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Dear family and friends,
Greetings in the cherry blossom season!
Yu, a Chinese young man studying in Japan, was introduced to us through his cousin who attends our friend’s church in the States. He came to Japan from China a few years ago and completed his Japanese language learning this spring. During the spring break, we visited Yu and celebrated with him for getting admission into a local university. While conversing about a variety of topics, such as living and studies in Japan, culture and language learning, hobbies, etc., he learned that we are Christians and showed interest to our faith. After sharing the Gospel with him, we encouraged him to start reading the Bible and attending church, even though he did not accept salvation right away. Shortly afterwards, some members of JW approached him and made him confused. Having given him advice, we searched for a church for him near his residence. We keep praying that God reveals the Truth to Yu and makes the seed of the Gospel grow in his heart.
On one afternoon, Iris was going to take a bus home after meeting a friend. At the bus stop, she felt uncertain about the direction of the route home. She confirmed with an old lady in the queue. When the bus came and everybody got on the bus, the lady took a seat directly without tapping the transportation card on the payment machine. After a while, she came to the front of Iris and explained that she had not made any payment because of benefits for seniors. It was a minor matter, yet this act of the old lady inspired Iris. Perhaps she did not want to be misunderstood as a bus fare dodger. Or probably she wanted to introduce the benefit for being a senior in Japan as she noticed that Iris came from another country. No matter what her purpose was, Iris appreciated her conscientious attitude of treating the matter in her daily life. Being Jesus followers, do we do our best to act fully responsible to our daily behaviors so that we would not cause others to stumble? We pray to God that people around us are drawn to know Christ, by His might and help, through our daily witnesses.
In April, we had an opportunity to serve as substitute hosts in the TEAM Japan Center’s guesthouse. We are grateful to learn guests’ reception and hosting, events preparation, and various housekeeping duties of guesthouse management. It is always enjoyable to meet people who travel across different parts of the world. Most of them are missionaries serving globally and came to Tokyo to attend conferences or organize meetings and events. We are thankful that God continues calling and touching peoples’ hearts to serve for His Kingdom in His amazing salvation plan.
Thank you very much for your continued prayers and all kinds of support. Without your prayers, our ministries are not possible. May God’s grace and peace be with you!
With love and appreciation,