Newsletter Vol 3 - A Christmas Miracle

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So Thankful & Overjoyed

Thanksgiving is past, but Givingthanks is what I can’t help doing each day! I have been busier with school work than ever before, yet strangely I feel I have honestly not “worked” a single day since we’ve arrived in Japan! They say when you do what you love, you don’t work a single day in your life. Do I love teaching and IT work? Sure. But above that, I really feel that God’s calling for me is to be here in Japan, here at this school, and pouring myself out like a drink offering for the Lord and to these students. And the icing on the cake is that I get to be a part of an amazing IT dept. I get to teach all middle school technology classes and assist with MS Band. I get to take a 1 hour lunch break and often spend it playing volleyball, tennis, or basketball with students during either MS recess, HS recess, or both. Or sometimes I choose to spend it with the Lord in prayer, intercession, and worship. I get to play badminton with staff every Monday night. I’m helping on the video production team. I’ve also signed up to be one of the four HS Tennis coaches and have just finished an unforgettable season with the boys & girls JV and Varsity teams! We didn’t win many games but I absolutely loved every moment of my first experience at coaching! Somebody pinch me… I can’t believe I could love what I’m doing this much! I was thinking that this could just be my “honeymoon” stage, but we are already over 1/3 of the way through the school year… And I still absolutely LOVE being here at my new school! I feel as if this position was tailor-made for me!

A New Fire

I’ve never had any desire for serving in youth ministries at all. I don’t know what the Lord has planned for me, but I can’t deny the sudden, burning flame that has ignited in my heart for the youth here. In the States, there is almost no shortage of options for youth groups, youth ministries, etc. Here in the Tokyo suburbs it’s a very different story. Many churches are elderly and exclusively worship with old hymnals. Many churches have seemingly nothing for anyone between the ages of 13-30. Why is this?! As I was in deep thought about this question, the Lord started to show me a glimpse of part of the cause:

The Japanese are really great at following instructions and preserving what previous generations have handed down to them. This is a very beautiful thing. This is why there are so many shops & businesses here that are 3rd, 4th, 5th Gen+ (well over 100 years old) in Japan. This is why Japanese festivals are beautiful cultural jewels that year after year faithfully follow the same music, dance, costumes, displays, and traditions and have endured for several hundreds of years. For better or for worse, the church has been handed down too from generation to generation in the same manner (faithfully, with great respect, and with such integrity that almost nothing changes).

So what happens when students leave this Christian school in Tokyo? Is there even anything for them (for their age group) at their home church or any other churches in the area? Will they ever choose to step foot into a church again when they gain independence and can decide for themselves what they want to do on Sunday mornings? What ministries are there here that the youth (13-30) can get excited to attend? These questions have literally kept me up at night many times.

A Christmas Miracle!!!

The way to salvation for everyone who is willing to receive it through Jesus Christ paying the price we could not pay… a miracle. When life comes to a place that was lifeless… it’s a miracle (ex: Lazarus - John 11, ex: the land of Israel - Ezekiel 36:33-36, ex: the Jewish people - Ezekiel 37). About a week before Christmas, Motoko’s sister (Junko) confessed that Jesus Christ was her Lord and Savior! Many faithful friends have labored in loving and praying over her for many, many years. I don’t have permission from the Lord yet to share all the details, but we were simply in the right place (Japan) at the right time for the Lord to work. And we are overjoyed and humbled that we could play a small role in figuratively “being one of those friends who cut a hole in the roof to lower her down to see Jesus” (Mark 2:1-5) so that He could perform the miracle in her heart. Praise the Lord for all the beautiful things that He is doing in our midst! It’s a Christmas miracle!

Thank you all for remembering us in prayer and for your encouraging emails! We have decided from this point forward that I will do most of the writing (what I like to do) and Motoko will do all of the responding to emails (what I'm bad at doing >_<). We love and miss you all and look forward to the day we can see you all again sometime! Until then, let us continue to grow more in love with Jesus each day and wait in anticipation (like a child for Christmas morning) for all the beautiful things that the Lord has prepared for us in 2022!

Love & Blessings from Japan,

Victor & Motoko