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Please be in prayer for this need…
Komyo Christian Church Workers (Home Assignment support) – A couple with pastoral experience, strong leadership ability, and a heart for cross cultural ministry are needed to serve at the Komyo Christian Church while Paul and Melissa Ewing are on home assignment. The requested term is from July 2016 – September 2017, and Japanese ability is preferred but not a requirement. (While coming with children is acceptable, having a child during this term is strongly discouraged.) http://nabonmission.org/missionary-job-openings/
As our Home Assignment begins to come closer, we are petitioning God that He would answer this prayer for a worker to come and support the Komyo Church ministry in our absence. We are believing that God will answer this request.
Komyo Christmas Eve
Thank you for your prayers for all the Christmas events that happened in December. We are sorry that a “Prayer and Praise” did not get out in January as my computer stopped working and needed repairs. We were so blessed during the Christmas season to be able to share the love of Jesus with so many people. Our Christmas Eve service was filled to capacity and every member of our church was able to join us on January 1 for our New Year’s celebration. Becky (Lengefeld) and Eriya Kato performed a concert for the Kongo Baptist Church Christmas outreach in which
Kongo Joyful Christmas
Komyo Church members helped. It was a great reunion with the Katos in addition to being blessed by their message about the love of our Great God. Rumi Takeguchi returned home to Japan from her semester in Nova Scotia, excited to serve and having grown in her relationship with God. It was wonderful to hear what God taught her while in Canada in a testimony she shared at church and we praise God as we see his work in her life.
January did not slow down from the busy December schedule as Paul flew to the States to participate in the NAB Strategy Team meetings. On his return, the mission spent a day with Rev. Izumi Akasaka, who spoke about Christian counseling for those with mental illness. We were encouraged and challenged by his teaching and pray that as we put into practice what we learned, God will be honored and glorified.
Rumi Takeguchi
The Japan Baptist Youth often take each opportunity to meet and though our boys were unable to attend, we were happy to see Rumi attend as a worker and make connections with other college-aged young people within our denomination. She was encouraged and had a great time.
Our church schedule of Bible studies and English classes are in full swing and God continues to amaze us as He brings people across our path to hear His words of love and faith. We would ask that you would continue to pray for the many Bible studies that happen at the church, that hearts and minds would be open to the truth of the Gospel. As we journey with those who already know Christ and help them work out their faith, pray that they will grow in a deeper relationship with Him. Please be in prayer for Mr. Okuda as he has the head knowledge of faith but is still struggling with faith in his heart. Pray for his spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear so that he might have the courage of faith.
One of our church members is a single mom, Y San, who is starting her last year of nursing school that is a yearlong internship. As she struggles with depression, please keep her in your prayers that she would truly believe and trust in God to give her the strength and courage to finish her studies. Her graduation date is March 2017. Keep her daughter in prayer also, that she would understand her mom’s busyness and be protected from the times when her mom suffers from depression.
Please be in prayer for the many church and mission meetings coming up, that a spirit of unity would reign. Pray for our third Ladies Seminar being taught by Shan Reed and Yuri Nakano. As the ladies come, may their hearts be grounded in their identity in Christ and continue to be encouraged to reach out and share and start Bible studies on their own. May the ladies be so filled with God’s love that they are spurred on to share that love with others. Please be in prayer as well for a general seminar we will have in our church this coming April, on the topic of biblical interpretation. We are hoping this will help the lay leaders of our church, and other churches in our area, to grow in their walk and continue to lead well.
Kansai Christian School, where Noah and Jonah attend, has a secondary education position open for the 2016-2017 school year. Specifically they are looking for math and English teachers with a willingness to teach other subjects. If you are interested, please contact Paul at pemedicus@yahoo.com .
August is now in the background of our minds and home assignment preparations are beginning. If you have a date that you would like us to come and visit your church, please contact Paul at pemedicus@yahoo.com. He is beginning to make a schedule for our time home.
Thank you for continuing to remember us in prayers. We enjoyed hearing from many of you during the holiday season and how God continues to work in your lives. Our God is great and worthy to be praised!
Blessings,
Paul and Melissa