourself glory. Please help us locate this dog. Nothing is impossible for you.”

We brought the other dog, hoping he could help sniff out his friend, but the underbrush was so thick, his leash was getting tangled up too much. Cameron spied a bit of a trail through the weeds, and he followed it for a way without coming across Kay. Not knowing what to do, Cameron remembered how he was able to see better through corn fields when he squatted down. He tried it, but he saw nothing. But hunching there for a few minutes, he was able to hear some thrashing a few yards away. Swaying bushes alerted him to the right area, but Kay was down a steep valley from him. Together, we found a way down to her, and then I heard these wonderful words: “I’ve got her!” Her leash had gotten tangled in the underbrush. This all happened within a forty-minute time frame.

I took the opportunity to share with Cameron and Melodie (and everyone else I have told this story to today!) how God can do the impossible. How He hears our prayers and answers.

There are so many lessons in this! When we face trouble, we should definitely pray and trust God for His help. But it doesn’t mean we should sit home and wait for Him to work! We can do what we can, and leave the rest to Him. Praise the Lord! We are very grateful for God’s help today!

Much has been happening since January! Our coffee shop in Minami Aso is up and running since the end of February. Though only open three days a week, the shop is allowing us to make new friends and acquaintances. It has also done something we never dreamed of, namely, providing Chloe with part-time work! Not as a coffee maker, but in  teaching a guitar class and a gospel “choir” type class. Cameron is also teaching ukulele! This is great timing since Chloe is graduating today from homeschool and needs to save up funds for college.

Speaking of graduation, Keiko Sesaki, who has worked with us faithfully over the last decade, recently graduated from the Kumamoto Bible School. She is the first graduate of this school! Good job, Keiko! We look forward to seeing how God continues to use her.

In recent months, both Jonathan Jellif and Nate & Azusa Stratton have applied to ABWE to become missionaries. There have been some visa struggles with Azusa going to the US. Please pray for wisdom and patience for the Strattons. We’ve been praying together with you about the need for more workers here…and God is answering our prayers! Thank you!

Building purchased in Minami Aso

Here is a picture of the building in Minami Aso! In our recent prayer letter, I had written prematurely that the septic tank had been put in. I was mistaken. Now, it the final thing we’re waiting on in order to open this building as a coffee shop. Yet, despite a lack of water usage at the present time, we have been meeting for Bible studies since the first Sunday of the year.

Here’s a view of the inside, though more changes have occurred since these were taken.

Looking out the front doors

Looking toward the back of the building. There’s a stage, which now holds a baby grand piano!

We look forward to completing the building renovation and being approved to open as a coffee shop. Thanks for your prayers!

Merry Christmas from the Smiths!

We had a good Christmas…though it was rather unusual this year! (I guess it was last year, too!) Our Kumamoto church group had a Christmas outreach on December 23. There were several first time guests, several unsaved, and others we’ve been reaching out to for a while. Norman told me that many attendees paid close attention to the message and seemed to understand what was said. Keiko and I led a separate session geared toward the twelve children in attendance. Keiko did a terrific job presenting not only Jesus’ birth, but also the fact that He grew up, died on the cross, and rose again in order to make a relationship possible with God.  All in all, our space was filled with 30 plus people! Praise God!

The part that made Christmas unusual was that we had two Americans stay overnight during Christmas Eve and Christmas! They are both from Montana, and at least one is considering ministry in Japan. We introduced them to what we’re doing here, and we hope they return soon! (Please pray for more workers here!)

Since our last post, we have bought the building in Minami Aso and are almost finished remodeling it for use as a coffee shop and meeting place for the new church group we plan to start there. We are looking forward to having our first official meeting on January 6th!

Thank you all for praying for the work here, and for us as a family. We look forward to 2019 and to growing ever closer to being like Jesus Christ!

Two of our children had birthdays this month. Melodie turned 12 and Cameron turned 14. They are growing up! Keiko had a birthday, too. In fact, about half our church group have birthdays in July!

These two share a birthday!

Summer has certainly hit southern Kyushu. We’ve had temperatures in the high 90’s and even the 100’s. But God has been giving us grace to bear the heat and keeping shining for Him.

The men’s discipleship class continues to meet, as well as the women’s groups. Despite random typhoons blowing by, we were still able to meet.

We are still waiting on the Minami Aso building, but the contract has been approved by both parties and the bank has approved the financial end of things for the current owner. We hope to take possession of it perhaps even next week!

Melodie and Cameron went to the overnight Kids’ Camp this summer, Melodie as a camper, and Cameron has a helper. Cameron came home so tired, he went to bed at 8 p.m.! (The boy campers aren’t known for sleeping much at night!)

August is soon upon us, bringing the return of homeschool, our annual ABWE Japan retreat, a gathering of like-minded churches, and many other things. We appreciate your prayers on the work here.

As an interesting side note, we found a cicada that hadn’t molted yet. We attached it to our screen and watched the metamorphosis occur! This big cicada once was crammed into this tiny body!