DALE & ANN LITTLE

Ann and Dale's Transition To Tokyo, Jan 2013

In late January we moved from Sendai back to Tokyo in order to launch TOKYO MULTICULTURAL CHURCH, the church planting vision we have nurtured for four years.

So during January Dale focused on renting an apartment in Sumida-ku, teaching his last modular class of the year on Contemporary Theology at Japan Bible Seminary, and as voluntary President of Japan Evangelical Missionary Association leading board meetings and planning sessions in preparation for JEMA's annual consultation and business meetings Feb 25-27. We were able to move out of our Sendai apartment on Jan 28 and into our Tokyo apartment on Jan 30. We will be unpacking cardboard boxes and getting settled in for the next month or so--all the while trying to carry on ministry.

SumidaApt02
The Lord miraculously provided an apartment for us, perfectly located for our upcoming church planting project: Tokyo Multicultural Church (TMC). The apartment complex is owned by the city of Tokyo, reasonably price, relatively new, spacious by Japanese standards, and is earthquake proof to the highest level possible. Tokyo is trying to make this particular apartment complex of 253 units a model. Typically, foreigners are not fortunate enough to qualify for moving into one of these apartments.

We are excited about working with our core group of believers who will form the nucleus for TMC. We have lined up a number of core group team meetings in February and March at our apartment. The English Department of Musashino Chapel Center (an EFC) will hold a commissioning service for the TMC core group on Easter Sunday March 31. What a great day to send out a group of people to plant a new church! Our hope is to launch TMC in April. We are looking for an affordable and conveniently located facility to rent.