April/May Update

Family Update

These last two months have absolutely flown by. So many events, so many travels, kids and pets getting sick. We are so thankful for the strength that God gives us everyday to do what He has called us to do here. We can't thank you enough for your prayers and encouragement! Only a week left in school, this is a crazy time of the year. This coming week we have four different graduations, class parties, final tests and grades, and so many other things to close out the year.  We are looking forward to a little breather this summer back at the States. We are so excited about our trip back to the US... please write us if you have some time to hang out, we would love to see you! 
Here are some of the highlights from the last couple of months:

• This Easter was a very special Easter, we had a wonderful celebration, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, and the hope that we have in him. We had a baptism celebration for our daughter Eliya and another student from OCSI. It was a precious time.
• ​Every year we are blessed to have Chris and Dana McCain, our field leaders, come to Japan to check up on us to make sure we are spiritually, emotionally healthy, and to give us encouragement. We only had a few days with them, but it is one of the great benefits of being part of Team Expansion, to have this visit.
• ​This month we had to say good bye to our dog Dexter. We adopted him almost as soon as we arrived in Okinawa. He was 8 years old when we got him.  This was hard for our family to say goodbye, but we were so blessed to have Dexter in our lives for the last three years. 
• Megan got to take a trip to Prague for child safety training. We have 430 students at our school and it is important that we keep our kids safe. While she was in Prague, she did get a chance to visit a couple of castles. ​​
• We had a camping trip over spring break with some of our family friends. Nothing brings people closer together than camping, bbq, and discussing important life issues around the campfire! The camp site itself, is one of my favorites, in the woods, but 100 meters from the ocean. ​​
• For the second year in a row, me and 6 other teachers took 37 5th graders to the Kansai area of Japan. We visited several historic sites like Kinkakuji, Osaka castle, and Nara Park, and the students’ favorite, Universal Studios Japan. There are so many cool historic sites to see, history to learn, and nature to enjoy. Before bed every night we had an evening devotion, this year we learned from a few of the parables of Jesus.  They kids had a great time and we made it back home safely.

Prayer Request:

• ​Finish Strong - Lots of different classroom parties, graduations, closing out the school year.
• Impactful camp for our girls at Joy Bible Camp
• Safe travel - Our family will be heading to the states in a few weeks (our schedule is listed below). Safe and stress free travel as we go to the US and travel around the states.
• Refreshing and good visits with family and friends.

UPCOMING DATES...

• June 12: Last day of school
• June 17-24: Joy Bible Camp (Tokyo)
• June 24-30: Florida
• June 30-July 6: Alabama
• July 6- July 13: Missouri
• July 13- 22: Oklahoma
• July 23-24: Texas
• July 25: Return to Okinawa
• August 1: New teachers start arriving
• August 14: All Teachers back to school
• August 21: 1st day of 2019-2020 school year