Click here to view this newsletter as a PDF.
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends and family (and a month late to my Canadian friends!). I am thankful for each of you and the way you show your love for Jesus through your prayers and support of me and the ministry in Japan.
God’s love and peace continue to be shared in southern Osaka as we live and interact in the community around Komyo Christian Church. Our church members enjoy volunteering at the neighboring nursing home every other month as we do origami together with the residents. Live Gospel Cafes held quarterly are a way for us to invite people from the neighborhood to get a look at the inside of the church, maybe for the first time in their lives, as they experience God through music. It is exciting to see the Johnson family jumping right into ministry as much as possible and sharing their love for Jesus passionately.
This year we joined people from around the world in packing shoebox Christmas presents to be sent through Samaritan’s Purse to children who have most likely never receievd a present before. It is exciting to see our church members and English students join together to share from their hearts. We pray that those who do not yet know Christ but help out will experience God’s love through this activity!
At the end of October I participated in our annual Anointed Gospel Choir concert. I love singing with these ladies. As we sing praises together, I sense God’s joy. He inhabits the praise of His people, and I believe those who do not yet trust Him as Savior experience a joy and peace they do not ordinarily experience as we sing together. I pray that through these experiences, the ladies will be drawn closer and closer to Jesus.
As Christmas draws near, we look forward with anticipation to the opportunities we have to share the true meaning of Christmas with students and neighbors this year. Please pray that our church members and regular attendees will desire to invite friends and family to experience the true meaning of Chistmas, perhaps for the first time in their lives. Please also pray for the people who will receive fliers to the events, that those who are interested will have the courage to attend. Please pray that we will faithfully use each opportunity God places before us to share His love, joy and peace, not only at this time of year, but also each day.
This newsletter has been difficult for me to write. Mid-September, I suddenly was on a plane headed back to South Dakota to say goodbye to my dad. After a 15-year battle with cancer, he went home to be with the Savior he loved so deeply. My family and I miss him, and yet we are thankful to know he is no longer in pain and is praising Jesus now. I am grateful for the family of God who loves and comforts as Jesus taught us to do. Thank you to each of you. Please pray for my family as we learn to live in this new reality.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
2 Corinthians 13:14
Soli Deo Gloria,
Shan in Japan