Dear Family, Friends, and Partners in the Gospel,
We made it back to Tokyo! Two weeks ago we boarded an airplane headed to Japan—and that very same day God provided the remainder of our support needs, bringing us to 100% of our support goal! Praise Him!
Our time with you on home assignment was sweet! Over the past ten months we’ve been especially blessed to visit many of our supporting partners throughout the Midwest. God has lifted our hearts and continued to guide our steps as we spent time with you, our co-laborers in the Gospel.
John, Brooke, Hyelee & Sean
Thank you for your prayers for our friend “Sean” (we wrote about him back in May). Sean is an international student from Japan currently attending Iowa State University. Two weeks before we left, he drove to our home in Atlantic one night for dinner. As we ate, he shared that he had been reading the books of Genesis and John with his bible study groups. He said, “At first, I studied the Bible for my English, but now I feel I am studying for myself.” We later asked him if he would like to follow Jesus, to which he replied, “Yes!” We then prayed together a prayer of repentance and faith. Thank you for your prayers for Sean, for those ministering to him and others like him who are hearing the gospel for first time! We continue to email with him to encourage him, but please pray that he will continue to read God’s Word and be in fellowship with other believers.
Though stressful, transitions often have joyful surprises along the way!
The past month has been full of the mixed emotions that often come with major transitions. With longing, we continue to say “goodbye” in our hearts to you, our family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ. At the same time, despite so many unknowns, we have great peace in being where God has called us to be. The next months will be focused on reengaging with our team, applying for visa extensions, and looking for an apartment and language school in the Waseda area.
Thank you for building us up through by your prayer, fellowship and encouragement—we have been blessed by our time of home-assignment and wouldn’t be back in Tokyo without you by God’s hand!
In Him, John, Jo Beth & Brooke
Prayer Needs
- Pray for God’s provision of a good language school and possibly childcare for the coming year.
- Pray for God’s provision of housing that meets our family’s needs and allows us to minister to others.
- Pray for God’s favor with the Japanese government as we apply for a visa extension.
- Pray for an ever-closer walk with the Lord individually, in our marriage and as a family.
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