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My newsletters (they always include prayer items) are in both English and Traditional Chinese.
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Dear partners of the Kingdom,
Greeting from flowering Japan! May this update find you springy and hope filled.
“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
Hosea 6:3
Latest Update:
Thank you for all your prayer and the faithfulness of our good Father, I have been mostly well and was able to travel as well as meeting many in the last 2 months.
In February, I went to explore the outreach sites with worker from another organization. We visited churches that lacked co-workers and areas where there were no churches yet. It was heartbroken to see overworked pastors also poor communication and misunderstandings between different cultures.
Most of March was spent near Mt Fuji at a retreat centre under renovation. I was picked up for a 2-day road trip with a break to meet and attend Brazilian-Japanese church. They were very welcoming and later I realized some of them were contractors working on the renovation. Such an interesting experience trying to communicate through AI for almost everything!
For a couple weeks, me and my friend assembled furnitures, prepared rooms, planed and printed things needed for week-long retreat for 60 people while showers/toilets were being built. The day before attendees arrived we had a snow dump and roads were closed. Last minute arrangements were made to shift the schedule so attendees wouldn’t have to arrive at night walking up a snowy slope. All in all, the retreat was a good time of connection and sharing while being exposed to resources that can hopefully help strength and expand the Kingdom in Japan.
I was home briefly but managed to upload new a YouVersion plan in Traditional Chinese (part 3 of 5, see last newsletter for more info). Got to connect with my team along with visiting members and met the Japanese lady who finished knitting her hat.
Mid-April I met up with friends from Canada and was able to relax and took some time off to visit Hokkaido for the first time (after living in Japan for 7 years)! After we parted I visited my ex-teammates who moved there to start a new team. It was a good time of story sharing while checking-in to see their “life” after they have settled. Although it’s never going to be easy pioneering, it’s never boring when breaking new grounds. It was wonderful to see the connection they made with neighbours though constant presence and openness. If you like to volunteer in shuffling snow, I can hook you up =)
During my away time, I was able to have 2 workers stayed in my place to have some solitude reflection. If you know places that can offer that too, please let me know. Workers desperately need space to unwind and focus.
What’s Next?
Ok, I have a couple major “deadline” this week… finish my tax and getting the English version of the 55 Day e-learning PureHeart Challenge Course on to the new platform on our website (May 5th is the start of new intakes).
I will be meeting up with other visitors and teams throughout May and still working on timing to visit Mom in June.
One area I need your support is prayer in regards to helping new initiatives. My calling/burden is to walk alongside workers for aptness and longevity for the goal of “reproducing” health and joyful Japanese followers who in turn will multiply vividly by the Lord’s Grace. There are so many things I want to see happen in Japan but I am realizing my aging pain and limited capacity especially if I have to be away for weeks at times.
Praises:
· Retreat centre renovation finished (couple weeks after I left)
· Many opportunities for connection and reconnection
Prayer Requests:
· Focus to getting necessary/urgent tasks done
· Direction in ministry involvement
Blessings,
Christina
I grew up in a non-christian home but my older brother went to Christian school and became the first believer in our family. Since then he started to share Jesus and took my to church gospel events. One time, the message was about God willing to forgive all our sins; I was touched but thought that I want to know more before deciding to believe. The next day, the message was about how simple faith is, just like toddlers eating eggs. So I decided to trust this God who is willing to forgive even I don’t understand everything He feeds me.
In college retreat, I committed to served God full-time but has never thought of how. After working some years, and wanting to spend time with aging parents, God led me to a missionary school (Youth With A Mission). One step at a time, God called me to pioneer a team in Kobe, Japan. With prayer and getting to know the team, I responded by saying yes. Again trusting this good God even I can’t see what’s ahead.
My Current Role
At the moment I am a self-funded missionary involved with both international sender Youth With A Mission in Osaka and a local ministry near Kobe. This year we are pioneering a bilingual bible school which I serve as administrative and tutoring staff. Since everything is new, there are trials and errors. And this is an intense school, so yes, lots of reading and homework (which I need to grade). My prayer is that students and staff from this school will be infused with the passion for His Word and stay to staff the next school. The local ministry I have been working with for the last 3+ years is Onfire Japan. We focus on discipleship through bible study and mentoring. Since 2021, we have been doing LIVE morning worship everyday and a few other theme-focus hours throughout the week. I have been joining LIVE panel, providing technical support and training. We have team members who are very willing to jump in if there is a gap but we need more to be willing so we can expand to more hours and cover more themes. My prayer is to start a Chinese-Japanese hour.
About To The Nations Fellowship/OnFire Japan/YWAM
My Canadian Charity partner “To The Nations Fellowship” was founded to come alongside the Body of Christ to facilitate sending Christians on long and short term missions.
Onfire Japan, founded in 1995 to minister after a major earthquake in Kansai, is a Christian ministry dedicated to seeing Japan and Japanese Christians filled with the presence and power of God. We equip believers for discipleship and simple church planting through
online media, networking and training. We’re excited for the opportunity to work together to see revival come to the church and the harvest come to Japan.
Youth With A Mission, founded in 1960, is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world.