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January 3, 2021 Update

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Dear Family and Friends,   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Okinawa! We hope you all had a peaceful and light-filled Christmas, and we share our testimony that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World. During 2020 we have “heard Him” in our lives in an increased measure, and we bear witness that His work continues to roll forward in miraculous ways.     This is the 3 rd update I’ve sent from Japan. Feel free to read on for details of our life here in Okinawa.  J However, you are also welcome to end this email now and just know that we love and appreciate our family and friends.     My last update was from September, and life has been a whirlwind since then!     Scouting   Mark’s job is busy and fulfilling. He loves serving Scouts throughout Asia, and his zoom calls are always full of international faces and volunteers. December was a miraculous month as many volunteers came together to finish the council 2020 FOS goal…a miracle during t...
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The Flight to Japan - Thursday, July 2-3, 2020

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Thursday, July 2, 2020 We woke up at 3:30 with heads and hearts spinning. Everyone dressed!!!! This was it!!! Ben and Dani loaded all 24 suitcases onto luggage racks. We had a final family prayer. We picked up 12 breakfast bags! We wheeled the luggage out to the waiting shuttle vans. We said goodbye to Ben and Dani and waved at them as we drove away. Heart wrenching! We arrived at the airport. Sam and Sariah stayed with us and helped us load all of the luggage inside. We spent 30 minutes checking passports and checking in 16 bags of luggage. We all sat and ate our hotel breakfast We walked up to the security checkpoint. We hugged Sam and Sariah and I cried my eyes out. We walked away and through the security. The airport was not very full… We took off our shoes and put our items on the belt and walked through the metal detector. WE came out on the other side and Sam and Sariah were gone.  L We picked up our items, put on our shoes, regrouped and...
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Off To See The World July 2- 3, 2020

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Well… This is the beginning of a wonderful, exciting and scary adventure so, I guess I’ll just start at the beginning.  July 2, 2020 At 4:30 am the alarms go off in the hotel room where 12 of the 13 Francis family members are staying. (Emma is in Hungary.) We all got up, put on our clothes, and did some last-minute packing. About 4:45 we left our rooms and headed down to the bus that would take us to the airport with our 22 suitcases. As we loaded the bus Ben and Dani said goodbye. There were lots of tears because it would be the last time to see them in person for a long while.  Our family was the only one on the bus because we took up the entire thing. Sam and Sariah were also there to help us.  When we got to the airport, we unloaded the suitcases and hauled them into the airport. Sixteen of the suitcases were loaded as baggage and each person had one carry on plus a backpack. This was when we said goodbye to Sam and Sariah. There were many, many mor...
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