It may seem odd to give a name like this to what we’ve been describing as a year-long mission trip, but we have several reasons for doing this:

1.     We hope our trip will be the beginning of something long-term.  While preparing for the trip, we’ve been feeling like God’s telling us that helping to spread the Gospel in Japan will be a major part of our lives moving forward.  *Gulp.*  That’s a scary thing to say out loud or write out loud in this case (is “write out loud” a phrase?).  Giving our endeavor a name like this reminds us this is not just a one-time trip or a short phase in our lives, but something God wants us to continue past 2023.  Right now we don’t know what that looks like and we’re sure our ideas will morph and evolve by the end of our trip.  Throughout the next year we’ll be sharing what we think God has been telling us and unfolding our thoughts on this website.  So check back regularly for updates.

2.     I (Anthony) thought this name was very clever.  Modern Japan is the inheritor of an ancient civilization which means accounts vary on its origins.  Tradition says that Japan (Nippon or Nihon in Japanese) comes from an ancient Japanese (more likely Chinese) phrase that means “origin of the sun” or “land of the rising sun.”  Since our goal is to help spread the Gospel of Jesus, I changed “sun” to “son.” Aren’t I clever? Please send emails praising my cleverness.

3.     We thought it sounded church-y and the domain name was available.  Just a little insight into how our practical brains think.  It should stick in your minds better than “Anthony and Jennifer De Arcos’ Year-Long Mission Trip to Japan” or “The De Arcos Family Doing a Thing in Japan for a Year.”  It will hopefully remind you our goal is to make this something bigger than ourselves.  Also, we were quite surprised nothing else was using this name while we were researching online.  It almost seems like we were meant to use this name…

This is where we are at the beginning of our adventure.  We’re sure the name will take on more significance by the end of our trip and even more in the following years.