He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”
~ Psalm 40:3
Several times in recent months, I have written about seasons of waiting and trusting God’s timing. Well, I am happy to report that this most recent season of waiting has quickly faded away! Quite suddenly, we seem to be moving forward like water rushing downstream. Praise God! The past few weeks have been very full, so be forewarned – this month’s report will be a long one.
After the school year ended and our teaching jobs wrapped up, we packed our suitcases and headed to Searcy, Arkansas. We are spending the bulk of this Summer dwelling with our sending congregation, Cloverdale Church of Christ. It has been a refreshing time of making new friendships and renewing old relationships. The Cloverdale members have welcomed us warmly, hosted us for meals in their homes, and quickly found a place in our hearts as family. (Pictured below are just two of such times out of many to choose from.)
Additionally, our first two weeks in Searcy coincided with HST’s summer intensive courses. We enjoyed attending their daily chapel and meeting with those who were in town for a course. It was especially nice to meet some of my classmates face-to-face after only ever interacting with them virtually through Canvas and Zoom.
The pace picked up a little on June 11th when we received a video call from Nao Fukushima. He was excited to share that our Certificates of Eligibility had arrived at the church building in Tachikawa! When we applied for them back in March, it was difficult to imagine what this day would look like, but God has faithfully brought us through each step of the process. On top of this, we were pleased to learn that we have been approved for an initial period of three years. Hallelujah! Nao promised to send them to us quickly, and we started looking at the calendar to estimate when other dates could now fall into place.
Just six days later, the pace quickened further! Our certificates arrived safely, and I was able to pick up the package at the post office in Searcy. With our COE’s in hand, we could now formally apply for visas. I called the Consulate-General of Japan’s branch office in Nashville to make an appointment and they had 10:30am available the next morning! We quickly threw an overnight bag together and hit the road for Nashville. Whew!
Annette Morris is the owner of the Kindermusik® Studio where Emily had been teaching. More than just Emily’s (now former) boss, she is a sweet friend and sister in Christ who relocated to the Nashville area not long ago. We accepted the gracious offer to stay at her home, even though it was very short notice and we were arriving so late at night. Her hospitality is much appreciated – she even sent us on our way in the morning with snacks!
After stopping to purchase a pre-paid FedEx envelope, we made our way downtown and headed for the 9th floor of the Palmer Plaza building for our visa appointment. We submitted our applications, certificates, and passports at the counter. The gentleman looked over everything, double-checked that forms were filled in correctly, and then sent us on our way with a receipt and assurance that the completed visas (and our passports!) would be sent back to us the following week in the FedEx envelope we provided. By the time that would happen, we were scheduled to be visiting Clay’s family in Texas, so that’s the address we put on the envelope.
With the visa process progressing, we were able to solidify plans with our chosen movers, Yamato Transport. If you are familiar with Japan, you’ll know that クロネコヤマト is ubiquitous. This black on yellow logo of a cat gently carrying its kitten can be seen in every corner of the country. As one of Japan’s best shipping/moving companies, I was pleased to know that they maintain a number of offices in the US. That means that I wouldn’t have to worry about how to send our stuff to Japan. One company could handle the journey from door to door, including the customs process when entering Japan. They were also recommended by others that we know, so the choice was easy.
After filling out some forms and submitting descriptions of what we were wanting to take with us, I drove back over to Memphis the morning of Monday, June 22, in order to FaceTime with Hideaki-san so that he could get a good look at our belongings and offer us a quote. With that completed, we were able to schedule a moving date that worked for everyone.
On the morning of July 2nd, Christian and Yusuke arrived and got to work. They identified and labeled everything we had already packed, crafted some custom boxes for odd-sized items, staged it all in the carport, and then packed it in the truck. Interesting side-note: Christian is from Venezuela and is based out of the Nashville office. Yusuke is from Nagoya, Japan, but is living in Chicago. Yamato flies him around to the various other branch offices during the busy season if they are short-staffed. Memphis was a new city for him, and he seemed pleased to add a new place to his list. They both were very polite and handled the job with expert care. With our stuff on the way to Japan, we plan to wave at it somewhere in the Pacific Ocean as we fly over August 3rd. We will look for it to catch up to us sometime in early September, hopefully after we have secured an apartment.
It has certainly been a whirlwind of progress. We are grateful for God’s provision that everything has happened in such a timely fashion. All of the vital pieces are now in place, and we are officially ready to head to Japan. May our efforts, feeble as they are, serve to glorify God and grow His kingdom there.
~ Clay
Fowlers in Japan 