We trust that you all had a wonderful time celebrating Christ’s birth. Our church plant had a BBQ together on Christmas Eve after the main service. It was a great time of fellowship and some of our regular attendees even brought unsaved family members to visit for the first time! Please continue praying for the Salvation of several unsaved people who have been regularly attending our church.
New Years in Japan is a much bigger deal than Christmas and one of the main times throughout the year for people to go and worship at shrines. Families come together for the holidays but between yummy meals they often go for hatsumoude, the first shrine visit of the year. Even people who rarely go to the shrines throughout the year will often go at New Years. As an alternative to this, we were encouraged to have a small group gather at church New Year’s morning to pray to the true God!
New Year’s afternoon Japan experienced a large earthquake. Though our city was undamaged, it was strong enough for our 5th floor apartment to shake quite a bit. It felt as if the ground itself was groaning under the weight of the rampant idol worship, a stark reminder of the need for more Gospel light here!
We are very grateful for the additional time with friends and family over Christmas and New Year’s. Not only did we get to spend several days visiting James’ parents, but we also got to connect more with families here in Nagoya. Our kids are quick to make friends wherever they go. As we intentionally build relationships with these families please pray for boldness to share the Gospel with them.
We have had a total of two more sign-ups for the kid’s program! We appreciate your prayers as it kicks off on January 21st. Thank you for taking the time to stay connected with how God is working here in Nagoya.
Click here for a printable version of this prayer letter.