March 27, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

The academic year at Bangkok Institute of Theology (BIT) has just ended, and it’s a good time to catch up with you. One of our main projects is preparing for a year-long interpretation assignment in the United States, beginning this June. We’ll be flying out of Bangkok after Mark’s high school graduation in June, and arriving in Chicago just in time for Joy’s graduation from DePaul University and commissioning in the Army. Dad gave it his best, but this is what Joy really wants to do, and we’re proud of her spunkiness and confident of God working all things together for good in her life. It sure won’t be as easy to have a family reunion next Christmas, though, with Uncle Sam’s needs again taking precedence over our family’s plans—how well Leith remembers his Navy days!

On August 1, we will move into an apartment near Carol’s parents, Mas and Jane Hamada, and register Lani for her sophomore year in Los Alamos. Lani feels a bit nervous about the upcoming year because she hasn’t studied in the United States since first grade. After getting situated, Leith will primarily be traveling to visit with churches that invite him, while Carol spends time with Lani and her side of the family. We have been so blessed to be able to have these two terms of service in Thailand (eight years), and we are very grateful to our parents for their support and willingness to sacrifice as we’ve followed the Lord’s call in our lives. We thank God for sustaining their good health and are eagerly looking forward to having this time with them before returning to Thailand, Lord willing.

Carol and Leith have just returned from traveling to northern Thailand and visiting with churches and alumni. It was a wonderful time of encouragement and helps us to know how to better pray and support the work in which our alumni and churches are faithfully engaged. We hope to be doing more of this during the next couple of months, possibly including a trip to a neighboring closed-country, where our students, Hod and Thor, will be for field education. This is an exciting development at BIT, where we are praying that the Spirit will be fanning a new movement into flame. Please remember them in prayer as they invest in language learning and building cross-cultural relationships. Would you please also join us in praying for:

• The 21 BIT students beginning their internships in various ministries throughout Thailand. This is an important and vulnerable time for them, with many adjustments and new challenges to face. Some are serving in the outer provinces where resources and financial support are limited, but God is not!
• Daniel Stine, as he is now in the United States raising support for the year he will teach in our absence. Dan is a wonderfully gifted young man who loves the Lord and is committed to missions. More details are available at Daniel's Web site.
• God’s clear guidance and provision as we schedule to visit with churches and friends during our year of interpretation assignment.

We will be working on putting together a more detailed schedule for the first three months of our interpretation assignment, and we would appreciate hearing from you ASAP if it might be possible for us to visit with you. Thank you so much for your interest in our lives and for your partnership in the work to which God has called us.

Leith and Carol Fujii

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 122