Gary and Naoko in Japan

Hello again! We just wanted to send a quick note to say we're leaving England in a few days! We had such a wonderful time being encouraged and refreshed seeing friends and family! We are so thankful we got to see many of you and to catch up with what has been going on in friends' lives. If we didn't get around to seeing you, we hope to see you when we get back! God is always so faithful. After a few minor hiccups, we received our visas on time! Praise God! We will be leaving from Manchester this Friday (the 20th) and arriving in Cape Town on Saturday. We still need to start packing! Anyway, the YWAM DTS (Discipleship Training School) starts on Monday (the 23rd) and the course will finish on the 28th of February. So we'll be there for just over 5 months. So you have a better idea of what the DTS entails, it's a real mix of classroom-based learning and practical application. The first half of the DTS involves classroom lectures with topics such as who...

Hello friends! As we prepare for more training in Cape Town, South Africa, I wanted to take a step back and reflect on some of the things God did while I was in Japan. There's so much I can write, but I'll keep this short, otherwise you won't read it! Firstly, I want to recommend Japan as a destination for travel to anyone. Japan is such a beautiful country. The natural landscape is stunningly beautiful. You are never far from the shore, and you can pretty much always see mountains as most of the land is mountainous. Even the cities are works of art with huge skyscrapers, state of the art train systems, convenient stores and cheap, quick restaurants everywhere! Oh how I miss Matsuya! (my favourite fast food restaurant!) The most beautiful thing about Japan are the people. They are a people who show respect, generosity, hospitality, and they work hard too. More than any other people group I've encountered. They may take a while to get to know, but if ...