A meal of milk

Hi everyone! Hope you are doing well?

Summer is on the way. Today I wore my flip-flops and ate スーパーカップ (SuperCup) icecream in the park.

The church is well. Steve Brading visited from Sydney last weekend. He spoke at our men's breakfast, to us as leaders and at our Sunday meeting. He reminded us that God is with us and is for us and that we are loved as much as Jesus is loved. Very encouraging!

From Monday to Friday, I continue to teach at international school. This year, my timetable is mainly teaching maths to years 4, 5 and 6. We use a Japanese textbook which has been translated into English, often with hilarious consequences. It's very interesting to see how maths is taught in a different country. I recently taught a chapter in the year 4 book called ‘big numbers'. In the end of chapter test, the kids had to answer some extraordinary questions such as: 6,000,080,000,000,000 is ...... lots of 100 trillion and ....... lots of 10 million. Last week, I was teaching division of fractions in year 5. We had a lot of fun with this question: ‘There is 1 and 4/5 L of milk. If you drink 3/5L each time with your family, how many meals can you have with your family?’ I asked the kids what they thought. One boy replied: in this family, the mum clearly isn’t much of a cook! I gave him a house point for that one.

In other news, I recently bought an iphone and an electronic piano. I use both every day.

Unfortunately, the next holiday isn’t until July, during which I’m planning on re-entering Japanese language school. Studying during a one month holiday may seem a bit extreme, but in the Nagoya summer heat, the allure of an air conditioned classroom during the daytime becomes quite appealing. I’ll let you know how it’s goes.

Mikio, Gracie and Ivy come to Nagoya! I first met Mikio and Gracie in Coventry, at Jubilee church. It was the first time for us to meet in Japan and the first time for me to meet little Ivy!

Mikio, Gracie and Ivy at GraceCity church.

We went for lunch with Masami, Aki, Kana and Yuna chan.



I first met Masami in Coventry, whilst she was studying at Warwick. I met Aki, Kana and Yuna in Nagoya. They invited me to Ise one weekend. Aki's lovely family looked after us all. Thank you.

Aki and his brother, Hiroyuki.

Yu came back to Japan for a friend's wedding. We met Nobu and Junshi in Tokyo and played tennis together.

Sayaka joined us for lunch!

Being reunited with old friends is just great! Let's meet again soon!

In other news, the church continues to grow and change. We need a new building! The school year comes to an end in a few weeks time. I'm thinking about going to Thailand for a few days, with a very nice Canadian friend. Spring feels like it's still a long way away, but seasons change quickly here in Japan, and i know it won't be long until the spring flowers appear, we're enjoying the cherry blossom and finally playing tennis again!

I hope you are all doing well. As always, thank you for all your messages and your prayers.

Happy new year, everyone. it was so nice coming back to England at Christmas and reconnecting with family and friends. thank you so much for looking after me whilst i was back.

I'm back in Japan now and thankfully over jet lag.

Came back to exciting news: three people have chosen to follow Jesus in as many weeks. very exciting to see God at work at church!

I'm back at school. Really so grateful to God for my job. we're holding a talent show in a few weeks time, so we're all busy getting ready for that.


my new year's resolution is to try to be more deliberate about how i use time. last year, i wasted a lot of time after work in the evening just flitting around on the computer. i feel like i can study, pray and read more if i can plan how to use my time a little better.


this year, i really hope and pray that more japanese people choose to follow Jesus and join us. also, i am always thinking and praying about church planting, where we might go next and who might go. I would love to see some plans take shape in the coming year. we shall see.

Have a very happy new year everyone.