The start of this year was super busy! We welcomed Naomi into the world, had a month of grandparents, started a new school year, and had a lot of work transitions.

INTRODUCING NAOMI

In February, we welcomed our seventh child into the world! Naomi Eloise is doing well and Leah has fully recovered.

VISIT FROM PARENTS

March was full with visits from parents. Leah’s mom and dad visited. Then, the day they left, Cody’s mom and step-dad arrived! It was a lot of fun having them meet Naomi and having the kids get some much needed grandparent time (more like grandparents having some much need grandchildren time).

NEW SCHOOL YEAR

The day Cody’s parents left, the twins had their Kindergarten graduation followed up by their Elementary School entrance ceremony a week later. We have all been getting used to the new school year.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Language continues to be our main focus. We are supposed to reach JLPT N2 (the second highest language proficiency test) by the end of 2027! We have been studying hard and making some great progress by talking with friends, school teachers, and doing everyday life requirements.

CHURCH PLANTING

Ethan (the husband of our partner family) also had a graduation and entrance of sorts. He switched from teaching English full time to doing ministry full time. This has allowed us to make significant progress laying the foundation of the church: legal church entity requirements, building search, evangelism and discipleship plans, etc.

PRAYER REQUESTS

As things begin to settle down from the excitement of this year’s first few months, please pray for us, specifically in these ways:

Continue to pray that our kids adapt well. They enjoy being here, but there are always challenges living in a new and foreign place. They are learning Japanese slowly, but we have fun sharing new words as a family.
Keep our friends, neighbors, and teachers in your prayers. We and our kids continue to make friends and connections in our area. The chance to share the gospel isn’t always there, but our main focus is building trust. Pray that our relationships can grow and that we will represent Christ well.
Pray for our church plant as we lay foundation work. Sometimes it seems slow, but we know these details are important. Pray that our team continues to have unity and a shared vision for ministry.
Be praying for our church location. Right now we meet in one of our core member’s English cram school and current home. Our goal is to move closer to our area and have space to grow (also a place with enough parking). We are still figuring out how to proceed, but we may need to purchase land and build to meet our needs.
Pray that we continue to learn language well. This is our primary goal right now. Learning Japanese allows us to live here well and do ministry well.
Lastly, pray for our friends Don and Mayumi. They are the ones who let us use their building for church. Don has been a missionary in Japan for 30 or so years. He has been suffering from parkinson’s disease and, in the last few weeks, his health and mental state has sharply declined. He is currently in the hospital suffering from an infection and pneumonia.

May 2026 Newsletter