Fall has come

Well we can almost officially say that Fall is here. Last Monday the weather went from being sunny and about 85-90F in the daytime to about 55-60F and it has stayed like that the rest of the week. The leaves are starting to change an we have had a lot more rain also. WOW, the weather changes really fast at elevation. Yesterday we went for a little family hike as it was an off day, below you will find a few photos from the hike. Norikura (the place we live now) is so beautiful, I sometimes can’t believe that we live here. 

It’s hard to put into words all that goes on here on a day to day basis but I want you all to know that God is doing some great things here through this ministry. Some staff have been able to share the gospel with a young man who just came in one day because he saw us watching a movie outside, a local person who we regularly work with asked us to have our weekly worship time at here lodge because she wanted to hear the message, and there are lots more stories like these that go on every week. Please continue to pray for us as we work to share Jesus with this village. 

Blessings

Please Pray For

We are about to start our busy summer season and there are a lot of things to be done. Starting today we will have a full camp for the next 10 days. We have Mt. bike guests, road bike guests, church camps, missionary families and people who just want to get away from the city coming up. August is our busiest month of the summer and so we thought it would be good to ask you all to pray for us as a team this next month. 

Please Pray For

• Safety while guiding and working outdoors
• Us to work as a team
• Community outreach
• Time for families to spend together
• Hearts to be open to here and see Jesus here

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. We are so stoked to have a great network of people behind us.

Blessings

Seth, Hannah & Ezekiel

A day at the Onsen (hot spring)

A few days ago we went to a really cool place called “Shinhotaka Onsen” which is about an hour from NORTHSTAR. All the staff went for the day to hang out and relax before we start our busy summer season which starts today. It was the first time Ezekiel had been swimming in a river and that was fun for him and us. Here are some photos from the day.

 

 

July Update

Greetings from Japan,

Thank you all so much for your prayers over the last few weeks as we returned to Japan. We had a great trip back and have been enjoying the cool mountain weather as we get settled into our new apartment and started working. 

I have been working most days at the lodge doing things like updating the homepage, Mt. Bike guiding, working on bike repairs and Hannah has had the more difficult job of unpacking a lot of boxes and setting up our new home. She has been doing great and enjoying all if it. The last two Sundays we have been going to church down in the city about an hour away and we have been encouraged by the believers there. 

Starting this week we have had some Mt. Bike guests so Ken and I have been guiding with them and that has been a lot of fun. These Mt. Bike guests were key people to have at N* as they are all shop owners or managers and through them we have the ability to bring many more people here to ride our trails, spend time with our staff and see Jesus in us. We also have a small missions team here from Hawaii who have been a big help with getting the lodge cleaned and other small projects around here. The staff and guest movement has been pretty busy and hard to keep track of at times but all in all very productive. 

Last night we had our Thursday night worship service at Dan Junker’s house (our lodge director). We heard a testimony of a young woman who grew up near here and had been ministered to by Dan through some English classes years ago and how she came to know the Jesus and now has been called to go to East Asia with her husband and serve as missionaries there. It is an amazing testimony of how God can use anyone for his work and we were all very encouraged by her words. 

Well I think thats all I have time for now. Here are a few prayer requests that we have and please pass this email onto anyone who you feel would like to get it.

PLEASE PRAY FOR

• Strength for the N* team as we start our summer season

• Safety while riding and training on Mt. and road bikes

• Open hearts with locals and our guests

• The Hawaii mission team to have an impact while here

• More guests to come to N* this summer and fall

Thanks and God Bless

Seth, Hannah & Ezekiel

We have moved in

We have been back here in Norikura for about three weeks now and we actually moved all our things into our new little apartment last week but it’s been pretty slow unpacking. I have been work at N* almost every day and so I have not been able to help unpack many of the boxes. Hannah has been doing a great job setting up our new house and turning the little one bedroom apartment in to a home. There are still some boxes sitting around and a few other little things to put away but for the most part we are moved in. 

Thanks for your prayers during this time of transition for us. It’s been so good and God has been providing so well for us every step of the way. Please keep us in your prayers as we start our first busy summer season here together as a family. 

Mt. Biking in Norikura

There are so many great trails that we get to ride here and a lot more that we are working to maintain and re-build. It takes so much work to keep the trails in riding condition but it’s so worth it. A few days ago we invited all the village kids from Elementary grade to High School to come and get a free Mt. Bike lesson and go riding with our staff. Unfortunately only one boy showed up for the lesson but we still had a good time riding together. Our hope is to get more and more local kids riding the trails around here to help encourage the people in this village that Mt. Biking is a viable way to bring guests up here. 

Please pray for this village, it has been pretty financially depressed after the bubble and is a pretty hard place to work for a lot of people. Pray that guest visits would increase and there would be teamwork among the locals to improve tourism.

Walking around Norikura

Norikura, our new home is such a beautiful place and we have such an amazing job that allows us to live and work here in the great place. Today Hannah, Ezekiel and I went for a little walk around the neighborhood and ended up walking for about an hour and a half. There are a lot of great little walking trails around our house that lead to a farm and some nice ponds and we just went around until we got tired. Anyway, it was nice and I got to take a few cute photos of Ezekiel in the baby car and him getting to sit on a tricycle and that is always cute. 

iPhone in Japan

Well that nice little device that changed how so many people communicate in the US is finally coming to Japan on the 11th of July. Most people think that Japanese phones are all super high tech and a lot of them are but the iPhone really does give them a run for their money. 

 

Flying back to Japan

We flew from Portland to Tokyo yesterday well actually we left Portland on the 27th and got to Tokyo on the night of the 28th and then had a long trip by train and van up to N* in Nagano. All in all it was a great trip, the worst part was having to say goodbye to our family. Here is a few photos from the trip over and the last photo we got to take with my parents in Portland as we said goodbye. 

We miss you guys [dad & mom] already and can’t wait to see you again. 

A few new photos

I thought it would be good to share a few new photos of Ezekiel so here are some new ones from our trip to the US.