Hi,
Summer is over and it is back to school and teaching and other work. It was a good summer, but with hardly any rest. The only rest I received was during my hospital stay. I will explain about that later. It was the hottest summer we have had in Japan. On the news the other day, they said it was the hottest since weather has been monitored, 113 years ago. It has not cooled down during the day very much, but the nights are cooling off a little. The leaves of the cherry tree at church are falling.
I went into the hospital on August 25th and the procedure was performed on the 26th. This was the second of this kind of operation. The first one helped to some degree, but I kept having irregular heart beats and always very tired. The doctor told me that 70% of the patients are cured the first time. Unfortunately, I needed the second one. They put 2 wires through my arteries into the heart. They put electricity in the wires and my heart rose to about 140 degrees in places. This was to deaden some of the nerves. The first operation lasted more than 7 hours. The 2nd only 3 hours 40 minutes. I was in the hospital 9 days the first time, but only 4 days the second time. Since the 2nd operation, I have had no problems, but I must wait to see. I thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. Keep me in your prayers.
Jean is going to the doctor in Tokyo in October to have her neck checked out. She keeps working, but her neck bends down more and more as she gets tired. Keep her in your prayers, too.
Tooru, the high school boy who plans to become a preacher, is doing well in school and doing more things at church. He just put his name on the evangelism committee. He started teaching the evening service once a month . He sometimes leads singing on Sunday mornings. Since he is still in high school, he is afraid to stick his neck out too far. Japanese high school students are much more afraid to do things than Americans. He has many good ideas, but doesn’t voice them often. He still has a year and a half left of high school before he travels to Oklahoma Christian. The school year here is from April thru March.
I want to thank you all so much for your help in keeping us here. We are getting a little older, but still can work well with the Japanese. Many of you have been with us the for the whole 35 years. That is wonderful. We love you all for your dedication. Without you, we could do nothing. Thousands have heard your word through us. Only about 50 have given their lives to the Lord. I pray that more will in the future. I pray that I can turn over a dedicated, loving church to Tooru when he begins to preach here. Sometimes people leave and it hurts. But others come to replace them and we keep going. Only God knows the outcome. We love Him and we love the lost and want them to be saved. This is what God wants. Recently we studied Ephesians 1 about predestination. I believe that God leads us to Himself and wants us to follow Him. We can choose not to, but He chose us from the before beginning to follow Him. I thank my God that He loves me that much to take me and use me for His purposes. Thank you and thank God.
Serving Him in Japan,
Marlin and Jean Ray