Ray Rpt – Jan 5 ’15

MarlinJean
Marlin and Jean with friends.

Hi,

I hope this finds you all healthy and happy.  I am finally healthy after a long bout with the flu.  I was in bed most of the holidays.  Am very happy it is over.  I couldn’t get to the office to work on the computer so no news.  It has been a cold but busy winter.  We baked over 400 Santa face cookies as well as hundreds of others.  We passed them out to three convalescent hospitals as well as three School of Life parties.  Our small group does a lot.

Cookies
400+ cookies for elderly and children

We have a prayer meeting every Sunday from 9:15 to 10:15 and then worship at 10:30.  We also had our usual New Years Eve prayer meeting.  We met at 11 and prayed through the beginning of the year.

On January 11 we will have a meeting to decide on whether to hire Yasuki Nishimura as an apprentice preacher to the Tomobe church.  We have been praying much.  Please pray with us.  He was raised in Tomobe church, earned a Master’s degree in engineering, and worked for four years.  He decided to become a preacher and went to the preachers’ training school, Japan School of Evangelism.  He graduates in March and wants to work with us.  There are also some other churches who are asking for him.  Money will be our biggest concern.  The church here supports us some and we plan to turn that over to him so we will have to look for additional support.  He will take on part-time jobs to support his family.  His father is ill and his mother is 72 years old.  His wife can work a little.  We will be losing about $800 from here, if he is hired.  If you know anyone who can help, please let us know.  We need a Japanese preacher here.  We also need your prayers to watch over the whole situation.  I know God is always in control.

We are looking forward to a great year this year.  We will celebrate the 30th year of the “new” Tomobe church.  We restarted on July 7, 1985.  Also, this is the 60th year of Hitachi Christian Camp.  Our 40th year in Japan will be in August.  Moments to remember.  It is hard to believe we have been working here for so long.  So many things have happened in those 40 years that we have been privileged to be a part of.  I hope God will look favorably on our little part and the church at Tomobe will continue to grow and become a beacon in Kasama and all of Ibaraki and Japan.  It has so much potential.  Only faith is keeping it back.  Please pray that our faith will grow and we will let God totally lead us everyday of our lives.

Thank you for supporting us these 40 years.

Serving Him in Japan,  Marlin and Jean Ray

 


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