Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. Revelation 15:3-5
The countdown has begun! We’ve been busy this last month preparing for our fast approaching departure to Sapporo. We began our Visa process by turning in our application for a Certificate of Eligibility (CoE). These are essential documents we need the Japanese government to approve so we can be eligible as religious workers in Japan. Once we receive our approved CoEs, we’ll know more concretely what date we will be leaving!
Since our time to leave is coming soon, we have also now started the process of going through our possessions to decide what we hope to move over with us to Hokkaido and what will be given away. We’ve spent hours going through boxes, tubs, and closets making these decisions - and thus getting rid of bags and bags of clothes and various other things! This has had its ups and downs, but overall has been nice to simplify our material possessions.
In Rhode Island based news, our May was filled with goodbyes, hellos, and beautiful scenery.
We held a goodbye party for one of the young adults that has been a part of our community group from its beginning. He joined the Navy and we sent him off to training with both joy and sadness. We also had visitors! Some of Lauren’s friends from college came and spent the weekend with us as we showed them around. We took them to get Iggy’s (a great local clam shack), see the Newport mansions and walk the cliff walk, as well as spend a day in Boston. We had tons of fun spending the weekend with them and were sad to say goodbye for awhile.
At the beginning of May, Lauren was able to go tulip picking and beach hopping with some dear friends. Then, to conclude our month, we spent a week in Maine with my (Caleb’s) family hiking in Acadia National Park and walking around Bar Harbor (or “Bah Hahbah” if you want to say it in a New England accent). We felt a nice balance of reading, cooking, and relaxing inside as well as hiking different mountains for some of the best views Acadia has to offer
Facts from Hokkaido
This month we’ve decided to include two fun facts about Hokkaido (the island where Sapporo is located) that we’ve discovered as we’ve been studying about our future home.
Caleb’s fun fact is that Hokkaido is home to what in English is called the Hokkaido Crying Rabbit. A small rabbit/mouse looking animal that is native to the island and supposedly is the animal that inspired (based on look and sound) the creation of Pikachu the Pokemon. I guess this may or may not be a fact because the inspiration for Pikachu is disputed.
Lauren’s fun fact is that Japan was the first country to cultivate scallop farming and Hokkaido is Japan’s top producer of scallops. Our soon-to-be home accounts for up to 80% of the country's domestic production. We’ve come to really enjoy eating scallops and so this is great news for us :)
Fundraising Update
Rejoice with us as we celebrate being FULLY FUNDED in the funds we’re raising for MSN!! It’s so amazing and humbling to witness to God’s faithful provision and for people to come alongside what He’s doing in Japan.
The Ministry Launch fund is complete already and the monthly fund will be complete after pledges for this month and next. We’ve been saying that fundraising is both one of the hardest and easiest jobs we’ve ever had, and looking back on this past year shows us that the lessons and friendships born from this time are definitely worth it!
Prayer Requests
God would provide opportunities for us to share the Gospel as we are here in the States.
For our paperwork to come in quickly so that we can leave for Japan the second week of July.
Praise for being fully funded and the Lord’s provision!
For the people in Sapporo who we will make connections with. That God would open their hearts to hearing about Jesus.
Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Please let us know if you have any prayer requests, questions for us, or thoughts you’d like to share.
In Christ,
Caleb and Lauren Lankford
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