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Background Info:

We met at Fuller Seminary, sharing a common interest in Japan and missions. We were married in 1997 and continued moving forward toward our goal of serving overseas. Eric finished his Master of Divinity at Fuller, and then taught for two years at a charter school for troubled teens in southern California.  Sue continued working on her degree, and served in Asian Access' U.S. office in staff development and human resources. Sue is from New Jersey and previously spent 3 years in Japan prior to getting married. Eric is from Hawaii and has done ministry in Brazil with a Japanese congregation.

Ministry Assignment:

We are committed to long-term church planting ministry in our new location of Sanda, Japan. (Sanda is about 40 minutes from Osaka and Kobe). We are serving as Area Leaders in the Kansai Church Planting Network. Partnering with Peter & Wendi Thomson, and their family, we hope to to see the residents of Sanda Japan come to know and worship our Savior. New Communities is the name of the Japanese church that we are working with to plant new house churches in our community. Our hearts are committed to building significant relationships in the community through investing our talents, gifts, and lives. Our children Owen, Annie, and Olivia, as well as our little Maltese Molly, have helped us in great ways to build relationships!

Prior to moving to Sanda in July 2004, we spent two years in Sendai, Japan at Sendai L'Abri Bible Church. Eric learned a lot about the church's outreach to children, and both of us learned about discipleship in Japan through a great program at our church there.

Words of wisdom...

Pray expectantly, knowing that God delights in making our paths clear. He will not (usually) unfold the whole plan, but will always give you enough light to make the next step.

When you're in Japan, be sure to...

Go to an outside hotspring!

What we've learned here...

We love to be creative in doing ministry. We’ve used our hobbies (old ones and new ones!) to build relationships – bonsai, cloth-dying, even practical jokes! It's great that God takes who we are and wants to use us to do His work.

Funniest story of life in Japan...

I (Sue) was at a farewell party in a church in Japan after I had spent a summer there. I was giving a farewell speech, being translated for the church by a proficient translator. The pastor and his wife had a darling 5 year old son (I was single at the time). I said in English, "I don't care how many years I have to wait, it's worth it to me if I can marry the Satos' son."

The translator translated. The pastor, his wife, and the congregation, were silent, and slowly turning green. So I repeated the sentence. The translator translated it again, hesitantly, looking at me to clarify. That time I caught what he said in Japanese: "I don't care how many years I have to wait, it's worth it to me if I can marry Sato - san." (San is the Japanese word for "Mr"). Needless to say, we all turned red, and laughed a lot after that!

Wonderful ministry memories

We love loving the Japanese people. There's no greater joy to us. They are warm, and open, and often difficult to understand -- but the blessings are way beyond any others that we know.

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