Kim, after a week of grading essays, is looking forward to playing in a volleyball tournament this weekend. 
Cailtin and Anneke are looking forward to seeing each other next week—please pray for travel safety for Caitlin as she goes to Michigan. And I'm looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday. Today, I was at school at 4:30 to help make cinnamon rolls to sell at CAJ's flea market.

As a family, we're grateful for your friendship and prayers.

—Michael

We're ready to start our 25th year at Christian Academy in Japan! We're glad we can educate missionary kids, freeing up their parents to share Jesus with the Japanese.

Please keep praying:

• Ask to God to use CAJ's staff orientation (August 16-18) to help new staff make a smooth transition to CAJ.
• Ask God to help CAJ staff on August 19 to effectively reflect on CAJ's mission, learning outcomes, and student achievement data. This reflection is part of the accreditation process.
• Ask God for travel safety for Anneke as she flies to the US for college on August 20.
• Ask God for a good start to CAJ's school year. Classes start on August 25.

Thanks for being involved in God's work in Japan.

—Michael & Kim

We've been involved in relief work, CAJ work, and family time:

1. Relief work: Anneke did relief work in northern Japan for a week with other CAJ students. Caitlin and I served at the headquarters of CRASH Japan, developing publications, creating job descriptions, and documenting processes. 
2. CAJ work: Caitlin helped with summer school for 2 weeks. Kim and I worked with 3 other teachers for 5 mornings on revising curriculum units. I collected data to be used in school improvement reports.
3. Family Time: We've been enjoying being together as a family. We had some excellent sweet corn from a local farmer!

We're grateful for your prayers, gifts, and friendship.

—Michael

At CAJ, we strive to carry out the Great Commission by evangelizing non-Christian students and by discipling Christian students. So as I read my students’ essays, I was excited to learn that my students are growing. Here’s how 3 of my English 10 students are growing:
 
One of my students committed her life to Jesus during the 2011 Spiritual Life Emphasis Week (SLEW), an annual event where CAJ invites a special speaker to give daily chapel talks. She wrote in her essay that during the 2010 SLEW she had hesitated to become a Christian: “I was probably worried about how people would think of me if I made that commitment to God.”
 
Several weeks after the 2010 SLEW, she remembered a song she’d learned in 3rd grade based on Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous.” It gave her the courage she needed to make a decision for Jesus this year.
 
Another student said his first-semester English project on suffering helped him when thinking about the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami: “Suddenly, the project I had worked on came to mind…. Then all [God’s] answers and promises came to mind. I felt as if the Lord had prepared me for that day, to see the goodness of His will and be strengthened, rather than be shaken by the sight of cars dumped into the ocean like pebbles.”
 
A third student felt the need to actively respond to the physical needs of the disaster survivors. Usually a reserved person, he spent much of the time school was cancelled helping to raise relief money. He wrote in his essay that he was surprised to discover God had given him leadership gifts.


Thanks for praying

• Praise God for working in the lives of Kim’s students.
• Ask God to stabilize the nuclear plants and to help Christians provide effective relief for earthquake/tsunami victims.
• Praise God that Caitlin is back after a good year at college. Ask God for good family time this spring and summer.

 
What’s happening?

• May 16-20: Michael develops an online class for new staff.
• May 16-27: Kim’s students write movie reviews and prepare presentations.
• June 3: Anneke graduates!
• June 13-24: Caitlin helps with summer school at CAJ.

—Kim

If you were to summarize last Saturday through today in 5 words, what you say? 

I'd say relief, blossoms, fever, aftershocks, and discussion:

1. Last Saturday, CAJ staff transported fruits and vegetables as part up north part of the relief effort.
2. On Sunday, the cherry blossoms were really out. CAJ's campus was beautiful.
3. Monday, Anneke had a fever and didn't go to school Tuesday-Friday. She's feeling better now.
4. Throughout the week, we continued to experience aftershocks. Japan has had over 1000 earthquake/afterschocks since 3/11.
5. On Thursday, Kim led her last book discussion on Productive GroupWork and said it went well. Meanwhile, Michael was in discussions related to preparing for CAJ's April 19 board meeting.

Please continue to pray:

• Ask God to help Christians share God's love with earthquake/tsunami victims. (Here's a video of Michael's friend Takeshi talking with a Japanese pastor about relief efforts.)
• Ask God to stabilize the nuclear plant situation.
• Praise God that Kim's book discussion and Michael's coaching workshop for missionaries both went well.

—Michael & Kim
P.S. To learn more about Japan's current situation or to give a gift to provide relief, please visit:
http://www.crcna.org/japan

In about 30 minutes, we're headed to a mission meeting to reflect together on what has been happening. Here are 4 of our reflections:

1. We're staggered by the devastation and by the number of earthquakes since March 11 (819 and counting). 
2. We're encouraged that relief workers are helping earthquake/tsunami victims. For example, my CAJ classmate Dan Junker (wearing a red coat in this video) worked with  Samaritan's Purse to distribute relief goods to a church in Ishinomaki.
3. We're glad that the US embassy provides needed information about what's happening in Japan.
4. And we're grateful for your continued prayers. 

Please continue to pray for earthquake/tsunami victims, for relief efforts, and for the salvation of the Japanese.

—Michael

What’s it like in our area?

• Our city's water supply is not affected by radiation, as our water comes from local springs/wells, not from surface sources. 
• Train schedules in our area are mostly back to normal.
• And gasoline is getting a little easier to buy and lines are shorter.

Other areas are not like this. Please continue to pray for earthquake/tsunami victims.

—Michael

Here’s some of what we’re hearing:

• In response to a recent Bible class on the story of Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41), a non-Christian said, "We need Jesus."
• A CAJ parent reports that CRASH Japan "got a shipping route set up for relief supplies. 200 bicycles and 1000 toiletry kits coming in from China. Potential of 100 more containers to follow, as CRASH Japan has the capacity to process, transport, store, and distribute supplies."

Please continue to pray.

—Michael

We are safe, we have a good supply of food/water, and we have consistent utilities. And while this is true, we know that many aren't safe, don't have a good supply of food/water, and don't have consistent utilities. 

Good news we've heard recently includes: 

• A missionary reporting that a Japanese pastor he knows who lives in the earthquake area is OK.
• A visitor coming to church because the visitor had seen a notice that the church would be having a prayer time for the part of Japan hit by the earthquake/tsunami.
• Electricity getting connected at the nuclear power plant.

Please continue to pray:

• Pray for stabilization of the nuclear reactors. 
• Pray for energy and health for relief workers.
• Pray for the salvation of the Japanese.
• Pray for God's guidance about how CAJ should proceed. (CAJ is not having classes on campus until April 4. For CAJ to re-open, we have to have electricity and the trains have to be predictable. This morning, CAJ's headmaster is meeting with other school heads from Tokyo international schools to discuss the situation.)

If you'd like to give a gift to help bring relief, you can give through the CRCNA and CRASH Japan.

Thanks for being involved in God's work in Japan.

—Michael and Kim

CRASH Japan is partnering with Samaritan's Purse to distribute 90 tons of relief supplies in Sendai!

Samaritan's Purse is flying a 747 into Yokota Air Force Base (about 45 minutes by car from our house). From there, the 90 tons of relief will be airlifted to Sendai Airport on Sunday, where 9 large trucks are available to transport  it to CRASH bases there.

Please keep praying for relief efforts and the stabilization of the nuclear reactors.

—Michael and Kim

Yesterday, we were glad we had utilities, food/water, hot coffee, and sunny weather—we could see Mount Fuji from our train station. We were glad to learn that CRASH Japan is getting more than 500,000 meals of rice, soy, and other food from Feed the Hungry. And we were glad that our planned power outages were not carried out today.

Yesterday I participated in an accreditation visit—I was in in several videoconferences, looked at documentation the school posted online, and made revisions to the visiting team report. Kim checked her students progress on their online documents and talked with Caitlin. And Kim and I monitored the news regarding the earthquake/tsunami relief and regarding the nuclear reactors.

It's Thursday morning. We just got back from going on a short walk.

Please keep praying:

• Ask God to help those doing relief work, including CRASH Japan, to serve effectively.
• Ask God to work in the hearts of Japanese and draw them to Himself.
• Ask God for the nuclear reactors to be stabilized.
• Praise God for meeting our daily needs.

If you'd like to make a donation toward relief work in Japan, please visit: 
http://www.crcna.org/Japan

Thanks for being involved in God's work in Japan.

—Michael & Kim

In the morning, we had good weather (belying the situation up north). CAJ opened up the gym and library for students, though CAJ didn't have classes. We looked at photos of the beach area we go to in the summer—hard to take it all in. 

In the afternoon, we had another aftershock, Anneke help make lunch for those organizing relief work through CRASH Japan, Kim marked papers, and I worked on my "virtual" accreditation visit (meaning, I'm participating through videoconferencing and online document). Later, we learned that CAJ will not have classes next week, March 21-25. (CAJ has spring vacation March 28-April 1.)

In the evening, I talked with a missionary on our team who lives near the ocean, slept in his car for 2 nights after the earthquake, returned to his house to do clean up, and now will be staying in our mission guest house through at least Saturday. Around 22:30 we had an aftershock.

It's now Thursday morning. I just finished reading the US ambassador's  comments to the press. We have possible planned power outages today (9:20-13:00 and 16:50-20:30), and we have sunny weather. 

—Michael

Tuesday morning, I walked to the train station and saw that the train was not running, Kim went shopping and marked papers, and I helped staff CAJ's academic office and watched a video of a CAJ parent talking about relief efforts through CRASH Japan. 

We learned that CAJ will not have school through at least Friday. We also learned that Pastor Ashida, a CAJ parent with whom our mission works, is OK. In an email, our field director wrote: "Ashida-sensei says that Urayasu is 'like a desert.' ...some neighborhood houses have gotten water service back and are sharing it with neighbors as needed....the gas station across the street from the church is inoperable and has to be rebuilt. Amazing that they had so much damage, but there was no damage to the church. They have electricity.... They also have plenty of food."

Tuesday afternoon, Anneke and I helped support relief efforts through CRASH Japan, which is working out of the room CAJ uses for board meetings (see photo). Kim marked papers.

Tuesday evening, we watched TV news about the nuclear plant situation and read what the US embassy is recommending, watched a video, and had hamburgers for supper.

It's now Wednesday morning. We read a message from the US Ambassador about the nuclear situation. Then I worked on schedule adjustments for my accreditation visit to Kyoto International University Academy. Instead of going to Kyoto, looks I'll be participating by video conferencing (Skype), phone, and online documents.

Please keep praying:

• Ask God to use the efforts of CRASH Japan to bring relief to earthquake/tsunami victims.
• Praise God that Pastor Ashida is OK.
• Ask God for the nuclear reactors to be stabilized.

—Michael

Monday morning, we went shopping for basics, experienced another aftershock, and attended a staff meeting at CAJ and learned that CAJ will not have classes through at least Wednesday.

Monday afternoon, we learned about another explosion at a nuclear power plant, I got a refund for my train tickets to Kyoto (for an accreditation visit that is getting a schedule adjustment), and Kim marked essays.

Monday evening, we watched a Youtube video showing the aftermath around where we go to the beach in the summer—sobering.

This morning (Tuesday), we were woken up around 5:00am by another aftershock. Before breakfast, we listened to a BBC interview of a CAJ graduate who is doing relief work in Sendai and read a letter from the Pastor of Sendai Reformed Church, who wrote:

"We have ascertained that all of the pastors and families in the Northeast Presbytery, and as far as we know at this time, all of the believers and families are safe....Please pray for us that we will stand firm in our belief that in life and in death, everything is in our Lord’s hands. Please continue to pray for those churches that have suffered tremendous losses. Please pray for those who are laboring day and night to rescue even one more life that is threatened... And let’s pray that those of us who have been spared may put this life to use for the Lord and for our neighbors."

Please continue to pray for Japan.

—Michael

Here's how mine went:

• Before church, I read a prayerletter of a CAJ staff member who wrote, "We had 2 kids left at school until 1am the day  of the quake, the rest of the kids and staff went home with people in the area. The train line of our nearest station started  back up again at about 10 or 11pm--which was 7-8 hours after the quake happened. The downtown lines did not start  up again until the next morning. We know of so many that walked 4-6 hours to get home from downtown!"

• On the way to church, I talked with a CAJ parent who was on the 15th floor of a building when the earthquake hit. He  said he could hear the steel girders creaking and that he got home at 2:00 in the morning. 

• During church, I learned that a church member's mother had lost her home, felt another aftershock, heard that  missionaries we know are melting snow so they have water to drink, and listened to an encouraging sermon by Pastor  Katsumata about how God works when we are weak. 

• Right after church, I talked to a CAJ parent who was on the 17th floor when the earthquake hit. He saw buildings  swaying like trees in the wind and was quite frightened.

• In the afternoon, I went for a walk along the river—it was sunny and the birds were out. When I came home, I read more  about the nuclear power plants (a bit distressing), and watched a live video broadcast of a meeting of missionaries who  want to work together to do relief work. 

• Around 5:30pm, Kim, Anneke, and I had afternoon tea, watched a mystery, learned that CAJ is not having school  on Monday (in part because we are not sure how reliable public transportation will be), and learned that the Japanese  government is calling on everyone to conserve as much electricity as possible.

• At about 10:00pm, we went to sleep, only to be woken up around 10:30 by the city public address system announcing planned power outages on Monday (6:20～10:0) and 16:50～20:30) in an effort to prevent a massive electricity supply shortage.

It's now Monday morning.  I've learned that we will not be having a planned power outage. We went shopping for rice, milk, and so forth. Please continue to pray for Japan and for us.

—Michael
P.S. If you'd like to make a donation toward relief work in Japan, please visit:
http://www.crcna.org/Japan

On the one hand, we had sunny weather, our utilities worked, and we went grocery shopping. On the other hand, we learned more about the earthquake aftermath. 

Please pray:

• That those without utilities will get them soon.
• For safety and protection for those in the coastal areas and the area around the Fukushima nuclear power plants.
• That George, a member of our mission living near the ocean, will continue to be safe. Last night, he slept in his car, and today he plans to lead a small worship time in the home of Choshi Church members.

We'll keep you posted.

—Michael and Kim

I was talking to a teacher about a school improvement report when the earthquake hit. Biggest earthquake I’ve experienced. At CAJ, we evacuated the buildings and went out the playing fields.

Phones were down, so I had to use Skype to contact Kim, who was at home at the time. Praise God that we’re fine—no injuries and our house had no damage.

Here's what we did:

• Monday, Kim had her students work on their poetry essays.
• Tuesday morning, we had 3 inches of snow on the ground, but we still had school.
• Wednesday, Kim and I facilitated curriculum meetings.
• Thursday, I prepared for my accreditation visit to Kyoto International University Academy.
• And Friday, we watched high school students perform the musical Annie.

Thanks for praying:

1. Praise God for providing secondary teachers for English/social studies and math/science. 
2. Ask God to provide a secondary teacher for the resource room.
3. Ask God to help Kim's students apply a biblical perspective to their favorite lyrics.
4. Ask God for energy for Michael he continues to prepare to visit to Kyoto International University Academy.

Have a good weekend. And thanks for being involved in God's work in Japan.

—Michael
P.S. Want to see what we think of a drink called Sparking Chocolate?

We're looking forward to celebrating Christ's birth, having Caitlin back from college, being together as a family, and eating Christmas pudding! Next week, Kim's students will be giving presentations. I'll be learning about a new standardized test that CAJ might give. What are you doing next week?

Please keep praying:

1. Praise God that we continue to have good health.
2. Ask God for good family time with Caitlin.
3. Ask God to draw Japanese non-Christians to Himself through the Christmas-related events CAJ parents are doing.
4. Ask God to provide staff for next year. CAJ needs teachers (band, home ec, elementary) and a technology coordinator.

We're grateful for your prayers, gifts, and friendship.

What have you been doing this summer? We we've been staying cool by eating ice cream and sampling green, shiso-flavored  Pepsi (slideshow). Kim's been working on lesson plans for English 10, and Michael posted an online tutorial for CAJ teachers on making effective Biblical perspective assignments.

Thanks for praying!

1. Ask God to help Kim effectively revise her English 10 curriculum. She's working to further emphasize creation-fall-redemption.
2. Ask God to help members of a house church network to apply their July 25 training on sharing the Gospel. (Michael helped plan the training.)
3. Ask God to help new CAJ staff and students make a smooth transition to Japan/CAJ.

On Father's Day, Cailtin and Anneke gave Michael 2 pet beetles named Mike and Bob.

• Tuesday, Michael made a 1-minute video entitled "To Close the Gap, Do 4 Things."
• Wednesday, we prepared our milk cartons for recycling.
• And on Saturday, Kim is playing in the 2nd round of the national volleyball tournament for neighborhood teams. There are 9 players on each side.

Please keep praying:

• Praise God that Kim's summer school students got better at writing persuasive essays. Thanks for praying!
• Praise God that Michael was able to help a missionary develop a workshop for a network of house church leaders. The missionary is doing the workshop on Saturday.
• Ask God to help new CAJ staff to make a smooth transition to Japan/CAJ.

Kim is playing in a volleyball tournament, and I plan do to some reading and maybe some yardwork. Not sure what Caitlin and Anneke are planning to do.

If you were in Tokyo this Saturday, you might hear some English words that have different meanings...

• Sweat: A sports drink that I like and that some people think tastes like sweat.
• Member change: A substitution in an athletic event.
• Paper driver: A person with a driver's license who doesn't drive.
• Service: A free gift a store owner gives to promote customer loyalty, for example, a rice dumpling.

Thanks for praying for us:

• Praise God for providing full staff for next school year.
• Praise God for a good finish to the school year, including a fun graduation ceremony on June 5 and effective school improvement meetings on June 8.
• Praise God for good family time with Caitlin.
• Ask God to help Kim as she teaches 9 second language students how to write effectively. She will be teaching June 15-26.
• Ask God to help Michael as he leads a mission meeting on Monday and does coaching/consulting Tuesday-Saturday.

We're grateful for your prayers, gifts, and friendship.

We're doing well:

• Caitlin is home from college.
• Kim's English 10 students (including Anneke) are enjoying Shakespeare.
• No school on Monday & Tuesday (national holidays).

How can you pray?

• Praise God that Kim's students wrote effective essays on who they are spiritually.
• Ask God to provide teachers for next year (secondary science & math, elementary ESL).

Thanks for being involved in God's work in Japan.

The backdrop is a snowy night at a famous Buddhist temple. There are no shepherds, no wise men, no angels. But there are Santas. Many of them. In fact, the temple is crawling with the little red-clad characters, some of them carrying paper umbrellas.
 
This Japanese advent calendar isn’t like any I’ve ever seen in the U.S. The Santa labeled the 25th seems a little more familiar, flying a sleigh across the sky. But the 25th isn’t the final date. The really big date, the date the whole calendar is leading up to, is January 1—the biggest holiday of the Japanese year.
 
Sure, the stores in Japan play up Christmas. (Anything to move more merchandise.) But it’s still a small celebration. When dad gets home from work, there might be a small Christmas cake (white sponge cake, white frosting, and strawberries on top) and a present for each of the kids. Few Japanese have any idea that Christmas is about God being born as a human baby so He could grow up and die for the world.
 
The good news? Japanese want to find out more about this “Western” holiday. This means that friends and neighbors who usually decline an invitation to church are interested in coming to a candlelight service or a Christmas party. So, missionaries put on Christmas events during which they share the Gospel.
 
We’re grateful to be a part of this Gospel presentation. We’re glad we can:

• Invite friends to our church’s candlelight service.
• Decorate our front windows with the manger scene.
• Answer any questions that come our way.
• Support the massive outreach effort by educating missionary kids and by training/coaching missionaries.

And we’re grateful for your prayers, financial support, and friendship.

5: # of slideshows & videos I posted online in Sept.

4: # Japanese adults who were baptized on 9/29 at Kurume Bible Fellowship. Before getting baptized, each person shared a testimony. Please pray these 4 Christians will continue to grow in Christ.

3: # of coaching sessions I have next Tuesday with CAJ staff.

2: # of airplanes Kim will take to fly to see Caitlin in Ancaster, Ontario (Oct. 9-15). Please pray for travel safety and a really good visit.

1: # of essays Kim's English 10 students wrote this week. Please pray that Kim's students will continue to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.

Thanks for being involved in God's work in Japan.

During the past 2 weeks, we:

• Shared with supporters/churches about God's work in Japan. We showed a short video of square watermelons!
• Planned some curriculum and worked on some school improvement projects.
• Visited with family—we stayed with my folks/sister and visited aunts/uncles.
• Got Caitlin her Canadian study permit.

Kim, how’s your summer going?
We’re having a good time. So far, we’ve shared with supporters and churches in Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan. We’ve talked with family and friends. And we made a special cake to celebrate July 4. Read More...

Read More...

Michael, what changes have you noticed at CAJ since you started in 1987? The student body has grown from 280 to 460, the curriculum now includes Advanced Placement courses, and buildings (constructed in the 1960s) have been refurbished or replaced. What’s stayed the same is CAJ’s commitment to providing Christ-centered education. Read More...

Our weekly forecst is cool, rainy weather, with sunny progress.

Cool, rainy weather: We've been having unusually cool, rainy weather. Rainy weather poses problems for the many people here who use bikes to get around (slideshow). Today's low is 48, and today's high is only 61. Feels like October. How's your weather/

With sunny progress: 

• Tuesday: I'm looking forward to this afternoon's workshop where CAJ teachers will be discussing "How can you increasingly target Biblical perspective?" Last week, the group discussed "How does your Christian worldview affect your educational practice?"

• Friday: Kim's English 10 students will be writing movie reviews.

Here's what's gone well for us:

• Monday: Kim talked with 2 students about books they'd been reading.
  
• Tuesday: I got to facilitate an hour-long discussion about Christian worldview education. Fifteen teachers participated.
  
• Thursday: Kim read an essay in which a non-Christian student reflected on a Christian worldview.

Praise God for providing a band director and a home economics teachers. Ask God to provide a middle school English/social studies teacher.

Thanks for praying for us:

(1) Praise God for  Easter baptisms, including that of Mrs. T at Kurume Christ Church and 3 Japanese at Kurume Bible Fellowship. Read More...

Spring has arrived in Japan—cherry blossoms, good weather, and 6 baptisms on Easter Sunday!

Here's how ours went:

• Mon: No school!
  
• Tues: Michael attended an all-day meeting of 70+ mission leaders, where he gave a 10-minute presentation on ways to encourage missionaries.
  
• Wed: Kim's students did well on a poetry reading quiz. 
  
• Thurs: Michael submitted a workshop proposal for a Nov. conference in Hong Kong.
  
• Fri: Kim's students listened to Noah Pashapa, a Zimbabwean pastor, speak.

Kim just got done teaching English 10, and now we're off to Starbucks! 

Recent highlights for us include:

• Having one of Kim's CAJ students write on a test that he's grateful he's learning how to apply a Biblical perspective.
  
• Getting snow.
  
• Finding an English web site that gives a local weather forecast.
  
• Publishing a set of Biblical perspective teacher training standards. CAJ adopted them yesterday.

Michael, how did you see God working in 2007? God continued to answer prayers. There were baptisms, including the baptisms of 7 middle schoolers on one Sunday at Kurume Christ Church, baptisms at mission posts (including Mr. and Mrs. Shimizu), and the baptism of Yuga Takizawa, Kim’s Sunday school student. Read More...

Though our home computer died this week, we have much to be thankful for:

• Salvation
  
• Health and safety
  
• Autumn colors
  
• Turkey and stuffing

What are you thankful for? 

Our week went well:

• Sat.: Mr. and Mrs. Nagai got baptized.
  
• Sun.: We had rhubarb pie for dessert.
  
• Mon.: Kim helped 10th graders commit to a service activity.
  
• Tues.: Kim went on a 3-day leadership training for CAJ's 10th grade.
  
• Wed.: Michael shared his Biblical perspective tutorial with several CAJ staff.
  
• Thurs.: Michael further developed his workshop on self-management.
  
• Fri.: No school today!