Greetings!  Cathalain and I have been so thankful over the past few months for your faithful prayers, words of encouragement, and support.  It is a privilege to partner with you to reach the unreached in Japan.

Speaking at Home

As you might recall in our last update we were just about to speak at a Mission’s Conference in our home church.  The weekend was such an encouragement to us.  We are so blessed by our home church, Covenant, and their continual support and prayers.   We were especially touched by a 4 year old boy in our congregation who has been faithfully praying for us EVERY night and who also gave us $1.02 he saved from his own allowance for our ministry.  What a sacrifice and a wonderful reminder of God’s goodness!

Traveling through Virginia

After the mission’s conference we headed off to Virginia for eight days.  While in Virginia we were able to speak to two church congregations, meet with three pastors, attend Presbytery, and Cathalain even found time to play guitar for the women’s retreat at my dad’s church.  Whew! As exhausting as it sounds the Lord blessed us with a few days to spend some quality time with family and to just plain relax! We are grateful for the opportunity to start building more relationships with churches in Virginia and continue to bolster the relationships we have.

Support Update

Our last update reported we were currently at 25% of our needed budget.  We are excited to share that we now have 30% of our budget.  In addition to the 5% increase, the church that we spoke to in Arcadia, FL has decided to support us.  We have also had the opportunity to speak to a few local churches and last week I attended a presbytery meeting of our neighboring presbytery.  What a huge blessing, encouragement, and answer to prayer!

This Summer

In early June we will be attending the Living in Grace Conference at Ridge Haven in North Carolina. Cathalain’s grandmother lives in Asheville and we will be speaking to her church and potentially another church there as well.  The following week I will be attending General Assembly which is in Orlando this year.  This is a great opportunity to meet many pastors in the PCA, put a face to a name, and begin to develop relationships.  We also are scheduled for another trip to Virginia in late July to continue visiting with churches.

We are so thankful for your partnership in our ministry and grateful for the sacrifices you make for the sake of advancing the Gospel in Japan!

!!!We NEED your prayers!!!

• Pray for our time at the Living in Grace Conference (June 7-12).  That we would grow in our knowledge of Christ and our relationship with him would be strengthened.
• Pray for our partnerships with churches, for doors to open with additional churches, and churches would be able to add us to their budget.
• Pray for General Assembly and the ability for Michael to meet pastors and other contacts.
• Pray for the Japanese…that the Lord would be working NOW in the hearts of the Japanese people and moving them toward repentance.

Thank you all for praying for our trip to Virginia. We were able to meet with five different pastors/churches, attend presbytery and Cathalain went to a women’s retreat where she assisted with the worship. It was a great time of developing relationships with churches and pastors as well as a good time of relaxation. In the middle of the week we were able to stay in Lexington for a few days of  rest and relaxation.

Our time back in Florida has paralleled our time in Virginia. We have been able to speak to pastors and churches, such as Holy Trinity Presbyterian in Tampa and we have also been able to relax, such as camping at Fort DeSoto with some good friends from church.

Again, thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray as we continue to speak to churches, pastors, missions committees, presbyteries, and individuals. Pray also for our upcoming travels this summer.

On a final note, Cathalain and I received an exciting surprise this past weekend while driving home from a Mother’s Day celebration with her family. If you look back to the February 24^th entry, you will see a picture of us speaking at Grace Presbyterian in Arcadia, FL. We learned they will be supporting our ministry as a church. We have enjoyed getting to know the people at Grace Presbyterian and are very excited for their partnership. Praise God!