It's Finally Happening!

As the title suggests we are finally making plans to visit the country that has captured our hearts even as we began to solidify our own relationship; Japan.

We are calling this a "vision trip" because we are hoping to catch a vision of what God might have for us to do there. (In fact, we are asking you who are reading this to pray for us to that end.) If God is calling us to Japan, He will certainly show us. And, although we will almost certainly not receive all the answers on this trip, we do expect Him to lead our hearts to desire that which is in His will and to make clear to our minds possibilities in which our already-developing gifts from the Holy Spirit are intended to be used.

"How long?" you might ask.

April 7th is our departure date and our return ticket is for the 18th of April. So we will be there roughly 10 days. We wish it could be longer, but we pray (along with you) that it will be a very full 10 days indeed!

"What will you do there?"

As is always the case with trips in general, and for some reason it seems mission trips, flexibility in plans will be key. However, we do have a rough schedule planned out.
Friday, we leave the US and arrive in Nagoya on Saturday (8 April). Sunday, we worship at the congregation Jeremy helps to pastor (as long as we are not too overcome by jet lag). Monday, we intend to see Nagoya, the city, with the Sinks. Tuesday, we tour CBI, meet the ministry team, and meet the church leaders and their families, along with hearing testimonies of Japanese believers about their own faith and their sense of what it means to effectively minister in Japan. Wednesday and Thursday, we will be tagging along with a ministry team to see what they do. Friday, we may help out at the youth event at the Sinks' home or with the Heart and Soul Café. Saturday, we would also go out with another ministry team/meet with more missionaries. Sunday we would worship at Jeremy's church (hopefully minus jet lag this time), and on Monday we might try to visit some Buddhist temples or see some other nearby cities and get a further sense of the culture of this country. Tuesday, we depart for the US (and because of the time change actually would arrive home on the same day we departed). (Also, a big shout out to Jeremy Sink--mentioned more below--for planning this thing out for us! What a wondrous help he has been.)

"How did this come about?"

We have arranged this trip with our good friends (and potential mentors) Jeremy and Gina Sink who have been serving in Japan for several years and have relatively recently begun working with an MTW team in Nagoya. We reached out to them early this year once we got Calli's spring break schedule for her teaching job.
We decided that there was only so much we could plan for and think about this country from across the water, and it was time to really go and see for ourselves.
Jeremy has been incredibly helpful in arranging a place for us to stay, missionaries for us to hopefully meet, giving us recommendations on ways to prepare for coming to Japan, and offering to be a kind of tour guide while we are there.
We owe him a great deal for already spending a good deal of effort and time into helping us make this trip. It really wouldn't be happening if not for him.

What can you do?

Most importantly you can pray for Japan in general, the people we will meet, and also, us.
Our expectations for this trip are less about our usefulness to the people there (although I hope our presence will be an encouragement to the believers there) and more about God giving us direction and vision for our own future involvement in laying down our lives for the sake of the salvation of the Japanese. So pray for us that we will have very humble hearts which exalt the name of Christ and remain open to all that God may be telling us on this trip (including waiting on Him before we go). Our greatest desire is for Him to receive the glory in our submitting to His leading and direction.

Besides praying, you can also give. This trip will not be cheap. We anticipate a cost of nearly $1,000 for our lodging, food, and travel within the country (besides the $2,300 we have spent on the plane tickets). We are not asking this out of our need as much as giving you the opportunity to partner with us for the sake of the gospel. If you are able to spend your money with us in this way we will surely be grateful to God and hope you will see yourself as playing a part in bringing encouragement to God's people and the gospel to this dark land.
(The easiest way to send money is via PayPal using the "friends and family" option [isaiah . english @ me . com without spaces]. However, if you would like to mail a check that works just as well—let us know if you need our address.)

Most of all dear friends, we want to update you on our happenings and where God is directing us in our seeking His will in our lives. Our God is great and He deserves the praise of the largest unreached people group currently on the planet. So pray with us that God will send workers to proclaim this eternal good news to this land of Satan! Hallelujah! The Lord God Almighty reigns!