About our Ministry

UPDATE: August 10, 2014

We are currently home in NC on our first furlough. After completing a two year assignment in Southern Japan, we are transitioning to full-time missionaries with our agency FIM. Over the course of the next year we are visiting with family and friends. We are also trying to raise support to attend language school in Japan. We have a desire to continue to work with the Japanese people, but we know our next step is to learn Japanese. 

We are also awaiting the arrival of our second child in late December 2014!!

UPDATE: January 28, 2014

We are still living and working in Shimonoseki Japan attending and working with the English teaching ministries of Shimonoseki Christ Bible Church. 

David is still working teaching English conversation classes to around 40 students. He has students of all ages ranging from 2-70. He teaches group lessons, private lessons, and a business class. 

Stephanie has been teaching twice a week to get the Pre-School up and running. In April of this year, she will begin teaching 10 students 5 days a week, which is the goal she has been working for.

We have been incredibly blessed this past year in our family and our ministries and we want to give God all the glory. He has also blessed us with a beautiful baby boy and we are thankful for his continued health. Samuel will be 1 on February 7th. He has kept us even busier this past year, but we've loved every minute of it.

UPDATE: January 21, 2013

We are currently living in Shimonoseki Japan and are working with Shimonoseki Christ Bible Church in several different ministries. 

David is still working in the English conversation ministry as well as speaking through a translator at the occasional service. 

Stephanie is currently helping to get the International English Pre-school up and running as well as hosting people in our home as time allows. 

We are both getting ready for a new arrival that we are expecting around February 4th. We have been blessed to have a wonderful doctor here in Japan as well as many people in the church that have helped us in preparing for a child in a foreign environment. 

God has blessed the English ministry by adding 15 people this past fall 2012 as well as just recently one of David's students made a profession of faith and has decided to become a follower of Christ!

Thursday, February 2, 2012:

David and I will be working with Tony and Marcia Haug in Shimonoseki, Japan.

The Haug’s moved to Japan in 1989 and began a church in Shimonoseki. Their church, Shimonoseki Christ Bible Church (SCBC), has seen much growth and God has blessed their ministries.

 SCBC has an English teaching ministry that David and I will be working with primarily. David will be teaching English conversation classes and I will be helping the Haug’s start an all English speaking Pre-School. The Haug’s have seen much interest in and much fruit from their English conversational classes.

David will be teaching 25-30 hours a week. This is a staff position at SCBC and he will also have some other SCBC responsibilities along with teaching English conversation classes. From the information that we have been given, many Japanese have a desire to learn English. They are taught English is school but usually don’t have a native speaker to practice with. He is a true conversationalist and I believe that he will do great at this job. David’s main focus will be on teaching English to his students and building relationships with them so that he can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

For the past 2 years the Haug’s have been trying to start an all English speaking Pre-School. In Japan it is common for most families to send their children to Pre-School and an all English speaking Pre-School has gained much interest from the local community. I will be helping Marcia open the school in April 2013. The Japanese school year is from April to March. If we have enough parents interested and willing to enroll their student’s mid-year, we may open the Pre-School in September of 2012. I taught Pre-School in Lynchburg and I had eight two-year olds and 5 of them did not speak English at home. I completely loved my job and I am looking forward to working with little ones again. My main focus will be on the Pre-School as well as to build relationships with my students and their families with the intention of sharing the Gospel with them.

Building long lasting relationships is culturally significant for the Japanese people. Relationship building will be another aspect of our ministry. We will be entertaining in our home and meeting for group events with our neighbors and our students and their families with the intent of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This page on our blog will be devoted to informing people about our current and upcoming ministries.

About the Japanese People

0.5% of the Japanese people claim to be evangelical. There are approximately 130 million Japanese people and around 300,000 live in Shimonoseki. The primary religion practiced in Japan is Buddhism.

Facts and other information were taken from http://www.joshuaproject.net