Happy Birthday, Akiko!
On the far right, loving friend and amazing language teacher Akiko san celebrated her birthday yesterday! What a kind, gentle person and encouraging Christian sister! We've been so blessed to be able to build a relationship with her. Erica and I recently studied the first half of Esther with Akiko, each of us letting the story impact us in new ways. After traveling to Cambodia with Ben, Joel, Jon, 17 from Japan and 72 all together last month, she has a renewed vision for world missions and a desire to serve as a missionary. Happy Birthday, Akiko! Chihiro san and Yuko san made the party complete!
Gospel Singing Class: Looking ahead to our mini-concert at the "Night of Music" party in May, we are practicing hard! Our numbers
continue to be around seven or eight each time we meet and God has really blessed me and Erica in our opportunities to share His character with this class. They enjoy the music and are learning about how God finds pleasure in our praise. They offer insight and continually ask questions when we discuss the meaning of each song we sing. Lord God, you have blessed this group. As they continue to seek understanding of who you are, please show them how much you love them and are eager to draw them closer to you.Monthly Activities: On the last day of February, we had a Valentine's Day party. The highlight of
this activity was an activity called "Spread the Love," where we passed valentine's day cards we made for ourselves around in a big circle and each person had a chance to write something encouraging on everyone else's card.March 24th was Ladies' Tea. There were ten women in all, and we are so thankful that some of our readers could meet and talk with church members at the party.
On Saturday, we will host a cherry blossom-viewing party in a park near the church.
Father, we know that you desire for us to share our faith. Thank you for the opportunities the church members in Sendai have had to do that with nonChristians in the area through monthly activities.
Language Study: My Thursday one-on-one Japanese classes with Saito sensei from the Sendai International Center have been so interesting! We meet once a week and have class entirely in Japanese. I stumble to spit out sentences much of the time, but I learn so much from her and enjoy our growing friendship! She took me to the library today and helped me get a library card.
Monday mornings with Jon, Akiko, and Michiko continue to fill my mind with knowledge of the language and culture.
Monday afternoons with Ben boost my confidence for applying the Japanese I know in everyday situations.
Lord, you have blessed me tremendously with my language teachers. Thank you for their patience and encouragement. Thank you for the capacity you have given us to learn other languages and become a part of new cultures.
One-on-one Bible Studies: In this monthly report, I'd like to concentrate on one of the students I read with, Kazuhiro. Not only have we been experiencing Luke's gospel together, but also have spent time in Exodus, Psalms, and John. Kazuhiro has a hunger for knowledge of God, mentioning often how intrigued he is by Christian philosophy. Now, after several months of study together, I have observed his search evolving from an interest in knowledge of the basics of Christianity to an evaluation of the desire he has to follow God. In our last class, he observed that he has everything he needs and thus, wonders what more can be gained by a relationship with God. Father, I ask again for your wisdom. I am preparing to meet Kazuhiro shortly. Please guide me with your Spirit and continue to reveal your glory to him. Please pray!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you always for y0ur encouraging emails, letters, cards and packages! Thank you for your support. Most of all, thank you for your PRAYERS!!!
