How Our Journey Began

We are starting this blog because about a year ago, we began to feel that for us, the Lord's command to "go and make disciples of all nations" was a call to Japan to tell people there about good news of Jesus (Matthew 28:19). Much has happened since then, and this blog is a record of our journey the Lord is leading us on, wherever that takes us. It's also invitation for anyone who would want to join in the story, and support us in prayer as we seek to be obedient to the great commission for the sake of Japan.

The Timeline

October 24
When we first got married, Louise assumed I would say we're moving to Japan. But that didn't happen, and she forgot. But around October 2024, Japan began to be on Louise's heart. She began to pray about what that might mean. She didn't tell me but prayed that if it was on her heart to also put it on my heart and I would be the one to bring it up so she knew it was from the Lord.

November 24

I did not start the school year with the intention of leaving. I was happy with work. I felt like I was getting the hang of it and was ready to continue to prayerfully and patiently look for gospel opportunities. It was while reading a sermon preached by Hudson Taylor I read the words of Jesus to go into the world and make disciples of all nations. And I want to be careful about relying on subjective experience for guidance, but when I read the word "go", I felt it powerfully and directly, and it in that moment it seemed so obvious that we should be ready to go and reach nations in need of the gospel. So I began to think about the possibility of us living out the great commission abroad.

I kept it in my mind and later just prayed, if the Lord would want us to go somewhere, where, and Japan quickly came to mind. I thought it might have been the Lord. I had wanted to go before, but did not seriously consider living there. But I thought maybe this was the time. Later that day, on Youtube a video popped up where Christians were interviewed about life as a Christian in Japan. At the end, the pastor said the harvest was plenty by the labourers are few in Japan, and if those listening felt God was calling them to go to Japan to do it. Having already prayed about it earlier that day, this felt like a confirmation to me.

I looked in to it and was surprised by the level of need for the gospel. I had heard it called the "missionary graveyard", but I did not know Japan is the second most unreached people group in the world. Out of over 120 million people, 1-2% identify as Christian, and of that 0.4% identify as evangelical Christians. Many Japanese have not met a Christian and some do not even know who Jesus is. This encouraged me even more.

I kept all this in mind and prayed about it. Eventually I told Louise, and she said she had been praying. This was encouraging for us.

December 25

There were big and small encouragements on the way, leading us to believe the Lord was in it.

At that time, I was teaching my Y8s in a geography class room once a week. And I had never noticed before in the three months of teaching, but there was a map next to the whiteboard with one of the countries was labelled with a large arrow pointing towards. It was Japan. When you are praying for confirmation, these things start to look like signs.

We were also thinking of things that would prevent us from leaving, and praying that if the Lord would have us go to remove obstacles. One major thing was that we were in the final stages of purchasing of a flat. Everything had gone through on our side and we were waiting for final checks to go through on the seller's side. He was moving country and seemed to have everything lined up, but was waiting to sell the flat so he could move. So we prayed that if the Lord would want us to go to Japan, He would stop the sale from going through. We met the owner and he said he his own move planned and was just waiting for someone to buy the flat so he could go. There was no sign he was going to pull out. Then 4 days before Christmas, we were informed that the seller had pulled out because of some issues. When we told people they seemed sorry for us, but we were excited that this could be the Lord clearing our path.

March 25
I decided to leave school to be ready to leave in the new year. There was no concrete plan yet, but wanted to time to prepare and to look for opportunities.

We got in touch with PT and Suzanne, for counsel and prayer and they told us that a few people they knew were thinking of going to Japan. And the week before we arranged to meet PT was invited to a conference on reaching Japan for Christ. This was another encouragement.

We were planning a trip to Japan to get a feel for the place and visit some of the churches, and see what connections we could make. At the time when we had to book flights and accommodation, I ironically received money through a teacher retention scheme I had applied for earlier in the year. The amount was double what it had been in previous years, and covered the flights and accomodation.

April 25
In April we visited Japan for 10 days. It gave us a bit more of an insight into Japan and there were some encouraging moments.

One was in Shibuya, when we were stopped for an interview by some young Japanese ladies. They wanted to see if we could understand some loanwords. Then they asked us why we were in Japan and we said we wanted to tell people there about Jesus, and were given the opportunity to share a brief gospel message for their listeners! We pray it had some impact.

One of the main things we wanted to do in Japan was go to Calvary Chapel Ginowan in Okinawa, because this is where we were thinking of moving. God helped us to get there on the morning. We thought we wouldn't make it or would be really late, but an available taxi came past and got us there just on time. We didn't get to talk to the pastor but were very blessed connected with some of the church there. One of the elders invited us out for lunch. Someone else we met there worked at an international Christian school nearby, and said they might have a position open (It looked like a perfect opportunity but my application was unsuccessful).

While in Japan we were praying and trying to discern if a particular place stands out to us. Louise felt at peace in Tokyo. I felt like Okinawa made sense for us, but nowhere felt for certain.

We were sad to leave, but were excited at the thought the Lord would be calling us to Japan for the gospel.

July-September 25
I've now left the school I was working at, and since then we've been seeking the Lord and trying to plan and prepare for what's next. There have been ups and downs, moments of excitement and discouragement, but we are looking forward to what the Lord has next, whatever that is.

What's next

If you would like to see what's next for us, here is what we're considering as are our next steps. And if you would be willing to join us in prayer for our next steps, and for the nation of Japan, you would be more than welcome to sign up below. We would be very thankful. And if there is any way we could pray for you, please contact us.