Fun with Family

We were so blessed to be able to spend the month of June visiting family. These are some of the special memories we had of our time with everyone.




We enjoyed having many meal out! We miss being able to eat "American" fast-food!


We had a wonderful time with Jon's brother's family. Olivia and Annabella loved jumping on the trampoline with their cousins!


We also spent time soaking up the sun, and playing in the pool. We haven't found many pools in Japan, so this was a special treat for the girls.



We also had a special tea party with Grandma and Great Aunt Mary. We were all decked out in the special hats we made! Simply lovely!

Hope you enjoyed a few pictures from our travels!

Japanese Barbecue with Friends

Here is a group photo we took at the end of an early summer barbecue at a friend's house. It was the first time we were involved with such a big social event with friends. it was a great opportunity to enjoy time with several friends, and also to meet several new families.
I had a great time hanging out with the guys, and actually had several spiritual discussions. Two of the guys pictured here expressed interest in reading and discussing the Bible together sometime.
Olivia and Annabella had fun playing with the kids. Here is Olivia inspecting a tiny cherry blossom tree with two friends.

Fun with our friends

We are very blessed to have a missionary family from our team here with us at language school. Their children are even close to the girl's ages. Meg is almost five years old, and Titus is three.Here are the kids playing in the snow two and a half weeks ago. Yes, you read that right...we have had snow recently. This past week it has been in the 70's though. The kids loved playing together in the snow. We even got a snowman out of the adventure.


See if you can pick out who is who in this picture. Lots of fun with our friends, the Dingles.

Washing the dishes...and realizing my sin

The other day I was washing our dishes and started thinking. It is sometimes frustrating that we don't have a dishwasher. (I realize that some of you may not have a dishwasher either) It is at times therapeutic to wash dishes, and at other times just frustrating. Anyway, I was particularly frustrated because I had to wash a dish twice. I had washed it in the morning, and then noticed that it was still dirty. I became frustrated that I didn't have a dishwasher to blame. I could only blame myself.


Then I realized that this is true about most of life. We want to be able to blame someone else for our own mistakes. This didn't start with us, but all the way back at the beginning of time, with Adam and Eve. What joy there is in admitting our sinfulness and coming to Jesus for forgiveness.

That is what I realized as I was washing dishes one day. God is apart of every aspect of our lives if we take time to wash the dishes and be with Him.

New Prayer Letter & Songs to Download

Here is our most recent prayer letter, mailed out about 2 weeks ago. Click on the image to enlarge:
You can also download it as a PDF file: April07 Pfeil Prayer Letter.
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In other news, I recently posted 4 of my original songs at: www.purevolume.com/jonpfeil

Songs can be listened to at the site, or downloaded as MP3s. Lyrics and song stories also posted. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments.
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Helping with College Ministry in Chiba

While we were visiting our team in Chiba, we got to jump in and help with the new school year kick-off events for College Ministry (starting April 10.) Here I am with Nagata-san (head of College Ministry for our Team) in front of Kanda University of Foreign Studies. As a private school, we're not allowed on campus, but we got permission to pass out flyers outside the gate for our English outreach party at our nearby church-plant.Olivia was our little charmer, and whoever she stood with always passed out the most flyers! :) Unfortunately, we did not get any new students to to our first event. Please pray that God would remove the physical and spiritual barriers preventing students from coming to check us out.

We passed out flyers to students of Chiba University outside the nearby train station during their new student orientation day. The school has become very sensitive to off campus cult groups as evidenced by this sign above. (Last year serious problems of sexual abuse were exposed.) This warning was posted on the school website, and incoming students are being warned to watch out for off-campus groups. Unfortunately, our ministry has become guilty by association - even though we have had a great reputation on campus for the last 10+ years.

Our Friday IMPACT Night Party went well, and we did have one new student attend in addition to several returning from last year. We all ate together, played some games, and then I sang one of my original songs and gave a little talk on Psalm 23 ... in Japanese!

It was great to have Sarah and the girls there. It helped create a comfortable family atmosphere, along with some of the other Japanese staff's families. We really look forward to God using us as a whole family to reach out to students in the future.

Here I am with 3 Japanese staff, and 2 short-term missionaries, showing off our "best form". Please be praying for Nagata-san, Uchida-san, and Numakami-san and their families. (They are all staff or interns at Japanese churches, and commit part of their time to College Ministry.) In spite of recent challenges on campus, we are blessed to be working with these men and their families.

A Taste of the future (10 days in Chiba)

Here we are in Chiba (just east of Tokyo around the bay) where we will be serving after language school. We came at just the right time to enjoy the peak of the sakura (cherry blossoms). We stood in wonder at God's magnificent creation.
I got to attend a youth-led special worship service on Saturday night at Oyumino Church. It was exciting to see a vibrant community of young Japanese believers.
This photo shows some of the fellowship time after dinner. Pray that these young Christians would continue to grow in their vision for the future of the Church in Japan!

After Worship on Easter Sunday, the girls got to take part in an easter egg hunt with kids from church and the community.

Buddhist & Shinto Lifestyle

We joined our friends Minako-san and Manabu-san for dinner at his parent's house.
It was a traditional Japanese house with tatami mats for flooring and a kotatsu table for eating dinner. In the corner behind Olivia in the photo below, you can see the Butsudan (family Buddhist altar).


The Butsudan contains an image of Buddha, surrounded by photographs and objects commemorating the deceased. It also serves as a repository for the souls of the dead where daily offerings of rice and tea can be made.

Some close-up shots of the golden Buddha and offerings to deceased grandfather (including apples and cigarettes):

Interestingly, in another room in the house was a Shinto Kamidana ("godshelf") - a whole different religious tradition from Buddhism (after centuries of mutual antagonism, they peacefully coexist now).

Japanese live in a world surrounded by Buddhist and Shinto culture and traditions, and see religion not so much as a personal faith but as a collection of rituals. Please pray for our Japanese friends, that they would not just see Christianity as another religion they can "add to their shelf", but as a radical life-saving relationship with their singular, loving, all-powerful Creator!

Taking Sarah's Sister to Tokyo

Sarah's sister Emily has come to Japan on a 2-month "mission trip" to serve us (and her cute nieces!) She Has been such a blessing to have with us. You can read a little about here life here in Karuizawa on her blog: EmilyLovesSushi. We took Emily into to Tokyo on a fun adventure. We visited several places including historic Asakusa.
This is a the famous 5 story pagoda of Sensoji Temple.

Beautiful Exterior, but Spiritual Darkness ...

We were impressed by the stunning architecture of Sensoji Temple, but were also brought close to tears as we watched person after person coming forward - some to pray, some to worship, and some to just do their "Japanese duty" and pay their respects. Most Japanese would not claim to be very religious, yet when they face pain, struggles, and uncertainty, they have nowhere to turn but these idols of gold, and patterns of superstitious rituals. Here is the view walking up to the Sesoji Temple (dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon - a being dedicated to assist those in attaining Buddhahood).
Purifying self with incense smoke before entering Temple (above). Throwing coins and praying for ...?