The Santa Project

Time has really been flying by lately!! Since Thanksgiving our schedule has been jam-packed as we have hosted 3 volunteer teams here in Tokyo. We have been working as much as we can in order to make the best use the teams' time here. Our winter volunteer emphasis is called The Santa Project. Volunteer mission trip teams come dressed up as Santa Clause, Mrs. Clause, elves, Frosty the Snowman, etc and pass out free Christmas CDs and tracts about the real meaning of Christmas. The Japanese are fascinated by the Christmas season although they know practically nothing about its meaning, so God gives us many unique opportunitues to share with Japanese through this special project. Crowds form around Santa everywhere he goes! In less than one month the teams passed out around 60,000 tracts and CDs, amazing! This is a picture of one of our Santas with a group of Japanese girls (they are reading the tracts they had just been given):

Thank you so much for your prayers - God has been working here in ways that have not been seen in many years. Since Thanksgiving our team has seen 5 people pray to receive Christ! It has been truly amazing to watch God open these hearts and see His light begin to penetrate the darkness of this nation. One of those new believers, Y, was baptised a couple of weeks ago, and Trent continues to disciple him. What a blessing to have that experience so soon in our time here. This picture is from his baptism:

Another special way we are able to do outreach this time of year is by hosting Christmas parties. We live in the same area as our supervisor and his family, so together we hosted a Christmas party for our neighbors and friends. We had over 50 people attend! Each one of them heard the Christmas story and was given a "Manga" Bible (a popular Japanese-style animation) as a gift. They also had the privilege of hearing us help lead Christmas carols in Japanese, HA! Check out this video of us with some volunteers singing Silent Night in Japanese and English:

Lindsey is also especially thankful for your prayers about her transition to homeschooling the Brents' children. She adjusted quickly and is really enjoying this new job. Below is a picture of her and her "class" with Santa:

Overall we just cannot thank you enough for your prayers for us and for the Japanese people. In the past 10 weeks we have seen God's faithfulness in our lives and in this country. We are so thankful! Please continue to support us through your prayers! On the right side of the page you can find our latest prayer requests and praises. Thank you!!!

Finally I will leave you with this picture of my first Christmas shopping experience in Japan. If you thought malls were crowded where you live... well just look at what it's like here!!