From Christmas to New Year's!

We had a great Christmas here in Japan! It was filled with new traditions, some old ones, and lots of Skyping with family. We were able to exchange presents with family and watch them open and vice versa. Skype is wonderful! We always say that it's God's gift to missionaries. 

Christmas Eve was a wonderful day as well. We went to the park and Dana did face painting. 
As we drove there we prayed that the Lord would use us and that we would maybe even speak to someone who spoke some English. We were a little nervous about going there and doing this because we didn't know how it would be received. So, we also prayed for boldness. We parked our car and got out just as the lady in the car next to us was walking up to put her 2 year old in the car. She read the sign that Dana was holding and asked her son if he maybe wanted one. She began speaking to us in Japanese but we couldn't understand everything. We did understand her asking us where we live and where we are from. When we told her we're from America, she said in perfect English,'Oh, what state are you from?' We were very surprised. We told her Oregon and she lit up. "I spent 2 months in Oregon. I love it there!", she said. Smiles illuminated our faces. To be able to talk to someone about Oregon was surreal. She told us she teaches English and wants her son to be able to speak English, but he only understands English right now. We are finding that to be very common here. If only one parent speaks English then the children will understand, but will not know how to respond so they don't speak it. We gave her our business card and told her she should come to our house some time so we could talk and our boys could play. Her son likes Thomas, too. We told her that maybe Caden could get her son speaking English if they become friends and she was very excited about that. 

The picture above is of 4 boys that came and got their faces and hands painted. At first they were kind of acting like it was too much of a little kid thing to do, but soon they were fighting at the bit to get Santas and Rudolphs painted on their cheeks. We were able to give them Christmas CDs with the gospel message on them. We are hoping that their families will hear these CDs as well. The park was dead other than that because it was a little chilly and Christmas Eve. We were thankful for the answered prayer of meeting someone who spoke English and for the 4 boys we met there. 

On the evening of Christmas Eve we were surprised by two visits from our neighbors. One from K-san and T-san. They wanted to wish us a Merry Christmas and even brought us a gift. It was a beautiful 5 frame picture frame. We had also bought them a Christmas gift since we have become friends with them. They think our Starbucks mugs are huge and laughed the first time they saw them so we bought each of them a huge Starbucks mug. They told us they will never use them but thought it was funny. Our other visit was from our neighbors the H-sans. They are our neighbors that live around the corner and have the two boys who play with Caden. She made cookies and they also brought us styrofoam wrapped apples. We have great neighbors!

The day after Christmas we met up with a couple that we had met at the store our first day alone here in Okayama. We met them at a restaurant here called Mr. Donuts. We were so impressed that they remembered our names and so embarassed that we didn't remember theirs. They were very forgiving and we asked them to write their names down so that we wouldn't forget. We had a great time with this couple. After our visit we invited them to our house some time and they were very excited about coming over. The best part about them is that they are very loud and goofy. Just my kind of people! We are really hoping that this couple will soon consider us friends.  

Today we have a family coming  over that we met through our hoikuen. The have two children, No-kun (4) and Em-san (5 months). M is the husband and he is an American from Ohio. His wife is Y-san and she is Japanese. He is very interested in spiritual things and is especially interested in Dana. He says that it is humbling to be around someone who is so sure of what they believe in and wants to know more about our beliefs. We went to their house last week and saw their shrine in their tatami room. When Dana began asking about it M told him that he is an ordained Buddhist priest and that he had spent 6 months with monks in order to become one. I find it interesting that he has devoted so much time and energy into Buddhism yet still seems to be unconvinced. Just goes to show how every other religion is unfulfilling.  I am so thankful to have a religion that is unlike any other because it is a relationship above all else. 

Please be praying for:

1. The woman and her son that we met at the park. Please pray that she will call us and a relationship will be formed.

2. For the 4 boys that Dana face painted and that they and their family will listen to the CD and their ears would be opened to the message.

3. For the family we met with at Mr. Donuts. They are the Sh-sans. Pray that we can meet with them again soon.

4. For M and his wife Y-san and their children. Please be praying that he will continue searching and questioning and that we could point him to the truth that is Jesus Christ. 

Thank you so much for your prayers of support and encouragement. We are continually blown away by what God is doing around us and through us. Please know that your prayers are being answered and we feel so lifted up by your prayers everyday. 

Love and prayers, Amy