As usual, July was another busy month.
The “Flocks” began meeting, and God is blessing those connections. Our group met for lunch on the 11th of July — we are hoping to set up some more time together in September, since many people will be traveling in August. (Almost everyone in Japan has summer vacation time in August.)
We also continued to prepare for the English Bible Class outreach ministry, which will begin in September. With the guidance of those wiser and more experienced than I am, I have been working on writing the text for the small group discussions. It has been more challenging than I expected, but I have really enjoyed the experience. I think that God has helped us to create a text that will facilitate relationship building and spiritual conversation. We will have a training session for the teachers on August 29th. And then twice monthly classes will begin on September 5th. May God bless this ministry!
On the 18th Daniel, Staci (two Mito church members) and I began teaching a class for the Junior High School students on Sunday mornings twice a month. This is a little outside my area of expertise, since I have never worked with junior high kids, but I am learning a lot. My hope is that the class will be an encouragement for the kids. I am glad that God pulled me toward helping with the spiritual development of these kids. They are wonderful!
Please pray with me . . .
- ~that God will prepare those who will teach the EBC classes, and that he will open the hearts of those who will come for the lessons. As of today (August 17) we have 14 adults and 4 kids registered.
- ~that God will continue to shape and protect the hearts of the children of Mito church. We are so blessed to have many children worshiping with us — please pray that we will be able to be used by the Holy Spirit to help in their spiritual growth.
- ~that the Spirit will continue to work among the people of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Please also pray that God will bring the group from Japan home safely, after their time of traveling, building relationships with Christians across Asia and sharing God’s love with friends in Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
- ~for God to help me to be more disciplined in my faith and my work. It is easy to lose motivation and feel discouraged when we are not depending fully on God — please pray for my protection and that my dependence on God will grow as I try to do the work the Spirit calls me to do everyday.
- ~for times of quiet and holy rest. Japan and America are both busy countries, full of distraction and demands on our time. Let’s pray together that we will make time to be still and to listen for the voice of our Lord and Savior. Praise Jesus for his desire to connect with us!
