This past weekend many of the intinerating Nagoya team members met together for a retreat outside of Asheville, NC. The time was spent with sharing updates, testimonies, hikes, games, music, prayer, worship and lots of other fun activities. This time was so rich for us!
We are encouraged by the “workers” the Lord is raising up for the Nagoya “harvest.” When we began support raising we were the only family joining the Nagoya team. (Only one couple on the team has been there less then 10 years!) For the past two years the Lord continues to call families, couples and singles for his work in Nagoya. As the team grows it is important to start relationship building, praying and building a unifying spirit of reaching the Japanese for Christ.
Satan loves to tear apart teams and often difficult team dynamics is one of the leading reasons missionaries leave the field.
Pray as our team grows the unifying spirit the team currently has would continue. Pray for the Lord to help in building relationships stateside and in Japan. Pray for those still support raising to get to Japan quickly. Pray more missionaries would be called to Japan. Mostly pray all of us would glorify God stateside and in Japan and for the Lord to use us in reaching the Japanese!
This was a video shared with us from one of our teammates. We recently heard an account of a Japanese woman who was abused as a child but felt unable to tell anyone until late into adulthood. Please pray for the Gospel to penetrate the hearts of the Japanese and for national issues like this one.
All is in God’s Providence
We recently spoke at a Mission’s conference in Athens, GA. At this conference there was a Japanese man presenting about Japan. This was a unique situation in that this Japanese man is not a Christian. In fact, he is training to be a leader in his religion, Tenrikyo, and in preparation for this came to study non-profit management at the University of Georgia. Part of the program involved interning at a local non-profit and in God’s sovereignty he did his internship with Redeemer Presbyterian. As part of the internship he needed to complete a presentation about Japan. Redeemer invited him to share on Saturday night of the mission’s conference. In his presentation, he outlined some of the issues facing Japan such as high depression and suicide rates. The next day, he heard us talk about these same issues but also about how the gospel answers all of these problems. It was certainly a work of God’s providence to have us both there at the same time so we could share with him the message of the gospel through our presentation. He will return to Japan soon where he lives not too far from Nagoya. He desires to keep in touch, as do we, and we look forward to the opportunity to build on the teaching he is receiving at Redeemer right now. Please pray this man would come to saving faith and become a leader in the Christian church in Japan!
Traveling Across the US
Thank you for your prayers for our travels and for the last of our support to come in. We are home in Lexington, VA after a month long trip across the United States. While in Lakeland, FL, we were able to speak to a few mission committees as well see many of our friends and say goodbye. In Phoenix, a church partnered with our ministry which brought our remaining need down to 7%.
On Friday, we leave again for a trip through North Carolina. We hope at the end of February to have 100% of our budget pledged so we can purchase tickets for Japan and leave mid-March. Please pray for our visas (in process), safe travel, and the remaining $700/month needed to be pledged.
Many Thanks
We want to thank all of you who participated in the fish fry at Covenant Presbyterian in Lakeland. One youth member auctioned to have his hair cut any way the winner desired. This alone brought in $70+! (See pictures below.) After expenses we were able to raise approximately $4,500. This is a huge help in getting us to the field and we are very appreciative of all who participated and attended. This alone brought in $70+! Wow, what a crazy haircut.
Phoenix, AZ – $1.57/gallon (seriously this is ridiculous!)
Lexington, VA – $2.86/gallon
New York City, NY – $4.37/gallon
Japan – $9.02/gallon
This is a practical example of the cost of living issues we face in Japan. Due to the yen gaining strength to the dollar this becomes increasingly difficult. Last year $1 would buy around 95 yen. Today the same $1 will only buy 82 yen. Please pray for the currency to stabilize and for Michael to have a happy heart about reducing his milk guzzling tendencies!
Michael Oh is team leader for the Theological Education team in Nagoya, Japan. This team began within the church planting team and as the vision grew it was decided to have two teams with different focuses working towards the same goal of Japanese hearing and believing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While in the States Michael has had the opportunity to speak to many congregations and share his personal message along with the ministry of the Theological Education team. Josh Harris posted an excellent video on his blog and linked to the three part update Michael recently wrote on The Desiring God Blog. We hope you enjoy!
Phoenix, AZ – $1.57/gallon (seriously this is ridiculous!)