Tuesday, October 30, 2007

On Thanksgiving

Beautiful fall leaves in Indiana

Instructions for thanksgiving
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV).

It always amazes us that so many Americans are surprised to discover that Japan doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving with turkey, dressing, parades, football, and the works. But think about it. November 22 (this year) is a day that recalls the Pilgrims’ surviving their first few winters in a new land. Why would this historical event that became a U.S. national holiday in 1863 be celebrated in Japan or, for that matter, anywhere else outside the U.S.?

Nevertheless, the Bible instructs us to give thanks always—and that has nothing to do with a certain day in November. It has to do with cultivating a heart of thanksgiving year round. However, in this month when many people are thinking about Thanksgiving, we’d like to join the celebration by recognizing some of our reasons to be THANKFUL.

Baby Ben
We’re pretty sure everyone in the world has heard that we’re going to be first-time grandparents in January—whether they wanted to know or not. Certainly we’ve been doing our best to get this word out! But perhaps you’ve not heard that Stephanie and Donald’s baby will be named Benjamin Donbor, in honor of our Benjamin (a second grade teacher on Guam) and Donald’s roots in Meghalaya, northeast India. (Donbor is a Khasi word meaning “to have strength.”) Needless to say, we’re THANKFUL.

Benjamin will be coming to Japan on December 14 and Stephanie and Donald will arrive from their assignment in Central Asia on December 22. Not only will we all spend Christmas and New Years together, but Little Ben will be born in Tokyo. That’s an extra special blessing, and we are THANKFUL. All the hospital visits so far show that Little Ben is developing well. Please keep Stephanie in your prayers as she continues teaching full-time through the end of the semester on December 21. Despite her exhaustion every evening, she is—we all are—THANKFUL for this new life growing within her.

Successful travels
In late October, Bernie traveled to Korea with 185 second-year Tamagawa Seigakuin high school girls for their annual school trip. One reason for this five-day excursion is the painful history of relationships between Japan and Korea in the early 20th century, some of which continue to impact today. Please pray that what the girls experienced will have long-term effect and encourage them to be peacemakers in the future. Although there were a couple of unexpected bits of trouble—one student’s passport fell into the hotel trash can and was almost lost, and a second student accidentally went through immigration to leave Korea on another girl’s passport—there were no major incidents. In fact, Bernie said it was one of the best school trips he’s been on. We are THANKFUL.

At the same time Bernie was in Korea, Cheryl was in the United States for meetings related to: Kid’s Place, the children’s educational missions program with which she has worked for ten years; Yet I Will Rejoice, the 2008 international testimonies book on which she is working; and Into All the World: A Century of Church of God Missions, a history book on which she is teamed up to research and write with her father. Although her father fell and broke a bone in his foot during the week she was there (ironically, on his way to exercise), it was a productive week for Cheryl’s various writing assignments, and we are THANKFUL. (She was in Anderson during the height of fall color, an added blessing that gave her many opportunities to thank God for the beauty of the world he has created.) Please continue to pray for timely progress on these various projects.

Other prayer concerns
Please continue to pray for a young Japanese woman, Eriko, about whom we've written in some recent newsletters. While her home situation is still difficult, she asked us to share with you her THANKSGIVING that God has radically changed her life and saved her from some bad habits of inflicting self-harm.

Please also pray for our upcoming fall missionary staff meeting on November 23. Pray that this would be an encouraging time for our whole staff. We are THANKFUL for all 10 career and special assignment missionaries (SAMs) on our staff here in Japan. And we are also . . . THANKFUL for you, for your prayers, and for your joining us on this blog.