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January 2002
Dear Family and Friends in Christ,
As I begin this letter for the umpteenth time, I’ve had
to keep moving the date back and now find myself well into January
2002. May I begin by wishing God’s blessings to each of you
in the New Year?! May I share some reflections and updates from
2001?
It feels so different being back in Thailand this time—so
much less stress and a sense of simply returning home as we flew
into the Bangkok Airport, cleared customs, and hopped back behind
the driver’s wheel. We didn’t even go around to the
wrong side of the car first. (Driver’s side is on the right
here.)
What a satisfying, wonder-"full" yet, refreshing time
of interpretation assignment (this is the terminology the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) uses for what some have previously called "furlough"
or "home assignment") the past summer has been in the
United States. It was great to have reunion time with the Fujii
side of the family in Oakland, California, and the Hamada side
in Los Alamos, New Mexico. It was great reconnecting with precious
friends and church families as well as developing new relationships
with many whom we previously only knew by name and through e-mail
correspondence. How refreshing and encouraging these times were
for us—thank you.
We also greatly appreciate your prayers for our times of travel
as a family and the opportunities that the children had to reconnect
with their American roots (friends, foods, media, music, malls,
etc.) during this past summer. The mini-van trek across country
went very well and afforded us the opportunity to visit with new
church friends as well as to see and experience "new"
parts of the country. In the course of our travels and stay in
Chicago, Joy had the opportunity to get a better picture of what
she is interested in pursuing after high school graduation in
June 2002.
The time at the PC(USA) sharing conference for mission personnel
on interpretation assignment was both refreshing and full. We
are impressed at how organized the staff who take care of mission
personnel is, and we appreciate the effort staff makes to stay
connected to us while we are on the field. We stayed on the beautiful
campus of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The
week was good to reconnect and build relations with fellow PC(USA)
missionaries. We were encouraged that there are a number involved
with evangelism and discipleship. At the conclusion of our time
in Louisville, we signed an agreement to continue in our present
ministry in Thailand for a second term (five-year duration). This
means that our next interpretation assignment in the U.S. will
be during the summer of 2003. A full year of combined interpretation
assignment and study leave is scheduled for sometime around 2005.
About our family
Joy is diving into the second term of her senior year with a
full load of courses, and with university application deadlines
and SAT’s behind her. She has been participating in extracurricular
clubs, the MUN (Model of United Nations). Joy played junior varsity
soccer and is also the president and founder of Independent Audio
Club. Her club even has a website! She is involved in publishing
and publicizing her school’s literary magazine. Joy especially
enjoys English, economics, and history classes. We keep encouraging
her to do first things first, but we are also glad to see that
she is investing in and gaining much from her senior year. Joy
is interested in returning to the Chicago area for her undergraduate
studies. She has been accepted into DePaul University in Chicago.
If God provides the funding, this is where she would like to study
this fall. It comforts us to know that she will have a large network
of dear friends to support her while her family will be missing
her halfway around the world.
Karin lamented last year that she was not particularly talented
in art or sports but she said, " I am good at leadership"—and
she decided to run for sophomore class president. This fall she
was rarely home between student council sophomore class responsibilities
and varsity soccer games. She participated in her first IASIS
soccer tournament at her school and her team won the championship.
This was quite a thrill for Karin who is a rookie at this sport.
She has also enjoyed the relationships with her teammates. She
is finding that she needs to focus so that she can stay on top
of the academics and balance all her other extracurricular activities.
Mark, eighth grade, had a blast at Church of Christ, Presbyterian’s
Youth Camp last summer. It is still hard for Mark to be here as
he compares reality here with the euphoria of the past summer’s
experience. God is giving grace to Mark to jump in and make the
most of his present circumstances. Mark continues playing trumpet
in band this year. He is even giving trumpet lessons to our neighbor,
a first-year trumpet player. God has given him a new friend from
Germany. This is an answer to prayer as Mark is the only American
in his class, he felt he needed friends other than Thai. Mark
has a flair for writing and can spend hours creating some exciting
plot. Our challenge is encouraging him in the academics as his
motivation lags behind his ability. His new interest—skate
boarding.
Lani, now in 5th grade, is our budding basketball player and
flutist. She participated in a girls’ basketball league on
Saturdays. Though she was the smallest and youngest on her team,
she held her own pretty well. She and Dad have also enjoyed working
out together on the basketball court. Lani also has begun playing
the flute in the school band and we are enjoying listening to
her progress. After school on Tuesdays, she and Mark have also
attended Bible club activities.
Leith continues to teach English and an evangelism course at
the Bangkok Institute of Theology. He also assists with administrative
matters related to English. This includes the BIT newsletter sent
out to supporters of the school and grant writing. We thank God
for the Geneva Foundation, which gave a grant allowing BIT to
buy nine computers for the lab. Until recently we had about five
working computers, which were used only for typing reports. In
October, a UCC pastor in Hawaii and former missionary with PC(USA)
helped us with an English/computer camp which introduced the use
of the Internet/e-mail to our students. For many, this was their
first experience. Owning a personal computer is out of reach for
most of our students. Our aim is to continue to offer training
opportunities for them.
This past November we were thankful to be a part of celebrating
BIT’s 60th year of equipping Thai for ministry as pastors
and missionaries. Leith still meets with Rattanak, who is now
a part-time student in the graduate school at BIT. He also teaches
an evangelistic Bible study and meets regularly with the staff
members of the Saphan Luang Church, a Thai /Chinese congregation.
Carol has increased her teaching at the Thai Christian School
and is now teaching 7th and 8th grades about peer and family relationships,
including God’s view of sex. It is a new topic of teaching
for her and requires some time for preparation. She is getting
better at coming up with games and icebreakers, which Thai kids
love. Although, she would have never chosen to teach junior high,
God seems to be leading in this way. Carol says, "I am willing
Lord…even though it doesn’t come naturally." Thank
God for His grace. There is still a great need for committed Christian
teachers at the TCS school, as we have only one foreign staff
member who is a Christian. Carol also continues to teach freshman
English at BIT and enjoys relating to university level students.
She has just begun meeting with a gal for prayer and encouragement.
This year Carol wants to be more available to Joy in her last
months of high school. Although asked to increase her leadership
responsibilities, she senses that God wants her to be faithful
on the home front. She is both thankful for these opportunities
in ministry but also for the flexibility to be available to the
children.
As I close I would ask you to join us in praying for:
- We praise God for Mom Fujii’s life. She suffered a heart
attack in November but has fully recovered. The doctors were
amazed to find no blockage or damage. We are thankful that both
Fujii and Hamada parents are well.
- Joy, for the big transition ahead, for financial provision
and for God to use all of this to awaken a faith in Jesus. For
special times with Joy before she leaves us.
- Grace to grow at loving our children, especially our teens
(sometimes it is hard not to put up a white flag.)
- Pray for eyes on Jesus not on self, in relation to language
ability and ministry fruitfulness.
Sometimes we ask ourselves: What do we really have to offer people…yes
Jesus! (not us!) Pray for faithfulness on our part and that we
would rest in Jesus, as He chooses to work through us.
Please write us and let us know how we can be praying for you.
We are grateful for your love for us and partnership with us through
your prayerful support.
Giving thanks to Jesus,
Carol and Leith Fujii
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 163
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