New support this week!

September 11, 2012 by W

This past week started off in Savannah with the folks of Heaven Bound Baptist. Pastor Alderman let me teach in Sunday School and preach in the morning service. The Lord did a work during the invitation as the altars filled with these precious people. Afterwards Pastor Alderman recommended that we be taken on for support. The vote passed unanimously! Thank you Pastor Alderman and Heaven Bound Baptist for partnering with us in reaching Japan with the Gospel!

On our way back home we went to Grace Baptist in Eatonton, GA. Pastor Chris Webb has been a friend of ours since we met back in 2005. He was an assistant Pastor at our home church till the Lord brought him here as pastor. We had a great time being with them, and Pastor Webb invited us back for their missions conference in 2013.

Wednesday took us to Calvary Baptist in Tunnel Hill, GA with Pastor Hyatt. Through their printing ministry, they help us get our prayer letters out each month.
It was a joy to be able to present our ministry to the people that already do so much in helping us get to the field. Bro. Bill Goins, the head of the printing ministry, showed us their different printers and equipment they use to print thousands of tracts and John & Romans. Bro. Goins is currently raising support so he can be full time in the printing ministry. Would you consider supporting this global impacting ministry? Find out more on their website at www.calvarybaptisttunnelhill.org

Key City Isehara 伊勢原市

September 5, 2012 by Chris

I’ve got a confession to make: I love samurai! Those of you who know me won’t find that very surprising, and it just so happens that one of my favorite samurai was born in today’s Key City: Isehara.

Japan loves its festivals and celebrating its traditions, and each October this city is home to one of the most popular, Dokan Festival. Thousands gather from all over the country every weekend during the month to honor Ota Dokan.

Dokan was a famous samurai warrior and poet who became even better known for his military strategy, architecture and engineering. At just 25 years old, he had already built an honorable reputation and was tasked with building a castle for one of the most powerful rulers of that time. That castle would eventually become known as The Imperial Palace.

With all the success he experienced and the strict honor he lived by, it’s sad to know that he was betrayed by those he trusted most and had served for nearly his entire life. His lord, Uesugi Sadamasa, had him executed after falsely accusing him of disloyalty.

Dokan wrote these words just before his death:

Had I not known
that I was dead
already
I would have mourned
the loss of my life.

There are over 100,000 people living in Isehara City that don’t realize that they are dead already. I mourn the loss of these lives, but that’s not enough.

Will you help me take the Gospel to Isehara City?

“I thank God for Hurricane Katrina”

September 3, 2012 by W

A woman in her 40’s raised her hand during prayer requests, on Wednesday night. I was shocked by her words.
“I thank God for Hurricane Katrina. Cause without it, I don’t know where I would be today. God used it to bring me here. To be Part of this wonderful church where I met the Lord”

After the service, Rebelle and I asked her about what she had said. We listened intently as Cynthia told us her story. She lived in an area that was devastated by Katrina and lost her home. For some reason she felt like moving to GA, so she got bus tickets for her, her son, and her drunken husband. There was nothing to pack as they had lost all their possessions except the clothes they were wearing. When they got to GA, they didn’t have anywhere to go but a hotel. Which they lived in for a year. Eventually they found a place in Douglasville, GA, and while there, someone from Clearview Baptist invited her to church. That’s where Cynthia heard The Gospel and accepted Christ! I was completely blown away by this sweet sister’s praise to the Lord. The whole time, God was working and moving in her life. She wasn’t looking for Him, but God came to her. What a wonderful God we serve!

We don’t always understand the storms, but I pray that we can do as Cynthia did and praise the Lord! Regardless of the circumstances, God is still God. He is love. He is our King and our Savior. We can trust Him.

1 John 14:9We love him, because he first loved us.