“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.” Daniel 2:20
It’s funny how when you live someplace for a long time, you think you’ve been to many of the interesting sites. After living in Toyota City for 5 years, I thought I had seen the popular places to visit. However, at the end of April, 3 of my friends and I went to a beautiful flower garden that reminded me of Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. It was so beautiful and I hope to go and see the roses next year that this garden is famous for.
On Mother’s Day, the ladies from Fujigaoka Christ Church were able to go and enjoy lunch together while the men stayed at the church, watching the children and cleaning. Such a great opportunity to get to know the ladies, especially those I hadn’t met before. On Father’s Day, the women will reciprocate and watch the children and clean the church while the men go out for lunch together. The kids at both churches enjoyed making a flower gift for their moms, as they hadn’t done crafts like this before. One mom was very surprised and happy and started to cry when her son gave her the flower 😊
Thank you so much for praying for the children’s ESL letter writing ministry with kids from Parliament Community Church in Regina, SK. It has been successful and the children in the ESL classes really enjoy replying to the letters. Please keep the kids in your prayers and that through this ministry, life-long friendships can be formed through their communication. One of the boys, Juno (from Komaki Hope Chapel) received 7 letters so I asked his mom to draft up a ‘group’ letter and Juno responded to the questions from his letters. His mom enjoyed helping him with this, so please pray for her to see Jesus’ love through the children from PCC. These are just a few of the letters and responses to give you an idea of how much effort goes into replying in English!
Spending time with the students on my days off is always a highlight for me each week. At least once a week, I’m going for lunch, having tea, hosting students in my apartment, etc. It’s been really good getting to know some ladies more personally and to share about my life as a missionary in the hopes that they will one day receive Jesus as their personal saviour. Two weeks ago I enjoyed going for udon (Japanese noodles) with 3 ladies from the 9:30am class at Fujigaoka Church.
On May 21st, I was invited to attend a former student’s dance recital in Kasugai. Yukari and I have kept in touch even though I stopped teaching her back in 2014. She came to visit me in Toyota a couple of times, and we also took a trip with a former ACTION team member (Adam) to see Mt. Fuji (although it was rainy that day so we ended up going to Shinshiro to see the rice paddies). Her dance recital went very well and I was happy to connect with her in person once again. Please pray for her to return to classes in Komaki.
Many of you may remember my friend, Rocky, who you have prayed for over the years. Rocky is still suffering from severe pain in his ribcage and chest area due to contractions/compression in his back. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. I was blessed to be able to join his TECC class members last week and celebrate Akky’s birthday (the other gentleman in the class). I’m planning to attend their class again once/month which will be exciting for me to continue sharing God’s love with these wonderful friends.
Prayer requests:
- Please pray for Rikako and her family in the loss of Tatsuji (pictured at right) who passed away on May 23rd in his 66th year. Pray for peace, comfort and strength for the weeks ahead for Rikako. I’ll be meeting with her and 2 other former students so we can pray with Rikako and share in her sorrow.
- Please pray for one of my student’s at Fujigaoka, Yoko, who 32 year old son was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Pray for his treatments and that they will shrink the tumors. Pray for God’s miraculous healing!
Praise items:
- Praise the Lord for answered prayer for a vehicle for my son, Trevor. He says it is a huge blessing and he is very grateful to the donor and to her son for helping him with the transfer documents. Thank you once again for praying and thank you Gertie for your kindness and generosity.
- Praise God that Dr. Sugiura (my surgeon) finally heard my pleas for help and gave me a shot in my left knee 2 weeks ago, along with a prescription for Voltaren (this is the first time he’s prescribed pain medication). This has given me much-needed pain relief which I haven’t had in 3 years. Although there is still pain and stiffness, I’m able to have rest at night which I haven’t had for a long time. Thank you for your prayers.
- Praise for the movie times at the churches. They are going very well and the students who attend enjoy the discussion afterwards. A former student and her friend will be coming to the movie at Komaki next Sunday (June 4th), Please pray for the movie to have an impact on them.
Thank you, as always, for your generosity, prayers and encouragement. I’m so happy that you are a part of the amazing ministries that God has called me to here in Japan.
With many blessings,
Wendy 😊