Tribute to Dale’s mother, Nov 28/1917 – Apr 10/2012
Published May 17, 2012 | 
Louise Little, Dale's mother
We (Dale and Ann) took two weeks in April to be with Dale’s father and three siblings in the greater Vancouver area of BC, Canada, immediately following the death of Dale’s mother. She slipped peacefully into heaven from the palliative care ward of Peace Arch Hospital, White Rock, BC, at 10:45 PM, Apr 10, at the age of 94. Dale writes the following about his mother:
My mother smiled and laughed a lot. She had fun in life. She regularly encouraged me through her words and her notes/letters. She probably prayed for me daily. Best of all, she was transformed by Jesus her Saviour and committed to Jesus her Lord. I love her and miss her–but what a personal spiritual legacy!
Click here for a slide show of Dale’s mother, as well as a tribute written by her four children (Dale included) and read at her memorial service on Apr 18.
Tsunami recovery ministry setup trip: report 2 of 2
Published August 2, 2011 | 
Onagawa-cho, Miyagi-ken, July 2011 (note the overturned building with the green roof)
From July 1-20 we viewed first hand the tsunami destruction along the northeastern coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu, and met with pastors/ missionaries and recovery organization leaders working in that area. Kristy and Matthew joined us in our survey trip along the Pacific Ocean coast of Miyagi-ken. The tsunami hit zones still look like a war zone. Physical needs are being met as well as can be expected. But the tsunami victims–those who have lost loved ones, houses, and towns–struggle with great emotional needs.
A summary of our last three weeks in Japan can be found on Dale’s japanquake.ca blog.
Click here to see some of Dale’s photos of our travel up the Pacific coast. More pics and a video will eventually be added to that page.
Tsunami recovery ministry setup trip: report 1 of 2
Published June 30, 2011 | Week one (Jun 23 – 30) of our ministry setup trip to Japan has flown by. The list of our activities below includes items related to our variety of ministries in Japan, not just our tsunami recovery ministry.
Jun 24. We met with the three Japanese pastors leading the Kanto Evangelistic English Program (KEEP), a partnership ministry between them and the EFC of Canada Mission. We had an excellent discussion, with clear affirmation to continue the program we started in 2008 in which North American short term missionaries (one year minimum) teach evangelistic English classes in the three cooperating churches. The Japanese leadership hat of KEEP rotated from one pastor to another. The best news was that one English student has become a follower of Christ as a result of KEEP and is now involved in one of the KEEP churches. Several others are close to believing in Christ.
Jun 26. We enjoyed worship and fellowship back at the English Department congregation of Musashino Chapel Center, the church we pastored for almost three years.
Jun 27-29. Dale devoted all his time to catching up in his leadership role as President of Japan Evangelical Missionary Association, a network of all evangelical missionaries in Japan from all over the world. This included:
Ann and Kristy at CRASH Japan office in Tokyo
* Touring the temporary Tokyo leadership offices of CRASH Japan, the missionary and local church relief network endorsed by JEMA. Kristy is volunteering at CRASH Japan this summer in the survivor care department.
* Learning about the amazing post-3/11 quake and tsunami ministry of CRASH Japan from its President.
* Leading the first executive board meeting of JEMA since 3/11. Some items we covered:
** Donations given through JEMA for CRASH Japan have exceeded US$2,500,000. Donations have come from all over the world. So JEMA will need to incorporate as a non-profit organization in Japan to insure proper administration of those donations. Dale will be giving leadership to that transition in Nov-Dec. (JEMA is already registered as a non-profit organization in the US state of Colorado.)
** JEMA is convening a consultation in November for all evangelical mission agencies in Japan for the purpose of networking and encouraging outreach ministries that are developing out of various tsunami recovery efforts in northeastern Japan. The consultation will be held in Sendai city. Dale is part of the planning team.
** The JEMA office will be moving to a new location in Sep or Oct in order to reduce our office costs. Dale will be making the necessary arrangements for the move next week.
This week we were invited to request funding for leadership logistics of our EFC of Canada Mission tsunami recovery ministry from CRASH Japan. Seeing as our EFCCM Relief Fund does not cover the costs of leadership logistics (with the exception of our tsunami ministry setup trip), this was good news indeed! Perhaps we can bring such a request to the CRASH Japan leadership team after we set up one or more specific recovery projects that have long term goals and show continuity in ongoing leadership.
Christmas 2010 with our children
Published January 12, 2011 | 
Littles, Christmas 2010
We celebrated Christmas 2010 with all three of our children at our rental home in Maine. Our children arrived in Maine on Dec 10 and 20, and departed on Jan 6, 9, and 20.
It was good for all of our children to take a break from university life over the Christmas break.
And it was especially good for Ann and Dale to see their “empty nest” full once again!
Dale and Ann on home assignment
Published August 23, 2010 | On Aug 2, 2010, we left Tokyo for our scheduled one year home assignment in North America. But we first settled our three children into their respective universities (Rosemead School of Psychology and Biola U. in Los Angeles, and LeTourneau U. in Texas).
We have leased a car for the year from Missionary Tech Team in Longview, Texas (1999 Buick LeSabre).
We will be based in Cape Elizabeth, Maine (Ann’s home area) until the spring of 2011. Then we will make our base in the greater Vancouver area of BC, Canada (Dale’s home area).
During our home assignment we are visiting all our supporting churches and seeking church partners for our next church planting project in Tokyo (Tokyo Multicultural Church).
Kristy completes 2 years on staff at CAJ
Published June 21, 2010 | On June 21, 2010, Kristy completed her second and final year as a staff member of Christian Academy in Japan (Tokyo). She has been the academic guidance counselor at CAJ since the fall of 2008. During those years she has also been a professional associate member of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission. She has enjoyed her work at CAJ and done well.
Her next step is to settle into a doctoral program in psychology in the USA, beginning in August 2010.
Matthew counsels at Joy Bible Camp (Tokyo)
Published June 20, 2010 | Almost as soon as Matthew graduated from high school (Christian Academy in Japan), he began three weeks as a counselor at Joy Bible Camp (location: Okutama Bible Chalet). JBC is run by SEND International out in the “mountains” of western Tokyo. This is Matthew’s third year as a counselor there.
This time of year JBC holds a series of camps for international students, elementary through jr hi. International students begin their summer break earlier than Japanese schools, allowing this English based camp to run before the Japanese youth camps begin.
Matthew graduates from high school
Published June 5, 2010 | 
Matthew graduated from high school at Christian Academy in Japan (Tokyo) on June 4, 2010. He gave the class speech in collaboration with a fellow student, was recognized for making the honor roll for all four high school years, and was the recipient of the Biblical Perspective award. He will be heading to Biola University in the fall.
All three of our children have now graduated from high school at CAJ.
Bryan home in Tokyo until August
Published May 8, 2010 | Bryan finished his second year of electrical engineering at LeTourneau University (Longview, Texas) and returned home to Tokyo until August. He will be with us here until August 2 when we begin our one year home assignment in the US and Canada. It’s great to have him back!
Our kids’ university choices
Published April 23, 2010 | Our three children will be at the following universities for the 2010-11 academic year: Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University, and LeTourneau University.
This really is beginning to feel like the empty nest syndrome!
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