Important Update: Back in Sendai

Hello friends, family, and supporters,

We want to share an important update with you now that Misako and I are back in Sendai. As many of you know, for the past two months we have been attending the School of Digital Filmmaking at YWAM Kona. It was an intense season of learning, stretching, and growing, and we are deeply grateful to the Lord and to all of our family, friends, and supporters for making it possible for us to go.

Some of you may be disappointed to hear this, but after about eight weeks, it became clear that we needed to return to Japan earlier than planned. This was not a light decision, as Misako and I prayed for weeks, sought the Lord’s direction, and carefully weighed the situation.

While we did gain valuable experience, such as sitting through all the lectures, working on several short film projects, and even directing and editing a short myself, the environment proved to be unsustainable for us. The workload was extremely demanding, often running late into the night with little time for rest, working over the weekends, and it began to take a serious toll on my mental and physical health.

We don’t want to dwell on negatives, but the truth is the program culture was not a healthy place for us to thrive. Rather than continue in that, we felt the Lord leading us to return to Japan and continue ministry here.

That said, we don’t consider this time wasted. We are thankful for what we learned, the perspective we gained, and the way God used even the challenges to give us greater clarity about our calling. We now feel more certain about where He is leading us next.

Back in Japan, our vision remains the same: to continue serving as missionaries here in Sendai, supporting the local churches and ministries. In addition, Misako and I are excited to begin working on animation projects together, combining her animation skills with my writing, directing, and editing, to create works that can share the gospel and encourage Japanese people in fresh and creative ways.

As we step into this new season, we would deeply appreciate your ongoing prayers for God’s wisdom, strength, and creativity as we serve and create. We are also seeking to grow our financial support team so we may give more of our time and energy to full-time ministry and creative gospel work. If the Lord puts it on your heart to partner with us in this way, we would be so grateful.

Thank you so much for standing with us through prayer, encouragement, and support. Even though this chapter didn’t end how we expected, we trust that the Lord has used it for His purposes and is opening the right doors for the future.

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”