Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 106:1, ESV)

It has been several years since I have added to this blog. Truth be told, I had not done it in such a long time that I completely forgot how to add content. After a while of trying to remember and after a loss of much of my data on a disc drive, I gave up.

In late 2000 or early 2001, while I was in Bible college, I went through an extended season of fretting and worrying about the future. One day in class–was it “Prison Epistles”?–I found it particularly difficult to concentrate on the lecture. Instead of taking notes I wrote down a simple poem aimed at dealing with fear through trusting in our faithful Savior. Later I put it to music (though I am no musician). Now, twenty years later, we sing a version of it together as a family.

These past several weeks we have been absolutely amazed by the love and kindness of our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Japan and abroad who have taken their time, talents, skills, and abilities and used them to help us move forward in ministry. The following video is one of the results. It is a labor of love by Lucas in the United States, a brother I have never met in person, and Norman, who is always spurring us on to better things.

For the three or four of you out there who read this page, we thank you for your patience. In the next few weeks we hope to get you up to date on some of the more important events, happenings, and changes here in our lives.

We want to express our gratitude to all of you who gave of your time in prayer and of your financial resources to support our brothers, sisters, and friends in Sathupally, India at the Siloam Home for Orphans and Widows. The KO100 (see the facebook page here) was a great success, raising a grand total of just over $9,000 (USD)! Our church has sent a portion of it which was donated on the Japan side (approximately $1,000). We plan to sent the remainder in the coming weeks.

My friend and big brother in the Lord, Norman Smith, is a person who really does go the extra mile. He has demonstrated this to me time and time again since I have known him. And, if you haven’t been following his KO 100 FaceBook page, he plans to run another ninety-nine miles after the first one. Why in the world would he do that? To help people in need.

“Daddy, don’t make me fall,” my four-year-old son begged me a number of times as we crossed the suspension bridge in Aya-cho in the mountains of Miyazaki Prefecture this past week. He was really frightened. At 142 meters (465 feet) above the gorge I felt a bit giddy myself.

“Daddy won’t let you fall,” I tried to reassure my little boy. But he found it difficult to believe my words of comfort as he felt the bridge sway and bounce beneath his feet, that is, until I carried him in my arms. He was then able to calm down. In Daddy’s arms he felt much safer. Instead of looking down through the grating at the river, rocks, and trees hundreds of feet below he could look up–at the beauty of the scenery around and above and at me, his “Daddy.”

The photo above was taken this morning (2/18) at Kumabe Castle ruins in Yamaga.

About a ten-minute walk from our home/church building stands a massive Buddha. It measures about one-hundred feet high and more than thirty feet wide. Though perhaps not strictly made of stone, you might say that it is a dead stone. It certainly has no life in itself, no power to meet the needs of the people who come to it, no sight in its ever-staring eyes, and no words to speak from its unmoving lips. Just as the idols of which the psalmist writes:

The family Christmas photo above, like so many photos, is somewhat misleading. Here’s what I mean: It was the end of a long day when we arranged ourselves for the picture. We were tired and some of us were a bit irritable. It probably didn’t help that it took ten or fifteen shots to get one that we agreed was good enough to make public. A number of the of the shots were pretty funny to look at later–at least to ourselves–as some of our faces revealed impatience, disinterest, or annoyance.

Back at the end of September I walked up the hill near our church building and reflected a little upon the mandarin orange (or tangerine) orchard that was full of weeds and decaying trees. The reason for its pitiable state was a lack of workers to tend it. As beautiful as the view was from the orchard (seen here), the orchard itself was rather depressing to look at. It reminded me of how great the need for workers (disciple-making believers) is in Japan.

Some people are afraid of spiders. I don’t quite get it. Some people are afraid of snakes. OK, I can understand that one a little better. Some people are afraid of paperwork. That’s me. Paperwork sends me into a cold sweat. I’m just fine with spiders and snakes, though people have good reason to fear some species at least. But paperwork? Yep, I have actually gotten the shakes as if I were experiencing stagefright when beginning to fill out paperwork. The i130 form began the same way.

Personally, I (Nate) think that late September to mid-October is the most beautiful time of the year in Japan: The HIGANBANA (pronounced “he-gone-bonna”), beautiful red or sometimes white flowers on long green stems, line the borders of the golden rice fields. The air is clean and fresh; and puffy, white clouds float along in the deep blue sky. The temperature is pleasantly warm, and, unless there is a typhoon, it is sunny almost every day. It’s perfect weather to take a walk and look at the fields and orchards before, during, and after the harvest.

Late last month Azusa, the kids, and I traveled a few hours by highway from Kumamoto to just about the southernmost tip of Kyushu. We spent four days and three nights in Ibusuki (pronounced ee-boo-ski)–famous for geothermal sand-baths–for the purpose of fellowship with ABWE missionaries and a few others as well. What a treat it was for us to enjoy some time with missionaries! This time, however, none of the Stratton family chose to be buried alive in the hot sand.