By God’s grace I survived my final exams at language school. They were incredibly difficult, and I haven’t gotten my results back but I’m still on track to graduate on March 4th! Prior to coming to Japan I was really involved in a lot of ministry at our home church in California, so it’s been sort of an odd feeling being in school full time, and being unable to participate much in church ministry due to my limited language ability. I’m really excited to finally be able to start helping out more and seeing the ways that God can use us as we begin the internship phase of ministry here in Japan.
We’ll be meeting first with our Pastor next week, and then with some of the other ministry leaders at the church the week after that, to talk about the areas that I can help out in. As my language ability grows our prayer is that I’ll be able to preach on occasion, as well as helping with coastal ministries and outreach at our church in Morioka. Currently in Iwate there are more churches than Pastors, so there is always a need for someone to preach somewhere, with Pastors having to rotate around frequently to minister to believers all over the prefecture.
We’re praising God that Tomo’s father is planting a new church among the coastal cities of Kamaishi, Otsuchi and Yamada, which will be officially launching next month. Please be praying for him as he leads this new church, and for the seekers who have been attending Bible studies and outreach events over the course of relief ministry which has been ongoing since the Tsunami nearly 4 years ago.
I’ll also be continuing to study Japanese, Lord willing under the guidance of a tutor. Please pray that I’ll be able to continue to get better at speaking as I begin serving the church. We were also hoping that I could find a conversation partner to practice with on a regular basis, so Tomo’s mom asked her physical therapist if he’d be interested, and he said yes. I haven’t gotten spoken with him yet, but please pray that this will work out and that I can be witness to him even as he helps me practice Japanese.
Finally we’re also getting really close to our first home service. We’re tentatively planning to be in the states from June 26 – August 19. Thanks to God’s amazing provision and your generosity we have all the funds needed for travel arrangements, and are planning on purchasing plane tickets in March. We’re also in need of a place to stay from the time that we arrive until August 1, at which time we’re planning on going to stay with my parents. Currently my brother and his family are back in the US also on home service, and they are staying with my parents till the end of July (not enough room for all of us!). We’re also in need of a car to borrow during the three months that we’ll be in the US. If you are able to help with any of these needs, or know of someone who can, please let us know!
Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It’s amazing to see how God has brought us this far, and we can’t wait to begin this next stage of ministry and see the ways that He will work in the coming months and years here in Northern Japan!