Chasing the Setting Sun to the Land of the Rising Sun

(Written December 9 and 10, 2011)

As we sit on the plane chasing the sunset to L.A., I found myself reflecting on what a big calling we are heeding. As a family of four (two of which are younger than four years old), we opted to drop our life of normalcy and stability to fly half way around the globe and help people we've never met... Are we crazy? Maybe. Probably. But we crave the adventure and really felt compelled to do this. And finally the day is here to leave our home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to live in Kessenuma, Miyagi, Japan, for one month in order to help the earthquake and tsunami victims of the March 11, 2011 disasters.

The players in this game are not new to the Japanese countryside, however. Dan, a 31 year old professional magician/foreign marketing assistant, and his wife Andi, a 28 year old stay at home mom and freelance graphic designer, spent four of the first five years in their marriage living in Misato, Miyagi (about an hour and a half southwest of Kessenuma). In fact, their oldest son Malakai (who will be 4 years old in February) was born there and lived as an ex-pat of sorts for the first 17 months of his life. The only newcomer to the game is 6 month old Nikolai who has to start his globe trotting sooner or later to keep up with the rest of the family!


So how did we end up on this plane? Well, like any adventure, it is a series of situations that led us to this point. It's probably best to start at the beginning for this one... The very beginning!

Dan's grandfather, Richard Poetter, was called to Japan as a Christian missionary shortly after WWII. He met Ikuko Abe (his Japanese tutor) and married her. They lived first in Ikuko's hometown of Niigata, Niigata, but later moved to Mito, Ibaraki. They had three children, all of whom were sent to America for junior high and high school. The eldest, Hilda, met and married Dennis Jaspersen (who also boarded at her high school) and Dan was born, the middle of three children.

Dan traveled to Japan as a 5 year old boy, but the biggest impact was made when he moved there with his new bride Andi as a teacher with the JET Programme as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT). Dan taught primarily at the junior high schools in Misato (formerly Kogota until the town merged with a neighboring town halfway through their stay). However he also taught at grade schools, community centers, kindergartens, and gave various presentations at high schools and conferences for other English teachers. In addition to his teaching Dan did much of the international relations work for the town's exchange program, so much so that instead of returning after their third year as planned, Dan and Andi (and Kai on the way) decided to stay and Dan worked in Town Hall as the Coordinator for International Relations (CIR). During this time, both Dan and Andi learned Japanese (they went over with no previous language training) and delved into the culture. They returned to the States as a family of three in the summer of 2009.

After two and a half years of living in Cheyenne, Wyoming (where Andi's parents live and we had gotten jobs), we received an email from a former LECC (Lutheran Evangelical Christian Church) missionary family forwarded from Christian Aid and Relief looking for volunteers with Japanese language skills to help in the Tohoku region of Japan at a community center distributing donated goods, teaching English, and hosting Bible studies. Since March, we had felt at a loss to really help after the disasters, yearning to travel back to our other home and physically help. We had found small ways to help (monetary donations and donated photography to a charity auction), but it didn't feel like enough. So when the email came in, hope sprung up in our hearts and we started seriously considering going, even with two young children in tow.

One stipulation was that we had to be in Japan for at least 30 days. This created our major hurdle for the trip. However (and the clearest sign that we were supposed to be going on this trip), Dan's employer, Sierra Trading Post, willingly gave him a leave of absence and worked with Dan to make sure this trip could happen! They also arranged to donate some goods for the community center and offer a deep discount on goods. The generosity of STP has been above and beyond what we could have even hoped for; they truly made this trip a reality for us!

So now we sit, waiting to board a 12 hour flight with our kiddos, toys, snacks, and entertainment stashed throughout our carry-on baggage. Feelings of excitement, anticipation, and perhaps a little apprehension fills the air as we finally begin our journey. What is to come? We aren't entirely sure, but we know God goes with us and will bless our efforts. We hope to capture the memories from our trip and share with you our adventure over the ocean.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 119:9-10