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Dear family and friends,
Greetings in the Lord!
We are grateful that we were able to hold gatherings with 11 families of friends through various events and activities during the Christmas and New Year seasons. As some of them are non-believers, it was a good opportunity to start conversation about the Messiah at Christmas time.
Wang, a middle-aged Chinese man who immigrated to Japan with his family four years ago, moved from downtown Tokyo to a community close to our residence last summer. We are thankful that God gave us opportunity to get to know this family in the fall and build friendship with them since then. In late November, we invited Wang to have breakfast at our home. God is gracious and opened his heart. Even though he never heard about Jesus when he grew up and lived in his homeland, he responded to the Gospel and committed himself to follow Jesus right after we shared our faith to him. God is awesome and amazing!
Unfortunately, shortly after his conversion, Wang was seriously infected with shingles in the cold days of winter. Suffering from severe pain in most parts of the body, including his face, he could not participate in any events of the church during the Christmas celebration season. Due to the language barrier, he faced challenges to seek suitable medical assistance. Despite Wang’s fresh conversion being followed with serious illness, his family members were not disappointed with his new faith in the Lord. Wang put his trust in God and learned to rely on God in the difficult circumstances. We pray that God strengthens Wang’s faith through this experience of adversity and leads his whole family to follow Christ through his conversion and witness.
A few months ago, we first met Zhang (pseudonym) and his seven-year-old daughter in a supermarket. Zhang’s family came to Japan from China six years ago. Zhang is an IT engineer, as well as an atheist. Zhang’s wife, Guo, is a full-time housewife and a Buddhist. Iris and Guo have connected with each other from time to time, built relationship, and become friends. Guo frankly shared with Iris that they do not have a single friend in Japan. When they first settled down in Japan, they felt very lonely due to the lack of social interactions and communal life. Nevertheless, they gradually got used to living without friends after several years. As a result, Zhang becomes more introverted and self-contained and does not trust others, including his own family members. Surprisingly, he once told Nick that living without friends in Japan does not bother him at all. Even worse, Zhang feels unhappy whenever his wife starts to make friends. He is quite manipulative, which makes his wife fall into a valley of loneliness and helplessness.
We prayed for Zhang’s family and invited them to have a meal at our place. By the grace of God, Zhang and Guo were willing to come for a gathering on Christmas Day. We chatted with them and shared the meaning of Christmas. Even though Zhang still closes himself off from other people, we keep praying that the Almighty God intervenes in their family’s lives. We anticipate that one day they find the real joy and hope in their lives from Jesus’ salvation.
In Japanese culture, it is a traditional practice to visit Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples and pray for health, happiness, good fortune, climate, and prosperity during the New Year days. It is not uncommon to see people wearing ritual masks or costumes giving blessings to the passersby in public. Children are often attracted by those peculiar outlook appearances and are excited to approach them to receive blessings, since from their young age the majority is cultivated with a belief of gods or idols who possess supernatural powers and are capable to control their lives and destinies. Your continued prayer for the salvation to the nation of Japan is much appreciated.
We prepare for home assignment in this summer, especially our ministries during our absence in Japan. We pray that God provides us a time of rest and family reunion, as well as opportunities to meet friends in Canada. Once again, we sincerely thank you for your prayer, love, and all kinds of support. May you experience the wonders of God’s grace and love every day!
Your missionaries,