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Dear Family and Friends,
The picture on the left shows, “God is Love”, in Japanese calligraphy. This is framed and hung at the front of the church at Kongo Bible Church. The depth and power of God’s love continues to amaze me and He is still teaching me. As Valentine chocolates and decorations are filling the stores here, it is easy to cheapen the meaning of love. God’s “agape” love needs to be shared. God’s love will be the main topic for the 3rd Ladies Seminar that will be held on February 16th. Please pray for me and Shan Reed as we lead the discussions and prepare. Please also pray that the ladies who attend will truly know and experience God’s love in such a way that they would live confidently and victoriously as beloved daughters of the King!
God’s hand in connecting people at the right time and place:
It never ceases to amaze me how God orchestrates people and events to build His Kingdom. 
Your prayers are being answered! A huge praise item is that Mr. T who came with his wife and daughter to the Joyful Christmas event we held last December, has recently come to worship services in January. He is not a Christian but he is definitely seeking! He saw the advertisement about the Christmas event in his mailbox and was drawn to our musical guests, Eriya and Becky Kato. He and his family enjoyed the event so much he wanted to make sure that if we held this event again, he wanted to be sure to know about it. He enjoys playing the ukelele and he brought it to church last Sunday and played Amazing Grace. We all enjoyed singing along and it was so great to have such a joyful time of fellowship. Please pray that Mr. T. will continue to seek Jesus and that he will be saved.
Another praise item is Mr. and Mrs. O, who have come regularly to the Kongo church for 5 weeks in a row, have really become like family with the regular church members. They are believers who were members of a different church in Osaka City, but since they now live far away, they stopped attending church. Their daughter lives in Mie Prefecture and became friends with missionaries there. Those missionaries are friends of mine and connected us together. The daughter asked her parents to come and visit Kongo Bible church, which is pretty close to where they live. Ever since then, Mr and Mrs. O have come and they are definitely an added encouragement to the church!
Starting this month, I will be leading a bible study at Heijo Christian church in Nara Prefecture on Friday mornings twice a month and also preaching once a month there. I am excited about this because it has taken a while to get a bible study going there. Please pray with me that this will be an encouragement to the believers there.
The picture on the above shows the seniors who come to the community center near where I live and the picture on the below shows the volunteers who help out. I continue to enjoy volunteering and developing relationships with my community neighbors. The picture below is of me in front of Himeji castle. I was able to visit here with missionary friends at the beginning of January as a fun outing.
Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support!!
In Christ, Yuri