The Final 100 Meters

Please read on for a special request

Jeff ran track in high school. His event was the 400 meter dash, which is one full lap around a track. This particular event is not liked by many people. The distance is considered too short for long-distance runners, who run miles at a time. It's also too long to be a full-on sprint for the fastest sprinters. Instead, it sits in the middle ground between maximum speed and endurance. Yes, you must conserve your energy to make it the whole way around the track, but you also must have enough in the tank for an all-out sprint to the finish line once you turn that last corner. The final 100 meters is a dash to the finish line, where you give it that extra "oomph" to finish strong.

We are on the final 100 meters of our support raising journey, so to speak. For those who have been with us since the beginning, you know we've been on this journey since we were appointed as missionaries to Japan in January 2018. At the beginning, we were both working. Then Malia quit her job, and also helped lead Lighthouse's VBS mission team to Japan last summer. Then Jeff stepped back to half-time earlier this year. And we've picked up considerable momentum even amidst a global pandemic. It's taken us longer to get to this point than we would have preferred. But it's all in God's perfect timing, and now we can see the finish line ahead of us as we round the final corner. We give a giant praise to God that we have been given a grant from the WorldVenture Appointee Lauch Fund, which will provide us the funds we need to support ourselves in the final months before we depart for Japan. Given all this, the time is right for Jeff to quit his pharmacist job--completely. This will allow him to fully focus on partnership development and meeting our goals to get to Japan as soon as we can, hopefully by early 2021. Jeff's last day in his pharmacist role will likely be in mid-December. This month, we are pushing toward reaching 70% for our monthly support. If we can hit this goal, we can apply for a "certificate of eligibility" from Japan, which kicks off the visa process. We then anticipate being able to reach full support (100%) and move within 5-6 months.

If you've considered supporting us but haven't put in a commitment yet, we boldly ask for you to prayerfully consider a financial commitment.

Counting verbal commitments, we are currently at 65% monthly support. But WorldVenture only sees the support that has been reported to them, which officially sits at a little over 60%. So if you make your commitment official now, this allows us to take this important next step by starting the visa process and setting some firm dates in place. We wouldn't be where we are on this journey without you, and we are humbled, encouraged, and honored by the support each of you has shown us. Thank you for your partnership and friendship.

We would love to hear from you, whether it be to share your prayer requests or to schedule a Zoom meeting so we can catch up and share more details of our plans with you. Please know that we think of you and pray for you often.

Thanks and blessings,

The Walkers

Jeff, Malia, Mason & Kaili