September Prayer Letter

Dear Praying Friends,                                                                                

 

Isaiah 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
God gave us this verse as a mission call to Japan.  Today as we write this, October 7th, 2013, by the grace of God, marks the end of the first 30 years of fulfilling that call here in northern Hokkaido, Japan.  I recall on that day as we boarded the airplane out of Los Angles and we watched the lights of the Pacific coast of the United States fade away in the darkness, I silently sang the national anthem and thanked God for His calling.  In the years that have passed, many things in the United States have changed:  Economic, politics and morals have declined greatly.  There is a great need for those biblical Christians in the United States to abound in taking a stand for the Lord in the grace of God.  We are thankful for each of you that do this so that we and many other missionaries throughout the world can continue to give the gospel to the people God has called us to.  You too have a calling of God.  It is the same one we have; only the location is different.  May God bless your witness this day for the Lord.

Memories abound of God’s goodness not only here in Japan but also in His training period through the years since we got married in 1974.  Little did we know that each step we took in obedience and all along the way were part of His boot camp training time.  Helping us learn to trust in each other, walk along with each other and know that God was leading and helping us making decisions (first 3 years); leading Ken back into some schooling to finish one degree (1 yr) and at the end of that moving us to Minnesota where we were quite content in the assistant pastorate work we were involved in (2 ½ years) when God moved on our own hearts to go into full time church planting on a foreign field.  That led Ken to go back to Bible school one more time (2 yrs) to get some more training specifically in missions. While there we were involved in AWANA and jr. church, all the while seeking where God would want us to go.  It’s not an easy decision when the entire world needs the Gospel!!  Here is what Vicki wrote about our call to Japan on our 20^th anniversary—

During his senior year at that time, a senior missionary from northern Japan, specifically the island of Hokkaido, came to visit on campus and tell the student body of his desire of reaching the northern rural area of Hokkaido, Japan with new missionaries where he had been ministering for quite a few years.  So many missionaries called to Japan stay in the southern larger populated areas.  His desire was to see more come north. And not only north to Japan but by a special program of new missionaries working with a veteran missionary for two years to lead them patiently through the ropes of everyday living, learning the language, and dealing with people in the difficult country of Japan. We praise God for that patient guarded teaching.

 Ken was on campus that day hearing the missionary speaker in chapel.  The campus chapel time was always broadcast on the local Christian radio station so I listened while at home.  When Ken walked through the door of our home that afternoon I don't remember which of us started talking first, but it was both of the same thing—what do you think about northern Japan?

We prayed, discussed the program, met with the missionary several times as well as several pastors that were working with him, got the counsel of our pastor and my Dad. What a blessing it was to meet and pray with him and when we asked him what he thought this was Dad's reply, "Your mother and I have been praying for several years now that God would send someone to help in this needy area.  Never did we dream our own daughter and son-in-law would answer that prayer." -----

After Ken graduated in 1981 we began our year and half of full time deputation with much fear and trembling but also joy that God had shown us his will.  God blessed and there is no way we can share all that He has done in these last 30 yrs. But this one thing we know: We fail, but God picks us up; We try and God works through us; We plant, water and pray that the seed will grow into true salvation and that the seed will not be plucked out.  That’s the way it was when we first started and that’s the way it continues. Japan is still a hard field to reach with the Gospel but we will patiently keep on planting and watering and waiting for the increase.  May we always be faithful for our God is Always Faithful and His mercies are new every morning.

 

Serving Christ Together,    

Ken & Vicki Mansell           Just A Prayer At Night – Your evening is our daytime!

March/April Prayer Letter

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...Eccl. 3:1

Various things have taken place recently, that we just trust God to use it for our good and His glory!
   Two months always sounds like a long time from the Japan side of things but as usual, our nine week time in the United States has gone by in a whirl of meetings and times with family.  We concentrated on trying to get some new churches here on the east coast and it was a blessing to be in each of the churches we were in.  As a result, one church has taken us on for support for which we are truly thankful.  We appreciate and need the prayers from those we meet with and each and every one that remembers us in that way on a regular basis is such a blessing. In one church, one of the pastor’s daughters said she would make us ‘her’ missionary and she would pray for us every day!! What sweet dedication and we know there are many who support us in this way. Thank you to each one.
   We have checked in on a couple of occasions with Mrs. Sonoda who has been holding a ladies’ Bible Study on Sunday morning while we were gone. We praise God that the high school nurse who has been studying with us on Sunday evenings for two years now has come almost every Sunday and studied with Mrs. Sonoda. We are looking forward to hearing what God has been teaching them both through this time! Like any pastor or missionary, we will be stepping right back into the ministry once we arrive back in Teshio on the 27th of this month.  Please pray for safe travels on the 25-27th (lose one day on our way back over the international date line).  After a one night stay near the airport, we will travel 6 hours back to Teshio by car once we return to the island of Hokkaido. We do have a week before we have to be back in full extra activities because there are some holidays, one right after another, right after we get back.  That will allow recovery of mind and body which will be needful. We praise God that Ken has had no ‘hospital required’ flare-ups with the remaining kidney stones while here in the USA.  God is gracious!  Vicki had a pretty good bout with asthma due to allergies but again God was gracious and was able to overcome it with over-the-counter medicines.  God was also gracious to allow us to have around 3000 miles of safe travels on this trip. Compared to a couple years ago when we did just around 10,000 miles that is very short, but we never take any of the safety we receive for granted. We also want to thank Joshua and Alicia Appel for loaning us the use of their van for this furlough. It was a blessing!
When we left Hokkaido, winter was still in full force and clear until just before Easter Sunday, our area experienced blizzards.  It has been an unusually heavy winter of snowfall and we received twice the amount of snow.  The roof over our deck, which serves as a roof for our car port, collapsed due to the weight of the snow. The back part of the car port also was damaged.  This was all built by one of our summer intern groups about 13 years ago and covered in cost by one of our supporting churches giving a special love gift!!  We know God has a reason for all things and continue to trust Him.  We will be meeting with an insurance adjuster right after we get back to see if our insurance will help cover some of the cost in the rebuilding of this needed area!  We appreciate prayers for this needed project.

 from in front of the church entry area of the road

 the car on the right is Vicki's; the one on left is our

neighbor's.  We always let them put one of their

extra cars in that space while we are gone. Up until the 

day before, Mrs. Inafune had parked her car further back.

God prevented her from backing it that far so even

though the back part of the deck was broken through 

and things crashed down, her car was not damaged 

in any way!  God is Good all the time!

 some of the snow and ice that came down with the collapse

 part of the roof that allowed the snow to go over the side

 the deck broken through--lt side--our picnic table hanging there

 That is all ice!  And this and the snow had no where else to go as the side

area where it all went was all full.  With us gone there was no one to

check and make sure the snow was taken shoveled off some where.

We have one young man coming for the summer internship this year and we are still seeking and praying for one or two more.  If there is anyone in our churches or you know of a young man who could come join us for 8 to 10 weeks, especially in the upper teens and older, we would love to hear from you. It is not too late to get this arranged to have someone else come.  They do not have to be called to missions per se, but come with a heart to learn and have their mind and hearts broadened in the area of missions.  For someone from any of our supporting churches we have a small internship scholarship to put towards the trip.  For further information please write us at mansell@worldtell.com or the address this letter is sent from.  Thank you for prayerfully considering this opportunity.

For the last 10 days of our stay, Vicki was able to visit two of her aunts in Portland, OR area and also shared the work in Teshio with a seniors’ Golden Heirs group as well as residents of a senior self care apartment building.  While she was gone, Ken started a partial garage add-on room to give the Appels a ‘school room’ for this fall when Alicia, our daughter will be teaching two.  Ken always enjoys designing these projects as well as building them. He just wished that they went up as easily as they are designed!!  But it is coming together well and he will be able to finish it enough that all they need to do is the flooring and the final coat of paint!

 reading nook at the end of the 'school desk' line

 two units to the right of the door-desk is the slanted area that opens up

 one more desk unit to the left of the door. 

Will post various snaps from our trip in another post.  God bless your time in His Word and in prayer for those around the world serving Christ. Thank you for praying for us!

Remember:  

Just A Prayer At Night!  

Your evening is our day time!

September Prayer Letter

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Revelations 3:20

A door is an important part of any building. Without a door, one can not enter or leave. There is no access. Jesus Christ is the door to eternal life and salvation. (John 10:1-9) In practical terms, a door is an essential element in a church building. Our church door after 20 years of salty rain and snow was rusting away. Recently the Lord opened the way for us to get a great deal on residing our church building. With the economy in bad shape, even worse than the USA, companies are offering deep discounts just to get business. God opened a way to get a loan to cover the cost of the siding that we can repay over the next three and a half years. What we didn't plan on was having to pay for a replacement door in that loan. So we need to come up with that money in cash by the first of November. We are challenging our few believers to raise the money for this with special offerings. Please pray with us that the funds will be raised in time to meet this need. We have had great witnessing opportunities with the workers for this project.

We asked prayer for Vicki as she underwent gall bladder stone removal (including the gall bladder). Although she did react to the anesthesia drastically the surgery itself went well. We praise God for His hand in protection while waiting for that surgery and for another opportunity to witness to both patients and staff alike at the hospital. Her stay was short by Japanese standards (4 days) but she was very glad to do her recuperating at home. Thank you for praying for this need. The eye doctor also feels that Vicki's eye is stabilized now but she will have to remain on some form of eye drop for the rest of her life. We are thankful for good care in this country. Lord willing, we will both remain in good health for awhile.

We asked last time for prayer for two of our contacts facing health difficulties. Dr. Mitsu will be taking a month off from work and from study with us here as he undergoes surgery to find out how extensive his cancer is. We continue to pray for his eyes to be opened to the truth of the Gospel before it is too late. Mr. Mino has been moved to a hospital closer to his home in southern Hokkaido. We have not heard from him by email for some time. He did not look good when we last saw him. A tumor had started in his brain that had caused paralysis on one side. We got in contact with a Japanese pastor in his area who we trust can have contact with him. Again time may be short for this man who so desperately needs Christ.

We had an unexpected event this last month. We were contacted by a Hokkaido TV station who wanted to include us in a special they were doing on Teshio. The local city offices had told them about us. We were able to give tract packets to the 4 men that came to do the filming and Ken was able to give them a 2 or 3 minute sermon when he showed them the 'church' area of our building. Although they did not include the preaching part in the segment they showed about us, we are thankful for the opportunity to give the Gospel to these men. At the end of the segment about us, they also showed a map of where we are in town with our address and telephone number as a church in Teshio. Vicki and her music was also featured in the segment. We praise God for any little piece of information given out so others may know!

Bible studies and teaching opportunities with the Assistant English Teacher, Christopher Collins, continues to go forward with great joy. He is an eager learner. Ken is meeting with him during the S.S. Hour, then he is here for the a.m. Service, sometimes having one more study in the afternoon before he goes home as well as a separate one on Tuesday nights in Enbetsu before Ken begins classes there.

Prayer Requests:

1. financial struggles with a couple of our believers

2. Salvation of our believers' spouses and families; baptism of our believers

3. Funds to cover the replacement of both doors (we also had to replace our house entry door)



Serving Christ Together,

Ken and Vicki Mansell

Just A Prayer At Night – your evening is our daytime

Below are pictures of 1. original building redo and beginning of new addition (1988/89)

2. 2nd renovation and completed new siding (done by ourselves that time) -completed in 1991


3. New siding and doors completed 10/6/2010

July/August Prayer Letter

A Christian's mission in any country to reach the lost is this:

2 Tim 2:25, 26- In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Pray for us to be patient to continue the ever before us task of reaching the Japanese whose eyes need to be opened to the truth of the Gospel and the falsehood of their many gods and traditions. God loves each and every one of them and does not desire them to go to hell. Neither do we. Thank you for helping us be the light in this northern area and pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers.
We apologize for not getting a letter out last month and will try and catch you up as we can. For two months we had Amanda Blain from N.C. with us studying the language, the culture, the ministry and taking part in any way she could. It was a very busy time but we feel it fulfilled hopes on both sides.

We know the Lord has a special ministry in store for her as He tarries and pray for wisdom for her to know what that will be when the time comes. These are her words about the internship:

Amanda Blain in front of Church building

"During my two-month Internship, I was able to get a glimpse into a culture very different from my own! Learning a new language was a challenge, but understanding a new mindset was even more difficult. I enjoyed being in a foreign country. I was able to visit quite a few cities on the island of Hokkaido, including Wakkanai, Otaru, and Nayoro. I helped to teach English, both public school lessons and private lessons. During the church services, I was able to play several duets with Mrs. Mansell. I’m very thankful for the opportunity the Lord gave me this summer and for the many lessons I learned during my Internship."Although Mrs. Tokumaru has not been able to be back in services much we praise God that we get to see her about once a week when she brings her daughter in for piano lessons in Teshio. She seems to be more desirous of a closer walk with God and is concerned about those around her. She recently asked about a Bible for a friend who showed a desire to read the Bible although not interested in attending services yet. We are thankful for this one step and know the power of the Word can work in this lady's heart.
In July Ken went to the States for two weeks on family business and was able to include a Sunday in our home church. He gave the a.m. message on July 4th and had a first time oportunity to preach on this theme. It is not a theme not usually used here of course but he was able to also use it here upon his return. Ken had a safe trip, some things were accomplished and he thoroughly enjoyed the back to back family reunions he attended from his parents' side of the family.. While he was gone, Vicki held a Bible study one Sunday a.m. and then the 2nd Sunday Pastor Kusakari from Kobe, Japan, was able to be with us and preached. He used to travel all of Japan working just with JW's trying to get out of the cult or reaching JW's. He now has his own church down in the Kobe area with members saved out of the cult and has more limited work in the outlying areas.

Dr. Fuji
(located at a hospital one hour from us)

Christopher Collins from British Columbia, Canada

Three Christians have come to the Rumoi District within 30 & 60 minutes, and 2 hours from us as of this month and earlier in the spring. Two are associated with Assistant English teaching and the 3rd is a Christian single lady doctor. We hope to have opportunities to encourage them in the future and for them to be a great witness in our county. We were able to meet Dr. Fuji recently when we took time to stop in her hospital and introduce ourselves. We are connected via email so even when she can't get here to a service we trust to get studies to her. The interesting part of her past is that she and her parents were in the U.S. until she ws 14 and were members at our the church of our home church pastor at that time in New England. Now we are connected to her--what a small world it is. We also met Christopher Collins from Vancouver, BC this last week when he bicycled for an hour to get to us from Enbetsu where we go once a week for English. He had no way of getting ahold of us yet having just arrived, so made that extra effort!! He is 23 and a young Christian and we trust the Lord can use us as well as His Word to disciple this young man while he is in the area.

One of the things God has encouraged us in the work over the years is that our work hasn't just been for or with the Japanese. He has allowed others to come for just short periods and had we not been here they would not have gotten saved OR had extra training and growth while here. We thank the Lord for these opportunities as well as our local day by day work.

Vicki leaves with a small group of Teshio people on the 21st of this month to go to Homer, Alaska, our sister-city. One of the programs we have been involved with over the years (it started the year we moved here) has been the Sister-City Association. It has brought us into contact with people we might never have met except through this program. It has allowed various means and opportunities of witnessing. This will be another opportunity. She would appreciate your prayers not only for a safe trip but to be a strong witness to all she is with and comes in contact with. Please also pray that she would have no side effects from the gall stones she has as she has been experiencing some pain.

Prayer Requests:
1. Vicki's trip and then gall bladder surgery right after she gets back (September 10th)
2. Salvation of our believers' spouses and famlies; baptism of our believers
3. Opportunities with Dr. Fuji, Christopher Collins & Austin Duffy
4. Decisions need to be made concerning the need to replace the siding of our ministry building. A special offer by a siding company is being made if we take it right now.
5. Health of two of our contacts is not good at all, including Dr. Mitsu who has a weekly Bible study with us. Please pray for Dr. Mitsu and Mr. Mino to be open to the Gospel especially now.
Praise & Prayer:
1. We have the priviledge of announcing that we are 'expecting' our 7th grandchild!! Pastor Joshua and Alicia Appel in Georgia expect their next bundle the end of March, Lord willing. Please pray for health and strength of Alicia and the baby. She is the mother of 3 others and home schooling their oldest. During the months of morning sickness it can be a challenge to face those tasks each day. Know she would appreciate your prayers too.
2. Our eldest son, Pastor Richard Mansell in Newton, N.C. now has a new mailing address. If you are interested in this, please drop us a line and we will send it to you.


Serving Christ Together,
Ken & Vicki Mansell

Just A Prayer At Night

Another Earthquake

Well we experienced a small short earthquake about 30 minutes away from us. If you go to the link above you can see numbers on the map. The 4 is Horonobe where we have one of our extension outreaches. The 2 is Teshio. It has been several years since we had one this close!! We praise God for daily safety and for extra when unsuspecting things happen as well. "Some men trust in horses...but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God!"
We hope to get our next prayer letter up here as well in the next couple days. Thank you for your prayer and for patience in receiving our updates.
God bless,

Ken & Vicki

p.s. if you bookmark that link above then whenever you hear about earthquakes in Japan and wonder where they are you can easily go there and it should have the one you are seeking. It is in Japanese but if you ask the person you are concerned about they can tell you which one to click on.
or look for the date and time you have wondered about and click on there. I hope that is enough to help you. Or for us, just check this blog and we will put the info here on any Hokkaido earthquakes! I tried to copy the picture but it wouldn't let me.