You Can Help

Below is a letter sent out by my sister and brother-in-law, missionaries in Osaka, Japan, with Team Expansion.  Chris and I have been their Forwarding Agents for several years (we serve to receive support funds for their ministry and handle Stateside accounting).  Chad and Jennifer have huge hearts for the Japanese people and are ready with a network of churches in place to go immediately to the devastated areas.  If you feel so led, 100% of your donations will be used toward this immediate need.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated!

Hello Everyone!

It has been a trying and sad time in so many ways:  whole towns are gone, thousands upon thousands are without homes and businesses.  The news coverage, especially as people's personal videos begin to hit the channels, is simply horrific.  And the unknown factor of a nuclear meltdown in the same area looms over it all.  But we know that our God is Good and that His desire is to turn this situation around so that many will find peace and comfort and He will be
glorified.  This is the time for the Christians in Japan (as few as they are! less than 1%) to unite, rise up and be the light.  We cannot allow this opportunity to love to pass us by.  I ask you to lift us up in prayer.

Many have asked about how they can help.  Pray!  Pray!  Pray!  We need people praying.  We cannot allow a spirit of fear or defeat be allowed to win out in the hearts and minds of the people and especially the Christians.  Pray for greater faith and for greater love (that drives out all fear) to overwhelm us all.  Pray for those suffering that they may find healing and peace.  Pray for protection from further tsunami, aftershocks and nuclear disaster.  Pray for us as we do our best to help.

Though this story may begin to fade from the media over the next few days and weeks (or not if nuclear meltdown does occur), the real work with people who have lost all will continue for months.  We have to start thinking strategically.  Our plans are starting to come together a bit, though all things are in flux during times like these.  We will be working with and coordinating
with CRASH a Christian disaster relief organization here in Japan that is doing great things.  Their main base is in Tokyo at the moment and they are working round the clock to network everyone, collect supplies, and set up work stations within the disaster area.  They also do a
great job of follow-up "heart" care with kids and people of all ages.

We also hope to make contact with personal friends and contacts of people from the church here and help them in any way possible.  As of now, all of our personal contacts, including the brother of our co-leader's wife, have been contacted and found safe.  However, many of them are currently in evacuation shelters, living without power and water, or living in constant fear of a
nuclear disaster.

As for financial needs, there are and will be many if you are interested and able to help.  The network of churches here in Osaka is also giving towards this.  Here is just a short list: 
1.  Truck - We are looking into the opportunity of buying a used 2-ton truck for only $4000 - $5000.  Instead of renting a truck for long periods of time to haul relief supplies, we may be able to use this truck for the next 3 - 4 months (?) of relief work and then sell it, coming out ahead in the end over renting.
2.  Relief supplies - We are currently planning to purchase supplies here in Osaka (shelves in stores in Tokyo were being emptied today by people stocking up!) and drive them up to distribute. These supplies will probably vary as the needs change, but they will include things such as water, cooking fuel, instant foods, diapers, formula, baby food, wet tissues, dry shampoo, feminine supplies... the list goes on. 
3.  Travel expenses - gasoline, food and water for teams making the trips. 
4.  Assisting the CRASH network with any excess funds collected.

If you or your church would like to support the earthquake/tsunami/fire/nuclear victims, you can send money through us and we will do our best to use it wisely and to the glory of God. Checks should be made out to Team Expansion.  Do not put a note in the memo, but add a note with the check indicating that it is for Earthquake Relief.  Send it to: 
Team Expansion 
6200 S. Old Village Road
Columbia, MO 65203

These donations will be kept separate from our regular support.  All monies will go towards the relief efforts.

As a side note, we are also thinking about ways to involve the community around us (neighbors, school contacts, mothers from the kindergarten, etc.) in these efforts.  Caleb's teacher walked all the way home from school with him today to talk to us and see if what Caleb had shared with her at school today was really true: that his Daddy was going to help the people in the earthquake.  She was shocked. We believe that our sharing the love of Christ with people suffering now can also have the effect of spreading the aroma of Christ in our own neighborhood.  Pray that we may not take any glory that belongs to God but that His love may be demonstrated through our words and actions.

Thank you so much for your prayers, emails of encouragement and support.  God is using you to bless us and others in so many ways!!

In Him,

Chad and Jennifer

Earthquake/Tsunami

As I'm sure all of you feel too, my heart is very heavy for the nation of Japan right now.  The devastation is hard to comprehend, simply unimaginable.

I love Japan, I love the Japanese people, it is my second home.  Most of you know that I spent three years during my teenage years there as a missionary kid.  My parents are still there (25 years), and also my sister and her family are there (12 years) as missionaries in the Osaka area.  I grieve for the loss of life, for the destruction that has occurred.  But most of all I grieve for the many that died not knowing Jesus as their Savior.  Only 1% of Japanese people claim Christianity.  Now THAT is a staggering number.

All of my family are safe and were mostly unaffected by the quake.  It was barely felt in Osaka, far to the south of the epicenter and main tsunamis.  As you can imagine though, "unaffected" is hardly the word to use.  While we thank God that they are safe and out of harms way, we grieve for the many that can not say that.

Here are some specific ways that you can pray:
*Pray for rescue workers to be guided to the needy
*Pray for the children and many that are living in fear, especially with each aftershock
*Pray for my brother-in-law, Chad, as he heads to the area on Sunday evening, that his steps would be divinely directed
*Pray that people would seek a Higher Power during this time of mass chaos, that their hearts would be more open than ever to the Gospel
*Pray that the gov't would readily accept help from nations around the world
*Pray for the Christians living in the affected area to hold fast to their faith
*Pray that God be glorified in all

Thank you so much to the many that have called our home and sent notes asking about my family.  Your concern is blessing to us.  Please join me in prayer during the many weeks and months ahead.

Also, this is the organization that Chad plans to be a part of:  http://crashjapan.com/.

We are Rejoicing!!!

Last night as Chris and I spent some special time with Benjamin, he told us that he had been thinking a lot recently about being baptized and letting God be the boss of his life.   Wow!  The feeling upon hearing those words for a parent is incredible!  This is the culmination of more than twelve years of praying, discipling, training, and loving.  We spent precious time together discussing the gravity of this decision and spending time in prayer together.  To know Benjamin's confidence in making this determination leaves us feeling at such peace.  In 3 John verse 4 it says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."  Amen!

Growing up in a Christian home, Benjamin has always known the Truth and accepted it, but this was a huge step in making it "official" and confessing his sin before God and acknowledging that he needed God to forgive him so that he could be a part of His family forever.  He wanted to be baptized right away, so as the Ethiopian eunich in Acts 8 said, "Look, here is water.  Why shouldn't I be baptized?"

It was somewhat of a late night already, but we got the other kids out of bed and prepared the bathtub.  It was wonderful to rejoice together as a family and witness in such a close and personal way THE birthday of Benjamin Clark Wolfe.  Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!

Tonight we're off to eat dinner at the place of Benjamin's choosing, but we will continue celebrating for many days, weeks, and years to come!  We love you Benjamin, and are so very proud of you.

Benjamin's Science Lab

Benjamin is our number one science fan.  He is always coming up with experiments to show us and can rattle off obscure facts that are completely unknown to me.  He set up a full science lab in the boys' room, complete with Ginger the lab rat.  I love his inquisitive nature and can't wait to see how he chooses to use that when he's older. 

I also have to comment on Benjamin's choice of shirts.  Ever since he was little he has had a favorite shirt.   I can remember some of them, as they were ones that he tried to wear every single day.  I'm sure if you look back, you'll see this shirt over and over and over in pictures from the last year.  Silly boy!

Memorial Box Monday - The Dove

Each Monday during our family devotion time we either repeat one of our old Memorial Box stories, or share a new one.  This story is one that I posted well over a year ago, and it is one of our favorites.  It came to mind today as I have a friend that is in the middle of a house search, waiting for God to provide just the right home for their family.

In the fall of 2001 we had a five year old, a three year old, and a 6 month old.  Our little blue house was starting to feel a bit cramped and we prayed about finding a new home that our family would be able to grow in.  We really thought that “grow” meant that our three kiddos would grow in size, not grow as in number of kids, but that’s a story for another Memorial Box Monday.

We got our house ready to put on the market and started watching the real estate listings that came up.  We weren’t quite ready to buy yet,  as we wanted to sell our old house first and wanted to save up just a bit more cash, but a home that we had spotted and thought would be perfect for us came up and we asked our real estate agent for a tour.  This was the very first home we toured, and as we looked around we just knew this was “the one”.  It had so much that we had prayed for and desired.  It had great square footage, it was located on a few beautifully wooded acres, it was just outside of town yet still close to everything, and had so many other neat specs. We made an offer on the house, but sadly it was declined because we made the offer with the contingency of our old home selling and another offer had gone in at the same time for a higher amount.  We were disappointed, but trusted that God had something just as right for us.

For the next six months we continued our house search.  Our old home sold (hey, that’s another MB story!), we moved into a duplex temporarily, and we toured and drove by countless other homes.  Each home was compared to the very first home we had toured and fallen in love with.  I scoured the new listings on-line daily and we continued to pray.  In May of 2002 I spotted a new listing as it came up in the afternoon.  (Yes, I knew exactly when the listings were updated daily!)  It looked like a possibility so that afternoon we drove by to check it out.  As we drove up the road that the house was on we crossed under some telephone wires overhead.  There were a few pigeons and one white dove sitting on the wire.  Chris laughed and said, “Hey, that’s a sign.  There’s a white dove.”  I laughed it off, too.

As soon as we pulled down the beautiful wooded driveway we were more excited.  The surrounding woods were gorgeous and there were even deer in the front yard that we spooked off.  We arranged to see the inside of the house immediately.  This house was even better than the standard we had compared everything to in just about every aspect.  The rooms were bigger, the property had more acreage, the location and neighborhood were better than we imagined and so much more.  Here’s the kicker.  Aside from the little white dove, the house number of the very first house was 6200 and the house number of this house in the woods was 6200.  We knew we had multiple signs from God that we had found just what He wanted to provide for us.  It was better than we had dreamed.  God is awesome and wants to give us much more than we imagine, just in His perfect timing.

In our Memorial Box we have a little white dove that is our standing stone representing the wonderful gift of this home that He so perfectly provided for our family in which to grow, not only in physical size of the kids, but also in number of children.  We are filling it up!

To our friends and anyone else out there searching for a new house, or just waiting on Him to provide, keep doing that.  Wait.  When we put our trust in Him and follow His leading, He will provide at just the right time and in ways we could never have imagined or asked for.  He is good!

(This isn't the best picture, but I wanted to get our standing stone dove along with our house number.)

Wolfe Brothers

We had a fun day yesterday with the other two Wolfe brothers here with their families.  With eight kids around there was no lack of excitement, noise, or play.  I love seeing how our nephews and niece are growing and watching them interact with our kiddos.  It is a blessing to live close enough to plan a day together.

(I know, blackmail photos for future years!)

 Oh, the mayhem of wrestling, little girls and boys attacking uncles and the big boys.......

Uncle Eric made up for some of the mayhem by reading to the kids.  

Zane has a great "cheese" going on!

Signs of Spring

Grandpa H called today to let us know that the first crocuses had popped up overnight.  We went down to see, and there they were, hundreds of little purple blooms (and one yellow one!) all over the yard.  Beautiful!

Oh, brother!

I don't think the boys got out of the house enough today!  They've been wrestling and running around wild, laughing and screaming, and having just plain fun.  So thankful that these two boys have each other.

Bits and Pieces

This morning we woke up to more beautiful snow.  Now admittedly, I am getting a little bit anxious for spring, but I do love the beauty of freshly fallen snow.  It's especially gorgeous when it's wet and sticks to our surrounding woods to create a winter wonderland.  This video may make you a bit sea sick, but I wanted to take a panorama of what we look out at.  We are so thankful for this little piece of property that we call home.

 

Here are some still shots to settle your queasy stomach.  :)

And here are some random shots from around the house.  

Over the years we have marked the growth of the kids on a door frame.  If we ever sell the house, well....we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Not only does Ami play dress up by herself, her animals get involved, too.  Here is the lovely Princess Diamond (in pink) and the Classy Alley Cat complete with earrings.  I guess there weren't enough earrings to go around for Panda.

Shower Songs

 
Elijah makes me smile.  As I sit at the computer, he is in the shower singing at the top of his lungs.  His made up lyrics and tunes are a hoot, yet such a glimpse into his thoughts and heart.

Here is some of what I typed as he was singing.

I will go to the Lord in my trouble
Jesus died on the cross for your sins
He will help you
He will come to you
We are the Lord's
We are made from the Lord
There's no one like Him
He could make anyone
He could take care of you
If you have some trouble
He will help you
I am the Lord's
The Lord who saves you from your sins of the evil, evil, evil

Go and rest and eat and find some food
What will you do

(I couldn't quite catch the lyrics he was singing as he brushed, flossed, and swished, but then he came out of the bathroom and started singing to the rats.)

God made you too
He knows what you are
And he knows your name
He names you too
He makes sweet little things
And he looks at it
He said "it is good"
He blesses us all of us, even you
You are very, very fun
You are very soft
You are very roughy rough
You are skin, you are rough, you are fat, you are soft
You two are very cute
You are very weird, I don't know what is wrong with you

(I believe that last lyric is in reference to the fact that Midnight has a cocked head and does act a little strange, even for a rat!)

Oh do you want to make a fire song
I will think you are the very best friend
I can find no one says you can find a best neighbor in the town
You can find, you can find, you can find the best neighbor
I think you are the best neighbor
And I think you are very fun, too

(Not sure about that last stanza, but maybe he's singing about Grandpa H.)

Seriously, this boy has come so far in two years.  He exhibits so much fruit of the spirit....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Really all of those things.  What a gift he is to our family!