At long last the time has come to set a date to leave.
May 29 (or thereabouts). Technically it’s not early. I came here with 12 months of support, so leaving after 13.5 is a bit of a bonus—thanks due largely to Sherman Bible agreeing to fill in whatever support deficit I have at the end of my stay here.
If I categorize all of the reasons for coming to Japan, the one at the top was to find out if career missions is the right way to go. I think I can answer that with a “no” now, or at least a “no, not at this time”. It’s been a fun trip, and I hope I’ve been a help to the church and the missionary team here. But I feel like I’m being called to a different direction before I can once again set my sights on returning to Japan.
My leaving at the end of May allows for some overlap so I can help with the orientation for a new short-termer. That’s of course assuming a summer worker arrives in May, which is not a definite. So please pray for that wish to be granted. David will let TEAM know that we would like a short-termer for the summer to keep things going, but we might not get an answer for a couple of months.
I’m looking forward to being back in the States and meeting several of you again. Remember to keep the entire set of activities here in your prayers—there’s a lot going on, from the new English class advertising campaign to the continued work on the church building.