October

It's been a full fall so far. We've been enjoying settling into life together, and were blessed by a visit from Caitlin's parents at the beginning of October. It was fun to have guests to show around! 

We also spent a day exploring Nara, a historically significant city about a 30 minute train ride away. The original capital of Japan, Nara is home to many important shrines and temples. While it was fun to see the beautiful architecture, it was also sobering to see the crowds coming to pray and worship.

The many deer in Nara are considered temple guardians.

The first weekend in October was Jubilee Kids' Sports Day (Undoukai), a major event in the Japanese school year, even for preschoolers. Caitlin's charges went through six weeks of rehearsals for the Saturday morning of games, races, and dances. She's not sure how much they understood what was going on, but the parents thoroughly enjoyed seeing their children participate in this tradition.

Jubilee Kids International Preschool

Thomas started the fall term at KIUA and has been enjoying helping his students further their English abilities, especially with writing projects for each class.  Last week, he went away with the middle and high schoolers to a camp on the coast of Wakasa Bay for three days. The students went fishing, hiking and made chopsticks inlaid with abalone shells. Although a challenge to harness the students' energy for that length of time, it was fun for him to have a chance to relate with the students outside of class. 

What else has been going on?

• Caitlin was able to complete the process of transferring her visa.
• A mother of one of the students at Jubilee Kids accepted Christ!
• We began attending a Wednesday night Bible study at our church. 
• Thomas ran in a 8.8 kilometer race in Osaka last weekend (see photo)! 

Thomas did well in his race last weekend!

This month, please remember these prayer requests:

• Pray that we will continue to grow together and be a blessing to each other and to those around us.
• Pray for the 99% of the Japanese people who do not know God as their Lord and savior.
• Praise God for new lives being given to him! Pray that the mother at Jubilee Kids who recently became a Christian will grow in her faith, and that the school can be a helpful support for her.
• Pray for perseverance and progress in language study, as well as opportunities to have meaningful conversations with those around us.
• Praise God for the opportunities we have to serve him at the schools we teach at. Pray that we will be able to show Christ's love to our students and present a positive attitude each day.

Shalom,

Caitlin and Thomas