We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:20-22
WE’RE IN JAPAN!!! 🥳🇯🇵 We are grateful to finally be in Sapporo and are beginning to figure out life here.
Before getting too ahead in the month though, let’s start with our last weeks in the US. The church that we had been serving at for the past year, SouthPointe, prayed over us one of our last Sundays and we were able to share about what we would be doing. We also celebrated our last 4th of July in the States for a while by watching fireworks on the beach. But mostly, we spent the week before leaving packing and saying goodbyes. Between goodbyes with our young adult group, staff team, friends, and family, it was a deeply emotional time. We’re grateful for the emotions though, since it shows how valuable those relationships are.
Then, on July 15th, we started the journey to Sapporo, getting to our apartment at about 9 pm on July 16th Japan time. Our team leaders were kind enough to pick us up, take us to McDonald’s real quick, then let us sleep off the day of travel.
The next week was full of practical paperwork stuff - insurance applications, getting a residence card, enrolling in language school, and applying for apartments. Praise God that we did find an apartment and will be moving in on August 10th! This is crazy fast, and is truly amazing since being foreigners who don’t speak Japanese (yet) are pretty big marks against us in finding a place. The rest of our time has been spent finding new rhythms in our spiritual practices, starting to learn the language (though official language schools starts in August), and exploring our new home. Look below for some pictures of life so far!!
As expected, there’s been a lot going on in our minds and hearts since being here. We’ve been joyful, overwhelmed, annoyed, curious, and just plain tired. There’s a lot more still to come in those areas, so would you pray for us to look to Jesus first no matter where we are or how we feel?
It’s easy for us to get distracted in the craziness of moving and attempting to become settled as much as possible, but we are constantly reminded of the why we’re doing this.
Within a 10 minute walk from our Airbnb right now, there’s a large Buddhist temple and a 150 year old Shinto shrine dedicated to four false gods. Even in tourist attractions like the Sapporo TV Tower - where you can overlook the city - there is a Shinto shrine to the tower where you can receive a fortune from the tower. As fun as exploring and adjusting has been, we’re reminded of the devastating reality that most of the people who live Sapporo, Hokkaido, and all of Japan don’t yet know the One True God, and there are few witnesses to tell people the good news of the Gospel. Pray that more people in Japan, and specifically Sapporo, would have open hearts to hear and accept Jesus into their lives.
Contact Info Update
If you’ve tried texting our old numbers recently, you might’ve learned that they have changed! We have fancy new Japanese phone numbers now, but to avoid international charges, it may be best to contact us through email, FB Messenger, or our Google Voice numbers.
Caleb’s Email: caleb.lankford@mustardseed.network
Caleb’s Google Voice #: (401) 589-3784
Lauren’s Email: lauren.lankford@mustardseed.network
Lauren’s Google Voice #: (401) 360-6771
This is also a great time to give a reminder: if YOU have an address/number/email change, would you send that to us to update your info? We don’t necessarily want to send messages or newsletters to random people, so it helps to have the right contact information :)
Prayer Requests
The rest of our teammates are arriving in the next few weeks - pray that they would be able to adjust well and that our team will draw close to each other and to Jesus.
For our marriage - to not be competitive in a bad way but to have grace for each other’s mistakes and discomfort.
Sapporo English Connect (a weekly conversational English outreach event) is starting on August 7th. Pray that many people would come and we’d be able to make connections for the future church.
For the people of Sapporo to hear about and accept Jesus in their lives. Ask for more Christian workers and rejuvenation among the workers already here.
Lauren has the opportunity to go to a youth conference that MSN helps put on called Renew. Pray for the students and leaders who will be attending and for the Spirit to work in their hearts.
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
Comments