September 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

Hiking and picnicking with new friends.

After a full summer of visiting with congregations in the U.S., we are settling into Los Alamos, New Mexico, for the next nine months. The small town of Los Alamos rests at the foothills of the Jemez Mountains and is situated on top of a mesa 7,000 feet above sea level. The air is crisp, cool, and dry. Beautiful clear blue skies dotted with clouds, canyons teeming with pine and fir trees, hummingbirds lighting over fields of wildflowers make this an ideal place for both outdoor sports enthusiasts and professional artists. Hiking, biking, and horseback riding are common pastimes in this quiet town of 18,000. What a contrast to bustling, boisterous Bangkok! Los Alamos is home to the National Lab, which employs the majority of its residents. The Lab, a government hub of research, is also known as the birthplace of the atom bomb. Thirteen of the eighteen thousand living here hold doctorate degrees, so no one calls each other by the title, “doctor” because there are just too many. Although Los Alamos has many churches and denominations, we have heard that 80 percent are “unchurched”.

Thank you for praying! We want to share with you how God has answered prayer!

God provided a car for cross-country travel, adequate furnishings for our apartment, and cell phones with a family plan.

God granted safety and a fruitful time during our initial two months of travel/interpretation period. It was a joy to connect with many of our supporting churches and friends. It was a highlight to be able to spend time with special friends from BIT, colleagues Sim and Jeep in Missouri, Wiriya and Tu in Illinois, and Taweesak and Por in Oklahoma. God has been faithful to care for each of these families, providing wonderful opportunities for training while in the U.S.

Being a part of Dan and Liza Stine’s wedding in beautiful Ouray, Colorado was another highlight of the summer! We thank God for Dan’s year of teaching and ongoing development at BIT — students and faculty colleagues are being blessed through his faithful service.

We had a special time at the Presbyterian Church’s Missionary Sharing Conference together with our leadership, support staff and fellow mission co-workers. We praise God for how God is working in and through our fellow workers in many parts of the world, testifying to Jesus Christ’s grace and forgiveness. We have a new appreciation for our home administrative team becoming aware of how much they have been shouldering in light of significant reductions to PC(USA)’s mission budget. We are thankful to be reappointed to Thailand until July 2008.

It is a joy to live next door to Carol’s parents as well as being nearby to her brother, Mike, and his family. It is the first time in 27 years that we have had the opportunity to share daily life together. Lani is adjusting well in her sophomore year at a good high school. She just went to her first homecoming football game and is getting ready to learn to drive this winter by taking an auto shop class.

We are thankful that Mark has been able to settle into a very good living situation in the Chicago area, beginning his freshman year at Oakton Community College while working in retail nearby. Karin has begun her junior year in DePaul University’s international studies program, balancing school with two jobs. After having graduated in June, Joy is currently in boot camp training in Oklahoma.

We are taking advantage of stateside opportunities for training and education. Carol is getting more training in teaching English as a second language by observing and helping in TESOL classes at University of New Mexico. As the National Lab brings together scholars from all over the world, many of their spouses take classes offered at the university to improve their English. This has been a great way to get to know many who may not yet know Jesus, personally. One Japanese friend remarked, “Who is Jesus? I have never heard of His name.”

We are thankful for a time to experience a variety of churches and worship experiences as well as serving local PC(USA) congregations.

Please join us in praying

For the BIT faculty and student body … that God would enable Dan in his teaching English and clearly guide concerning future opportunity for seminary training and ministry. Please pray that our new relationship as an affiliate of the Christian University would serve to glorify God and build His Kingdom.

Please pray for Leith’s travel in the month of October to share about ministry in Thailand with congregations and presbyteries in South Carolina, Minnesota, and Michigan. Pray that these connections would stir vision and passion for mission throughout U.S. congregations.

We are humbled and concerned about the number of positions that have been eliminated at headquarters, so that we mission workers can continue to remain on the field. Even our director, Marian McClure, sacrificially gave up her position in order to cut costs. It is a very critical time of seeking God for the future of worldwide missions in PC(USA). Our Worldwide Missions Division has been dissolved and we are under the GAC’s restructuring. Please pray for God’s protection and guidance over our leadership and that He would sustain those working at headquarters in light of severe understaffing.

Please pray for our BIT colleague, Sim, who is in the process of writing her doctoral dissertation at Concordia Seminary in Missouri. Funding is necessary for Sim to be able to complete this final part of her study.

Please pray for the country of Thailand for a peaceful resolution to the recent military coup and takeover of the government and a return to a democratic government. Pray that many hearts would become open to Jesus during this time of uncertainty.

Thank you for the privilege you have given us to serve together with you in helping to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission throughout the world.

Gratefully in Christ,

Carol and Leith Fujii

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