We are going to Japan!!! Land of the Rising Sun!!!



Japan gets the first sunrise of Asia

Today we confirmed the location for our mission outreach.  We and a dozen classmates will be going to Japan in early July until early/mid September!  We are humbled and energized to help this nation recover from its recent tragedy.  Fortunatley, the situation has greatly improved in Japan in recent weeks.  On April 14, the US Gov't lifted its travel warning on areas outside the immediate nuclear site in Japan.  There are many places we can help in the country outside the area with heavy radiation exposure. 

When we left home we said to all our friends, "We have the option of India, Japan, Tahiti or Papau New Guinea... but there is no way we are going to Japan with the kids!"  Little did we know that God had a different plan in store for us :) 

 

Our entire family enjoyed the process of "Listening for God's voice" to direct us where to go for outreach.  Our family had the choice of any of the four locations, but we unanimously picked Japan.  Jessica and I intially sensed that we should travel to India, but after days of the entire family fasting and praying, the call to Japan was very clear to us all.  The kids were emboldened by their teachers' encouragement to "pray, listen and share with your parents... you can hear from Jesus just as much as your parents can!"  It was just a terrific exercise to do as a family and gave us tools for making many important future decisons in our lives.

 
A team of YWAM'ers left this week to do a 10 day visit to Japan.  There goal is to see what is happening on the ground and figure out where we can have the biggest impact.  We will fly into the Narita Airport in Tokyo and likely spend a few weeks missioning at the YWAM base there.  Then we will likely travel South to the more rural areas.

Tokyo



Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for this exciting journey.  We still have 9 weeks left here... so much to learn... 







Tokyo, 8 million in city.  Metropolitan Area population is 35 million with largest metro economy in the world
above NYC! Notice Mount Fuji in the background.









Mount Fuji, just outside Tokyo



Japan's flag depicts its rising sun.