Seth and Megan's Blog

Birthday, baptism, baby, and more!

2012-01-20T20:58:00.001-06:00

Pictures of all the happenings so far in 2012:

Once a week I drive about 50 minutes north to Costco, were we buy snacks for church. I love the drive, seeing various views of the city.

Getting everything unloaded and ready to carry down into the dance studio when that garage door opens at 9am!

We had friends over after church and a riveting game of Settlers of Catan ensued. I choose to drink tea and laugh rather than participate - its much more entertaining! I love Seth's face of "dang, i'm loosing" in this picture!

We had another baby appointment on Jan. 11 - it was great! Everything is going well, and we are praising God. By Feb 1, our next appointment, we should have the gender confirmed and I'll let you know!

My 25th Birthday was January 13 - My Dad and Stepmom sent this silly picture of me in a birthday email. I found it quite entertaining!

I went to Bible and Coffee the morning of my birthday, and the girls who attended brought me a gift! They are so sweet - its the bear in my hands. It opens up and has a blanket inside! So cute, so Japan.

Seth and I had a fantastic date for my b-day: Outback!! and a movie at the theater!

Surprisingly, there was practically no one in the huge theater, I was surprised! Its about $15 per ticket for the "cheap show" in case you are wondering. More like $22 for the regular time.

Kids church continues to be a blast and a blessing. Last week we learned about Jesus blessing the disciples' fishing net with all the fish! (Luke 5) We played a "pin the tail on the donkey" type game, trying to put the fish in the net with blindfolds. The kids are so fun!

Sunday night the staff from the Nagoya church came for a visit!!! We went out to try a BURRITO place I found online. Yes, I said burrito. As in Mexican food. As in the one kind of food that is super rare and freaky expensive here. This place was both delicious and average priced! It's the little things : )

Then we walked to Shinsaibashi- a happening night time area in the city, and took our picture with the Glico Man - that guy running in the background. It's become a symbol of the city. So we are running with him - can't you tell?

I love these girls! They are a blessing, and such an encouragement.

I hope we can all hangout again soon!

Baby Philip continues to make his/her presence known. And people continue to touch my belly and say "you're getting big!" Ha! I don't mind. Though the touching is weird because people don't really touch here...

Seth got me something I've been talking about for months for my B-day - a blender! Now I can make smoothies I've been craving! And someday, baby food too.

WE HAD A BAPTISM! A woman from our church decided to become a Christian this past week. It was super awesome and we are praising God. She is a single mom of 2 kids, and found our church from a Facebook Ad. Please be praying for her and for more people to join her in this decision!

Wow, and all that was just the first weeks of January. 2012 is going to rock!!

Quick Look at 2011

2012-01-04T03:21:00.003-06:00

2011 was truly the most eventful year of our life/marriage so far. Here are some of the big points:

January - March - Studied Japanese like crazy
March 11 - Japan hit by massive Earthquake and Tsunami, killing 23,000 people
March - Seth, and several men from our church took a relief trip North
June - Graduated Japanese Language School - after 1.5 years!
June - Packed up our home - the place we'd lived the longest in our marriage
July - Took a trip to America - visited friends and family, and churches we hadn't seen in 1.5 years.
August - move in temporarily with the Henkes while transitioning to move to Osaka
September - move to a new city, Osaka - to start full time ministry, and start a new church!
September - find out we are pregnant!!!
October - have giant event with professional baseball player Matt Murton, with about 300 people!
October - Mustard Seed Christian Church Osaka begins! So does full-time ministry
November - Megan's Grandma passed away - short trip to America for the funeral and family time
December - 3 new team members move to Osaka
December - Giant Christmas event with 54 attenders!

What is next in 2012? I'm excited to find out!!

I'm thankful for God's provision in allowing us to work in Japan. Thanks also to all of you who help us live here through prayer, financial support, and encouragement!

It's been awhile! (3 months! yikes!)

2011-12-28T05:47:00.001-06:00

I feel the need to apologize for not updating our blog since...October - yikes, its painful to admit! Although at the same time, that implies that I have readers somewhere out there anticipating my every post - ha! Either way, here is the latest. We moved to Osaka at the beginning of September. So much has happened since then, I can't believe it was only 3 months ago! Here is what went down:

Matt Murton Baseball Event:

At the end of October we had a huge event with famous Osaka Pro Baseball player, an American Matt Murton. Almost 300 people came to the event, Matt shared about his love for Jesus, and encouraged people to get involved in a local church. Along with MSCC Osaka, we invited 3 other local churches and we all made friends and invited people to our respective churches. The next sunday a girl who attended this event went to one of those churches for the first time and became a Christian!! This event took lots of prep, but all the glory goes to God for pulling it off and bringing that many people!

Matt signed various merchandise which we gave away at the event.

People excited to get signed baseballs, t-shirts, etc. from Matt

Matt giving his speech, with translator Joel Kaylor, a good pastor friend who works at an awesome church in Osaka called Life Church. We have learned so much from Joel and his church.

Matt made it a point to sign an autograph for everyone there!

He was so kind and people really enjoyed it!

Mustard Seed Christian Church Osaka Begins!

The Sunday following the Matt Murton event, we started MSCC Osaka. It was crazy that first morning having NO idea if 5, 50, 100, or no people would come!

We rent a dance studio in a very busy part of Osaka. It's a perfect space for us!

One snapshot of the room - its one big room, with the kids class in the entrance.

We had 24 people come our first Sunday! ( i think this is a picture from a different day though, sorry!)

We have bilingual worship, sermon (using a translator) and kids class.

Most people coming to church right now are Japanese, and also most are non-Christian. It's a comfortable enviroment for people seeking to learn about Christianity, and a place where lots of friendship and community is being built. I love our church!

Weekday work

This is the outside of the MSCC Office - its a tiny office space 3 minute walk from our house. We use it for storage of church equipment, office space, bible study, language exchange events, etc.

Here is most of our eqiupment for church in the large closet in the office. It fits in 2 cars for

One of our language exchange events - 2 hours, half English, and half Japanese. It's been a fun way to make new friends and help people with their English - and me with my Japanese!

Thanksgiving

We had a big Thanksgiving party with lots of friends. Favorite foods among our Japanese friends were deviled eggs and mashed potatoes and gravy!

Short trip to America

Just after Thanksgiving, my Grandma Helen Culkin, who was 96 passed away. It was truly a sad time for our family, although Grandma had been very sick for a long time and lived in the nursing home for 9 years. I know she has peace and joy indescribable now with Jesus. I was blessed to be able to return to America for 1 week to attend the funeral, be with my Mom and family during that time. Also, my brother came to Illinois for the occasion as well, and i hadn't seen him since we moved to Japan! He was in Alaska when we visited the States this past summer. So grateful for the time with family!

Christmas Event

We did a TON of prep and inviting for our Christmas service. We passed out around 500 invitations to people in Osaka, and encouraged everyone coming to church to bring friends or family. Christmas is a time where people feel a heightened interest in Christianity, and a ease in going to church when they might not normally consider it. We prayed hard for 50 people to come to our service. The most we had had before that was around 25 people.

The band warming up on Christmas day

We had a huge spread of yummy food, and people really enjoyed eating adn talking before and after the service.

We had 54 people come! Praise God!

With good friends who came for the first time

More snapshots with friends. So glad they came!

Baby Philip

As if I didn't have enough good news in this blog post, we have another BIG change in our lives right now. We are pregnant! We found out not too long after moving to Osaka. I was worried about finding a good clinic, since we didn't have any friends in Osaka to ask for suggestions, but God provided an incredible clinic! I go there for all my appointments and will have the baby there as well.

My "I'm pregnant" keychain from the government - people see and then give me their seat on the train and subway! It's so nice! I'm sure i'll appreciate it even more as i get bigger and bigger!

This is me at 17 weeks.

The due date is June 5! We don't know if its a boy or girl yet, but hope to find out soon! Praising God for this amazing blessing in our life.

Watch this!

2011-10-22T19:57:00.002-05:00

Check out this short video of our lead Pastor Jay Greer explaining God's hand in our outreach event this week and the prep as we launch the church a week from today!

Osaka Outreach Event from Mustard Seed on Vimeo.

2 BIG events!!

2011-10-16T01:18:00.000-05:00

The next two weeks are going to be some of the craziest and most exciting of our time in Japan. Here is what is happening:

1. Outreach Event with Baseball Start Matt Murton
Through a random and incredible act of God's leading, our lead pastor Jay bumped into Matt Murton - one of the star players for Osaka's pro baseball team the Hanshin Tigers. Matt is a American who has played for Osaka since 2009 (previously played for the Cubs). He is a strong Christian. We asked him to consider helping us with promoting our new church as well as preaching the Gospel to people of Osaka. And he is going to do it!
On Wednesday October 26, we are renting a venue that can easily fit between 700-1000 people. Matt will be sharing about his love for not just baseball, but Jesus Christ, and Jay Greer will also give a short explanation of the Gospel. Matt will sign autographs, the Nagoya church praise band will play, local churches will have booths, and we will try to meet as many people as possible! We have invited local churches to partner with us in this event, hoping to promote and unite local churches, as well as preach the Gospel. This is a HUGE opportunity- please pray that God does miracles! In the mean time we are working like crazy to promote the event, hand out fliers, etc.

click here to watch a video about Matt when he did an event with Franklin Graham crusade in 2009
(the video is on left side of page)

Please feel free to like the Murton Event on facebook, twitter, or go to our webpage - all of which help people find it faster when searching! Thanks!

2. Mustard Seed Christian Church Osaka - Launch!
The first Sunday for MSCC will be Sunday October 30! We want it to follow the Murton outreach event, so that people can get connected quickly. We will be rented a venue that is a dance studio/bar. It's in a great location in the heart of the city. We are praying for 100 people on our first day, please pray with us! Jay will preach, Caitlin will do worship, Seth will take care of all things technical, and I will be in charge of the kids program. That's our whole staff! : ) We are praying for God to bring Christians who haven't found a church yet, who are willing to get involved soon, since we have such a small staff it would be a great help!

Please be praying for these 2 events. Not to mention Praising God that they are happening!! YAY!

Can you do me a favor? Just click!

2011-09-30T01:03:00.002-05:00

Hey there wonderful blog readers!

I have a favor to ask:

Every time you click the following link for the Mustard Seed Christian Church Osaka homepage, it will make the page easier to find when someone searches for it on google. Could you please consider clicking it? If you really want to go crazy, click it several times, or make it your homepage for awhile!

Mustard Seed Christian Church Osaka Homepage

Thanks so much!

Also, please consider joining the Church's Facebook page, or following the Church's Twitter.
The more the merrier!!

Arriving in Osaka

2011-09-21T20:28:00.004-05:00

We are so excited to be settled into our new home in Osaka. Here are a few pictures...more to come later!

We drove to Osaka (3 hour drive from Nagoya). It was our first road trip in Japan!

After arriving in the city, it was awesome driving on the elevated expressway, because you drive through all these huge buildings. I kept thinking... whoa, this is our new city!

This is our road, and we live in the big building. Its really nice, I love it.

Here is the view from our balcony (where I hang out our laundry)

As I was opening boxes, I found a message I had written to myself while packing 10 weeks earlier.

It's true! We are finally in Osaka, after lots of dreaming, planning, and prep. Praise God!

We have spent the first 3 weeks furnishing our apartment - they come completely bare in Japan. We had to buy everything from lighting fixtures, air conditioning units, refrigerator, gas stove, couch, table/chairs, etc! Then 2 weeks later all our boxes came when our teammates arrived in Osaka, so we got everything organized and put together. (which means i should take pictures soon and share them!)

Now we are full steam ahead toward launching the church this fall! There is the potential for us to throw a big event where we could invite hundreds, maybe thousands of people to church, and then have the church begin after that. So needless to say we are working on the details of this possible event, and also all the prep for the church itself (venue search, equipment purchasing, etc.). These are VERY exciting times! Please remember Osaka in your prayers. God is in control and we need him to lead us in each step right now.

Goodbyes and good times in Nagoya

2011-09-16T19:56:00.003-05:00

Several awesome times were had in the weeks we lived in Nagoya - after returning from America, but before moving to Osaka. First off, we want to say a HUGE thank you to our incredible teammates the Henkes, for their hospitality. They allowed us to live with them for over 4 weeks combined (before and after America). They are awesome friends and we thank God for them.

Baby Shower

We had a baby shower for my good friend and teammate Stephanie. It was SO much fun!! There were around 21 women who came to celebrate, and we crammed in a cute little apartment and partyed in style. Japanese people don't do baby showers, so it was a fun new experience for many of our friends. I think we really encouraged and blessed Stephanie as well.

During the shower, my teammate Caitlin shared about God's love for children, and read Psalm 139, then our Japanese friend read it in Japanese. We had a time of prayer for Stephanie, the Baby, and also for 2 other pregnant women who were at the shower. I think this time was powerful for our Japanese friends, particularly the moms. I saw many tears and heard lots of sniffles.

Women's Ministry Event

We had a special event for the Christian women at MSCC. It was a ladies brunch, with a special guest speaker - a Japanese woman who's husband is a pastor of a church in Nagoya. She is a strong believer, and shared about her faith, practical ideas for living for Christ everyday, and how to share your faith with others. It was a really fun morning, and I know that the women from our church benefited! They were already asking when the next event will be!

Eating our yummy brunch...makes me hungry thinking about it.

Group shot at the Ladies Brunch

Taking it all in

A few days before moving to Osaka, Seth and I had a date one afternoon at the top of Nagoya Station - it was on the 50 something-th floor. We had coffee and cake, and a great time thinking of all that God has done for us, reflecting on the last year and 7 months of life in Japan, and thinking about the new journey we were about to embark on by moving to Osaka.

View from the restaurant 50 some stories up

Nagoya is humongous - and God is moving there!

Saying Goodbye

Our last week in Nagoya was busy meeting up with friends to hang out one last time, and getting things ready for the big move. We also had a street-live with the MSCC band, and I sang it that for the last time with the Nagoya crew! (tear)

Also, our last Sunday at church in Nagoya, Mike shared once again to the church about the plans for a second church to start in Osaka, and there was a time of prayer for the Osaka team. I definitely shed some tears - its been emotional to leave everyone we know in Nagoya and start over. But at the same time I'm so excited, knowing God is moving and helping us start a new church for even more people to hear about Jesus.

America Trip Part 2 - the rest of it!

2011-09-10T03:19:00.003-05:00

It's been forever since I've written - so although its a bit old news, for my own reflection I'd like to write about the rest of our time in America. It truly was a fantastic time with friends and family, as well as very productive in meetings with churches, supporters, and missions committees, sharing about MSGF in Japan, and our hopes for the future.

We had great family time in Wichita with Seth's parents.

His sister Shelby was overseas during that time, so we had family time over skype!

One of our great supporting churches, CCC in Wichita, had a Family Fun Extreme week, where Seth and I shared each night in 20 minute sessions to the kids about working in Japan. It was a blast!

That week at CCC, the kids raised above and beyond their goal to give 50 Bibles to the new church in Osaka! Each paper on the wall went up after they raised $25 (the price for one Japanese Bible)

After Kansas, we spent a quick 24 hr trip in Arizona with my darling Grandparents.

I'm so thankful for that time!

Next was 24 hours in Las, Vegas, where we had a blessing of sharing at a supporting church - the Crossing in Vegas, and spending time with Seth's Uncle, Aunt, and cousins!

Next was one week in Nevada with my Dad and Linda. It was such a relaxing time! We took a few days and went hiking in Yosemite National Park. God's creation is SO awesome!

Then Seth headed back to Japan, and I spent 10 more days in IL.

This was a great night with my fantastic friends.

Making memories! I'm so thankful for friends.

Finally Seth's sister came back from overseas and was able to come to IL for a quick visit. It was such a sweet time!

I'm so thankful for all those who showed us love and hospitality, generosity, etc during our time in America. You are missed!

America - Week one

2011-07-18T14:41:00.000-05:00

We have been in America for a bit over a week now, and things have been going great! We were blessed with many opportunities to share about our work with the church in Nagoya. In fact we met with people/groups for presentations or sharing at least 14 times in this first week! Whew. It was a lot, but I am so glad. I am reminded of the strength, size, and community that is the Global Church. It encourages me so much to spend time with other people who also believe with all their heart about Jesus.

On another note, here are some other things I've been soaking up while in America:
- Hugs
- Walking barefoot on soft grass
- Wide open spaces - like the cornfields of Illinois
- Laughing with friends
- Christian kids - and lots of them
- Iced Tea

With Mom on the porch enjoying the evening

Illinois

Such good friends!

meeting for dinner with family!

-

Here are a few pictures:

Done with Language School!

2011-07-09T18:28:00.000-05:00

After a year and half of study, we graduated from Japanese Language School!

We started out with あ,い,う,え,お- the ABC's of Japanese, and now we can carry out full conversations and live easily in daily life! We are definitely not fluent yet - that will take about 5 years. But we can share about God's love, Christianity, and have good conversations at this point.

Studying has been priceless and greatly grown our ability to make friends and be effective in Japan. Thank you so much to all of you who supported us financially - school was expensive! Thank you for the care packages and encouraging notes as well.

School was pretty hard at times - actually, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. And there were many times I felt like giving up. After reminding myself why I was studying and finding my strength in God, sometimes I would take silly pictures to capture the various moments of language learning.
So, to capture those 1.5 years, I made a short video that includes pictures, video, and memories from study. If you want to watch it (and laugh) click the following link!

Ode to Japanese Video

We're moving!

2011-06-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

This is a note to all you wonderful people who send us cards and packages. First of thank you SO much! We feel so blessed and encouraged by you all!

Second, our address will be changing, as we are moving out of our apartment owned by the language school. Therefore, we can no longer receive mail at our old address. For the next 2 months or so, we will not have an address! We will be living in the homes of our gracious and kind teammates, spending a month in america, and then back in the homes of our teammates while we search for an apartment in Osaka.

Thanks so much!

Megan and Seth

10 Photos of Life Recently

2011-06-08T19:27:00.001-05:00

Apologies for no new posts lately! Life has been all about two things lately: Study and Ministry. We have been busy with intense language study - but we can see the finish line of June 24!! Otherwise, great things have been happening at church, we've had several street-live events playing on the streets of Nagoya and inviting people to church. We've seen lots of new people at church as well. Here are some pics:

Some of Seth's classmates came to visit our church. It was really fun!

Singing one of our band's "Street-live" performances - when we play outside of busy train stations and pass out invites to church. This has proven a great way to help people get the feel for our church and spark interest because they realize it's different then they imagined church to be like.

With a good friend chatting at a cafe

Celebrating Seth's 24th B-day with a Red-Velvet Cake!

Enjoying presents from family in America

Our teammates and friends the Greers welcomed their second son into the world!

(Technically that was April 30, but we met him a few days later!)

A Photo of the weather these days - we are in the Rainy Season now. It rains most days, but not everyday. Sure makes hanging laundry out difficult though! : )

Hanging out at our friends the Henke's apartment. They have been getting settled in Nagoya after finishing language school and a short trip to America.

I've been practicing teaching the Bible in Japanese to my private tutor, and she corrects me, and helps me understand parts of the Bible that Japanese people don't understand, or words that they don't use, etc. This day I gave a 1 hour lesson on "What is the Gospel?"

This picture represents life every day for us right now. Study Study Study!

Next Post: Our Graduation on June 24, pictures, video of our speech, and reflections on 1.5 years of studying Japanese!

Sight-seeing trip to Osaka

2011-05-09T19:07:00.000-05:00

We are SO pumped to be moving to Osaka this fall! A few weeks back, Seth and I took a 2 day trip to Osaka. We jam-packed it to see as much of a city of 17.3 million as you can in 2 days!

Here are some of the highlights:

One of the busiest areas for Osaka Nightlife

This is the Umeda Building - Isn't it crazy looking?!

You can go to the top and view the city.

At the top of the Umeda Building

Part of the skyline

At Beautiful Osaka Castle

Osaka Aquarium - the biggest in Japan! It was awesome.

Osaka, like all cities in Japan, is full of Temples and shrines.

Less than 1% of the population is Christian.

One of Osaka's famous foods - お好み焼き！So delicious!

Eating at a restaurant on the river

Please join us in prayer for the Osaka Church Plant - there are many things to plan, decide, and prepare. We are trusting God to provide as only He can.

Thank You Video from Mustard Seed Japan

2011-04-25T18:26:00.000-05:00

We want to thank each of you for your prayers, notes, and your incredibly generous donations in response to the Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster of March 11.

We made this video to express our thanks!

Thank You from Mustard Seed in Japan from Mustard Seed on Vimeo.

What is our church like?

2011-04-10T20:29:00.000-05:00

Check out this new video that gives the vibe, atmosphere, and feel of our church. I sure do love our church!

Photos from Relief Trip

2011-04-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

Here are a few photos from the relief trip our guys went on:

The caravan - 2 cars from our group, 2 cars and a truck from a church in Osaka - together they drove to the Tohoku area.

Our group and the Osaka church group making plans

Long lines for food and other supplies

The sign on the car distinguishes the group. Eventually they also received official passes for relief/rescue vehicles, which allowed them to use roads and highways that were only passable for relief/rescue cars.

These areas were hit mostly by heavy flooding - Seth said there is just mud over everything.

Cars were just picked up and moved all over because of the high tides.

This little boy received some toys that our teammates 4 yr. old son sent up.

Our team was able to pass out entire car-loads of supplies on several occasions.

Please continue praying for relief work in Japan and all those starting to clean up their homes and get their feet on the ground.

Video from Samaritans Purse w/ our team!

2011-03-28T19:21:00.000-05:00

Check out this 2 minute video, that highlights the delivery of supplies to the church our relief team worked at and lived in, in Ishinomaki. Mike Blackwell, a teammate on our relief team, is interviewed.

Helping a church, a widow, and a blind man

2011-03-27T19:44:00.001-05:00

Our team that has been working hard in Northeast Japan has headed home. It is amazing all the great ways they were able to be helping hands to those in need, and also make great connections and partnerships with organizations and churches in the North. MSGF will continue to consider how to further support and bring help and hope to the North.

The last update on the work from these guys is possibly my favorite. It tells briefly about how they were able to help a local church, an 80 year old widow, and a blind man.

Please take a moment to check it out! Click here

We are praising God for the countless ways he lead our guided our team of 5 guys while they were working in the relief zone. We continue to pray for energy for other workers who are there, as well as for the people trying to clean up their own homes and communities. Not to mention praying for hope to be brought to all those in shock and mourning during this time.

Let's continue to pray together!

Photos from the team:

Naoya, one of the 5 on the team-

I think this was when they were cleaning up the blind man's house

Incredible Story of a God-given opportunity!

2011-03-25T19:21:00.000-05:00

Please take a minute to read our latest MSGF update on our team's relief efforts in Northeastern Japan. God provided them with an incredible opportunity to share the Gospel with hundreds of people!!!

Check it out by clicking here.

Also, if you have been to our MSGF website, you may have noticed that MSGF is no longer soliciting donations to be used specifically for relief and development related to the earthquake and tsunami in Northeastern Japan. We are continuing to share Christ and establish new churches among the Japanese, and you can give to those long-term efforts on our website as usual. Our prayer is that in the midst of all this tragedy, the Japanese people would be seek and find God, his eternal comfort, rescue, and salvation. As a church planting organization, we feel our best role in these efforts is to continue to share the Gospel and plant new churches in Japan.

Update on Relief Activities and Opportunities

2011-03-22T00:24:00.001-05:00

The team has been working hard and each day is being spent helping!

Click to read the details, along with pictures of the team itself.

They partnered with Samaritan's Purse in distributing blankets, hygiene kits, and food.

Here is kinda a funny snapshot of the guys during the work with Samaritan's Purse:

Look at how much there is to pass out! There are still over 300,000 people living in refugee camps, so this amount of supplies is so helpful!!

Seth and Jay are on returning to Nagoya right now, while Naoya, Andy, and Mike Blackwell will work together for another week or so.

Also, one of our teammates children sent a few toys of his own for the children in the North. Here is a picture of one of the children who received one of those toys!

Helping those in need

2011-03-21T01:17:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest word from our relief team (Seth being on that team) and their work in Sendai and the surrounding area.

Click here to read the newest update.

Our group passing out supplies to those in Ishinomaki.

The cardboard sign on the car says "Church".

There are some really amazing things happening in the relief effort in the North in general. Praising God for the 16 year old boy and his 80 year old grandma rescued after 9 days! They were rescued from their home in Ishinomaki - and on that same day, our guys were in Ishinomaki passing out relief supplies to victims! Seth said he saw the helicopter and rescue workers during the rescue! Amazing!

Please be praying for all those involved in rescue efforts, as they all must be exhausted. The North is quite cold, and many places continue to lack electricity and running water. I can't imagine going day after day in those conditions. Let's pray for the government and their unlimited number of things on their plate right now - that they would have wisdom!

Relief going well!

2011-03-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

Great things are happening with our team in Sendai. Seth is so positive and excited about all that has been done. Here is a link to the latest MSGF update.

Click here to read the latest update on our team and relief work in Sendai

Also, here is a link to a video on BBC (2 min) that shows some of the destruction as the tsunami hit. Unbelievable footage.

Click here to watch the BBC Video of the Tsunami hitting Miyako City

Link to some pictures of Sendai

2011-03-19T05:23:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to Chad Huddleston's pictures from his first few days in the Sendai area and their group loading the truck that met with our team to head to the North.

The pictures are truly unbelievable.

Click here for the pictures

Note: Chad's church is called Be One Church (Osaka, Japan), and the area of northern Japan where they are is Tohoku

2 Teams in route to the north with supplies!

2011-03-18T19:19:00.001-05:00

Our group has set out in 2 cars, stuffed completely full of supplies, and relief items for the refugees. We have been busy making preparations for this trip, including lots of shopping and buying things like food, water, diapers, etc. Please take a moment to read the update - it has pictures sent to us from our contact in Sendai, Chad Huddleston who the team is coordinating with and driving to meet.

Picture sent to us by Chad Huddleston in Sendai

Update on 2 teams heading north - with pictures!

Team Heading to the North with supplies

2011-03-17T17:34:00.000-05:00

Here is the most recent update on our work to bring help to the refugees of the disaster. Click the link below:

Sending a team to the north to help refugees

We urge you to continue praying for the Japanese people who are suffering in the north with little food, water, no electricity, etc.

In response to many questions we are receiving - that we are very far from the Nuclear Situation. Around 370 miles I believe. Please realize that our team is staying on the news regarding the nuclear power plant every day, and are watching the situation carefully. Currently, our city in Nagoya is very safe and everyone from our team will be remaining in the country. Our daily life things have not changed, as Nagoya had no damage from the Earthquake because of its distance.

Thank you to everyone who has written us notes of encouragement and support. I can't respond to each one of you right now, but no that we are encouraged to know so many people are praying, donating, and care about the situation in Japan.

Love and Thanks!
Megan

Update on Japan

2011-03-13T18:01:00.000-05:00

We had a good church service yesterday. The chairs were full. Many people were struggling with what to think about the disaster, and there were heavy hearts all around.

Our Home Office in America has made a video about MSGF's response to the disaster in Japan. I would encourage you to watch it and beg you to pray for the people here, as they are facing a national tragedy, that feels much like 9/11 felt to America.

Japan Relief from CCO Creative Arts on Vimeo.

Our lives look basically normal today (Monday), as we go back to school. I am anxious to talk to my teachers and find out about their family and friends.

Japan is struggling to have enough electric power in the places where it is needed, so they are enforcing blackouts in various cities today. I found that our city will likely not be effected. However government officials said that everyone in Japan can do their part by using as little electricity as possible, so we are unplugging things and only using what is necessary.

I realize that a lot of news is talking about the nuclear reactor situation right now. However, thousands of people have been evacuated and we see that though it is a scary situation, we are comforted with how much work is being done to cool it down and the government is keeping everyone updated.

If you are interested in "up to date news" on Japan, I have found Japan's News channel NHK in English to be one of the best. you can watch the live TV broadcast translated live in English.

Please continue praying for the people who have lost family as well as those waiting to be rescued in the places hit by the tsunami. God is powerful above all things and hears our prayers. He is our comfort at this time.

Earthquake and Tsunami

2011-03-11T19:17:00.001-06:00

The earthquake and tsunami have caused unbelievable damage in Japan. The death count is rising, and our hearts are very heavy at this time. Where we live in the Nagoya area, so the effect of the quake was very light - in fact Seth and I didn't feel it at all. However, many friends of ours have family living in the Northern areas like Sendai which have been wiped away by the Tsunami. Please be praying for those suffering loss of family, homes, businesses, etc.

MSGF has set up a disaster relief fund. All the funds will go directly to help those in need.
Click here for info and to donate

Watching video of the tsunami hit the towns was overwhelming. Those towns look exactly like our town of Okazaki, and I realize that if the earthquake would have hit maybe 100 miles more south, the damage to Tokyo, Nagoya, and more southern areas would have been unbelievable, and we could have been experiencing the tsunami as well. Because I can picture it so clearly, my heart goes out to those who are experiencing it right now. We are at prayer for Japan and we ask you to be as well. We pray God brings hope. We pray for wisdom in knowing how to help as well.

Thank you

Big News: Starting a church in Osaka

2011-03-09T17:08:00.002-06:00

We are excited to announce that this fall we will be a part of a team

moving to Osaka, Japan to start a new church!

Click here for more info

Osaka

Fast Facts on Osaka

- 17 million people

- 2nd largest city in Japan

- 9th largest city in the World

- Less that 1% Christian

Our team

Jay Greer will lead the church plant, and we will move to Osaka with the Greers this fall. Ryan Fletcher will also join us in December after completing 1 year of language study. We are so excited!

Timeline

June : Finish 1&1/2 years of Japanese Study

July : Trip to America

August : Return to Japan, make prep for moving to Osaka

Sept : Move to Osaka

Oct-Nov: Work to make prep for church launch

Dec 25, 2011 : Church Launch with Christmas Event

Please pray for wisdom from God in our preparations, as well as help financially as we work to raise funds for this new church plant. Will you consider partnering with us in starting this new church?

Please check out this link for a quick overview of Osaka, our plan, and budget.

Osaka

Making Headlines

2011-03-04T22:50:00.000-06:00

Two articles caught my eye this week:

The World's Most Expensive Cities 2010: Number 4 - Nagoya, Japan

The first is a Business Week article, that put Nagoya #4 in the world for cost of living. The article has a breakdown of how much some things cost check it out here. The number one city? You guessed it - Tokyo, Japan!

Nagoya Station

31,690 Suicides Reported in Japan in 2010

The second article comes from Japan Today News. It is a report on the increasing issue of suicide in Japan. For 13 years in a row, over 30,000 people every year in Japan take their lives. This article expounds on the various causes of suicide. Click here to read. Statistically, every day in Japan 90 people take their life.

The first article reminds me of our gratitude toward the churches and individuals who support Mustard Seed Christian Church and help make ministry in such an expensive place possible. The second article reminds me that no matter what the cost, the people of Japan need the hope of Jesus and need to know the love of God.

Sushi Setsume (寿司の説明）

2011-02-22T00:12:00.000-06:00

As we do live in Japan, its about time we did a blog post on Sushi. Contrary to what you may think, Sushi is delicious! I wasn't sure about it at first, but Seth and I both enjoy eating Sushi now. Especially in the summer when things are super hot outside.

Sushi doesn't always mean "raw fish". There are many types of sushi that include veggies, eggs, and various sauces - you don't have to eat the ones with raw fish. But if you do, it's yummy!

It's not dangerous to eat the Sashimi - or flanks of raw fish. People here do it everyday, and Japanese people are super healthy! The fish is always really fresh - especially compared to the fish in Midwest America like I'm used to.

My favorite way to eat sushi is at a 回転寿司 (Ka-ten-zu-shi) style restaurant. They have these in America, maybe you have seen one. The food goes around on a conveyor-belt, and you just pick up a plate that you'd like to try. It's sort of like fast-food sushi and its very reasonably priced!

Here are some photos of the resturant we enjoy going too.

Ryan showing how it's done.

The left is just egg on top of rice, and the right is Tuna Sashimi (raw)

The conveyor belt. The t.v. display is for ordering special orders.

Then the Bullet Train brings them out (see it on the second level?)

Part of the menu - there are so many kinds!

The item on the left is cucumber rolled in rice and seaweed - best when dipped in soy sauce!

Another favorite, Tempura shrimp on rice.

Maybe this post has convinced you to try some sushi at a place

in your town - let me know how it goes!

A Sunday in Photos

2011-02-08T04:59:00.002-06:00

The 5 of us in Okazaki ride together in the car to Nagoya

The trip takes about 1 hour

We arrive at our church office location by 8:00am

The crew meets at the office for prayer, and then we load up the equipment for service

These are some of the books we just had shipped (by boat) for our resource library

A view of some of our equipment in the office

Loading up - we use 2 cars.

Then we bring it into the dance studio

Setting up at the dance studio

Some snacks are ready for the after-service hang out time

The chairs are set up, ready for people

Seth is the sound man.

Then we have music in English and Japanese, as well as a sermon with a translator.

(sorry this pic is from a previous sunday)

Me and baby Judah. Just had to get this photo in - he is so cute!

After everyone goes home, all the equipment goes back into the cars, and then the office!

After this, we usually do lunch with friends, then hit the road toward Okazaki,

arriving back home around 5pm or so.

Each week, more people hear about God's love.

We love Sundays!

Twenty-Four!

2011-01-26T04:45:00.000-06:00

I had an awesome birthday! It fell during the last week before school started up, so we were able to do some really fun things. Not surprisingly, most of them involved food : )

Seth and I went up to Nagoya a few days before my B-day for a Dentist Appointment (which was a great experience by the way!) So we decided to do my B-day dinner early - at Outback!

My sweet friend Stephanie made delicious choc chip scones for me - yum

On my B-day we went to this World Famous pizza restaurant - so good!

My friend surprised me at church with a cake she made for my birthday!

A few days after my B-day, Nagoya got a very big snowstorm. The biggest in the 9 years! Here are a few pics of the beautiful snow.

At a park - it was a winter wonderland!

Bikes covered in snow

MSCC - before the snow started to come down hard.

Overview of 2010 at MSCC

2011-01-05T19:28:00.000-06:00

Our teammate has put together a quick overview of the facts, stats, and happenings at our church. It is a quick read, so please check it out. It fills me with joy to read it and think of all God did in 2010.

MSCC Nagoya 2010 Report - Click Here

We are so happy to be where we are. Thank you God for 2010!

2010 Highlight Video

2011-01-04T18:23:00.000-06:00

Highlights of 2010 at Mustard Seed Christian Church Nagoya

It has been an amazing year!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T22:54:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family!

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday. We're so thankful to skype which has allowed us to see lots of family and even open gifts with each other online. It has been a great first Christmas in Japan!

Here is what we've been up to lately:

1 year down in language school! 0.5 year left to go.

We have completed 4 quarters. It's amazing how much we have learned. It is truly a gift to have this time of focused study. Now just 2 more quarters to go. We graduate Yamasa Language School in June!

Seth and my class together at the end of the quarter.

Christmas Event at MSCC

MSCC held a special Christmas Event the Sunday before Christmas. We worked hard to invite everyone possible, and were so thrilled that 83 people came! The most we've ever had. We had special Christmas music, a sermon about the meaning of Christmas, and fantastic snacks and drinks afterward. Lots of people stayed and talked afterward, and we all met a ton of new people. It was a success!

Music at the Christmas Event

MSCC Worship Band

(Can you see Seth? In the back with the gray shirt)

Wonderful Snacks - so many people brought food to share!

Celebrating Christmas with Friends
We gathered with our co-workers and good friends for a Merry Mexican Christmas. At least, that's what I called it. We did a Mexican food theme, because those items are less expensive than the traditional American dishes are to make here. It was a full day of relaxing with friends. We are so grateful for a great group of people to work with - they have become like family to us this year, and have made our first Christmas in Japan one to remember.

Tacos, Bean Dip, Homemade Tortilla chips, sugar cookies...amazing!

Some of my best friends! The ladies did a secret santa gift exchange. It was a lot of fun!

Hanging out for Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

News about Japan

2010-12-18T04:20:00.000-06:00

If you are ever interested in browsing the news headlines in Japan, we often read the news from this website:

http://newsonjapan.com/

Check it out!

Autumn Adventures

2010-12-03T01:51:00.000-06:00

Where did November go? I feel like it flew right by....
Here is what we've been up to in November:
1. Enjoying Fall
Fall happens a bit later in Japan, so this is actually prime time to see the beautiful Japanese Maple Trees and other beautiful scenery.

(I was really excited about the beautiful trees!)

2. Thanksgiving!

We had an awesome celebration, including yummy pumpkin pie, chicken tortilla soup.

Seth and Judah - so cute!

3. Street Performance with MSCC Band

We played music for about 2 hours at a very high traffic area in Nagoya one Friday night. We had people pass out fliers for the church - it was a big success!

4. Time with Friends

We continue to meet awesome people and enjoy hanging out! It's also a plus we can talk to them more and more in Japanese as well.

November was awesome! We're excited about all the fun things to come this December - wrapping up 1 year of language study, celebrating Christmas, a new team member moving to Japan....it's going to be great!

Places we've been : Miyajima

2010-11-16T02:06:00.000-06:00

We visited the famous island of Miyajima while my parents were visiting. The Shinto gate in the ocean is one of the most famous "views" of Japan - at least that's what all the websites tell me. Also, the island historically is known for its holiness and the sacred temples.

In front of the Miyajima Shinto Gate

Here are some photos we took while visiting a temple there. It was a bit of an overwhelming experience seeing how many idols there where. There is no way to explain this place expect to say it was a Buddhist temple where there must have been thousands of god statues.

Entrance gate to Daishoin Temple

Monk collecting offerings

monk offering prayers

one area of prayer

Cave of god statues.

There was a place of offering prayer and incense in front of each image in the cave.

Left is Right and Right isn't Wrong

2010-11-06T01:12:00.000-05:00

Living in Japan has opened my (Megan) eyes to many things. In particular, all the things that are completely opposite from life as I knew it in America. I have begun a mini "file" of these things in my mind, and I think it's fun to consider how two places can do life so differently, yet still be similar in many ways as well. At first the opposite things drove me crazy. Now I'm learning not to judge so much and to consider how both ways have benefits. For example...

Language

Example of Japanese Newspaper

Japanese uses complex images (Kanji) to represent sounds, and English just uses the sounds.
Japanese books often read from the right to the left, and the sentences are often written vertically.
Grammar in Japanese works backwards from English. For example:

English: "I like traveling by train to Nagoya every Sunday."
In Japanese: "Every Sunday Nagoya to traveling is like (i)."

In Japanese, there are lots of words and grammar structures only men use or ones only women say, but in English I think those are very rare.

Driving

The intersection by our church

In Japan, you drive on the left side of the road.
The green arrow for those making a turn at an intersection, comes at the end of the green light, instead of before like America.
Of course, Japan (and the rest of the world but the US) uses the metric system - km/h, cm, m...
Most people in Japan use public transportation regularly - bus, train, subway, bullet train. Most Americans own cars and travel by themselves.

Home

Our tatami bedroom floor

Doors in homes slide open in Japan, in America they open in and out.
Floors in Japanese homes are often made of Tatami, which is made of rice straw.
In Japan we sleep on the floor, on a futon that we fold up every day to save space. In America, you sleep on a bed that stays there all the time.
Most people do not use/own a laundry dryer - they hang the clothes outside on a balcony. I'd never done that before we moved here!

Food

Meat is a main food in America - either chicken or beef are a part of most meals. Japanese people consume fish and seafood much more than beef. Beef is rare and expensive here.
Americans use forks - Japanese use chopsticks.
Proportions are much smaller in Japan.
Oh...and I've never seen fish heads, fish uterus's, seaweed, oysters, clams.....in an American grocery store.

There are many many more opposite and different things about Japan/America. All that to say, we've been living here for over 10 months, and we love it. Even when the differences are challenging, it's created good chances for us to grow and learn.

Famous Places: Kiyomizudera（清水寺）

2010-10-25T18:10:00.000-05:00

Kiyomiuzdera is located in Kyoto, one of Japan's most famous cities. We were glad to be able to travel here with Megan's family when they visited. We learned more about the history of Japan, and gained a deeper insight into Buddhism.

Sign describing Kiyomizudera:

Entering the grounds. The grounds were enormous - similar to a very large park.

Within the pillars of the large red gate (left) sit 2 large demons statues

which are said to defend the grounds.

This temple as well as countless others are within the city of Kyoto, mixed in with tall concrete buildings, buses, subway stations, etc.

The Ancient and Modern contrast seems very representative of Japan.

Small wooden plaques are purchased and used for writing prayers. Typically all Buddhist Temples have a place for them to be hung. A Priest will then come and pray the prayers on behalf of the people.

Throughout this large temple are more sacred places within for people to light incense, offer money, flowers, and prayers.

This style of washing basins are located on the grounds of most temples, and are used for hand cleansing.

One small shrine area

The largest area of the temple, where a representation of the Buddhist Goddess Kannon sits. People often approach and offer prayers, sometimes ringing this large bell when finished.

Smaller shrines of all types dot the grounds of the temple.

The most famous view of Kiyomizudera 清水寺

In the far background is downtown Kyoto and Kyoto Tower.

Various areas for prayer. This area particularly dealt with receiving good fortune of various kinds.

Walking through older parts of Kyoto after leaving Kiyomizudera. Pagodas, Temples, Parks, Ancient Architecture, etc., truly make Kyoto a fascinating city.

Family Visit

2010-10-07T17:33:00.001-05:00

We had so much fun with Megan's Mom and Stepdad visiting for 10 days! We enjoyed showing them our daily life, our city (Nagoya), and also were able to see some Buddhist temples, Shinto Shrines, and other famous areas together. Here are some pictures from our time together. More pictures and impressions of the places we visited in blog posts to come. Here are just some snapshots of family time!

Meeting at the Airport!

On a walk around the lake near our apartment

Eating at our favorite restaurant in Okazaki

Riding the train - they definitely got a feel for our commuting routine to Nagoya

Our teammate Stephanie Henke's parents were also visiting - so the parents chatted at church on Sunday while things were getting set up.

Riding the Bullet Train together!

Alan and Megan were adventurous - trying Matcha (green tea) flavored ice cream!

Okazaki Park

On the 46th floor viewing room of a building in Nagoya - viewing our city together!

Life in Japan: Vending Machines

2010-09-30T03:13:00.000-05:00

There is 1 vending machine for every 20 people in Japan. Vending Machines of ALL kinds can be found in this country. The most popular ones are certainly drink machines and cigarette machines. However, there are lots of others! We have become accustom to the machines always being within 3 minutes from any given point. I thought you might enjoy a few examples:

]

The average scene of drinks and cigarettes.

Also, most drink machines sell hot and cold drinks!

For the cigarettes, we've heard you must have a special card to swipe and prove your age.

Alcohol machines are very common.

You have to have a age restricted card to purchase from this type of machine.

Get a hot meal! French Fries, Chicken Strips...

Cup Ramen Machine

A personal favorite... Ice Cream!

Umbrella vending machine!

A reminder of the large pornography industry in Japan.

Inside this blue cube are 4 pornography vending machines.

Newspaper Machine!

We've only seen this via the internet so far - but it is a rice vending machine!

Culture Moment: Manga

2010-09-19T05:51:00.002-05:00

Generally speaking, manga is a comic - a non-animated cartoon in Japanese style, printed in book form. Manga originated in Japan and Japanese manga is read all over the world. In Japan alone 120 million manga books are purchased each month.
Manga has a strong influence on the world's pop culture. It also has a wide variety of genres, from children's stories, action-adventure, romance, historical drama, pornographic, fiction,....etc.

Neither Seth nor I are big Manga readers, but there is one we are particularly found of:

Manga Messiah

This is a 4 book series of the Gospel/Bible stories in Manga form.
We have shared the book with people at church before, and sometimes have it available in our church bookstore/library. It seems to be a good tool for Manga readers to learn the basics of the Bible! (We hear you can find it in America if you're interested!)

Click this link to see an excerpt from Manga Messiah .

Pictures from Manga Messiah

Turning water into wine

The Twelve Disciples

10 pictures of August!

2010-08-31T18:38:00.000-05:00

10 pictures to highlight August

A big group at a Nagoya Dragons Baseball Game - comparable to MLB.

Baseball is a BIG deal in Japan!

Our teammates the Ackermans just celebrated the birth of their 3rd boy!

Here is Megan holding little Judah Ackerman 3 days after he was born.

We are continue to be thrilled with the dance studio location as our meeting location!

(see our church sign out in front?)

A group from church passed out helpful items to about 60 homeless people in a nearby part of Nagoya

Seth and good friend Taisei meeting for language exchange

Eating out Sunday with a group who came to church

The visual explanation of baptism used at Bible Study one week

We had an all-girls party with about 17 girls in attendance!

Seth and a good friend at band practice -

we rent a music studio each week for our church band to practice

New people continue to come to church, and it's been awesome to make new friends!

August was an awesome month!

Rejoice!

2010-08-20T18:50:00.001-05:00

We had another baptism this week! She is a young girl who has been coming with her mom since January. Her Mom was the first person to be baptized at our church. This is also the same girl that Megan has developed a close bond with and has been teaching the Bible to each week.

The baptism was done by her Mom - it was awesome!

Baptism in the bathtub at the Greer's Apartment

Look at that smile!

The group who came to celebrate the baptism!

Fireworks Festival

2010-08-11T07:36:00.000-05:00

Every summer there are fireworks festivals held all over Japan. One of the most famous in our part of Japan happens to take place in the city we live in, Okazaki. It is said about 400,000 people attend each year, while the city's population is around 370,000! Needless to say, we couldn't miss the opportunity to attend this popular event.

Many Japanese take this opportunity of a festival to wear traditional clothing - for the ladies called a Yukata. It looks like a Kimono, but is lighter weight for summer. Men also have a traditional summer outfit.

We went to the fireworks with friends and met new people as well, it was awesome! It lasted about 2 hours and was the best fireworks I've ever seen!

(this pic taken from edutraveler.com)

This shows the famous lanterns floating on the river, and you can sort of see the number of people packed in.

Video Update

2010-07-26T05:21:00.001-05:00

Over the past 6 months in Japan we have seen God move in amazing ways! Because we are excited to keep everyone up to date on the progress, we made a short homemade video that we sent to all our supporting churches in America. But we also want to share this video with all of you.

As you know, since the making of the video, we have found a new meeting place and start there THIS Sunday!

New Meeting Place for MSCC!

2010-07-13T02:24:00.001-05:00

Our church has been growing like crazy! We've been pushing the capacity limit for several weeks now. There are 36 chairs in our current venue - the past several weeks we have had at or above that number of people. But we found a new place! The timing for this move couldn't be better as we had 48 people this past Sunday!

The new meeting place is a Dance Studio in the same neighborhood where we currently meet. We will start there in just 2 weeks! There is a lot of work to be done to prepare for this new location - especially buying new equipment - lots of music equipment, chairs, and other items we haven't need to purchase to this point. If you can help with these new costs please click here to donate to Mustard Seed. Thank you!

Praise God for all the people coming and that we have found such a wonderful new meeting place!

Kid's Church

2010-06-29T03:32:00.001-05:00

Did you know Mustard Seed Christian Church has a great Kid's Church program?! Every Sunday, during the message, kids age 0-8 (or so) head up to a small classroom on the 3rd floor for a lesson from the Bible. Our teammate Jay has been teaching most consistently, but Megan and Brigette have also taught several times and will continue more regularly in the future.

Our church has been meeting for 6 months now! In those 6 months we have taught basic lessons from the Old Testament in Kids Church, and are now beginning the New Testament. We have 7 kids who are regular in attendance and sometimes have more depending on the week. You never know quite what to expect as we so often have new people at church! It's such a joy to be apart of teaching the kids, knowing that this is the first time for so many of them to learn about the history of God's work in the world and what it means for us today.

This is a bilingual children's Bible we often use.

Also, Megan has begun teaching an 8 year old girl at church about the Bible each Sunday after church. The girl has a desire to study together and is learning for the first time. It has been a truly exciting and humbling experience! We have studied basics about how the Bible is laid out and how to understand it. We've begun reading about the life of Jesus. She is interested in learning how to pray, why Jesus died on the cross - such awesome things to talk about!

Please be praying for the children's ministry at MSCC - for children to learn about God and know that He loves them unconditionally! For them to learn about the Bible, make friends, and learn about Jesus!

The suicide problem in Japan

2010-06-14T07:34:00.000-05:00

Suicide is a true epidemic in Japan. For twelve straight years, the suicide rate in Japan has been over 30,000 people per year.

No type of person is excluded from the problem:

- The Elderly - often to keep from being a burden from their family, who is culturally expected to care for them as they age and grow sick.

- Children - many to escape school pressure, bullies, or family problems.

- Business Men - Over 70% of suicides are men, with the most common stated reason being financial problems, followed by health issues and family problems.

Government prevention poster advises seeing a doctor if having trouble sleeping

Recently, jumping from station platforms in front of oncoming trains has been a common method of suicide. The situation is becoming so frequent, Japan is finding it's daily routine effected by the increase of this form of suicide. One Newspaper article states, "But now, an increasingly used excuse for tardiness in this land of punctuality has been readily accepted by even the toughest bosses: Someone jumped in front of the train.”

Blue lighting has been installed in some train stations, because of it's "calming" effect

on emotions, in hopes to prevent suicide.

In just our near 6 months of living in Japan, we have already had the experience of riding a train which stopped mid-route. We were told by a fellow passenger that someone in a nearby city jumped in front of a train, and therefore many other trains we stopped and waiting. We don’t know if this was truly the case, but it’s possible.

Barrier built to prevent jumping in front of train

Will you please pray for those in Japan struggling with depression and considering suicide? Pray that God will reveal himself to them. Pray that they will have an opportunity to hear about the God who created them and cares for them deeply - the God of Hope.

Sources: JapanToday Article Suicide in Japan Picture Source Railway Prevention Article

Passion 2010

2010-06-01T02:10:00.003-05:00

We had the opportunity to head to Tokyo earlier this month to attend Passion 2010. Passion is a conference held both in America and around the world for young adult Christians, with the intention of uniting in prayer and worship for a spiritual awakening in our generation. (In America, is it held once per year in Altlanta and this year's attendance was about 23,000 people!)

Many great people in Christian Music put this together: Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Charlie Hall, and Louie Giglio speaks at the event.

Passion Tokyo (photo from Passion blog)

Tokyo's conference has a bit of a different vibe because it is such a non-Christian nation. It is a time for worship and prayer for Japan as well as the world, but it is also open for non-Christians to come and learn about the faith. We sang songs in english and a bit in Japanese, and Louie Giglio gave a great message about God's love being personal to each person and how he can use you to make a difference in the world.

(photo from Passion blog)

Our church took a group of 10 people, some new Christians, and some still considering the faith. We took the Bullet Train up to Tokyo together and had a blast together! The Tokyo Passion Conference had 3,000 people! It was amazing for us to see such a large group of Christians gathered together at one time. Some day soon, wouldn't it be great to see a gathering of more like 20,000 Japanese Christians at an event like Passion?

Our group

A picture of just the ladies.

It was such a fun time to hang out with each other. Not to mention a great encouragement to see so many Christians in one place. I think it was encouraging for the Japanese Christians from our church as well. It was a powerful night, and it just reminded us that God is working in Japan to reveal himself to his people.

May Snapshots

2010-05-19T08:57:00.001-05:00

Photos of life lately:

This picture is from our friend's apartment in Nagoya. We continue to be blown away by the size of Nagoya (9 million people!)

We went to Nagoya for a Ministry Convention this week, I took this picture from the conference building. A Pastor from a church in Tokyo came to speak, and we really enjoyed meeting people and learning more about what God is doing in Japan and how we can work together to be effective.

Hanging out with coffee and donuts after church each sunday continues to be a great time!

In children's church we've been having fun learning about the Old Testament and making crafts to remember important ideas from the Bible.

Holding our friend's son at church

A few snapshots of Okazaki, the city where we live. Our friends in Nagoya joke about it being the "countryside" because it's so small. (380,000 people live here)

Traffic jams are common. We prefer our bikes when the weather is nice.

The building on the left is part of Okazaki Castle Park. An ancient castle right in the middle of the city!

Seth standing at the castle gate.

Rubbage Rules

2010-05-04T05:59:00.003-05:00

The garbage collection system in Japan is unlike any other. Japan is highly urban and the cities are densely populated, so they have been innovative with getting rid of garbage.

Trash is divided into groups: Burnable, Nonburnable, Plastic, Paper, PET Bottles (like plastic soda bottle) Cans, Glass Bottles, and Large Trash. Each category has guidelines and a schedule for when it will be collected. Neighborhoods share collection sites, so we take our trash to various locations, depending on the type. Specific trash bags must be purchased and used when throwing trash away.

Most everything is recylced instead of put in a landfill. The Nonburnable trash is the only trash that goes directly into the landfill. The Burnable trash's ashes are put in a landfill. We only have a small bag of nonburnable trash about once per month!

Here is a picture of the trash system in our home:

The large bin on the right is our Burnable Canister - this is raw food, waste paper, or things that cannot be cleaned, etc. Many Japanese don't use garbage disposals in their home (ourselves included) so the trash can is full of all kinds of food we would've put down the drain in America. The tall colomn is our various cans for plastic, paper, glass, etc.

When we moved into our apartment we received a guidebook on sorting the trash which explained things for us:

For example: you by a bottle of Coke from the vending machine: Tear plastic label off - Plastic. Lid - Plastic. Rinse bottle and crush. Put bottle in PET.

Other examples:

It's very important to do your best at sorting correctly. If you fail to sort, the garbage company may leave you a note, and it reflects poorly on the entire neighborhood. In some neighborhoods a retired man or woman is in charge of keeping an eye on the sorting and letting individuals know if they are making mistakes. (sometimes they may stop collecting the trash as often as a consequence of poor sorting).

A portion of the trash schedule we keep on our fridge.

From left to right: PET bottles, Paper, and Plastic.

This sorting system is not just required in homes but for businesses as well.

Here is an example of what that means at Starbucks:

Certain items are very difficult to dispose of because they are not collected; you have to find a place where you can drop them off. Examples are batteries and cardboard. Large items must be disposed of at specific trash centers and you are charged by their size to dispose of them. A TV for example is about $31 to throw away!

See what's happening!

2010-04-21T07:58:00.000-05:00

Did you know you can know watch sermons from Mustard Seed Christian Church Nagoya on our church website?

This link will take you to our church's blog where you can watch video of our church's sermons as well as any other info that is posted on the church blog.

Go to http://www.mustardseednagoya.com/blog.php

Check it out!

Cherry Blossom Season

2010-04-18T07:09:00.002-05:00

Cherry Blossom Season happens around the beginning of April in Japan. Ohanami (お花見) is the title of the Season, literally "flower viewing". Celebrating the season generally involves people going to a park and picnicing underneath the trees with friends, eating, drinking, playing games, etc.

This was our first time to witness Ohanami season, and we loved it! The trees are truly breathtaking, and we enjoyed the time with friends as well! Seth and I spent a date-day at the Okazaki park over our Spring Break, enjoying the Sakura (Cherry blossom trees). There were hundreds of people, food vendors, games, etc.
Also, after church on Easter, all of Mustard Seed Christian Church went together for Ohanami. It was a fantastic way to get to know the people at our church better. Please enjoy the pictures from Ohanami Season!

Snapshots of Spring

2010-03-23T03:14:00.002-05:00

Here are some photos of life lately....

At Okazaki Park - a big beautiful park with a castle, stream, and many cherry blossom trees which will soon bloom!

Okazaki Park

A snapshot of the hangout time after church

Megan and Hiyori - a 7 year old who comes with her mom each week. They are very good friends!

More hangout time with coffee and doughnuts after church

Every Sunday after church many people stick around for lunch at the same bar where we meet. It is a foreigner themed sports bar, so the food is familiar dishes to us such as burgers, pizza, etc. It's a great time!

Our class for our first quarter at Yamasa. We took a picture together on the last day and then went out to eat lunch together. Two of our Sensei's ("Sensei" is teacher in Japanese) are in the front row.

At lunch - sitting with two of our Sensei's

At lunch with our class and Sensei's. Next quarter we will be in a new class with new Sensei's. It was a great quarter and we learned SO much. We are really grateful to have had such wonderful teachers. Now we are on Spring Break and will head back into school on April 9!

Pictures worth a thousand words (what do you do all week part 2)

2010-03-13T00:12:00.007-06:00

What do you do all week (part 2): Study Kanji!

Kanji is a system of writing in Japan. When writing the Japanese language, there are 2 alphabets to use as well as Kanji. To read the Newspaper here in Japan, a person needs to know approximately 2,000　kanji. Kids learn about 1,000 by 6th grade. We have learned a whopping 140 so far!

The picture on the left shows 3 individual Kanji characters. The Kanji for "Outside", "country" and "person. Each can be combined with various other Kanji to have a variety of meanings. If you combine these 3 together, as in the picture on the right, you get the word for "foreigner". Literally, "outside country person". Sometimes Kanji is convienient in this way, you can pull the idea of the word from knowledge of each particular Kanji. Occasionally the character itself resembles the meaning - but this is rare. Individual Kanji can represent one word, or they may have to be put together with another to represent one word.

Learning Kanji is straightforward memorization. We learn vocab words in our regular class, then in Kanji class we learn how to write them in Kanji. Here is a picture that shows how Kanji and the other 2 alphabets are used together. This is a worksheet from our daily class:

The more complex writings are Kanji, with they way of pronouncing it / Hiragana spelling written above it.

Seth really enjoys Kanji. I think it is in part because he is talented in drawing and art. Some of us (megan) are a bit more challenged. The most important thing is for us to learn to read Kanji because it's on everywhere - menus, product directions, signs, newspapers, advertisements....it is everywhere. Learning Kanji is pretty essential to being able to function in Japan.

Here is the status of my desk during a Kanji studying session:

In learning Kanji, we learn the stroke order for writing the Kanji (some have 13 strokes for example), the proportions of each piece, the different sounds the it can represent, the words it makes etc.

Here is an example of using both Kanji and the Hiragana alphabet together:

The more complex looking symbols are Kanji, and the more simple looking ones are the hiragana alphabet. This sentence says, "Right now, i am studying Japanese". (please forgive my not so beautiful writing!)

If you're interesting in learning more about Kanji check out this article.

What do you do all week? (part 1)

2010-03-03T06:50:00.001-06:00

Before we came to Japan, we had no idea what it would be like to be full-time language students. It was hard to fathom what kind of mountain we were preparing to climb. Now that we understand it better, I thought it would be helpful to share what exactly it looks like to be full-time language students.

From 9am-2:30pm Monday-Friday we learn Japanese at The Yamasa Institute. We have four main teachers (Sensei's) who teach all aspects of the language. We have vocabulary, grammar, speaking, listening, reading, and writing. We do various exercises, and sometimes take mini-field trips to practice what we are learning! During class, we only speak in Japanese. The teachers do not speak in English or any other language to the students. Students come from all over the world to study at Yamasa, so with some of our peers the only way we can communicate is in Japanese! Our class has 13 people in it, which is average size for Yamasa.

Example of our classrooms at Yamasa

Example page of our Conversation workbook.

After spending the day at school, we ride our bikes home and begin the at-home study. On a great day we would both study for about 4 hours at home. With the busyness of life, it sometimes ends up being more like 2.5 to 3 hours. Our teachers say that we need to study at least 3 hours a night.

At Yamasa, we study in 10-week quarters. In this first quarter we do about 3 new lessons per week in class. Each lesson has approximately 40-50 new vocabulary words and about 5 new grammar concepts. Needless to say it is a very fast pace, which is part of why we have to study so much!

Example page from our book.

Excerpt from our reading practice.

One way Seth and I study is conversation practice at home. It is so helpful to have someone at home to practice with! We also study using flashcards, dry erase boards for writing practice, and sometimes various computer programs. We have CD's that come with our school curriculum that we have to listen to at home and answer questions and/or practice comprehension. Most nights we have worksheets to complete and new vocab to memorize for the next day. We have a test each morning on either new vocab or grammar we learned the previous day.

Studying Japanese at this pace truly is a full-time job. We are SO thankful that we are able to study at such a great school. We have been more than impressed with Yamasa. It's really exciting to see how far we have come in Japanese in just 8 weeks so far. Thank you for your support that allows us to be full-time language students!

Next week, more on what we do all week....learning Kanji

It's not as easy as 1,2,3

2010-02-11T07:30:00.003-06:00

Three forks, three chopsticks, three books, three glasses, and three Mikans (Mandarin oranges). Counting in English is as easy as one, two, three. Not so in Japanese! In Japanese you have "Mitsu" forks, "Sanban" chopsticks, "Sansatsu" books, "Sanpai" glasses, and "Mitsu" mikans. The Japanese language has "counters", different words signifying the number of the object you are counting. Different objects have different counters depending on their size and what they are/do. For example "one" person is different than "one" pen or "one" paper clip. To see an extended list of counters, click here. (but only if you want to be overwhelmed!)

Here are the charts from our book explaining the counters.

This month we have begun studying the counters. It's difficult but really helpful to know for everyday life!

Just a note...

2010-02-04T23:52:00.002-06:00

Several people have emailed saying they have had troubles leaving comments on our blog. I realized that there were some settings that were causing that to happen, which i have now fixed! ....So i think i have solved the problem. Hopefully, if you want to leave a comment or note after one of our blog posts, you will be able to now!

-Megan

God is Moving in Japan!

2010-02-03T03:56:00.006-06:00

We wanted to share with you the exciting news that someone from Mustard Seed Christian Church was baptized this past week! Sunday night at the Greer's apartment, Kyoko was baptized after deciding she wanted to become a Christian. She was baptized in the bathtub at the Greer's and we all crowded into the tiny bathroom to take part. It was an amazing experience!

Kyoko is a lovely woman seeking God and excited to be following God with her life. It was so great to hear her give a confession of her faith in Japanese! Her daughter Hiyori is 7 years old, and Megan has spent a lot of time hanging out with her at church. Please praise God with us and pray for Kyoko and her daughter!

Good Beginnings

2010-01-28T02:56:00.007-06:00

Mustard Seed Christian Church has been meeting regularly since January 10th. It is really exciting for our team to finally see the church gathering taking place after 2 years of laying the foundation in language learning, prayer, and preparations.

Our church meets Sunday mornings at 11am in the city of Nagoya. Half our team, ourselves included, live in the city of Okazaki. So we generally go up to Nagoya the night before and stay with teammates. Everything needed for church has to be packed in the car - everything! So we unload the car and begin setting up around 8am Sunday mornings. Everyone has their own specific duties. The band gets geared up and ready for worship leading. Seth's role is to do various tasks to prepare the room for the group to gather. This often includes the necessary Febreeze spray throughout the room! I (megan) watch our teammates kids as their parents prep in the worship band.

Every week we have a time of worship and a time of teaching from the Bible. The words for the songs are a mix of Japanese and English, often mostly Japanese. Things have gone great so far! There is Japanese translation during the sermon and that has gone well too. During the service we do a special lesson with the kids on the 3rd floor, and I help with that time. It's a lot of fun! Here is a picture of the lesson about Noah and the Ark - They got to put the animals into the ark and then later we snapped a picture of Brayden (mid smile) and Reo with the Ark.

We have had new people each week come and hear about God. We have Bibles and other Christian books available for people which has proved very helpful. After the service there is a time of coffee, doughnuts, and conversation. Spending time with people after the service has been a true joy. We even get to practice our Japanese a bit!

Thus far we've gone down to the Striker's Bar restaurant on the first floor of the building to eat lunch! It's a western themed sports bar so they have burgers, quesadillas, and other yummy food.

Afterwards we have to tear down everything, load it back up into the car, then unload it again into the storage space. It's quite the effort! But Sundays are awesome and we are so excited to be able to be apart of the church God is planting in Nagoya. Please continue to pray for more people to hear about the church gathering and attend!

some of the staff in front of our church sign

Taking the Train in Japan

2010-01-18T01:49:00.012-06:00

Every week, Seth and I ride the train from Okazaki (where we live) to Nagoya (where Mustard Seed Christian Church meets). We also take it during the week to meet with our teammates in Nagoya. We've learned how to do this on our own, and I'd thought you'd want to take part in the process too!

These are our bikes! You'd be amazed what all can fit in those bike baskets. We take these to class, the grocery store, the mall, everywhere! It's so nice to have a bike.

Step 1: We loaded up for a trip to Nagoya.

Step 2: Ride to the train station (about 15 minutes). Then park your bike. This picture doesn't begin to capture how big the bike parking lot is. Be sure to memorize what aisle your bike is in, or you could be searching for a long time.

Step 3: Inside the station, you go to the machine to buy your ticket.

You pay based on where your destination is, for our trip it is 650 yen per person, one-way. That's very roughly $6.50 per person.

Step 4: go to the platform for the train line you are taking and the direction you are going.

Step 5: Take a peak at the schedule if you're not sure when the next available train is coming. It's written by hours on the left side, then once you find the hour, those are the minutes that a train comes, and they are color coordinated based on which type (local, express, rapid, etc)

Step 6: Hop on your train and get off when you need to. Here is a pic of when we got off and changed lines in order to get to our destination.

Step 7: Then finally ride to your destination!

We're hoping to get a hold of the train routes more over time. For now we mostly have our routes memorized, but eventually we'll understand everything a bit better and we can explore more places! And luckily we have teammates to call if we get lost. : ) So far so good!

New Address for MSGF

2010-01-15T22:00:00.002-06:00

We wanted to let you know that Mustard Seed Global Fellowship has a new mailing address:

MUSTARD SEED GLOBAL FELLOWSHIP
PO BOX 1375
JOPLIN, MO 64802

The post office has been informed of this change, and they should be forwarding mail, but some donors have had checks returned to them. We are sincerely sorry if you have had anything returned to you.

This new address is for MSGF's new home office in Joplin, MO. Please send any donations or other mail to this address. Should you have any questions, please feel free to call the home office phone number:

417-712-MSGF (6743) Or you can email info@msgf.com

Welcome to our Home!

2010-01-11T02:29:00.007-06:00

Here are some photos of our apartment in Okazaki!

After you walk in, be sure to slip off your shoes

Immediately you will walk into the kitchen

We have a range, rice cooker, and a microwave/toaster/oven.

Right behind you is the washer, and a vanity. To the left is the shower, to the right the toilet room.

From the kitchen, you can walk through the sliding doors to the bedroom/Megan's office

Here is our bedroom- the couch is really our bed, which folds up nicely. The floor is made of Tatami.

Our living room came with a great little couch and a nice tv! The furnishings are from our Language School, through whom we rent our apartment.

Finally, Seth's office / the guest room!

Megan cooking up something yummy

View from the bedroom window

View from the balcony.

We ride our bikes or walk to the grocery store, school, the mall, etc. Everything is very close by which is very convenient!. We're enjoying getting settled in our new home. Thanks for taking the tour.

We made it!

2010-01-02T05:31:00.006-06:00

All our bags. The picture doesn't quite capture the size of all ten!

I am writing from our new home in Japan! We are happy to say that everything went very well with our flights and baggage, etc. We made it to our apartment in Okazaki last night around 8:30pm. Our teammates prepared our apartment for us, which was so wonderful. Today we spent time with teammates Jared and Stephanie who live in the building next door to us and attend language school as well. They fixed us lunch and helped us make a list of things to buy for our new home. We'll get photos up as soon as things are put together! It's such a nice apartment, we feel really blessed.

Cereal for breakfast! Jared and Stephanie bought us some groceries ahead of time.

We also went to the grocery store today, and Stephanie helped us pick out some basic groceries. It was a wild experience to be in the grocery store and not be able to read most anything! It was great to have someone show us the ropes. We ate dinner at a restaurant down the street. I ordered a spaghetti type dish, and it had egg cooked with it! It was very delicious. Now we are going to bed, definitely jet lagged. Tomorrow we will shop for our new home with our teammates Jay and Caitlin.

Out to eat for dinner with Brigette, and Jared & Stephanie

With our groceries from our shopping trip

Thank you for all your encouraging notes and prayers!

Back to the Future

2009-12-29T20:26:00.004-06:00

The day after tomorrow we will travel back to the future--that is 15 time zones into the future, to Japan. Tonight we sit in Alan and Mary Batts' (Megan's mom and stepdad) living room enjoying a few last hours of family time. Tomorrow they are driving us to Chicago. After eating a final dinner together and saying a hard good-bye we will spend the night in a Chicago hotel. Then early Thursday morning we will shuttle to the airport and depart (us and our 6 checked bags and 4 carry-ons!). We fly out at 10AM Dec 31, 2009. 17 hours later we will land in Japan, at 6PM Jan 1, 2010 (3AM CST), if the Lord wills. Our teammates will pick us up in Nagoya and help us find our new apartment in Okazaki. When we awake the next morning, I have no idea what we will do. The mystery brings emotions of both anxiety and thrill. Please be praying for us and more importantly for the KIngdom to come in Japan. Sayonara!

Christmas Service in Japan!

2009-12-27T18:08:00.006-06:00

Mustard Seed Christian Church held it's first service on Dec 20th! It was a great success! There were about 30 people who attended the service - add that with our team, and the room they rent in the sports bar was maxed out!

The room where the church gathers

The team worked hard to prepare the room for the service - including fixing the problem of the nasty smell remaining from a party the evening before in the same room! They covered the room with Febreeze and all was well! Two teammates played Christmas music as guest arrived. Mike, our team leader, preached in English while a woman named Megumi translated. His sermon focused on the idea of being "rescued", using a life saving ring as an object lesson. He covered Jesus coming to earth, celebrated at Christmas, and how his life and death gives us the opportunity to be rescued from our sins. The ring has been cast and all we need to do is reach out and grab it.

Worship Band

Hanging out after the service

Everyone stuck around for about 30-45 minutes for coffee, doughnuts, and hanging out. Since the service, at least two people have contacted someone from the team saying they would like to know more about accepting Jesus! We are praising God! We are very proud of how hard our teammates worked to prepare for this service. They passed out about 1800 invitations! We know God has a plan and knows exactly what He is doing. Thank you so much for praying!

We will be there the next time the church gathers to meet! Woo-hoo! We leave this thursday, Dec 31st! More on that later. Thanks again for your prayers!

Preparations!

2009-12-04T15:38:00.012-06:00

In three weeks Mustard Seed Christian Church will hold its first church service! The team in Japan is working hard every day to prepare for the launch on December 20th!

These are the invite cards our team is scattering through Nagoya, a city of 9 million. It says on top "What is the original meaning of Christmas?" and has info about the church gathering on the back. The team is passing them out to friends, acquaintances, random people as well. The service will focus on the Incarnation, explaining the holiday for its meaning. They've also put together a website for the church click here to check it out. Facebook and Google ads have been used as well to market the church's opening.

Teammate Jared Henke and friend Reo, practicing with the worship band

A worship band from our team has been put together - including Reo, a Japanese musician who was happy to get involved in the band.

We ask you to please pray for this service on Dec 20th - for many people to be open to attending, for the message to connect, and for God's spirit to be at work.

As our team prepares for the church launch we are preparing... FOR DEPARTURE! We have tickets to depart for Japan on December 31st! Woo-hoo! Now we are enrolling for language school, getting visas, packing, raising some still-needed funds, studying Japanese, etc. It's a pretty exciting time! We are so grateful to everyone who has supported us through prayer and generosity.

More on our departure soon. Please be praying for the church launch!

Last Hurrah in Wichita!

2009-11-15T14:41:00.010-06:00

We've had an awesome week of sharing meals with friends and supporters. There's been some great family time (We've been addicted to watching the tv show "House" with Seth's parents!) , and opportunities to talk about MSGF in Japan.

This past weekend was "Missions Emphasis Weekend" at Seth's homechurch. We were excited to take part in all the activities.

Saturday, Megan shared about women's issues in Japan at the Ladies Afternoon Tea and we led worship for a dinner banquet/prayer time.

Sunday we taught a class on the Status of the Global church, and the church had a time of prayer to send us out. It's an exciting time! We had a blast sharing about Japan and were so encouraged by everyone. We'll miss Countryside Christian Church!

This week we're heading back to Illinois for the National Missionary Convention. Still making plans to leave by the end of the year!

We also had some prayer cards made this week - if you would like one, let us know!

Picture from our "prayer card photo shoot"

p.s. We are at 90% of our monthly needs, and 43% of our start-up cost! Woo-hoo!

Mustard Seed Christian Church

2009-11-03T16:15:00.000-06:00

Our team in Japan has been working to establish their first church plant in Nagoya. This past month, they secured a location for the church to meet! It is in a sport's bar called "Strikers". There is already equipment for sound, lights, and a projector which helps save money. The space is suitable for about 40 people. We have hopes to outgrow it soon! The location is in a dense and very urban section of Nagoya, and we hope God brings many there to hear the Gospel for the first time.

Our teammate Jay Greer in front of church location

On Dec 20th the team will hold a special Christmas service at the location. The church will then begin meeting regularly starting January 1oth! This is such an exciting time as many people in Japan will soon be able to be a part of the body of Christ for the first time. Please pray for many people to be invited and attend the church!

This is the logo for Mustard Seed Christian Church

Seth and I are keeping busy fundraising. We have less than 2 weeks here in Wichita before we head back to Illinois for the National Missionary Convention. We have hope that our support will come in for us to leave by the end of the year. We strongly desire to be at the launch of the church on January 10th!

Moving on up!

2009-10-24T21:01:00.001-05:00

This past week has been a blast! Seth was able to preach at his home church this past Sunday, this time for the youth group service. I've been working with an 8th grade girls small group, so we are really getting to know a lot of cool kids.

We were able to share a lot about Japan with people in Kansas and in Joplin, MO. We have been meeting with a ton of people to share about the work in Japan this past week. One of the pieces of news we have been sharing is that our team in Japan is planning to launch the first church on January 10th, which is so exciting!

The big news on our support raising:

We are at 85%!!!! Support has really been coming in. We are blown away! In ten days, God provided 70% of our support. It's amazing that this happened, and God did it all. We can't take any credit for making it happen. He is amazing, and he is proving himself faithful time and time again. Praise God!

Because we are getting so close to 100% our departure will very likely be the first week of January. More on that later! However, we still have a lot of need for our one-time costs, because we are only at 15% of that. These one-time expenses are things like: plane tickets, tuition for language school, furnishing our home, etc.

Woo-hoo!

2009-10-17T20:07:00.000-05:00

We are so excited to say that God has provided a huge chunk of our support this week! We began last monday with 14% of our support raised. Over the week, it was raised to sixty-five percent! Our home churches have been able to make commitments which have come as a huge encouragement to us! We certainly can't take any credit for raising these funds, God has done it all. We need to have 100% of our annual needs committed before we can plan to move to Japan. As we draw closer to 100% of our support, we can determine when we will be able to move to Japan!

Here is our status of funds right now:

Funds, Family, and Fourteen percent!

2009-10-11T15:52:00.000-05:00

For the last week Seth and I have been back into the swing of things, after returning from our three-week training in Colorado. It has been a good week, filled with great new encouragements! We have been blessed by several new supporters and several one-time gifts this week - praise God! About 14% of our support has been raised! Woo-hoo! This next week we are on the road to Illinois for a support-raising presentation and some meetings.

Seth was able to preach on Sunday morning at his home church, Countryside Christian Church. He preached on having love for the lost people of our communities and world. It was a powerful message. You can watch the video of the sermon if you would like!

This past week we were able to have a lot of family time, which was really fun. Steve Philip, Seth's dad, celebrated his 5oth birthday. His family came from several states and we had a blast spending time together. You'll see some pictures of Seth with his younger cousin Simon, a family photo, and Seth cutting the cake at the 50th party!

Choices Over Coffee

2009-10-03T16:05:00.000-05:00

Can I share something with you? Starbucks has a special place in my heart. It was within the walls of Starbucks that several important events have taken place in my life. Seth and I had our first date at Starbucks; another time we decided to officially be “boyfriend and girlfriend” at a corner table in Starbucks. Probably the most significant time I’ve spent at the coffee shop was last December, here in Wichita. It was there that Seth and I officially came to the decision to go to Japan as missionaries. Therefore you can see why Starbucks has been a place of decisions for us! I’m happy that I will be able to acesss Starbucks just as easily in Japan as I am here in America.

Seth and I have a passion to work with unreached people. “Unreached” is simply a term used to identify groups that are less that 2.0% Christian. The Japanese people are desperately unreached. In Japan, people practice Buddhism, Shintoism, Ancestor Worship, and Atheism. Less than 0.7% of the population is Christian.

As our team of 12 adults and 6 kids work to start churches in Nagoya, Japan, we face many barriers. Most people in Japan are able to go their entire life without ever meeting a Christian or hearing an explanation of the Gospel. There is much confusion in Japan about Christianity. Japanese people have asked our teammates, “What is Jesus?” and “The Bible…is that a song?” Ideas that are familiar in the west such as “church” and “salvation” are strange and foreign to Japanese people. Jesus desperately desires the Japanese people to join his family and love him. We need strong prayer support to break through Satan’s strongholds in Japan. We need prayer warriors who will give their time to ask God to change Japan and allow for millions of Japanese to hear the Gospel for the first time. We realize that the only way for any change to come in Japan is from God’s power, not from ourselves.

And so, we look to share the Gospel with anyone and everyone we can in Japan. As I frequent Starbucks in Japan, I hope that it continues to be a place where significant things happen. I hope to sit across the table from Japanese women and share with them a story they have never heard – that God loves them, and has reached out to give them eternal life. As I share tea with Japanese friends in the future, I pray there will be many open hearts to God’s good news. I hope to reach across the table to the hand of an unreached Japanese woman and share with her the Story of Stories. And maybe, by God’s grace, I will again see that great decisions can be made while sharing a cup of coffee.

Mission Training International

2009-09-20T20:36:00.000-05:00

For the past week, Seth and I have been attending a training program at Mission Training International, located in Colorado Springs, CO. We are a part of a three week program serving to prepare people for missions work overseas.

Here is the MTI building, where we are living:

Our program is made up of 42 adult participants and 12 kids. There are singles, young couples, families with young and older children, and older adult couples. The people in our program are going to 19 different countries and come from 22 different mission sending organizations! There is a great diversity among us and it is an opportunity for wisdom and fellowship. We spend all day together in the classroom, eat three meals a day together, and spend time getting to know one another in the evenings.

While we are here at MTI, we spend time learning from trainers who have years of experience with missionary life. Topics covered in the classroom setting include: conflict resolution, culture shock, dealing with language barriers, carrying for your family overseas, building community, expectations, team dynamics, and others. The goal is to equip missionaries with the tools to have longevity, effectiveness, and enjoyment on the field.

One of the best parts of our time here at MTI thus far has been learning alongside of our teammates Jared and Stephanie Henke and Brigette Relyea. We our learning about the importance of understanding one another and working with each other's personalities. Having a healthy team is essential to thriving on the field. Therefore, we are working hard to grow in understanding each other and learning together during this time.

On the weekend, we have free time to rest and spend time together in the beautiful outdoors of Colorado. We were excited to have the opportunity to hike together as a team on Saturday. Here are some snapshots:

Seth overlooking the beauty of the mountains

With our teammates Brigette, Jared, and Stephanie on our weekend hike

Seth's Ordination

2009-09-09T11:13:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, Seth was ordained at Countryside Christian Church. This was a time where Seth made a public commitment to working in ministry and his church leaders confirmed that he is able to do so. The whole experience was really wonderful and a big encouragement to us. Many people came to the service - men and women from the church who watched Seth grow up his entire life. Women who were his Sunday school teachers from kindergarten on up were there and that was such a neat thing! We felt really supported and challenged from the words spoken and the example of the many Godly people there. Above is a picture of us with Seth's parents Steve and Karen, and Seth's sister Shelby.

Here are a few snapshots of the event:

Seth preaching - I loved the sermon. It was about comparing a wasted life to a life well-spent, and how we can live our lives in a way that it is not wasted.

The eldership from Countryside prayed over Seth and officially gave him their blessing to serve in ministry.

The after-party at Steve and Karen's house!

Wedding, Wichita and Wings

2009-09-03T14:06:00.000-05:00

The past month has been full of great moments! It's been a busy time as well - sorry for the delay in blog posts!

We were so grateful for the summer spent in Megan's hometown, Champaign, IL. Toward the end of our time in Champaign, we tried to squeeze in as much time with local family and friends as possible. We also had the great joy of celebrating the wedding of Megan's Mom, Mary, and her new husband, Alan. This was a great time for our family, and a huge blessing from God.

We performed a song for Mom and Alan during the wedding ceremony

Seth, Megan, Andrew (Megan's brother), Mary, Alan, Kara and Ryan (Alan's kids)

We were so happy to be apart of this wedding ceremony and share in the joy of Mary and Alan. It was a really special time.

In the middle of August, we packed up our belongings and moved west to Wichita, KS - Seth's hometown. We are living with Seth's wonderful parents and enjoying time here very much. Seth's homechurch, Countryside Christian Church, is a supporting church for our work in Japan. We were able to do a presentation at CCC, to share about what we will be doing in Japan.

Speaking at Countryside Christian Church about Japan

We have been diving into involvement with Countryside! Seth will be preaching for the Sunday evening service for about 6 weeks starting in October. I will be helping with the junior high small groups as well as learning from some wonderful women in some women's Bible study groups. The rest of our time in Wichita will be spent reaching out to other churches and individuals in the area who would want to partner with us financially in going to Japan. We are happy to say we have 12% of our monthly commitments and about 10% of our start-up cost raised! We know God will continue to provide and send us when he wants us to go.

Another great blessing of this month was the short trip we were able to take to Ozark Christian College in Joplin, MO. Many of our teammates were in Joplin at the end of their furlough and together we spoke at OCC's chapel services the first week of school for the offering appeal. It was a great time to connect with the college students and friends at Ozark. Not to mention spend time with our teammates, who we will not see again until we move to Japan!

Part of our team, gathered for some good eatin' in Joplin - Hot Wings!

Here's what is next for our team:

In the next few weeks our teammates are returning to Japan and beginning focused ministry in Nagoya, Japan. They hope to launch the first church this winter! We are so excited. Meanwhile, we will continue to fundraise and study Japanese to prepare to leave whenever God provides the funds.

There are three other teammates of ours preparing to move to Japan along with Seth and I. They are Jared and Stephanie Henke, and Brigette Relyea. For three weeks this fall, the MSGF "Recruits" as we call ourselves, will head to MTI - Missionary Training International -an institute that offers various training programs for missionaries. We will be experiencing a 3 week session to prepare for the challenges of moving overseas, culture shock, team dynamics, language barriers, etc. Please pray for this time to prepare us, shape us, and teach us in great ways.

Jared and Stephanie Henke, Brigette Relyea, and ourselves. All preparing to move to Japan to join the MSGF team there.

Did you know?

2009-08-03T19:25:00.000-05:00

Did you know that...

About 20% of the population of Japan is elderly. This is a very high ratio in comparison to other countries. The Japanese women have the longest life expectancy in the world: 85. The population of Japan is rapidly aging while the birth rate is decreasing. This is creating a very unique situation in Japanese society. Here is a picture we took while in Japan on our survey trip - likely an elderly crossing warning sign.

Did you know that...

Japan is home to 127 million people, living in a country the size of California? This makes for a very urban lifestyle for most Japanese - 75% of the country lives in cities. Below is a video of the famous Shibuya crossing, a place in Tokyo said to be the largest pedestrian crossing in the world:

Did you know that...

Nagoya (9 million), the city where our team is working to launch a church, is in part famous for Tebasaki, or chicken wings! Japanese cuisine is much more varied than people tend to think. We tried some on our trip and they were delicious. Here is a picture of the Tebasaki:

This is a picture with our teammate Andy Rodriguez at the restaurant in Nagoya, where we tried the Tebasaki.

Did you know that...

Of the 127 million people in Japan, only 0.7% of them are Christian. This means that many people in Japan go their entire life without ever meeting a Christian, hearing an explanation of the gospel, or having an understanding of the Bible. We believe that God has a plan to change Japan. Our team is working to start a church plant in Nagoya, Japan this year.

Take a minute to go to our MSGF website and watch our 5 minute Introduction video that shares about the needs in Japan and why we are working there.

www.msgf.com

Camp

2009-07-07T11:17:00.000-05:00

This past week we took a walk down memory lane as we visited Prairie View Christian Camp in Kansas. Seth figured out that he has been to this camp 15 of the last 17 years. So needless to say there were a lot of memories. It was a lot of fun to return here and be the missionaries for 126 5th and 6th graders. We were able to share each night about Japan, Mustard Seed and the work that God is calling us to do. It was amazing to see the reaction of the kids as God opened their eyes to the millions of lost people around the world--especially in Japan. Like most people, many of these kids had never heard that there were so many people that have yet to hear the name of Jesus or the salvation he offers. We were very touched and encouraged by the sacrificial donations these kids made to help share the gospel in Japan.

Of course the week wasn't all so serious. We had a good time sword fighting kids with foam swords, painting finger nails (Seth on the former, Megan with the latter), smashing a can of Spam and many other camp activities. We were also able to spend the preceding and following weekends at Seth's home church in Wichita, Countryside Christian Church. At CCC we had the opportunity to share about MSGF with a Sunday school class. Additionally, last Thursday we were able to meet with another large church in Wichita and discuss the possibility of support. (Please pray that God will continue to open doors for fundraising for the express purpose of the gospel being spread in Japan.) We spent the Fourth of July in Peabody Kansas with Seth's family and now have returned to Champaign.

Teaching the kids about Japan

This little guy was super cool!
Kids looking at our table

Seth's attempt at the MSGF logo

Road Trip to Japan

2009-07-02T23:20:00.001-05:00

We just graduated from Ozark Christian College and are joining a church planting organization called Mustard Seed Global Fellowship. Now we are raising support in order to move as church planters to urban Japan. We are so excite to be on this journey and see where God takes us and how he might use us to advance his Kingdom in Japan.

In early June we drove away from our Joplin home and began our road trip to Japan. Our first stop was Champaign Illinois. That is where are now, living with Megan's mom for the summer (THANKS Mary!). We are focusing on raising support in that part of the country which means connecting with various churches in Illinois, Indian and Eastern Missouri. Fundraising is not exactly our favorite activity but we enjoy certain aspects of it--like talking about the need for Christ in Japan and the work that we are given the grace to be apart of. In mid August we will move to Wichita Kansas to live with my parents and fundraise in that part of the country. Before this road trip is over we will have visited no less than 8 states and many major cities such as St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Las Vegas. This really does feel like a road trip to Japan.

The big difference between these cities and those of Japan is the presence of God's people. Certainly all of these American cities need the gospel and Christians need to be ministering in them--but the cities in Japan have hardly any Christians. Japan is less than 1% Christian--0.7% to be exact. Only 0.2% of Japanese go to church. In Tokyo, the largest city in the world the largest church is around 1000 people. (That's only 0.02% of the city's 34 million!) Needless to say, Japan needs Jesus. This road trip will eventually end up in Nagoya Japan--a city of 9 million where our team will be planting churches initially. Joplin to Nagoya--we are very grateful to have this opportunity.