Ministry Updates and News from the Mehns
Wow! Thanks for praying for the Hiroshima church planting First Steps seminar. We had 38, one of the largest regional seminars this year. Some key Japanese pastors also attended and encouraged us. Every time John does these seminars he comes away with a renewed hope for church planting in Japan. We are so excited for the growing vision for church planting among Japanese. Japan has many challenges for church multiplication at this time, but then…
HOW DID GOD ANSWER? John has recovered from bronchitis. Thanks for your prayers. He was able to train in Hiroshima. Elaine’s classes are going well. Continue to pray as Elaine makes deep connections with so many Japanese women in her classes. Pray for opportunities to listen, help, and witness for Christ. We are seeing significant change in the couple we are mentoring in spiritual renewal. Continue to pray for this Japanese pastoral couple. WHAT CAN…
FALL INFLUENCE The weather has turned to fall which is a great relief as the end of summer was hard with both the heat and many uncompleted projects. Fall will bring more seminars and training events. We hope these will bring greater influence of the Great Commission. We feel maybe still young enough to accomplish all this. I guess we are really a kind of a new “thirty-something” 39 years married, almost 33 years working…
GOD ANSWERED We had an excellent CPI Leadership Team Retreat on Sep 4-5. A record typhoon kept three members stranded on the bullet train for over 10 hours. We planned for our next national conference in 2019 (our 25th anniversary!), brainstormed developing leaders and training, and other expanded ministry in the months and years ahead. Keep praying. The registration for the Global Church Planting Network meeting in Macau in November is up. This is the…
Here is Elaine and John sharing a late summer early Fall update on ministry. This video is embedded live here. For a link here it is: https://1drv.ms/v/s!AvOH5EYmrVaqgwU5gdw578E82T-9
How does God use you? Last month, Elaine published her second book, More Thoughts Along the Way: Grace-based Devotionals for Spiritual Nourishment. This follows up her first book Thoughts Along the Way published in 2002. Elaine’s writing has been a blessing to many people, especially in the area of spiritual renewal. We are so delighted to have this book now available. But we have more writing projects planned and summer is a good time…
GOD ANSWERED Thank God for his mercies in driving 1,100 miles this summer to visit three of our partnering churches in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The visits were a great encouragement to us. HIGHLIGHTS FOR INTERCESSION We continue our time in the US until August 16th when we return to Japan. Ask God to grant us good times with our family, periods of rest, and to complete some Stateside business while we are here. John…
Elaine’s new devotional is just out. More Thoughts Along the Way is another 52 weeks of grace-based devotionals. They come directly from Elaine’s spiritual renewal journaling and are full of stories from her life and from Japan. I am still trying to decide which devotional is my favorite. Both the Paperback and the Ebook are available from Amazon US or Amazon Japan. Her previous devotional book Thoughts Along the Way, was published in 2002, which will…
Hiroshima prompts so many different emotions and thoughts. A city of intersection of tragedy and triumph, science and soul-searching, mightiness versus morals, suffering and future hope. Hiroshima is a symbol of the inner conflicts between the two countries we love – Japan and the USA; and we are so thankful that former animosity of war has been transformed into a friendly partnership. The events of Hiroshima marked the final end of feudal Japan and marked…
Elaine and John will be visiting three partnering churches this month while back in the US. If you are in the area you might want to drop in and say hi to us. Otherwise we would appreciate your prayers for the hundreds of miles we will be traveling. 07/18 WED Torch of Faith, Grayslake IL – Summer Supper 07/21-22 Community Church, Fond du Lac, WI – Morning Worship and Buffet 07/28-29 First Baptist…