It is that time to review the year once again! No matter where you lived 2021 will be remembered as a challenging year. April 2022 will mark our fifth year as a family in Japan. What was 2021 like for us?
For us 2021 was a tiring year as we had planned to go back to the US for furlough in 2020, but were unable to due to the issues in travel associated with COVID. We instead decided to push ourselves and stay another year in Japan believing that we could do more ministry rather than going back to the USA, staying indoors, as well as not visiting many churches due to Covid cancellations. We stayed in Japan continuing to invest in people, teach English using the Bible, and doing our daily evangelism not knowing exactly what the future would hold. During this time we invested in a lot of online ministry including social media and our website AfterDeathTruth.net. Many thousands read our website as well as gospel tracts.
2021 was also a year for tragedy as a few people died. Dennis, whom I had led to the Lord and started to disciple passed away due to complications. ( https://youtu.be/dPsQNgTDeTw ) Our friend Bill, a veteran missionary, also passed away from Covid. Also, Katie's grandfather passed away from old age while we were in the USA. Fortunately we were able to see him before he passed and attend his funeral. A few people that we knew from the USA and Japan also passed away during this season. However, it was also a time for joy as our son Albert was born! It was an answered prayer that he got to meet his great grandfather for whom he was named and bring him much joy before Grandpa Albert passed. If we had came in as we had planned earlier our Albert would not have been born yet and this couldn't have happened. We praise God for his perfect timing!
I tried to attend the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which was moved to 2021, but had a lot of difficulties due to the strictness of the event. Our special ordered Japanese tracts didn't come until after the Olympics finished, so we were only able to get out a few hundred gospel tracts at the opening ceremony. There were more police than people at the event, which included protests to shut it down due to Covid! The event was not as productive as we had hoped it would be.
From August 2021 onward we returned to the USA for furlough, transitioned back to American life, visited many churches, and reconnected with many people. We were able to experiences the changes happening in the USA while engaging people in evangelism. (Especially Hispanic people in every city we went to in the USA with Spanish gospel tracts.) We were able to update our information, prayer card, and rest considerably. 2021 was a difficult year for many, but also a year of blessings. We look forward to returning to Japan in March Lord willing to continue on to our second term as a family. This will be an exciting time as we hope to move to a new area and start the process of church planting. Thank you for your prayers and support!
