We are having a beautiful spring season here in Indiana, and we hope you are as well in your part of the world.

Vision Trip

We have been hoping to take our vision trip to Ishinomaki, Japan this summer in order to meet the team and get a feel for what life will be like there before we move. We are on track to reach our $5,000 goal for that trip by June 1st, however at this point it does not look like it will be possible for us to enter the country this summer due to Covid. The vision trip has been postponed again, but we know that we will be ready when God opens the door. We believe that God's plan is unfolding exactly as it should, and one day we will be able to look back on this season of waiting and see God at work, even if it looks very different from what we expected. Proverbs 16:9 reads, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." That being said, this news has still been difficult for us. We ask that you would pray for us as we mourn and as we strive to use this time to serve and make disciples right where we are.

Language Learning

We continue to make steady progress in our Japanese lessons. The Japanese language consists of three alphabets, two of these are called Hiragana and Katakana. These two alphabets have a set numbers of characters to learn (like our English alphabet) so we have learned to read and type with them pretty well. This month we started to tackle the third series of characters, Kanji. This is a Japanese writing system using Chinese characters and is quite complex as there are thousands of characters! The feeling of fun and enjoyment ebbs and flows with language learning, so we're very thankful to be hit with a fresh wave of motivation.

Bridges Outreach

The last week of March was the beginning of our middle and high schoolers' spring break, so we had a special Bridges program at a community center during the break. We played games and had snacks as usual, but we also focused on preparing for the kids' futures. We talked about colleges, explored career possibilities, set some goals, and ended the week with a college campus tour. We got the kids thinking about what they want to do when they grow up and what steps they can take toward that future. These moments are very rewarding, and we are blessed to be able to mentor these kids as we try to love them like Jesus does.