Dear Prayer Partners
As ever, thank you for your prayers! We thought we would write this letter as a 'day in the life of a missionary couple', but here are the big three for this month in case you dont have time to wade through all our waffle;
1. Conversion of tsunami evacuees and the new people at church
2. Growth of church members
3. Christine to get an NHS bursary
The last 24 hours went like this:
Rod goes to the church and sets up for the morning bible study. Glenda does to the doctor to get the results of her free annual health check (thankfully all is fine). Four women come to the Bible study, which is less than usual, last week we had 7 women and one guy. We are studying Ephesians and are due to do 2:1-7 but the phrase "dead in trepasses and sins" keeps us occupied most of the hour. One of them asks if should we keep telling the gospel to those who have rejected it and leads into a discussion of conversion, evangelism and the work of the Holy Spirit. This is not academic for these women - they work hard at our evangelistic events and are praying for the conversion of their families. We then pray for all the church in detail and share individual needs.
After a riceball for lunch, Glenda travels by train to central Sendai where she teaches a woman English conversation and they study Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. The other women stay to clean the church and Rod goes to visit Mrs M who is in a mental hospital for a bad back problem (apparently the cause is longterm stress). In March she had came forward for salvation at a Franklin Graham meeting after being discharged for depression. After being conducted through the locked door by an attendant and meeting her she quickly gathers others and we have a bible reading and prayer. She has a great evangelistic attitude even in a place like that. She will be out next week, God willing.
From there Rod goes to a hardware store and buys a fire extinguisher. Why? Well the old one went off in the kitchen by accident covering everything with a pink powder!
Then he phones Mrs MO who is in tears because a close friend has committed suicide, the second in a month. 14 year-old N who is preparing for baptism comes to meet Rod in the church, but his testimony needs improvement and it takes time for him to see the problems with it and change it in his own words but now it will be a blessing for him and for others. His baptism has been set for 14th in the Natori River.
After that it was off to give baptism preparation to old Mr C in his flat. He has very bad diabetes and is almost blind but he is full of joy. The lesson was 'Against idolatry' which is necessary in Japan but the denunciations of the prophets are 'a bit scarey' he says.
Then it was back to church for supper with Glenda and a staff meeting with evangelist Tadamitsu. We discuss the two concerts for tsunami evacuees held last week, both went well and we had about 20 people at each. At the one near the church one old lady told us that she escaped from the tsunami to high ground only to have to move 3x as the water rose further. She broke her arm in the process. The woman who rescued her the first time went back to save her child and both were drowned. She last saw her being carried away chest high in the muddy water. We told her that Jesus had also given his life for her and she had been saved to be saved again but she told us she was NOT interested in the gospel! The chairman came to the mike after we had finished and announced that he loved singing hymns and hearing bible stories and please come back. He lost 4 family members. So we will definitely be back. Tadamitsu is concerned to follow up the many who have been to our events and shown interest. We have a short-termer Kent Li arriving tomorrow and staying with Tadamitsu for 5 weeks. Pray for a good working relationship.
The mini-concert schedule hasn't been fixed yet but we have the Community Cafe on 20th, and Sanchapekai (=Sunday Chapel) on 21st. A couple from a Tokyo church have been coming up every month, usually with a team, to help out at these events. We thank God for them!
The prayer meeting starts at 8pm and we are joined by church member Mr H. After praying through all the church needs we get home at 10pm.
This morning early we had a nice Skype chat with Esther just before her UK bedtime and it also is rubbish collection day and they are collecting PET bottles and unburnable trash. Woe to us if we don't keep the rules and separate the trash!
Not every day is as busy as the last 24 hours. Today there is a typhoon (second one in a week) so we will stay inside and write prayer letters, prepare sermons etc...
On Friday 5th (tomorrow) Rod has the opportunity tell the gospel to 2000 high school boys in a 7 minute sermon.
We are still attempting to get an NHS bursary for Christine already in her Occupational Therapy course. Please pray for God to grant this as the fees are huge. Amy is with husband Sam in Rwanda and their first 2 weeks has gone well except that their house is barely inhabitable. She is trying to get a job as a doctor but there is a lot of red tape. Esther is busy evangelising first-years in Farnham.
Thank you for your prayers! We need the Lord's help in all we do here.
love from Rod and Glenda
