Tak & Chee Newsletter! Vol. 1 En
Hi! Takeshi & Chie here.
Time flies, and it's been a month already since we moved to Nagano. Thanks so much for thinking of us always. Here are some updates.
Moving
It was a bit stressful. We were previously thinking of renting a moving truck, but then we found out the street right in front of our new place is too narrow to even park a car without blocking the way. So we ended up renting two vans to pack with our things and driving back and forth between Kanagawa and Nagano 4 times in one week (it takes about 4hrs each way)! But God always provided people who kindly gave us a hand, and we got to enjoy the whole process of moving.
BBQ
A guy, who introduced us to the owner of our new place, invited us to his BBQ party right after we moved in. We were excited to find out the party was held at a historical site where one of the Japanese powerful warriors was stationed long ago. There we also got to connect with our neighbors at our age. What a great day to start our new journey.
Coffee
At the party, Takeshi offered to brew some coffee by using the coffee beans we roasted on our own. One of the guests did like the coffee and asked us to sell our coffee beans. And this is how God opened the door for us to start our new business here only a couple days after we moved!
Farm
We moved here in the end of April and stayed busy going through the administrative procedures till the beginning of May. And we finally started our new job on a farm in the end of May. We've learned to work by monitoring weather each day and to plant seeds as well as just to simply pick up rocks in the field as a preparation before cultivating a huge land. Through these simple and yet hard tasks, God spoke to our hearts about all the time and effort farmers put into in order to produce good crops and the truth of the "good soil" He talks about in the Bible. Any of the good soil doesn't just appear right in front of our eyes; it is created by farmers intentionally putting their hearts into it before the harvest.
Community event
As working on the farm, we also got an opportunity to do a one-day pop-up cafe in a community event. The same guy who introduced us to the owner of our house has begun a business to share a place with other small business owners to hold a monthly farmers market/craft fair sort of thing. One of our Barista friends in Tokyo came to visit us and gave us timely advice for the cafe. Thanks to her help, it turned out to be such a successful experience for us. It was only for a day, but we could see one of our dreams coming to pass!! God always does awesome things, and His timing is perfect! We can't thank Him enough for being with us and leading us along the way.
Cafe, Farm, and Church
Our vision is to create a safe place where people can gather and belong. We’d like to open a cafe (a place where people can connect) on a farm (a place where people can experience the beauty of God’s creation). There we individually as a church would like to equip the next generation spiritually and provide working opportunities to support them financially. Here in Ueda there are plenty of great properties and abandoned/empty houses we could possibly buy or rent at an extremely cheap price. The number of abandoned buildings has been found in many parts of Japan, and more and more people and business owners have come up with creative ideas to renovate those buildings to reuse for various purposes. We also envision using such properties to see God move powerfully. We are located in the area where it's about 1+1/2 hrs away from Tokyo by a bullet train and have easy access to Matsumoto Airport we can fly to and from almost anywhere. We believe this enables us to create a base or something missionaries could come and rest, work from, and be sent out. Some of our friends abroad (missionaries and pastors) have already shown some interest in our visions. It may not be long before working together with some missionaries on a farm and/or providing fresh coffee in a cafe. We are dreaming big with God. And we can't wait to see how He will make our dreams come alive!!
For now we'd like to be faithful to the work on the farm God provided and to connect with the locals as we continually wait for His green light to move to the next step.
We'd love you to join us in prayer for the followings:
For our physical strength to work on the farm;
For the right properties for a cafe and a base;
For the finance to purchase a coffee bean roaster (approximately $6,000).
Thank you so much for partnering with us in this new adventure with our God! If you are led to give and support us financially, please contact us. Every donation, whether large or small, will make a difference and be appreciated greatly.
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