2023A Year-in-Review

As we reflect on this year—a tapestry of ups and downs woven for our family, we resonate with this insight from George MacDonald: “Love loves unto purity”. We discern that God’s masterful hand is threading through the various seasons, even in health and personal challenges, to make us purer in our worship of Him. They are hard to endure, but as we look back, we are grateful for them, because without them we would not have experienced the growth he graciously intended to work in us.

For most of the year, Candy continued to struggle with ongoing eczema that hinders her ability to go out of the house, while I am confronted with my stubborn sinful traits of impatience and perfectionism as a husband, parent and leader, which painfully stand stark against the reality of God’s grace and mercy in the gospel.

But the struggles have pushed us to depend on Him more and more. We come to understand that his grace is truly our only hope: grace which fuels our resilience, and produces fruit that is spiritual.

As we step into another year committed to God’s purposes in Japan, we receive every circumstance as divine opportunity to transforming us into the image of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And ultimately it is not only about us – but that the people of God here would reflect more and more of his image, bearing witness to other Japanese people who are all created in his image, that they may return home to worship him as their own true hope.

Join us as we share some photos of the moments that marked this year…