Check-in Time

Well, I am about to leave for the airport in about 14 minutes and you can say I am a little nervous, mostly about the check-in though. I have two packed suitcases both at the 70lb limit and my guitar which I may or may not take. That solely depends on how much they charge as extra baggage since it is over the 45" linear carry on. I also have a one-way ticket which means I will probably get cavity searched, at least extra checked.

Once I get into the airport, it should be beautiful sailing as the weather is very nice. Thank you for all your prayers and help in getting me to Japan.

One More Day

It officially hit me today that I am about to leave for 2 years. After so many goodbyes I felt that I was about to leave but it was not until I started to pack my suitcases today that I realized that this was for 2 years and not 2 months.

I am almost done packing and I have a few more errands to do tomorrow before I leave on Wednesday. This evening my Mom and I went and watched Spiderman 3 in an Imax theater. I had never been to an Imax before but I was a little disappointed. The only thing that really seemed different was it was shown on a bigger screen, but overall, I think the movie was alright with a great final fight.

I am starting to get nervous and excited at the same time. In 31 hours I will wake up and head to the airport. So little time and still to much to do before I leave.

Recap

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for all that you have done to help me reach my goals while fundraising. Praise God that my visa went through with no problems and I was able to get a cheap plane ticket. I wanted to let you know what will be happening now that I am leaving soon. You can quickly scan each Bold topic if it applies to you.

DEPARTURE DATE:

I am leaving on May 9, 2007 from Madison Wisconsin and am arriving in Narita airport on May 10, 2007. What will I be doing until I leave? I will be leaving Lafayette on Wednesday May 2 and head up to South Bend, IN. I will be in South Bend on Thurs, Friday, and Sunday. On Saturday I will be up in Michigan visiti ng family. I then plan to leave South Bend on Sunday afternoon to go up to Wisconsin where I will proceed to do my final packing and then fly out on Wednesday morning.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1) Language Acquisition- Language can be hard and difficult at times, especially when that is my focus for the first month. Please pray that God will humble my heart so that I will be practicing Japanese with many people and not worry about making mistakes and a fool of myself for saying the wrong things. Also for patience and perseverance that I will study hard and not want to give up.

2) Living- This involves transition to the Japanese culture like cooking, conserving energy, and many things that I probably don't realize. During my summers I have found little ways to avoid things for 2 months and will become problems if I don't learn how to do them for 2 years. Cooking is the best example as I would like to learn how to make real, actual meals at home instead of ramen and curry.

3) That God would show me 2 guys that I will b e able to be great friends with and disciple them in God's Word and that these 2 guys will become great men of faith in the country of Japan as Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists,...

4) Please pray for my goodbyes, that they will be an enjoyable time and also for my travel and safety when flying.

5) Pray that I will continue to grow deeper in love with God and His Word and that I will not be distracted from Him from all of the new circumstances of living in a new country.

6) Please pray for my fellow staff in Utsunomiya: Bryan and Renee Gibbs (3 kids), Ruth Ann Hurd, Keith Brooks, and Tomo.

Thank you very much and if you have any questions please let me know.

Alan

Visa and Ticket

I found out today that I should wait to buy my ticket until I turn in my visa application. The visa application had been in the beginning stages and then my support came in rapidly. It makes since to wait to buy the ticket because I sure don't want to waste $700 and not have a visa.

Please pray that I will receive the items I need from Japan in about a week from now. The sooner I receive the papers and information I need, the sooner I can turn in my visa.

I am currently looking to leave on Wednesday, May 9th but this is a tentative date as of right now. In the mean time I will be focusing more on my language study, heading to South Bend for Easter, coming back to speak to the Navigators on April 13th, and then I have no idea what I will be doing. I would like to go to Grand Prix this year as my former team should do very well this year. I even received a jersey for this years team, thanks to my awesome old roommate, Gordon.

Please call me if you want to find out where I am or what I will be doing. I guess you could email me too.

The Last 5 days

I have been absolutely blown away over what happened from Thursday Night to Tuesday Night. That 5 day time period was blessed by your prayers and blessed by God to bring my support up by 28%.

During my time of fundraising, I initially was not thankful for where God had me and how slow things were going. God continued to teach me verses about being thankful always (Eph. 5:20, I Thess. 5:18, Col. 3:17, etc). Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This does not only mean when things are good or sometimes I will give thanks but ALWAYS give thanks in all circumstances. Always means Always. God started to change my view at the end of January to be thankful that I am still here with my funding going slow.

There were things he still wanted me to do here. Examples, my fathers death, continue ministry, and to be prepared more for my time in Japan. How great are the plans of God as they are always better than our own plans.

Seeing my support go up unexplainably, except by God's timing, I realize that it is my time to start to leave for Japan. While I am still here one more month, God has more things to teach now before I go to Japan and I am thankful that he cares for me and loves me and shows me his steadfast love in the mornings and his faithfulness by night.

Prayer Request for Funding

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as I am now at 67% (1839 of 2733) of my funding. I wanted to bring two prayer requests before you as I seek to raise the last $900/month.

1) As soon as I hit 90% monthly, I will be able to purchase my plane ticket to go to Japan. That means that I need to raise $625/month to buy my ticket. Will you please pray with me for that to come in by April 1^st?

2) I am also praying that God will bring 6 people or churches to support me for $100/month out of my last $900/month left to raise. Will you partner in this prayer with me?

Thank you so much for your prayers as I have been encouraged by those of you praying for me.

March 6 update

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you very much for your prayers and support as my funding continues to increase. God has been continuing to teach me and prepare me during this time of fundraising.

I want to share a blessing with you that happened in the middle of February. A gentleman, who met with me and discipled me for two years while I was at Purdue, came into town for Faith Baptist Biblical Counseling Training Conference. I met up with him on Sunday night and he challenged me to see if there was anyway for me to attend this conference. I told him that the conference was full and that I needed to have signed up a while ago. With his perseverance, he talked to one of my pastors and found out that there was an opening because his relative was not able to attend as he planned to. As a result I was able to sit in during the week on Monday through Friday and participate in 33 amazing hours of Biblical teaching. The thing that I love so much about Biblical Counseling is that it shows me practical ways to help people Biblically which as a result helps me evaluate myself and grow spiritually.

God’s Word is all-sufficient and is able to help us in our everyday problems. And for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, we know that all things work together for good so that we may be conformed into the image of His Son.

My support is currently at 62% (1708 of 2733) monthly and 100% one-time. If you have been thinking about sending a gift or commitment in and I have not contacted you, please do so or give me a call.

Prayer:

1) I am planning on going to South Bend for March 9-11. Please pray that God will provide many appointments and opportunities and that peoples hearts will be open to partnering in the ministry to Japan.

2) Please pray for my phone calling, as I am not able to meet with everyone in person. Ask for boldness and perseverance to make these calls.

Thank you for your prayers and may God bless you,

Alan