Dear Praying
Friends,
August 2013
Genesis
24:27
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who
hath not
left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being
in the way, the
Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
Many
times we are asked, "How did you know the Lord wanted you in
Teshio,
Hokkaido, Japan as missionaries?" The whole process of God's
leading
us to this rural town in northern Hokkaido is rather long and
strewn with various
details. However, the main thing that continued to show itself
was the
small phrase in the verse above. “I being in the way, the
LORD led
me". Just as trying to steer a car that is not
moving, is
more difficult than steering a running and moving car, so it is
with knowing
and following the Lord's will for our lives. We continued to be
busy
serving the Lord right where we were at the time and God directed
our path
through Bible reading, preaching, prayer and Godly counsel. It is
in this
confidence that the Lord led us to Japan and on to Teshio and gave
us the
faithful supporting churches and friends, that has helped keep us
here for
thirty years.
Soon
after we arrived in Teshio, we met a doctor and his wife in a
nearby town via
English conversation classes. Over the years we have remained
friends and
recently one of their daughters won one of the top prestigious
piano contests
here in Japan. She was going to have a recital in central
Hokkaido.
Vicki could not attend due to conflicting responsibilities, but
Ken
attended. We remember hearing a cute three year old play the baby
grand
piano in their small apartment 20 years ago. Now this beautiful
23 year
old, who is continuing her studies as a senior at Boston
Conservatory of Music,
was playing before hundreds of people on a grand piano amazing
pieces of memorized
classical music. Their family graciously allowed Ken to stay in
their
home and he felt like one of the family. God gave many
opportunities of
witness during that time. Pray
with us
that this family would truly follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
With the Dan Cross family
attending
regularly now and their desire to see the Gospel presented in
their community
in any way possible, they asked if we would come and do a short
couple hour “Joyful
Kids” time with neighborhood children and any moms that might
stay. We were thrilled to
work out the details
including games, songs in both English and Japanese, a Bible story
via large
picture cards on Noah and then a treat time with homemade ice
cream that they
had helped crank during the game time and chocolate chip cookie
bars. Seventeen children
attended, ages 4-12 as
well as three mothers stayed for the whole activity. The Crosses report that
several mothers have
mentioned since that time that they were glad they came. Although location is a
difficulty at this
point, we trust to be able to continue to do some special
activities in this
town and build upon the testimony already being given by the whole
Cross
family, at work, at school and in the neighborhood!!
We just finished studying
the Rich Man (in
hell) and Lazarus (in the bosom of Abraham/paradise) from the book
of Luke with
Hitomi Tsuzuki. What a
picture of the
eternity of pain and desire for our family members to not go to
hell. Our hearts continue
to hurt because again
Hitomi said she still understood her need and that she WAS going
to go to hell,
but she could not go to the next step of accepting the gift of
salvation. We
praise God for each step of progress in her understanding and we
know we will
truly never comprehend the deep strong hold that family, work
pressures and the
Japanese society have on those that are seeking. We can only keep
faithful and continue
giving them the plan and need in their life and ask God to work
the miracle
that only He can do. Thank you for supporting us in this effort.
Keep it up
through your prayers!
Baptism was again a portion
of a study we
have been doing on walking with the Lord.
Mrs. Sonoda was present and Vicki,
Rie Cross and Mrs. Sonoda had a long time of discussion on
the reasons
behind Mrs. Sonoda’s need to be baptized not being fulfilled. She desires and understands
but we now know
there is deep opposition within her home from her unsaved husband
even on a personal
level with daily issues. We
continue to
pray for our dear believers who need this step but have so much
opposition in
their lives. We continue
to ask you to
pray for victory for our believers even when so much is against
them especially
when they are wives of unsaved husbands. May God bless their
testimony before their
spouses as each one perseveres and lives for Christ as she can.
Just
A
Prayer At Night –
Your evening is
our daytime!
More photos from our Joyful Kids time!
They were amazed at making ice cream!
enthusiastic games
Bible story time!
eating the ice cream!
even the youngest attendee thought it was great!
