Last month was bittersweet as John led the last Japan Disaster Response team to Ishinomaki City. The team was 7 volunteers from Grace Baptist Church in Santa Maria CA and one from Bethlehem Baptist Minneapolis. Elaine later joined the team for focused women’s meetings coordinated by Linda Bengtson. The team setup for a gospel concert attended by over 60 Japanese, discussed with many victims, cleaned several properties, and prepared for the July 13th concert venue.…
In one of the women’s meetings Elaine heard many ghost stories from the women. Because over 400 people had died in that neighborhood alone, many survivors are concerned for the wandering spirits (yurei) who died in the disaster. This has resulted in difficulties sleeping and fear of the locations where many have died especially at nighttime. For many the image of Japan is an advanced modern nation; yet Japan continues to have a worldview of…
Thank you for praying for John’s presentation last month with the Crossroad church about small groups. On July 14th John will be leading an explanatory meeting at the Nerima church to develop a model small group where over six months members will learn about small groups and how to lead one. Pray that many would have risk-taking faith join the model small group and continue to grow into leadership.
1. Praise God for the awesome open conversation about the Bible and Christ with Elaine’s Bible study group last month. Many talked about their highlights from studying the Book of Mark together. They had many questions about how relevant the Bible is to our daily life and our future. They are learning well. One learned not to be like a Pharisee, another liked the Parable of the Soils. One said everything is so new every…
Yamaguchi Prefecture is a long way from Tokyo. We had never been there before but were invited by our dear friends Mr. & Mrs. N. This trip was about 5 years in the making. It was delayed so many times due to schedule and finances. The relationship with Mr. & Mrs. N goes back at least 7 years, probably more having begun with some short-term English teachers. Yamaguchi is where they grew up and they…
ELAINE continues to cultivate kingdom friendships with her Bible study, needlepoint class and three western cooking classes. She is anxious to begin another small group Bible study series at a Rengo church. Pray about that. JOHN is equipping churches to build transformational relationships for evangelizing and discipling Japanese. This coming Sunday (June 9th), John will share with the Crossroad congregation about the importance and types of healthy small groups. Hopefully several will be interested in…