Serving in Japan, Part 3
Origami Floral Centerpiece made by Janine for her wedding
AND then…
In November of 2010, Break Free Ministry came to Japan and a certain young man was on that trip. It is an interesting story, but the same time that the Lord was doing things in my personal life and challenging me was the same time that the Lord maneuvered the dynamics of the trip so that Vicente could be a part of it. I was 26 at this time.
We connected through Spanish and through outreach and began getting to know each other after he returned to California and CCEA. After visiting each other, and Break Free returning to Japan again for a longer trip the next summer, we eventually became engaged and got married in April of 2012.
It was always our heart to return to Japan to continue working there as we both had a heart for Japan. But we knew we needed time to get settled in marriage first. We continued working toward Japan, and the Lord blessed us with a beautiful baby girl, Rosalyn, the day after our 2nd wedding anniversary.
In December of 2014, we moved back to Japan and are now working with the same church Fuse Jesus Community (part of PAZ Japan Mission). Vicente has already made connections with local break dancers and we are involved in a cell group, which we hope to grow and multiply shortly. Within the cell groups, people often get saved and later join in one on one discipleship. We have a 5 year commitment and will go from there at the Lord’s direction, whether it be to stay, move or go home.
Whew! Hope you’re still with me!
A little more about my Fam
Vicente, my husband, is originally from Honduras, but is now an American citizen. He’s a very outgoing, funny, relaxed kinda guy. He enjoys break dancing and music (understatement of the year…). He loves to share the Gospel and I’ve never seen someone who was always looking for an opportunity to share, no matter where he finds himself. He’s currently studying Japanese in the same language school that I went to and walks around now attempting to read everything he can. He’s extremely good with directions, and has shown me many shortcuts that I never knew existed. I’m not quite sure how he’s managed that when I was the one who lived here for 2 years!
Rosalyn, the little joy of our family, is 9.5 months old. She’s pretty friendly, loves to smile. Almost everyone always says that she is such a happy baby and they’ve never heard her cry (though I have). She loves to do adult things like drink out of real cups and eat real food. She hates the Japanese baby food (with rare exception), but loves their snacks for growing babies. She is doing the cruising thing, and always wants to stand and walk with us. She just very recently learned how to crawl (which was my prayer that she wouldn’t learn to crawl until after we moved and got settled in Japan!). We are still waiting for her teeth to make an appearance, but they are giving her a hard time lately, so I’m sure they won’t be long in coming.
Look for the final installment of Janine’s story coming soon.
(editor’s note: the time of this writing was January)