Tenth Anniversary in Tokyo

Dear Pali Pres,

It’s hard to believe, but later this year Mary and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. I know it’s not 40 or 50 years like some of you have been fortunate enough to experience, but it’s a start!

As a way for us to celebrate, we are taking a trip with our boys back to where it all got started…Tokyo, Japan. We depart next week and will miss two Sundays here at Pali Pres. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to take vacation, and very thankful to Pastor Grace for holding down the fort while I am away.

Mary and I met while she was working at an international school in Tokyo and I was a pastor at an international church also in Tokyo. Having each lived there for several years (Mary for eight years, and me for five years), Tokyo remains a very special place to us. We have many good friends who still live there and several places (including her former school and my former church) remain special to us. We are very much looking forward to showing our boys our old neighborhood, introducing them to our friends, taking them to our favorite ramen restaurants (if they still exist!), and having a fun walk down memory lane together.

Mary and I sincerely value your prayers as we make this long journey with our boys. We pray for safety, only mild jetlag, and lots of fun and laughter as we share with our children the place where our little family got started.

While we are gone, please know that you and the church will be in our prayers. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks. Who knows, maybe the sun will come out by then!

God’s peace be with all of you,

Pastor Matt