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Ministry Update | Home
Hello everyone!
I'm back in the states! I've been back for about a week now and I just wanted to send this quick update to tell you about my last few weeks in Japan and let you know what some of my plans are for the coming year.
It's good to be home and I'm glad to see that there's still some fall foliage here in Vermont. I thought I was going to miss it all so that was encouraging to me. Since I flew in last Tuesday I've been getting over jet lag and trying to relax a little bit.
I'm still processing the last two years and I'll probably have more to share in a future update and in my presentations, but even after being back in the states for a week, I miss Japan so much and want to go back. My time there was so good. God was so good. The ministry and people were amazing. I'm so glad God has called me back long term. God has me back in America for now though so I want to use my time wisely. It's going to be a busy year.
This Saturday I'm heading down to Boston to fly out to Minneapolis where I'll see some friends and have my final interviews for being accepted to serve long term in Japan. I'll get the final decision the week after I come back and then I'll start speaking at churches!
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Reunited with my family after nearly two years!
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Prayer Requests:
- Pray for my transition back: I'm still dealing with some jet lag. I've been waking up at weird times, feeling sleepy way too early, and all around just not feeling 100%. Pray for my body to adjust to the new time. Pray also for me to get settled back into living back in America and living with my parents. I'm not used to driving anymore or having to share a car. Many things are different that I'm not used to after living in Japan by myself for the past couple years.
- Pray for my time in Minneapolis: This will be my fifth time in Minneapolis over the last few years so I'm excited to be back and see many of the people I've gotten to know at the home office. Most of my time will be dedicated to debrief and interviews though. I'm looking forward to talking about the past few years in Japan with others. And for the interviews, I've already received a conditional offer of employment with ReachGlobal so they are just the final confirmation piece of the whole application process. Please pray that they go well!
- Pray for the next year: Please be praying for my travel plans, trainings, and all the other details that I have to work out over the next year of my time in America as I'm support raising. I'm really excited for what's to come, but there are a lot of unknowns. Pray that I can trust in God's timing and his provision too.
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Typhoon Cleanup
 About a week before I left the country, Typhoon Hagibis hit central Japan. It was the most devastating typhoons to hit the area for decades. There was major flooding, billions of dollars in damage and over 80 people died.
The disaster was all over the news in Japan and we felt like we couldn't sit by and do nothing. We wanted to serve the Japanese people who had been affected in some way. A few days after the typhoon, my teammate Shige found out about a Christian nursing home complex that was hit hard by the flooding. Miraculously no one died even though the water came up to the roof of one of the buildings. There was a lot of damage though so our team went to help with the cleanup.
 When we got to the site everything was covered in mud and you could see the water lines on the buildings. The cleanup had already begun. There were heaps of trash and furniture where they were piled up until they could be taken away. My main job of the day was to help move tatami mats out of the rooms and stack them outside where they could dry before being taken away to be thrown out. Tatami are used in traditional Japanese flooring and usually made from straw. They are very common in Japanese buildings. They are usually roughly a meter by two meters and they get really heavy when wet!
I'm really glad that we were able to serve and help with at least some of the cleanup. It seems like large disasters have become more common in Japan recently. So pray for Japan and for the Japanese people when something like this happens that they'd be protected, but also that Christians can come alongside them to serve, love on them, and share the Gospel. Pray that in times like this, the Japanese people would see their need for God and turn to him.
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Me with a group of volunteers helping out with the cleanup.
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Saying Goodbye
My last few weeks in Japan seemed to go by so quickly. I barely had time to think about going home before I was packing and flying out. I am so glad I am going back to Japan otherwise the whole process would have been much harder. As it is, saying goodbye was not easy.
I made so many friendships and relationships that are special to me. My church especially was so important to me over the last two years. I'm really going to miss them.
My teammate Kevin, who was also in Japan short term, is reapplying to go back long term as well so we left Japan at about the same time. Between the two of us there were many final get togethers and goodbyes. Our team had already said goodbye to the Lee's who left at the end of September for a home assignment. So our team went from seven members, to five members, to now three! Pray for them!
Overall though I was so blessed by my team, church, and everyone else who said goodbye. Everyone had such nice things to say and it was a real confirmation that I need to come back! I'm glad most of my "goodbye's" were actually "see you later!"
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Now that I'm back
Thank you everyone who has supported me through prayer and finances in the past two years! None of this would be possible without you.
For those of you who give monthly, I asked you to commit to two years and now that I am back, I would understand if you want to stop giving. But, now that I am called to return to Japan as a long term missionary, I would also appreciate it if you would consider continuing to give! The money given while I am in the states will continue to go into my account, so if you decide to keep giving then there is nothing you have to change. If you do decide to stop giving and you signed up to give by credit card then it will not automatically stop. You will have to let EFCA know that you plan to stop. If that's the case let me know and I can help you with that. If you don't currently give and would like to start supporting me, then let me know or click on the "Donate Now" link at the bottom of the email.
After my interviews in a couple weeks I'll receive the final confirmation and go ahead to start my support raising. Once that happens you'll probably hear from me again about support so don't worry if you aren't sure right now what you want to do.
On November 17th I'll be presenting at my first church, the Barre Evangelical Free Church, my home church! I'll be speaking during the Sunday School time starting at 9:30am. In the weeks after that, I'll be speaking at other churches around central Vermont. Check out my schedule below for more info. I'd love to see you at one of those services. If you are there, please come say hi!
Besides churches, I'm happy to meet with anyone for coffee or a meal to give an update on what God's been doing in Japan, so if you're curious, feel free to reach out to me!
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Schedule for the coming months:
November 6-8th - Interviews in Minneapolis
November 17th - Speaking at Barre Evangelical Free Church
November 24th - Speaking at Crossroads Christian Church
December 8th - Speaking at New Life Assembly Church
December 15th - Speaking at East Barre Congregational Church
January 12th - Speaking at Old Brick Church
If you'd like me to come speak at your church or small group then please let me know! You can email me at adam.bailey@efca.org.
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Thanks for reading my newsletter!
 It's still hard to believe I'm home. Like I said, I still have a lot to process, and now I have to readjust to living in America, but I'm trusting in God for both and looking forward to how He uses those experiences.
In the next couple weeks I'll be traveling and working on a few other things, but feel free to contact me. Once things have settled down more I want to start getting together with people again. I've missed a lot of things here in America. So please let me know if you want to see me. I think seeing you guys will help me readjust as well!
Thanks again for keeping up with my updates and of course for you support too!
In Christ,
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