Warming up for the marathon

Right before the race begins. Still smiling.

Preparing for the finish

Dying at 28km point

Regaining a smile at 36km point in front of Arc de Triomphe

Forced smile after the race

Cost of marathon - blisters!

Joy and pain sum up this wonderful experience. After a strong start and completing the first half under my target time, the second half proved extremely challenging for me, partly due to a number of blisters on my toes. I ended up crossing the finish line at 4:10:59, though I hoped to complete it just under four hours. Barcelona was the most challenging course so far, with many inclines and slight hills. However, it might be the most beautiful architectural course to run. Starting just below the Palace and Magic Fountain (with the Olympic stadiums just behind), we passed the football stadium, the many amazing Gaudi buildings, the Sagrada Familia (cathedral), the Olympic Park with a Frank Gehry structure, the Arc de Triomphe, Cathedral, Columbus statue, the beach, and much more. Various groups performed throughout the course, with drumlines, rock bands, spanish guitarists, etc. There was a solid crowd along the way cheering for us, even a Japanese groups yelling “Gambatte” (Do your best!). Music playing on speakers was interesting, as certain stations blared Hannah Montana, The Killers, techno, “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus, Nelly, and more. More than 12,000 people ran the race with me.

Now completing my third race, each marathon has been unique and meaningful. Chicago allowed me to see new parts of a familiar city, as I passed Mexican, Greek, Chinese, and gay neighborhoods. I had my Moody friends there to cheer me on and meet me at the finish line. Paris is one of my favorite cities, which meant I loved running with fellow missionaries through this charming city. This time it was my parents welcoming me at the finish line. Now, Barcelona allowed me to share this experience with Miho.

Running reinforces so many spiritual principles for me. It has forced me to train and exercise discipline and perseverance. While I may not have “won” the race or met my set time goal, I kept the course and finished well, which is what I hope to accomplish in my spiritual walk.

Many people in Haiti are been helped through this effort. I am encouraged by the generosity of people in supporting my race to aid victims of the earthquake. One particular case has been with my sister’s special ed students in Des Moines. While primarily poor urban Bosnian or African-American junior highers (yes, Iowa is multi-ethnic and has cities ), they contributed to this cause by raising $200 for Haiti. I was moved by how my sister used this opportunity to teach them about giving and caring for others. (Those still interested in contributing can visit http://www.onedayswages.org/donate/org/running-haiti)

Lunch with the pastoral couple

Boeuf Bourguignon (or Beef Burgundy)

Dinner with a family before prayer meeting

Pierrade (BBQ stone grill)

Raclette lunch with the youth leader's family

Regional dish of Clermont-Ferrand (Tartuffe = cheesy potatoes)

Dinner with the pastor's children's families

Lunch with two leaders of the church

A Chinese student leader

Ministry is not ministry without good fellowship with people. Likewise, a France trip is not a France trip without good French food. In between our daily ministry engagements, we had many opportunities to fellowship with the people of the church over wonderful French meals. Starting with the pastoral couple, everybody was super warm, hospitable, and helpful. French hospitality seems to have a lot of overlap with Japanese hospitality in that they welcome their guests with special foods and don’t allow the guests to help the host in the kitchen. It’s often the Sunday lunch that people enjoy a long lunch of about 2 hours, yet we were treated to a two-hour lunch and two-hour dinner every day while we were there. You can imagine how much our stomachs grew during our stay in Clermont-Ferrand. : )

The pastoral couple is wonderful people who are both very relational and people persons. They enjoy talking to and praying with people. Pastor Jean is a funny man with a deep reservoir of jokes that he is ready to pull out almost any time. His wife, Lucette, is a very gentle woman who is a fantastic cook. Everyday she labored to make beef burgundy, roasted chicken with ratatouille, stuffed tomatoes, and pierrade. They started the church about 30 years ago, and now particularly the kid’s ministry and youth ministry are growing rapidly.

We had a chance to fellowship with their daughter Natalie’s family and their son Samuel and his girlfriend from Greece. While a lot of French people speak softly, Samuel has an unusually amusing and animated personality. We all laughed so hard and so loud even though the kids were asleep upstairs. Natalie served a fantastic potato tart that night, followed by three kinds of desserts: fruit salad, strawberry tart, and tarte tatin (upside down apple pie).

Craig is the youth leader of the church, who has been faithfully ministering to the youth as long as we have known him. He was very helpful, particularly to Miho, interpreting her testimony as well as her Sunday sermon. And he did a fantastic job! He is blessed with 6 kids, and two of them lead worship in the youth group. The family had us over for a special Sunday lunch and served us raclette with a huge plate full of cold cut meats and potatoes. Raclette refers to this cheese dish that you place a sheet of a special cheese on a hot grill to melt it. You scrape the cheese onto cooked potatoes and eat it with meats. Mmmmm, yummo!

Two of the church leaders also took us out for a regional cuisine of Clermont-Ferrand. One of them, Vincent, once came to Boston for a conference and we had dinner together. The other one, Yannick, loves Japan. He has recently been there and may have an opportunity to return later this year. (His daughter is such a sweetheart. She learned some Japanese words to make conversation with Miho.) Grant had some special ham and Miho had veal, both served with cheesy potatoes called tartuffe. The baby seemed to be very satisfied as she was dancing in Miho’s belly after the meal.

The last but not least is Fred, a Chinese student group leader who has been very instrumental in bringing other Asian students to the church and growing the youth group. He welcomed us even before we arrived in Clermont-Ferrand through email and helped us run everything smoothly, from shopping for Japanese groceries, helping cook a Japanese meal, to interpreting for Miho. As he is full of excitement to serve Christ, we were encouraged by his spirit.

Great ministry, great fellowship, and great food. What more can we ask for?

Cooking a Japanese meal with the youth group

Playing Japanese trivia during youth group

Grant's preaching at youth group

Praise time during Sunday service

Miho's preaching at Sunday service

Sunday worship

Men's group

College prayer meeting

College prayer group

We just came home yesterday from our wonderful trip to France. We had a couple of days in Paris to spend with our old missions friends and do some sightseeing before we headed down to Clermont-Ferrand, the birthplace of our relationship. We met during a missions campaign which took place in this city. The church we served at then invited us back to speak. Since this was our third visit at Les Eaux Vives Church, we were able to build on top on the relationship that we already had.

Our schedule was pretty intense. As soon as we arrived on Wednesday, Grant had a Bible study to lead. He taught in French on God’s work in the midst of our problems, while Miho shared her testimony at the college group where a lot of Chinese students who are seekers attend. There was also a Japanese girl that came to hear Miho speak that night who went to Christian schools in Japan but is not a Christian.

We had another prayer meeting to attend the next night. Due to the unusual snow, there was a small turn out but we had a very intimate time of prayer with one family.

On Saturday, we hosted a once a month youth group under the theme of Japan. The meeting is evangelistic in nature where teens, college students, and young adults can invite their non-Christian friends to this event. We made a Japanese course meal: salad with wasabi dressing, nikujaga (beef, onions, and potatoes cooked in fish broth, soy sauce and sugar) and rice, and green tea ice cream. You cannot satisfy the French with an incomplete course menu. : ) We played Japanese trivia and other games related to Japan. They were surprised to find out little things they never knew about Japan. Grant preached that night, sharing the gospel with the group. All in all, it was a fantastic night with lively music, much laughter, good food, and the gospel. It so much reminded us of the old youth group we had back in Boston. We had so much joy serving and relating to all the young people. The Japanese girl Miho met the night before again came out that night, which really delighted us.

Come Sunday was Miho’s first time preaching in France. As requested, she first shared her salvation testimony with the congregation, which spoke to some students who are under the same kind of academic pressure Miho once felt in Japan. She preached from Gen. 15 and tied it into the sacrificial love of God. Thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, many people expressed their appreciation for her message after service. We pondered upon the love of God as we took communion together. And knowing that we are going to be missionaries in Japan, the pastor collected love offerings for us at the end of service which blessed us greatly financially.

Time had flown by so fast by then. Monday was already our last full day in Clermont-Ferrand. We concluded our stay with the men’s group. Men of various age groups attended and sang, heard Grant’s message on utilizing our gifts, discussed, and ate together. Of course, a course meal, starting with a salad and bread, chicken and pasta, cheeses, and three kinds of fruit tarts! We were surprised but also encouraged by how vulnerable they were during discussion and how each participant was eager to share, correct, and advise to other members with minimum initiation from the pastor’s side.

With daily ministry and fellowship, we were physically very tired. But our spirit was so alive. This trip gave us further internal confirmation as to how we are called to ministry. We love what we do, and can’t wait till we start full time ministry in Japan! Although God has called us to Japan, not France, we believe that God will utilize this wonderful relationship and network we have in France in our future ministry. We don’t know exactly what form yet, but we are hopeful and excited as to what God may have in store for us with them.

Many praises to God and thanks to all of you who have prayed for this trip. It was a success!!!

With the recent catastrophe, we have been moved with compassion to do something for these people suffering.  What can we do from Scotland though? Shouldn’t we be worried about our own fundraising for Japan? Yet, a passion was growing to do something.

Grant’s heart for running combined with an opportunity to raise money for these people. After talking with our friend, Eugene Cho of One Day’s Wages, we found our partner for Haiti Relief. Eugene is an ECC pastor in Seattle and founder of this non-profit. While new, they have already been featured in NY Times, NPR, and Relevant Magazine, among others. Find out more about their work here.

On March 7th, Grant will be running the Barcelona Marathon to raise money and awareness for Haiti. Our goal is to raise $2,000. While small, hundreds of families will be provided food and care, which makes a huge difference.

Please consider sponsoring this race by donating $1, 5, or 10 per mile (26.2). If 20 people give $26, 10 give $52, and 5 give $260, we will reach this goal. Please consider joining us and showing love to those hurting at this moment. To give online or find out how to give, go here.

Shin-Akitsu Covenant Church

Cafe area on bottom with parsonage on 2nd floor

Cafe space of Shin-Akitsu

Sanctuary of Shin-Akitsu

The day before we left Japan, we were able to visit Shin-Akitsu after a missionary meeting nearby. This church is in West Tokyo and has probably the best location and building of any Japan Covenant Church. It is right around the corner from the train station. This new building is less than ten years old and has great potential. At the moment, there are only around ten people at the church after the pastor left a year ago. They currently have an interim pastor.

We were immediately drawn to this place since it holds such promise. The cafe space would be perfect for our dreams of a language cafe. There is a parsonage upstairs that might allow us to be truly based in the community. Tons of young people pass close by to the train station everyday. It is also close to another ECC missionary family that might partner in our ministry and be a support.

After all of our visits and meetings, we will be praying and reaching a decision for where God wants to place us over the next few months leading up to our departure. Our trip was very fruitful and renewed our excitement for getting to Japan soon and giving our lives to serve God there.

Kuki Church Group Photo

Kuki Church Service

Last Sunday night, we visited our third service of the day. Kuki Grace Christian Church is an hour north of Tokyo and was planted off of International Bible Fellowship (where we visited earlier that day) a few years ago. Jay and Ellen Haworth, ECC missionaries, lead this church that began as a bible study with a few doctors. It is still predominately filled with medical professionals. We imagine that attending a church with your local OB-GYN might be a little uncomfortable for some They currently are building relationships in the community through schools and clubs, with a desire to reach young people. With a general lack of young people, this is a key reason why they are eager for us to com and serve alongside of them.

We had the opportunity to share our testimonies and preach during the service. We enjoyed weaving our stories and the key verses of our testimonies. Grant shared from Matthew 6:24-33 about following God over wealth and how God provides and cares for us as we follow Him. Miho connected 1 Peter 5:10 to her testimony and how God used that verse to reassure her that God will bring her through her trials and restore her. As people are at different points in their lives, we hope that God used parts of either of our messages to challenge or encourage them.

House Church in Tokyo

Service at Grace Mission Church

Group Photo after Teatime

Last Sunday afternoon, we hustled from one church (IBF) to our second of the day. Grace Mission Church meets in Pastor Miyamoto’s home. It is a small congregation, yet strong in their involvement in missions. During the service, they showed a video from recent mission trips. One trip was to the Philippines with youth from Miho’s home church, Hongodai Christ Church. It was exciting to see our friends serving there, especially one of the teens Grant taught English to five years ago.

During the service, we had an extended time to share our testimonies and vision. They invited several friends who came for the first time. While Miho shared her testimony of meeting Jesus through her depression, a visiting woman began to cry. A few non-Christian teens showed up and expressed interest in being involved in a sports ministry with us in the future. They went on a missions trip with the pastor in the past, but never came to church. We felt privileged to sow seeds through our testimonies with this group.

The Miyamoto’s are going to be missionaries to Japanese in Detroit. They are currently waiting for their visas. Given that the congregation has relationships with internationals in Japan, particularly younger generations, they desire us to minister here as they leave for the US.

International Bible Fellowship in Chiba

Diverse people and dynamic bilingual service

Pastor Ino and Wife, Hayworths (ECC missionaries), Aki (youth leader), and us

This past Sunday, we visited three churches. The first was International Bible Fellowship in Chiba, just an hour east of Tokyo. It is the most lively and dynamic church within the Japan Covenant Church. It has around 100 members (50% Japanese) and two services. As you can see, the room is packed with people from around 20 nations (i.e. Nigeria, New Zealand, Singapore, US….) and with different ages.

They are successfully doing many things we hope to do in the long-term. First, the service is bilingual. It is attracting young Japanese who are interested in learning English. Second, they have a home stay program with a church in Idaho, where many young people visit and are either saved or become interested in church once they come back. This is a bilateral relationship, where Americans also come over and stay with non-Christians in the community. Finally, they planted a church, where the Hayworths (ECC missionaries) pastor, a few years ago an hour north of Tokyo.

During the service, we had the opportunity to share our testimony and vision with them. Several people approached us after the service and expressed their excitement for our passion to serve God in Japan. It was certainly encouraging to see a successful model and how it is similar to what we dream about in the future.

Sakawa Covenant Church in Odawara

Newly renovated sanctuary (seats 100 people)

Pastor Katsumata and Wife

On Friday, we spent the day at Sakawa Church with the Katsumatas. This church is about a half hour outside of Yokohama, right along the ocean. Despite being a bit outside where we hope to live and serve, this is a vibrant community with exciting ministries happening.

Coming out of a background of social work, Pastor Katsumata has led the church over the past few years where they are reaching children and families. Throughout the week, various ministries are taking place where kids learn English, playgroups gather, and moms learn about parenting. As Miho prepares to become a mother, this would be a place where she could easily plug into a community of other moms and build up a ministry to these young families. They envision us building up a “youth ministry (In Japan, youth ministry ranges from jr. high to singles in their 30s),” since a junior high is just down the street from the church.

Tsurumi Covenant Church in Yokohama

Possible future residence (living/dining room)

Sharing our testimony during service

Last Sunday we visited Tsurumi Covenant Church in Yokohama. It is currently pastored by the director of the Covenant Seminary in Tokyo who is sitting to the left of Miho in the first photo and his wife standing behind him. The church was passed onto them from the previous seminary director and his wife. The greatest frustration that they have is that the necessity to reside on the seminary campus hinder them from being present in the local community and effectively evangelizing to them. The church is a two-story building where the upstairs is the sanctuary and the downstairs is the meeting space which used to be used as a parsonage.

We shared our testimony and vision during the service, which was a lot of fun. After the service, they held a special lunch time over sandwiches to welcome us and to get to know us better. After they introduced themselves, they held a Q&A session to ask us any questions regarding our personal life and future ministry in Japan. They were super warm and eager to have us there. Aside from their weekly prayer meeting and Sunday service, they don’t have any ongoing organized ministries. They are willing to support our vision for starting a young adult ministry, but we will have to do it from scratch. Location wise, it is one of the strongest prospective churches. As we will visit four more churches, we hope to receive discernment from the Lord.