"Momiji" - Japanese Maple Leaves

It is beautiful here in Karuizawa in the fall. The maple trees especially are brilliant in their reds, oranges, and yellows. ENJOY!

Reaching Out with our Local Church

As you know, our primary focus right now is Japanese language study (and Karuizawa is not our long-term location for ministry). As we study, though, we also are looking for practical ways to use and improve our Japanese. The church we have been attending recently approached me with an opportunity to serve the church, and also build relationships with Japanese high school students in the area.
In cooperation with members of Karuizawa Christ Church, I will be helping to reach out to students from the large high school right next to the church building. I'll bring some "international flavor" and appeal, and we hope this new ministry will help break down barriers and bring new students into the church building on Saturdays. This is designed as a "pre-evangelistic" outreach, to introduce students for the first time to God's people and God's word in a welcoming and fun environment.

We met early on Wednesday morning in front of the school to pray, and then pass out the above flyer to the students as they came in by foot and bicycle. Pray with us that God would bring the right students, and that we would soon be able to establish a sense of "community identity" that will continue to attract new students in the future. Pray that God would bless my Japanese ability and enable me to work well with the church members, and that together, we would be able to share the love of Christ in a very real and tangible way to the students.

Olivia and Annabella - Opening new doors

These are photos from a "tea party" that was held on our behalf at the community center. A new friend that we've made organized the party to help us meet other young families in the neighborhood. What a blessing. Our girls are definitely opening up new doors for us!


Here are some photos from the nearby "child support center" where the girls also go to play, do crafts, and sing songs. The hand print at the bottom is Olivia's (labeled with her name "oribia-chan") and represents the bright red "momiji" maple leaves that will be coming out soon.

Jon's Mom finished with Chemo!

Thank you so much for your prayers for Mom. She just finished the last of her scheduled chemo treatments at the end of September.

She still has some important tests coming up to confrirm what the next steps are, but what a blessing that God has carried her through this difficult phase which much grace.

Here is a photo of her looking beautiful as always (with some borrowed hair, just for fun).

Local "Undoukai" Sports Day

Here we are at the Karuizawa Elementary School "Undoukai" (Sports Day). It is big part of life in Japan, and is almost like a festival of sorts for the community. Some new friends of ours invited us to watch, and we actually saw a number of people we had met at various other places - including church!
All students are split up into the Red team and White team and compete for team points (notice their hats). The above picture shows a very team oriented game, the o-tama korogashi, where each team has a huge ball that they have to pass down the line of 100+ students, carry it around a pole, and then back to the starting point. The Red team won both attempts at this one.
This game, was quite amazing. Called kibasen, or cavalry game, it is played in teams of four. Three team members form a base, called the horse, and the fourth rides on top. The object of the game is for the "rider" to steal the caps of riders from the other teams. It actually was quite aggressive. A thowback to the old Samurai days! (In case you're wondering, the White team won this game quite handily.)

We learned a lot about Japanese culture: the importance of community, the pre-eminence of "team" over "individual", and the importance of tradition and protocol to the running of events.

College Ministry Board Meeting in Waseda

I took the Shinkansen "bullet train" to Tokyo and on to Waseda and back (~4 hour round trip) for a 3 hour College Ministry Board meeting for the Presbyterian Church in Japan. (See down below for a photo of my sleek ride.) My team leader, Dan Iverson, was there as well Nagata-san, a friend and co-worker in college ministry since my first visit to Japan back in 1998.

I mostly listened and learned, with my electronic dictionary in hand, and a little translation help from Dan. The meeting was exciting as I become more involved in praying and preparing for our future ministry. It was also sobering as I more deeply understood the difficulties and challenges that lay ahead.

For Example:
- Attendance has dropped and our college ministry meetings, and the general image of foreign clubs has been tarnished in the eyes of students due to a rise in "christian-like" cult activities on campus.
- Almost all of the Japanese College Ministry Staff that I knew from my previous time in Japan are no longer actively serving on campus. Some are in seminary, some have moved on, and some have had personal struggles. A few new staff have come on, but it has been difficult for them in many ways.
- Even after more than 10 years of partnership with Japanese Churches in College Ministry, the initiative for outreach still comes almost exclusively from College Ministry Staff, not the local church.

PLEASE PRAY:
- Pray that God would protect our staff, our students, and students on campus from these cults (including the Moonies, etc.)
- Pray for future kingdom workers and faithful young leaders for the church in Japan.
- Pray also for a missional vision for the church among both the current AND next generation of Japanese believers.

A Shinkansen Train, like the one I took to Tokyo...

Fellow Kingdom Workers in JAPAN

We had the priveldege of spending some time with my former roommate, Shinya, and his family. He had served as part of our college ministry staff for several years, and now is studying at a reformed seminary in Japan.

Please pray for Shinya and his family, that God would provide for them during Seminary, and prepare them for His Kingdom work ahead.


Olivia and Moka had met once in America about a year ago, and had fun getting re-aquainted. :)

MTW Field Retreat in Chiba, JAPAN

At the end of August, we were able to join ~15 other MTW missionaries from the Tokyo/Chiba & Nagoya Church-Planting Teams for a field retreat. We had a guest speaker from the States (Scot Sherman) and had a challanging and encouraging time. It was also great for Sarah and I to connect on a more personal level with these other MTW missionaries - future partners in the gospel here in Japan!

Special Time with Grandparents in America

With Grandma and Grandpa Pfeil in Hilton Head, SC


With Mimi & Papa Harrington in Richmond, IN

Olivia and Annabella had such a special time with their grandparents while we were in the States for Sarah's brother's wedding. The girls got to have tea parties, play "golf", play with water in the sink and in the pool, make special crafts, and just enjoy being together as family making lots of special memories.

We are so blessed by our loving, gracious, and generous parents who are such wonderful grandparents to our girls. What a joy to spend time with them, but also sad to say goodbye. Please pray that God would give us all continued creativity and grace as we seek for them to continue to be an integral part of Olivia and Annabella's lives, even halfway around the world.

Mom is halfway through her Chemo treatments

So the time has come. Mom (Liz Pfeil) is halfway through her Chemotherapy treatments, and her hair has decided to part ways with her. Dad gave Mom a nice trim with the shaver to help them on their way. Mom provided a photo for us, and in her own words ...

"It really doesn't look bad, in fact it may even make me look younger." :)

Mom has been blessed with minimal side-effects in this process and has about 5 weeks to go. It was very spceial that we could come visit her during the start of her treatment at the end of July. Olivia and Annabella were great "medicine" for her heart.

Please do continue to pray for Mom's healing and for God's sustaining grace for both Mom and Dad during this time.