Japan Updates!!!

Life is Hard, God is Good

Hey all! Just wanted to share some updates from living in Japan for nearly 6 months now! Check out this episode to hear what I’ve been up to, brief updates from Drew, the hard parts of living in a foreign country, and some encouragement for you!
I’ve been asked a lot what I’m doing in Japan. At first I felt like I had to explain or prove myself; it took a while for me to learn that my value is not in working. Thankfully, I've been reminded that my value is in being loved by God and loving others. Now I’d like to share some things I enjoy getting to do here in Japan:

• SAHW - Especially with adjusting to living in a new country, it’s such a gift that Drew & I can work together to tackle life tasks. We moved here for his job, and I try to make his life a little easier by taking care of things at home such as cleaning, cooking (learning Japanese recipes), dishes, laundry, groceries, running errands.
• Volunteer - I get to teach English conversation classes to local seniors, and help teach English to children with a friend of ours & help with English Club at Drew’s school!
• Study Japanese - compared to Spanish, it is an extremely difficult language. I was actually reading online about how it is the most difficult language to learn going from English to Japanese. Did y'all know there are like 3 alphabets?? At first I did not enjoy studying Japanese, it was a chore, a duty. But now?? I do enjoy it and I'm slowly understanding more & more when I listen to people talk. It’s exciting to grow in Japanese because I can use it to connect with people more!
• Church - services & activities. We love our church and it’s been great getting connected to our local community. we came to our church the first Sunday that we were in Japan. It was also the church we found online when we found out that we were placed in Kumamoto (also cool fun fact is that our pastor who did premarital counseling and was our officiant - he’s Japanese and his family came from Kumamoto). It’s an international church with a service for families and a service for young adults. Often all 6 inhabited continents are represented at church gatherings. Services are held in Japanese and English. I got to dance at the Christmas services and we get to help in some small ways, including leading an English bible study.
• Podcast - I’m trying to keep up with the podcast lol. It’s cool seeing goodness, truth, & beauty reach people even when they’re in rough situations. I also love getting to interview people & hear/share their stories both here in Japan and through video calls to the US.
• Bible study - I get to lead a Bible study with some ladies from church and Drew & I are connected to an online Bible study with Christians all over Japan.
• Hula classes - I can’t not be dancing! Hula is such a beautiful, peaceful style of dance. We’ve been learning a few pieces to perform which is so fun!

So very thankful for this season of not having to work a regular job, but getting to learn & serve in other ways.

Check out this episode to hear more!