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Dear Family and Friends,
I’d like to share some highlights of recent months via pictures:
Praise that the baptism of Sho Ito was such a great testimony and encouragement to the church family on March 20 at the Heijo Christian Church. The top picture is showing his grandfather giving Sho a gift from the church. The picture on the lower left is showing Pastor Aoki praying over Sho. The lower right is showing the potluck spread we enjoyed afterwards. Sho invited his friend from school to witness this special event in his life. Pray that his friend will want to come to church with him and that Sho would continue to be a strong witness for Christ.
Thank you for praying for me as I gave the Easter message at the Heijo church. I felt encouraged by your prayers. My message was on the Easter story from Mary Magdalene’s point of view. Please continue to pray as I prepare and give messages to both the Heijo and Kongo churches and also for the Bible studies. Pray for wisdom and the words to bring to these churches each month for their encouragement and growth.
The members of the Kongo Bible Church are encouraged that the new couple, Mr. and Mrs. O, have made Kongo their home church since January and have joined the mid-week bible study as well. Mr. T continues to come when he can and blesses us with his ukelele playing skills. Mr. T is among 2 seekers in our midst at Kongo Bible church. May they accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior soon!
The Komyo Christian church plant has been active in many ministries. Although I am no longer staff at this church, I attend the bilingual services in the afternoon and participate in many of the events. Some of the latest events have been the Hermeneutics seminar led by Dr. Daisuke Okada. He taught the importance of reading scripture in light of what the original writer was conveying and what the original readers would be understanding. This seminar was well received by all who came and more of these seminars will be held in the future.
Other regular events include Ladies lunch and volunteering at the nearby seniors homes. The latest lunch with the ladies featured painting wooden cross pendants. At the seniors homes, we help the residents fold origami papers to make a beautiful collage. Both of these events are wonderful ways to develop relationships and to open doors for the gospel. Please pray for Paul and Melissa Ewing and Shan Reed as they continue to lead this church plant and also as they prepare to transition for the year of home assignment that the Ewings will start in August.
Japan was shaken again by another big earthquake only 5 years after the last one, but now in the southern region of Kyushu. There was a foreshock earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 on April 14, which was followed by the main one of magnitude 7 on April 16. These earthquakes killed at least 49 people and injured about 3,000 others in total. There are thousands of homes and buildings that are partially or completely damaged and an estimated 38,000 people still in evacuation centers. Many mini aftershocks have been keeping the people in a continual sense of anxiety. The big earthquake in northeastern Japan 5 years ago has brought many new churches and relief centers in the area. Perhaps this is another area that needs attention. My choir director and personal friends of mine have gone down to volunteer and help in any way they can. Thanks for praying for this region and for the many people who are suffering here.
On a yearly basis, we have fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ at our Japan Baptist Conference. This year we had our one-day conference in Tsu on May 4. It is always an encouragement to see the JBC family of 11 churches and 1 church plant gather together to learn, worship and fellowship with one another. The theme was on the blessing of being fed on God’s Word. The picture is of the children singing praises to the Lord. Please pray with me for the growth and health of our small family of churches that make up our Japan Baptist Conference.
Thank you for your prayers, support and partnership!
Yuri Nakano