News from the recent Festival of Hope in Sendai, Japan
“Japan has few Christians relative to its large population, and northwest Japan has fewer than most other parts of the country. Churches in Sendai typically average less than 30 in attendance, so it was a wonderful answer to prayer and brought great joy to Japanese Christians when nearly 12,000 people attended the Festival of Hope to hear the Gospel. The final meeting was the largest Christian gathering ever in that region of Japan. The Crusade was held in the Grande 21 arena, a sports complex that had served as a temporary morgue after last year’s disaster. Many Christians asked God to transform the stadium—which had been a place for families to come and seek their dead—into a place where people found new life. God answered. Members of one family said that they decided to attend the Crusade for a simple reason—after the tragedy, it was the military and Christians who came to help, and Christians were still there a year later, volunteering, rebuilding, and providing encouragement. That made them want to learn more about the Gospel. “(From the April 2012 BGEA Newsletter)
Please pray for our upcoming trip (schedule below). Pray that the Lord will open new doors for partnerships with these new churches and /or individuals and also that we will have a good time as a family on this 2 week adventure! Please pray that the remaining 17% of our support will come in soon. Our desire is to leave for Japan in July so we can help relieve our team leaders of some of their workload and provide hope and encouragement through the Gospel to the people of Japan.
April 17-18 traveling to Gosport, Indiana to visit friends
April 19-20 traveling on to Iowa, dinner with new friends in Alton, Iowa
April 21 a.m. meeting at Hospers PCA in Hospers, Iowa, then drive to Grundy Center, Iowa for dinner with new friends
April 22 a.m. presentation at Colfax Center Church, Holland, Iowa
April 22 p.m. presentation at Faith PCA in Ackley, Iowa then drive to Madison, Wisconsin
April 23 Kim’s Birthday, meet friends from PNG for dinner in Tomah, Wisconsin
April 24 meeting at Cornerstone Church in Delafield, Wisconsin
April 25 meet Kim’s cousin for dinner in Elgin, Illinois
April 26 meeting in Elgin, Illinois, then drive to Plainfield, Illinois to visit friends
April 27-28 drive to Greenwood, Indiana to visit Kim’s family
April 29 a.m. Triston preaching at Shiloh Community Church, Franklin, Indiana, visit friends, then dinner with family in Muncie
April 29 p.m. presentation at Westminster PCA, Muncie, Indiana then head south
April 30 traveling home to NC
May 18-20 retreat with Nagoya team in North Carolina mountains
We would love to see you during our trip if you are in any of these areas! We would also like to add more to our schedule for May and June! Please let us know if you’re interested in hosting a home meeting or if your church, Sunday School class or Bible study group is interested in having us come and share about the great need in Japan!
