APRIL RECAP

Happy May! We have been meaning to send out an April recap for a while now but you see that cutie above who loves punching keyboards... she kind of makes sitting at a computer for more than five minutes hard, add her three-year-old brother to the mix who decided naps are no longer essential and now writing to you all takes a miracle. Yet here we are, a miracle taking place, a few days late but here nonetheless. We are finally ready to see how you are doing after this past month of quarantine and to let you in on some exciting things that have been unfolding in our world. First things first, we are so glad you are here and following along on this journey and would love to hear how you are doing! You are so very important to us and we would love to hear from you! So please, reply to this email so we can hear how you are holding up, what questions you have about our journey, and what you need prayer for! For us, April was a big month amidst social-distancing. We've "tried" balancing times of rest and connection with each other, times of learning the Japanese language and bible, and times of tasks for our move. I'd give ourselves an A in the connect category, Aaron an A+ in learning, and myself an A+ in tasks! All in all, we couldn't each ace every category but together as a team, we did pretty well. Let's just say May holds a lot of learning for me and I can't wait to dive in. In April, we sold everything we own except for a few books and our Jeep, but if all goes well that may be sold by the end of the week! In this entire process, our goal has been to make space for God. This has led us to make decisions that to others doesn't make sense. We have decided from the start that we are all in and willing to be radical in following God despite what it may look like. Aaron stopped working in March and we began support raising for full-time missions. In April with no specific move date in sight, we still sold everything so we can be fluid and move when God moves. The more and more we let go the more anticipation we are filled with knowing God has room to show up and will. And so far He has! In April we got an invitation from our dear friends Herbert and Lorelei Barbutti to be apart of Iris Global to start a base in Tokyo. To have this family to run and pursue God with and the covering of Iris Global is an answer to prayer. We are now officially Iris Global missionaries and raising support through their website. Our original idea of being in Japan by June is still on the table but it could be sometime in July as well. We fully trust God to open the way in His timing and will be doing what we can in the meantime to prepare. Paperwork is beginning to be processed and we are praying that by the time we receive our Certificate of Eligibility from Japan that the consolute in San Francisco will be open again to give us visas. Because of everyone's generosity and selling our belongings, In April we went from 17% to 90% for our moving costs goal last month! We continued support raising for our living costs once in Japan which has been quite the learning curve and led us to a place of greater surrender and faith. If I were to say one thing I have learned this month it is that God is faithful and near in the minute details of our lives, the big transitions, and the unprecedented times. I pray that as we share with you all that God is doing and saying that you will be encouraged and full of radical faith. I believe that as you begin to make space for God, He will come and fill it all to overflow. Blessings and love,