INTENSIVE PRAYER TEAM
John and Elaine Mehn
Accelerating Spiritual Renewal and Church Planting Movements
Converge Worldwide (BGC) Missionaries to Japan
APRIL 2011
JAPAN SUFFERS GREAT DISASTERS – As many of you already know Japan suffered a 9.0 magnitude earthquake on 3/11, followed by a devastating tsunami, and a growing nuclear crisis at one nuclear plant. The effect of this triple tragedy is today still staggering.
CRISIS OR OPPORTUNITY? – Many of us serving Christ in Japan see out of this tremendous chaos a great opportunity to serve the Japanese people in the name of Christ, one we have been waiting for years. Many of us who serve as pastors and missionaries in Japan have always thought that one day God would bring a season of unusual opportunity for the Gospel. PRAY that the church would respond and the church would be the church for all those in Japan.
THE SCOPE OF THE RESPONSE – The scope of these record breaking triple disasters demands a response of great magnitude. Last week Converge Worldwide Japan drew up plans for prayer mobilization, recruiting short-term workers, volunteer teams, and funding of projects. Last week John withdrew his nomination for Field Coordinator of the mission so that he will have adequate time to serve as director of disaster response for Converge Worldwide Japan. The Rengo churches are making great efforts to pray, send supplies, raise up volunteer teams, and give generously so suffering will be minimized. PRAY that this compassionate response would grow for us personally, our mission, and our partners of the Rengo association of churches.
ARE YOU SAFE? We have appreciated all the messages of concern for our safety and the safety of our mission team and our church partners in the Rengo. We are glad to report everyone and every Rengo church is fine. We have been monitoring events very carefully since the earthquake. Aftershocks continue but not nearly as frequent, power blackouts are a decreasing possibility, we are still concerned for the nuclear plant but radiation levels in Tokyo are normal. Things are far from normal but we are not as nearly concerned for our safety.
MACHIDA HOUSE SHIPSHAPE – We are pleased to announce that all the soundproofing remodeling has been completed on our house and within days all the painting will be completed. The transformation is very startling. Even with the work, several sets of guests, the earthquake, and power outages Elaine was able to continue with all but one needlepoint class! With many quests already coming and many more no doubt to come to respond to Japan’s disasters it is great to have the house in tip top shape. Were open!
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN PRAY FOR US AND OUR MANY MINISTRIES
1. Elaine completed her Bible study in English series last month. There are plans to develop it further and use it in other contexts and churches.
2. Thank you for praying for our mission Annual Field Council. Due to the Japan disasters it was a significant meeting. Continue to pray that this year would be a great year of ministry impact by the entire mission.
3. Pray for John and the participants as they begin four-month’s of training in personal evangelism at the Crossroad church on April 17th.
4. John and Pastor Nakano of the Crossroad church will be heading to the disaster area April 17-20. They will be joining a volunteer response team from the Kokubunji church planning to leave on the 13th. Pray for all the preparations for each member and also for God to prepare hearts at our destinations. Pray for safety in travel and that we would find (or bring) enough gasoline.
5. John will be attending the KDK church planting seminar April 25-27. Pray that he would be a great encouragement and blessing to the 50 or so people attending.
6. Pray for the CPI Leadership Team as we consider the implications of this large disaster on our ministry of equipping and envisioning God’s workers for evangelism and church planting. All of the seminars planned for March were canceled. We have much planning to do regarding the scheduled November CPI National Conference.
John and Elaine Mehn
Accelerating Spiritual Renewal and Church Planting Movements
Converge Worldwide Japan Team http://www.convergeworldwide.org/give/49651