At the beginning of January, we were in Greenwood, South Carolina for a missions conference with Pastor David Thomasson and East Side Baptist Church. We had a wonderful time of fellowship with the people of this church, but we also had the opportunity to learn. Ralph and Janet Burchell, members of East Side, were missionaries in Japan for over 30 years. We were able to spend time with them over the course of the missions conference, and learn from their experiences in the Kobe area. Greenwood is also home to the U.S. headquarters for FUJI film. This has brought many Japanese families to this area. Mrs. Janet has used this as an opportunity to continue her work with Japanese women. Rebel was able to join her one day during the conference and wanted to share her experience.

Mrs. Janet has reached out to the Japanese women in the area through an English class. Although these women live in the states, they have struggled with the language. They meet weekly for class, and Mrs. Janet teaches them English through the Bible. It was very exciting for me to be able to join them and meet these Japanese women. They were also excited to meet someone moving over to Japan, and were eager to answer my questions about life there. Please keep these ladies in your prayers, as they have not yet seen their need for a savior. After the English class, Mrs. Janet invited me to join her to visit another Japanese lady. We were welcomed into Yuki Shinagawa’s home, and she too, was more than willing to answer questions I had about Japan. We also had the opportunity to share the gospel with her, but she did not accept. Please pray that Yuki would accept Christ! I had a wonderful time and wanted to thank Mrs. Janet for allowing me to tag along!