Dear Family, Friends and Partners in the Gospel,
Konnichiwa—hello! After a month of travel, it is good to settle back into our Tokyo home. Autumn arrives gently here, so some days are still quite warm, but the persimmons on our neighbor’s tree are already a beautiful ripe, reddish-orange and have become a major indulgence for the neighborhood birds. It is fun to watch them enjoy their treat right outside of our kitchen window!
 |
| Precious time with the newlyweds! |
We took a trip to Iowa during the first couple of weeks in September for a family wedding. It was so good to celebrate John’s sister’s marriage and visit both of our families and several friends. Then we had a quick turnaround of a few days in Tokyo before heading out again to an Asia-division conference. Exhausting, yes, but so good!
 |
| God’s at Work! |
The theme of the conference was He’s At Work, focused on how God is moving His people in church-planting. We accompanied our Tokyo City Teammates to meet up with ReachGlobal missionaries from throughout Japan and many other Asian countries. Each team was invited to bring their national church-planting partners, which our team is still waiting on God to provide. It was good to get a big-picture idea of how God may be using this stage of ‘preparing the soil’ in Tokyo for future ministry. We were also blessed to meet Christian leaders from throughout Asia and hear stories of how God is working in their home countries!
Seeing these growing partnerships has refreshed our hunger for church-planting here in Tokyo, and it has stoked our desire to buckle down and pray earnestly for God’s discernment in making healthy partnerships with local Christian leaders. Making partnerships with national leaders is critical since a multiplying church-planting movement cannot be sustained by missionaries alone; so we joyfully seek to partner with and empower national workers who are called to the Lord’s harvest
 |
| “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt. 9:38). |
Please join our team in praying for direction in this area! Especially this week as we discuss what God has done among our team and how He may be leading for the future ministry and partnership possibilities.
May all the glory go to Him as the Gospel moves in and through this city!
In His love,
John & Jo Beth
Printing this newsletter? Click Here for a PDF version