Hi,
It has been a long time coming, but Spring is finally here. The cherry blossoms and tulips are gone and now the azaleas and wisteria are in full bloom. On April 17th we had work day at camp. It snowed in the morning! Then in May we had Spring Camp. For the first time in 50 years, so I heard, there was no rain and beautiful weather during the Japanese Golden Week (a week of holidays). We could work in short sleeves. Last year, we had to have heavy coats. Strange weather.
I am sorry I have not written. I kept putting it off so I could do other things. This has been a very busy time, first with my heart, then Jeanne’s neck. These things have slowed us down and we put things off. Then we must try to catch up. We are not sure why Jean is having problems with her neck. The doctor said one thing and then reversed that. She is planning to go to a doctor in Tokyo to see if he can find out why. But now we have LST coming next week and we will be busy with that. Maybe she will go during the Summer break.
We just finished Golden Week. This year it was longer than usual. April 29th is the start and it goes until the 5th of May. Most people get off the 29th, and work a couple of days and get off May 3-5. But this year, the 2nd was on Sunday and many people were off or took off the 30th and 1st. That gave them 8 days off. The roads, trains and planes were very crowded.
During this time we had the Spring Camp, May 3-5 [Check Out Picture Here]. It was such lovely weather, it seemed like Summer camp. We finished about 30% of a new cabin and other work. The cabin is still without a roof, so we must go back and finish that part soon (we put a tarp on it). It is a small cabin, about 9 feet by 9 feet. With 2 levels, it will sleep 6.
On the 29th of April, we had an area wide worship. 234 people from about 25 churches came. We enjoyed the singing and a good message by Randy Voss from the Omika church. It was really a good meeting.
On Saturday, May 15th, our first Let’ Start Talking team will come. They are from the Bellevue church in Washington. The second team is from Harding University. Each team will stay for 3 weeks. We have 56 signed up out of 60 needed. I am sure that that many will come to the information meeting. We are excited about having LST come and work with us, again.
For those who know Usami-san, she is not doing well. She has decided to stop the treatments at the hospital, because they are making her so sick and don’t seem to be doing much. She will try other methods. Keep her in your prayers. She is a very important person in Tomobe church. God provides whatever we need and when we started this church, she was God’s helper. I don’t think that we could have done it without her. We still need her wisdom.
I, again, want to thank all of you who have helped us through the years. This year will mark our 35th year in Japan. It is hard to realize that most of our life has been spent in this country. And without your help, we would not be able to be here. God has blessed us, through you, with a wonderful life. We have so many brothers and sisters and friends here. I don’t know how many more years God will permit me to stay here on this earth, but I hope to spend them here in Japan. Not because I like it better here, but it is where He has placed me. May He bless you all.
Serving Him in Japan,