Dear Friends,
Many greetings from the land of the rising sun. I have some big news this month for you all and it is news that is going to be changing my schedule a little bit.

But first, I want to thank you all for your prayers for the outreaches that we are planning. The Horizon Cafe went very well. Out of the ten to twelve children that come to shine kids, six were able to make it to the event. This marks the largest amount of Shine Kids and parents to come to a church event that I can remember. And we are praying that this would be just the beginning. The children were able to give a performance of the song "This little light of mine" which they have been practicing. Included is a video of the performance. They were also able to stay after, talk with some people, eat lunch with us, and play some of the carnival games that we had set up for the kids. They all seemed like they had a good time and seemed comfortable in the church setting which is a step in the right direction. Please keep praying for our guidance in church events in the future. We are planning a Christmas event for the shine kids on the 18th of December that I would ask you to pray for. Also, please pray for the next semester of Shine Kids that will be starting from the end of January.

Also I want to ask you all to pray for the Gospel Cafe. Lately on Wednesday nights, before the bible study, we have been having what we call the English cafe. It is a hour and a half where the whole cafe and staff switches over to English and Japanese people can come in and practice their English for free. I usually just sit at the tables and talk with people. And it has been a amazing time. Their are always a lot of people coming in and their has been a lot of good conversations and chances to share the gospel and my testimony. Pray especially for the few regulars that keep coming back every week. Some have been touched by the Gospel and even moved to tears, but they still have not accepted Jesus into their heart. Pray that God would be growing the seeds that have been planted in their heart and that they would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

I ask that you would keep the future of Horizon in prayer as well. The dynamics of the church have been changing lately and I think it is God's work. If something is alive, it always changes and grows and so it is good to expect constant change and growth in the church. For some time their has been a gap between the Japanese and English services. The two groups are under the same roof, but aside from me and a few others, their has been no real crossover between them. But their is movement among the church to start changing that. We want to start integrating not only events, but other times together. Praying about bilingual services and other ways we can bring the two groups together. Separated, their is not a lot of progress to be made, but when brought together, I think that God will use the time to stir up fires in peoples hearts and give people new passion for ministry. When the logs of the fire are gathered together, the fire burns brightest and things get red hot. Please pray for guidance and wisdom during this time and pray that God would work in hearts towards unity in His church

But now to the big news for this month... The Lord has seen fit to bless Tomoko and I with a baby ^_^!!! My wife Tomoko is now eight weeks pregnant. The due date has been set to be around July 6th of next year, one day before our one year anniversary. We ask you all to please pray for the protection and blessing of our child and for the preparation of our hearts for being parents. Naturally my wife's pregnancy changes our schedule a little bit. The doctors here have said that it would be safer for the baby if we wait until she is three months along before we try to travel. Because of this, we are going to have to push back our visit to America until January. We we let you all know when we set the date.

Thank you all for your prayers and support and encouragement. I pray all is well with you and that God would be lighting fires in the church their as well. I pray that their would be a lot of blessed fellowship their, that you would encourage one another and lift each other up to God. I pray that you would be filled with God's love while you bear each other's burdens and that people would take notice of your care and concern and love for one another.

Peace to you my brothers,
Alex

P.S. Here are the shine kids performing!!! Enjoy!

Seeing and New Directions

Dear Friends,
I am glad to be writing you all again coming out of the storm that my wife and I had found ourselves in when I wrote you last.

I thank you so very much for your prayers for my wife's quick recovery. Though she still has minor pains in her ribs from time to time, the pain in her muscles, her neck, and her back have all left her. She has been able to return to her work and  normal daily life. She sends her greetings you all and looks forward to seeing you all in December when we come.

As she has regained her health, I have been able to return to my studies and also to serving at Horizon. With graduation only a little more than a month away, I have given much time and prayer to the next step of my ministry here.  And I feel God has been showing me what needs there are. It has been interesting to me that recently I have been learning a lot about seeing. I have been learning that seeing is a choice. In our ministry, we choose to see the people that we are ministering to. To open our eyes and really look at them.  To see their fears, their weaknesses, their troubles, and to slowly gain better understanding of who they are, and through this, we can better understand how we can serve and minister to them. However, often we choose not to see. Either our focus is on ourselves, or we do not wish to see their problems or pain, and so we do not. And we cannot serve if we cannot see.

God has opened my eyes to the people I have been ministering to in the Shine Kids,  the Children's Ministry of Horizon, and the Japanese and English Fellowships. He has been starting to show me things that I have been blinded to in the past, needs that He can use me to fill. I want to start getting more involved in the children's ministry here at Horizon. I want to start helping in the leadership here and have been in prayer along with the staff here as to how I can best help in these areas. There are so many different areas of children's ministry that I am currently involved in over here. But very little crossover has been done. I am praying as to how we can gather everything together and best bless and serve the kids that God has given us at Horizon and in the English ministries. And one thing that God has been speaking to me more and more about is events.

Shine kids has been a good program and God has been blessing it. Relationships have been built and trust has been earned. But their must be a next step. Something beyond just shine kids. And not only for them, but also for the children of the children's ministry. Times that they can spend together. Times that everyone from the shine kids and the Children's ministry can gather together. Eat together and talk. Share time. Have the children play together. Let Jesus just have the time and use it to strengthen his people in unity and also to reveal himself through them. I want to start planning events for the kids and families. There will be the Horizon Cafe that the church will be putting on that I will be inviting the shine kids to that will be on the 18th. And I ask that you pray for the Shine kids that come to that event. But I want to go beyond a yearly event, to have more times like this in the future. And I am glad that I don't have to do it alone.

We are all family. I know that I am not serving alone but am serving with you all in what God is doing all over the world. And  I was wondering if you could help me and think and pray along with me during this time. And I was also hoping that if anyone had old supplies left over from events such as games, crafts, or even old schedules of events that have been done in the past, ideas, anything, that you could possibly send them my way. When it comes to the materials, I am not asking for anything new, but just things people aren't using anymore.  Before I left for Japan I remember so well the time I spent in the Children's ministry department at Calvary Chapel Sonora. I remember all of the VBSs that we did during the summers as well as the children's outreaches and the blessings that came from them. I want the same for the kids here.

Thank you so much for your continual prayers and support. I pray that God would continue to anoint your eyes to see what he sees and anoint your hands in the work he gives you.

I miss you and love you all,

Your brother,
Alex

Japan Newsletter - September 21, 2012

Dear Friends,
It is good to be writing you all again. Much has happened since last I wrote to you. Many blessings have come our way here, and many surprises that took us quite aback. But we continue to cling to the hope that all things work together for good to those who love God.

Our biggest shock came this week when my wife, Tomoko got into a accident. On Tuesday, she had been riding her bike to work when she came to the signal light just outside our house. The light was green to cross and so she did not hesitate at the light. At that moment a taxi turned a blind corner fast into the four way stop and hit Tomoko directly as she was crossing the street. After being hit she was thrown onto the hood of car and then rolled off onto the street. She was dazed and though she was clear headed enough to call me, afterward she sat there in the road shocked. But of this I am sure, God never left my Tomoko. As she was still sitting in the road, a firefighter on his way home from his shift had been there right as the accident happened. He brought her over to the sidewalk and out of oncoming traffic. He was able to administer first aid to her while she was waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Also, one of her coworkers was there as eye witness and was able to call an ambulance immediately. When I arrived on the seen, both people were taking care of her and the paramedics were only minutes away. As we enter the ambulance, Tomoko's body felt the first wave of pain from the accident. As I sat with her on the way to the hospital, I prayed to God that he would take away the pain. Immediately the pain subsided and did not return until we arrived at the hospital. Upon arrival she was taken to get x-rayed to assess the damage that had been done to her body. Upon hearing the results of the x ray, I gained a better understanding of how miraculously God had protected her through the crash. Though her body had recieved a tremendous impact from the crash, giving her wiplash and much pain in her body, not a single one of her bones had been broken, and there had been no impact to her head. It seemed impossible to me that this could be the case, and in truth it was. But our God is a God that deals in impossibilities. And by his hand, he saved her from death and from broken bones. God delivered my Tomoko back to me and I will praise his name and rejoice in his mercy. Tomoko is not out of the woods yet. It will be a while before she recovers completely and the pain from the accident is still a major issue that we would ask you to pray for. But our God is good, and if he saved her in the crash, he will be faithful to see her through the recovery. This crash has been eye opening to me. Every day with my wife has been a gift from God and I will remember to praise him for the gift He has given me in her.

My last semester of bible college has finally started. Fortunately, because of all the classes I have taken up to this point, my class schedule only consists of three classes that are required of me to graduate. As this is the case, my schedule has been free enough that I have been able to continue on in the ministries. that I was involved with over the summer.

I thank you so much for your prayer about the restarting of the shine kids program. When the program started in June, it started to what was originally to me a bit of a disappointment. Last time I wrote you, I had been having many chance meetings with former members of the Shine Kids Club and was confident that the club could start up where it had left off when it had closed down a year ago. But of all the families that I talked to, not a single one came to the first day. Instead, only one little girl and her mother came whom I had never met before. I thought that this had just been a fluke and expected everyone to come the next week, but they did not. Only the little girl and her mother. I was shocked and for a while so disappointed. I went before God asking why this was the case. Why hadn't they come? But he reminded me of this through my wife, that we are to be faithful to what God gives us. We must ask the question of what has God given to me to do, and once we have answered that question, we must be faithful to that. We get so distracted by our own plans, the grand ideas we have of how we are to minister to God that when God gives us what we are to do, we reject it, looking for something else. God spoke to me that he had given me that one little girl. And I needed to be faithful in ministering to that one little girl and her mother by blessing them and serving them in teaching her English. So for three weeks in a row, the little girl came and I put all I had into teaching her. Then, God blessed the ministry and added to it by bringing some of her friends the next week, and other kids the next. Now I am teaching 8 kids this fall semester and feel convicted by God that I am to be faithful in serving the 8 like he led me to serve the one.  Please pray for this ministry as we bless the kids and families of Machida.

There are many other ministries that are being blessed here. Recently I was asked to help lead the Sunday night bible study at the college and have been teaching every other Sunday there. Also there is Kids Brown English outreach in Setagaya which needs prayer for new students. Also I have been put in charge of the translation ministry and am starting a prayer group at the church which I would ask you to pray for.

Thank you all so much for you prayers and encouragement. Tomoko sends her warmest greetings to you all and is excited to be meeting you all this winter. We are still praying about the dates of our visit and will tell you all when they are fixed. We are aiming for the 22nd of December, though.

May the Lord continue to leave you in awe of who He is and how faithful He is to you.

Because he lives,
Alex and Tomoko

Japan Newsletter June 26, 2012

Hello friends, Good to be writing you all again. This month has been going by very quickly as the clock is counting down to my wedding day on July 7th ^_^. There is still much to do and some potholes in the road along the way, but over all, many blessings have been coming of all of it. All the stress and difficulty is being used by God to bring Tomoko and I together and I praise God for it. Please keep us in your prayers as we are less than two weeks away from being husband and wife ^_^! Another huge blessing this month was the chance to teach the Word both in Machida and in Fuchu. Zach Ruiz, the director of the college, returned home to America with his family for some much deserved R and R. During the time he was gone he gave me the opportunity to teach at the campus during the evening services that were held there. We were going through the end of 1 Timothy, talking about contentment and taking hold of eternal life in our life of ministry. Honestly, God spoke to me a lot through the sections that he asked me to give. I am just starting to learn what it means to have godly contentment in my life. I am learning how much my focus is key to it as well. I have always had the tendancy to have my eyes set on the here and now, on what is going on in my life, trials I might be having, mistakes, and disappointments. And honestly, thinking about these things all the time, I didn't have much contentment. I had a lot of unrestfulness in my heart. But I think God has been training my eyes recently. Helping me to focus on the things that are eternal. Teaching me to train my eyes on him and the eternal life that I have in him. If my hope lies in the temporary things, whether it be finances, or in my relationship with my future wife, or even in the "success" of my ministry; when any of these things fail, my hope is gone. But if my hope lies in the eternal God, and the eternal life that he has given me, my hope will be eternal as well. And no matter what the problems of difficulties that stand in my way now, I can still have hope, because my God eternal, and my reward is not here. The time teaching in 1 Timothy, the night services over at Fuchu, were great times and I praise God for his work there. Please pray that God would continue to develope my ability to preach in Japanese and in english, that I might continually correctly handle the Word of truth. Thank you all for praying for the preparations for Shine Kids. Things have been coming along in getting ready for the start of Shine Kids on July 10. God has been blessing me with many chance meetings. I have been running into a lot of people I know, parents from the shine kids class, I have been able to talk with them about the upcoming semester and they all have been showing great interest and were excited to hear that I was starting up the program again. Please keep lifting up the kids that will be attending the Shine Kids program. Pray that God would draw families to the ministry and that He would use the time for His Glory. God has been also blessing in the areas of helpers. A women from the military base who recently arrived in Japan is interested in helping out at the club as well as some others who have helped before. We are even praying about getting some of the bible college students involved, but this is all not sure yet. Please pray that God would lead us in these areas and that he would lead me as I lead this ministry. But I think the highlight of this month was the missions team from San Diego and the subsequent trip to the tohoku region. We were blessed to have a team from Pastor Rich's sending church, Calvary Chapel San Diego. They consisted of two families, fathers, mothers, and children, whom God had lead to come. I was able to help pastor Rich in guiding them in the first half of their visit in the Tohoku Region. It is very interesting that every time I go up to the Tohoku region, I am brought to a new area and a new way of ministry. Last time, I was up in the fukushima area, ministering to refugees of the nuclear disasters, and this time I was taken up to the Iwate prefecture, above fukushima, to minister in the fishing villages there. And the time there was awesome. While the women and children served in the Heart care division of CRASH that I mentioned in my last letter, the men, with me as their translator, served over at Samaritan's Purse. An unexpected blessing was to work with the Japanese Christians that were serving there. In our group, we had Japanese Christians from many areas of Japan. Their were some from okinawa, some from Osaka, some from Tokyo, all from different churches and denominations. But to hear them talk, I started to realize that similar things are happening in the churches in Japan. Many talked about the need for Japanese churches to step out from the church body and outreach and the movements that were happening in their churches to do so. Others spoke about members of their churches the were wanting to become missionaries to other countries, which has become a growing trend that I have seen even in my own church of Horizon. And all of them were speaking with such passion, just on fire for sharing the gospel. It was such a encouragmentment to me to see how God is building up his body here all over this country. Being able to hear words coming from the mouth of Japanese Christians that I have never heard before and to see passions for ministry grow. I recieved so much hope from that and look forward to what will happen in the future in Japan before the end comes. Continue to pray for revival. I feel it coming. Another huge blessing of the trip was to be able to work with the owners of the house were rebuilding on the trip. It was goog to eat with them, talk with them, and laugh with them a lot. I heard from a christian survivor recently that the ministry of Tohoku is changing, and that now is the time for encouragment and smiles in ministering to the people here. And I think that I agree. For some comfort is stil needed and many are still going through flashbacks, and to those we must be gentle and tender. But also, there are some that just want to get life started again and would be blessed by laughter and a hearty friendship. I think this was what happened on this last trip. We worked hard, shoulder to shoulder. We talked a lot, talking about where we had come from and our lives, were able to share some testimony, able to laugh, and over all, I know that God was using the time. You really never know what kind of ministry you are going to do when you go to the Tohoku region. Whether it is to be a listener, or a builder, or a encourager, or a comforter, or a clown, or a preacher, or a counselor. But you always know that God will bless it and give you what you need to do what He has for you. Please keep praying for the ministry to Tohoku and the christian brothers and sisters still working there. Thank you for reading and I look forward to writing you all next month, hopfully with some wedding pictures ^_^!! Because He lives, Alex

Japan Newsletter, May 16, 2012

Dear Friends, May God's blessings be yours wherever this letter may find you. Thank you for your patience in waiting for me to write. As I am writing you now, I have just finished my third semester in bible college at CCBC Tokyo. It was a great semester. It was a very full and difficult semester for me, but God used it in mighty ways. This semester, one of the opportunities that I was given was to serve at We go Eigo Fuchu. This is a christian children's day care center that is currently operating out of Calvary Chapel Fuchu. For me, it was a real blessing to work there. It is a all English school, teaching English to children through a immersion process. All the children there are no allowed to speak Japanese and through necessity learn to speak English. Also, as it is a christian based school, we are allowed to teach about Jesus in the school and pray with the children as well. For me, it was always encouraging to see the people that work there just loving on the kids, telling them about Jesus, praying with them and letting the kids pray as well. Also, every Friday night, they have a special program at night when they went through the basic explanations of Christianity, and for this night, some of the parents of the kids would come and learn English through the bilingual translation as Pastor Rich shared about subjects like sin, salvation, Jesus, the holy spirit, and other christian fundamentals. Often these discussions would bring many questions to the minds of the people there and there where many opportunities to explain and share. They were really good times for me and I was grateful to be able to be a part of the school during my time at CCBC Tokyo. Please lift up We go Eigo Fuchu in your prayers, that their ministry would continue to be blessed and lead by His hand. Another huge opportunity for my personal growth came in the form of the IBS class held at the bible college this semester. IBS stands for Inductive Bible Study and is a class that teaches the fundamentals of leading a bible study, and giving a devotion or message. There were about 12 students in the class and each of them, including me, was given opportunity to share three messages during the course of the semester. However, because we are a bilingual school, every message had to have either a English or Japanese translation based on which language it was given. However, at the campus in Tokyo, because the resident translator was often at work during the time of the class, the bulk of the translation fell on two of the students who had the ability to do so. I was one of the two. Honestly, it was a very difficult time for me. At times I would be translating 3 to four messages a week. Sometimes even three on the same day. This lead to a lot of nights of getting 2 to 3 hours of sleep, as well as a drop in many of my grades. In the end I even had to drop one of my classes in order to be able to finish the semester. For me, this was extremely difficult. Good grades have always been very important to me, and not being able to achieve them was a huge blow to my pride. There was a lot of times that I felt like I had failed as a student. But God convicted me about it. He reminded me that the reason I was at the bible college was not to get good grades. Even though He wanted me to study and work hard and give it my all, my goal was to serve Him and to develop as a more effective tool for Him to use in this country. Thinking in this way, everything just clicked and I understood what God had been doing in giving me the opportunity to translate these messages. He had been using them to expand my abilities in Japanese and to develop me in my ability to preach in Japanese. By God's grace, the translation and preparation got easier and easier for me, and in the end I was able to give my own teaching in Japanese for the final exam message. God used the difficulty, the late nights, and all the complications that came from translation as a way to grow me and refine me for my service here and for that I am so grateful to him. "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing the tribulations worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost that is given to us." Romans 5:3-5 Another blessed opportunity was the ability to travel up to the Tohoku region (the region of the earthquake, tsunami, and radioactive trouble) for relief work. The first trip I went on was with some of the pastors and leaders from our local area. The focus on that trip was to spread the word about the Franklin Graham Revival Concert that would be held in the Tohoku region the week after we went. For those of you who don't know Franklin Graham, he is Billy Graham's son. Through his organization, he goes to many different countries, working with local churches to put on Evangelistic concerts. If you want to read more about it, his website is http://www.grahamfestival.org/. The process they go through to put on one of these festivals is very amazing and worth reading about if you have the time. We went from temporary housing locations to temporary housing locations, doing dinner outreaches and small concerts, promoting the event. It was good time talking with the people from the temporary housing. Many of the people from the temporary housing were fishermen from the local area who were trying to get back on there feet. Many signed up for the event and from what I hear, in the end thousands came to the event and many came up for the alter call and were saved. To God be the glory ^_^. During the second trip to Tohoku, we were blessed to have a team from Calvary Chapel San Diego, Pastor Rich Chang's home church, come with us and serve at Crash Japan. I believe I mentioned Crash Japan to you all before as it is a Christian Relief Organization Based out of Japan. Up to this point I had never worked with them before. But it was a really amazing time. Apparently, Crash is divided up into multiple divisions, offering different services to cater to the different needs of the survivors. I was able to take part in the 心のケア division of the organization. 心のケア　is roughly translated "heart care". It is the division of Crash the ministers to survivors emotionally. Many of the survivors here suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. However, there are not many services offered by the Japanese Government for counseling as all money is being poured into physical relief. The 心のケア division specializes in ministering to these people and getting them the help they need as well as comforting the survivors. The area that we worked in was in Fukushima (a name that might be familiar to you all through the news). It is the sight of the unstable nuclear reactor. Many of the temporary housing locations that we went to on this trip were filled with people, especially the elderly, that were forced from there homes by the threat of radiation. Many that we talked to had been told that they could not return to there homes for thirty years, which for many of the elderly was longer than they have left to live. Many are just sitting in their temporary housing, rarely going out, unsure of the next step. It was to these people that we ministered. We were trained in giving hand massages as a way of connecting with the people. We would go door to door, offering things they needed, hand massages, and conversation. Many closed the door in our faces. Unfortunately, there have been many false religions going through the temporary housing, taking advantage and swindling those that live there. (Please pray against the evil workings of these false religions there.) However, some would invite us in and we would talk, sometimes for hours, sharing our stories with one another. Please pray for the seeds that are being planted there to grow. Another amazing thing for me personally was that it was the first time for me to be a main translator for a missions team. Before, there had always been a bilingual Japanese person that would come with us, making it so I only had to translate for myself. But this time, aside from my friend Kevin, I was in the role as interpreter for the group. Going into it, I had my doubts. But God really poured out his Holy Spirit on my during that trip, enabling to speak in ways that I never have before. I was shocked but very thankful that God can use even meager language skills like mine and multiply them for His glory. So now that the semester is over, I am gearing up for my summer schedule. I have been asked by pastor Rich and Zach to teach several times at the two separate locations on multiple occasions this summer. Also I am making plans to start up the Shine Kids program again from this summer at Horizon, which I was not able to do during the semester. In addition, I am making the final preparations for my wedding to my lovely fiance Tomoko which will be on July 7 ^_^. Please pray for all these thing and tat God would be leading them. We were also planning to visit you all during July as well. However, due to the price of tickets and some closed doors in scheduling, we have had to move the trip back a bit and are planning to come and visit you all in December of this year. I can't wait to see you all then. I pray for your peace and that you would know the rest that comes in abiding in the grace of Jesus. Because He lives and loves, Alex

January 31, 2012

Dear friends,
I pray that you have seen many blessings of the Lord this January. I am currently writing you from the newest stop on my journey here in Japan, Calvary Chapel Bible College Fuchu. The winter break has come to an end and today is my first day of the new “Spring” semester here at bible college, though at the current temperature here in Fuchu, it doesn’t feel exactly like a spring semester to me ^_^. This month has been full of blessings, both obvious and some that I did not clearly perceive as blessings at first.
One of the blessings I was able to meet with Tomoko’s family for the first time during new years. Tomoko is one of four siblings and I was able spend time with two of them as well as her Mom, Dad, and Aunt. The time we spent together was good, with much laughter and warm welcomes and I am greatly looking forward to the building of relationships with her family members from here on. Please continue to pray for us and for God’s guidance in how best to share our lives with them and be a blessing to them.
Another blessing was being given opportunity to lead and preach at Horizon. Pastor Rich from the international fellowship took his family to singapore for a little more than a week and during that time I was asked by him to both lead the Wednesday night bible study and also to give the message the following Sunday. The Wednesday night bible study was really exciting ^_^. Usually the Wednesday night bible study was for english speakers, a mix of foreigners and english speaking Japanese people. But on the Wednesday I was to lead the study, everyone one that came was Japanese and most were those that required translation. However God always has a purpose for all things and empowers us to meet the tasks that he sets before us. And this was no exception as the Spirit moved and empowered me to lead the group entirely in Japanese though all my notes were in English. The spirit moved in many ways that night and it was not limited to me. After our time in the word, others were lead by the spirit to share there testimonies and in the end, we all left in awe of the work of God in our hearts and lives. May all glory be His. Also the message on Sunday was a blessed time as well. I was lead to share from the book of Leviticus of all places. Though it may seem a strange place to study from, but God used the my study of the book of leviticus last semester in big ways to work on my heart. Though it is a thick book, it is so relevant to us in that it was God’s instruction to the people of israel on how to be His people, clean, holy, and set apart for Him. And more than this, it is the instruction book for the priesthood, which God has made us all through the cross of Jesus Christ. I was scheduled to teach again from this book the following Sunday, however, that is when things took a bad turn.
The Wednesday following the service. I began to come down with a fever with very few other symptoms. It increased steadily for four days until it was about 104 degrees and I couldn’t eat anything anymore. Ended up going to the hospital several times after, finding it was a some kind of stomach virus they couldn’t identify, and was put on antibiotics until the fever went away. But following the fever, sever stomach pains continued and did not stop until about five days ago. I am fine now. Though it kept me down and out for a while, God always has his purposes. He used the trial to refocus me on the work he had for me to do and to what he has called me to. It also brought Tomoko and I closer together than we have ever been before. In all trial, “testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:3-4). I deffinately feel a lot more mature than I was before ^_^.
So we got through it all and the semester has begun. And already, God has been giving Tomoko and I much opportunity to serve. The school here is located close to a christian daycare center and already I have been able to go over and serve there, play with the kids, etc. I look forward to many more opportunities to serve there in the two semesters to come here in Fuchu. Please pray for God to use this daycare center for his glory in this city.
Also, as I am currently the only student at CCBC Fuchu (the rest of the student are to come up from Okinawa half way through the semester), I have been given opportunity to serve at Horizon for my service hours at the school. I will be heading over to Machida every Saturday, serving at the Saturday night service there, staying over at my friend Hide’s house, and then serving the whole day in Machida at both the Japanese and English services. Also, opportunities are opening up for both Tomoko and I to start up the Shine Kids program again on Saturday afternoons and we hope to start in about three weeks ^_^! Please pray for Tomoko and I as we serve together. Things might get a little crazy with our schedule sometimes and there is no way that we can accomplish all that is before us under our own strength. However, God is the one who is opening up these opportunities and we know He is able to equip us with what we need to accomplish what He has for us.
Last bit of good news is that the date is set for our marriage ^_^! We are going to be holding the wedding in Machida on July 7th of this year. I wish I could invite you all to come, but it is a bit far. However, don’t worry. Our plan is to Honeymoon in Sonora (of all places! haha ^_~), so you will all get a chance to meet her. I will post the dates we will be in America as soon as I know them.
Because He lives,
Alex