Tilehouse Street Baptist Church, Hitchin

'Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up' (Gal. 6:9)

Dear Friends,

Thanks always for your faithfulness in praying for and supporting the Lord's work here in Japan.

Once again I have to apologise very humbly for my lack of communication this year - over the past three and a half years it has often seemed like I'm running just to stand still (if there is such an expression) but, by God's grace, and in no small part supported by faithful prayer, I live to tell the tale! Thank you for your patience!

I must thank you especially for your prayers for my English students. Recently, another of my students from the Inami Chapel classes, Mrs. K, started Bible classes with Pastor Okamoto. This lady has shown an interest in Christianity for some time during our teatime devotion times after the English class. Last year she attended "Love Sonata", an evangelistic event in central Kobe organized by a big church in Korea. At the end of that meeting, everybody was given a present of a wooden cross pendant and invited to put it around the neck of the person sitting next to them. Mrs. K later said that when she felt the cross next to her heart, she experienced a sense of security and well-being that she had not known before. Since then, she has been seeking after the truth through the Bible. Two other students have met with Pastor Okamoto several times to talk about the Bible, and one other lady sometimes attends the Sunday service at the church there. Several of the children from the kids' class have attended Kids' Church there too. So the Lord is on the move!

Thank you also for your prayers for the Seishin housewives group. Recently one of the ladies who was already a Christian became a member of a Baptist church, where it was felt she needed to be re-baptised, as the first time had not been through immersion. All the members of the English group attended her baptism and, during the course of the service, I was surprised to see one of the other ladies sitting next to me weeping during the hymns. This lady, Mrs. T, had been attending Bible studies on and off for years, but seemed to me to be "in a rut", unable to move forward in that decisive step towards the Lord. Mercifully, the Lord did not act in accordance with my lack of faith; the Holy Spirit worked in her heart that day and, at the end of the service, she confessed her desire to follow the Lord. Now she is doing weekly Bible studies with the pastor of that Baptist church, and is considering getting baptised. There are two other ladies in the group who have not accepted the Lord as their Saviour yet. The daughter of one of them has recently been very ill, and is still receiving treatment for cancer. I am praying that the Lord will heal her, and that both of them will know His love and mighty power through this.

There has been sadness in the church in Amagasaki, as the pastor's wife passed away in early December after nine months in hospital. Despite my feeling for a long time that it was time to hand over the English classes there to someone else, I believe the Lord kept me there until now, knowing this was going to happen. However, after much heart-searching, I finally decided the time was right to go at the end of May. My replacement teacher is a spirit-filled Christian whom I pray the Lord will use to bring much fruit in that place. Until now, sad to say, no members of those English classes (seven people) have given their heart to the Lord or attended a church service, but, at my farewell party, I was very encouraged to hear Mrs. S, whom I mentioned in a previous newsletter, say that she and her husband are interested in coming, together with another friend of theirs, to the Mission Hall one Sunday. I pray for the pastor of the church at Amagasaki too, that he would meet with the Lord in a new way in the light of his painful trial, and that the Lord would bring to him personally and to his church an experience of spiritual revival.

At the Kobe Mission Hall, thanks to your prayers, we continue to get new people coming in to our twice-weekly evangelistic meetings, many of whom express a desire to follow the Lord. We have a baptism on June 20th for two new believers. Our big challenge remains discipling people after they have received the Lord. In this somewhat rundown area of Kobe, where there is a lot of joblessness, homelessness and much temptation in the way of bars, gambling places and the red-light district, many new believers find it so hard to "walk the walk". The leadership team at the Mission Hall has been thinking and praying for some time about how to respond to this need. A while ago, Pastor Boku received a vision about a prayer and healing centre in the countryside, where people could live in community under Christian leadership, working on the land and in an environment to experience healing and discipling in their Christian walk. As yet, we do not have the financial or human resources to set up such a centre, but we are holding it up in prayer and putting aside offerings as we receive them.

On an ongoing basis. we are so aware that, with growing numbers of new believers and always lots of seekers attending meetings, there is no way that the leaders alone can respond to everyone's needs. The whole church needs to be mobilized. But there is still an assumption to be overcome that "ministry" is the job of the pastor and other leaders, not the responsibility of the whole church family. We are prayerfully considering setting up cell groups, so that everybody can be more actively involved in praying for each other and studying the Bible together. We are also encouraging people to get more involved in Sunday services - giving their testimonies, etc. I believe that the area of Shinkaichi, where the Mission Hall is, will be transformed by the love of God - but only if the church itself is first transformed! We need a lot of wisdom to know how to go forward so we can be changed like this.

Meanwhile, we have started a soup kitchen ministry on Sunday evenings, hoping that homeless people from the neighbourhood will come. Word is apparently starting to get around, and numbers are increasing. I'm glad to say that many of those who have come have also attended the evangelistic meeting held beforehand!

I do appreciate so much your prayers of thanks and petition for all the Lord is doing here. In particular, could we join together in praise and prayer for the following points:

English classes:

PRAISE for all the Lord is doing in the lives of the students.
Please PRAY that all the students would be saved, and especially that Mrs. K from Inami would come soon to a living faith in Jesus; that Mrs. T from the Seishin group would continue on with the Lord and the Lord would prepare her for baptism; and Mr. and Mrs. S from Amagasaki would come to church soon; also for the Lord to strengthen and give a fresh vision to the pastor at the church in Amagasaki who lost his wife last year.

Mission Hall:

PRAISE for all the seeds of eternal life sown at the Mission Hall, and the many saved as a result.
Please PRAY for unity among the leadership team (it's not easy being one when there are so many cultures represented!); also for wisdom on how to go forward, so that new believers can grow and the church can be transformed for a greater and greater impact on Shinkaichi!

With love in the Lord,

Dawn