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Under stressful situations, it’s easy to get anxious and start worrying about many things and go down the spiral of negative thoughts. I caught myself in one of those moments right before the start of the Japan Evangelical Association Oasis Retreat for women. I was on the planning committee but couldn’t attend any of the meetings. I was in charge of leading the “spiritual collage” activity. I was definitely not prepared, and the decisions made about it were different from what I had imagined. The few days before the retreat started, I was already stressed out from trying to find important documents in our mission files that were needed but I could not find anywhere at all. Physically and mentally tired, I was anxious about the success of the spiritual collage activity I was in charge of. The retreat was attended by over 60 women from all across Japan, gathered in a nice hotel near the ocean in Kanagawa prefecture. I was worried we did not have enough magazines and pictures for the 60 women. The morning of the day of the activity, I still did not know how I was going to lead the activity and cried out to the Lord for help! I cried, “There is not enough material for all these people! What should I do??” God’s calm voice just said, “Yuri, have you forgotten what I did with five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5,000?”
Immediately, I calmed down and realized it would be enough. Holy Spirit reminded me of what Jesus did. Jesus prayed over the food and He thanked God for provision and then proceeded to give the bread and fish to his disciples, who then distributed it to the groups of people. I got the hint about how I was to proceed! I praise God for His living Word that still speaks and guides today! I told the other committee members that, just as Jesus did, we needed to gather all the materials and pray over them and then distribute them amongst the committee members to the various tables. It worked wonderfully, and, just as it says in Matthew 14:20 that there were 12 baskets full leftover, there were so many magazines, etc. left over, too!! I praise and thank God for such a wonderful experience of how God’s Word can truly speak and come alive for us. God showed up in our need, and He also spoke through the activity to all the women who participated. 
Many women praised God for the ways the Holy Spirit revealed Himself to them through this spiritual activity. Five of the JBC pastors’ wives attended this retreat, which they would not have normally attended because of the high cost of travel and the registration costs that are outside of their budget. Knowing this, the mission decided to grant them a scholarship to help them attend. Many of the pastors and their wives are so busy giving to others and do not have opportunities like this to find rest and spiritual refreshment. We wanted them to experience this retreat, as it especially had a focus on resting in Jesus and having solitude times with Him.
It was wonderful to see many brothers and sisters in the NAB family at the Triennial Conference. One of the highlights for me was to meet up with many former missionaries to Japan.
One of the members of the JBC churches, Ms. Kayoko Okura, was able to attend the Triennial Conference. She read the letter of thanks and appreciation to the NAB Conference for over 70 years of missions work on behalf of the JBC Executive Committee Chairman at the General Business Meeting. The members of the JBC are so thankful and appreciative of the support and prayers of so many in North America that have helped establish the 11 churches that exist today.
The NAB partnership with TEAM missions in the future will be exciting, as we will no longer be a team of just two missionaries but over 60 missionaries! It is also good news that NAB missionaries Nick and Iris Hung can also partner with TEAM and come to Japan to serve and reach the Chinese diaspora. Many of you have asked about where to send donations. Nothing needs to change. I will continue to be an NAB missionary! My partnership with TEAM will begin next year, but nothing changes with my status with the NAB, and all financial support can continue the same as usual. Thank you all for praying with me along this journey!