In May we led worship at Immanuel Komatsu Church for the second time. Admittedly, I was feeling a bit rusty back in April, but I’m getting back into my groove. Yoko and I are glad to have the regular opportunity, and it’s going well so far!
On Mother’s Day, we had the opportunity to do music and preaching at Immanuel Kanazawa-Izumi Church for an outreach service. We were thankful that there were six seekers in attendance that day — a lot for a small church! One lady in particular whom we spoke to was really moved and seemed eager to come back.
Then last Wednesday, we visited Ishikawa Hope International School, and taught an art class for the kids there. We had a fun time drawing together and talking about making yon-koma-manga (four panel comic strips). It was a good learning opportunity for us as well as the kids, since we haven’t done much of this kind of thing, but do see it as a potential ministry outlet.
Prayer Points:
Pray that God will continue to work in the lives of the guests who came to the outreach service at Kanazawa-Izumi Church.
Please pray for our ministry at Komatsu Church as well. We’re scheduled to lead worship in Komatsu again on June 18, and Yoko is playing piano on the 4th.
Keep praying for our work with Drawbridge Creations as we create manga and other content for the Waypoints website through the summer and fall.
In late June and early July, we’re travelling to Europe for Global Partners’ missionary summit, and tacking on a little vacation time while we’re there. Pray for a safe and refreshing time.
Hope you are enjoying the Spring wherever you are! Spring means it’s time for our seasonal update, so please click on the following link to read our latest newsletter (as a PDF). There’s LOTS going on!
With Immanuel Church and Global Partners leaders in Tokyo
Hi everyone!
Hope you are doing well. For us, it’s been a busy season! Here’s what’s been going on with the Whites over the past month…
We’ve been preparing content for Waypoints season 3, which starts tomorrow (Good Friday) with an Easter-themed manga.
The week of March 21, I (Robin) attended Immanuel Church annual conference in Tokyo. It was a great time of reconnecting with people from across Japan after a few years of doing things mostly online. It was also a a productive time of promoting Drawbridge Creations and our manga project Waypoints.
After the conference, I stayed in Tokyo an extra day to meet with leaders from another organization about a potential collaboration with Drawbridge. Excited about the possibilities!
Then, on the 30th, Yoko and I travelled to Yokohama to see Andi, our (former) fellow GP missionary as she prepared to move back to the US. I’m sure she’d appreciate your prayers about her next steps in life and ministry.
Yoko and I then spent the next couple of days hosting our regional director Cheri who travelled from PNG for a visit. On April 3, Cheri and I were joined by some other GP leaders in Tokyo for meetings with Immanuel Church leaders. This is another first-in-years opportunity, and was a significant and meaningful time.
Finally, this week we have been hosting GP’s entire Asia-Pacific leadership team for their meetings here in Tokyo. We are tired but thankful for these times together with our Wesleyan missions connections. Please pray for safety and rest as we all go our separate ways. And pray too for God’s continuing guidance for our leaders, partners and us!
Looking ahead, the next couple of months should be a lot quieter. We are scheduled to begin leading worship once a month at Immanuel Komatsu Church beginning in April. This is where we worship most weeks, so it will be nice to get more involved this year. Please pray for us as we lead on April 30.
Thank you as always for your continuing prayers and partnership! We appreciate your investment in the mission, for Jesus and Japan!
Thank you for your prayers over the past month! This prayer letter is a bit later than usual because we were busy with travelling in the end of February and early March.
First we spent a few days in Tokyo to attend JEMA Connect, an inter-denominational missionary event. We’re thankful that we were able to make some good connections and re-connections while we were there, and get the word out about what we’re doing with Drawbridge Creations.
After just a couple of days at home, we hit the road again and visiting our old stomping grounds in Nagoya. It was great to reconnect with our church family at Immanuel Nagoya Church and with Yoko’s fellow Christ Bible Seminary alumni. We were also able to promote our ministry a little while we were there, and even briefly meet some former English students.
Over the next month our busy season continues: I’m planning on making a solo trip to Tokyo during the week of March 19, for the annual conference of the Immanuel Church denomination, GP’s partners here in Japan. I’m looking forward to doing more networking and promotion, as well as just catching up with ministry friends, as this is my first time attending annual conference in-person since 2019. Please pray not only for me, but also for the pastors and leaders in attendance as important issues are discussed and this year’s appointments are announced.
Then, from the 31st through the first week of April, Yoko and I will be returning to Tokyo yet again to host Global Partners’ Asia-Pacific area leadership team as they meet with each other and with Japanese church leaders. Please pray for this important time of discussion, prayer and seeking God’s vision for GP’s ministries in Japan and the rest of the region.
We’d also appreciate your continuing prayers for our health and safety, especially during this busy season.
Thank you, as always, for your prayers and partnership with us for Jesus and Japan!
– Robin (and Yoko)
Sharing about our ministry (Screenshot from the Immanuel Nagoya Church video stream)
Thank you for your prayers! Here are a few things we’d like you to know about this month:
Things we’re thankful for right now:
Some new unexpected support partners.
Some new church ministry opportunities on the calendar for the coming months.
We’ve got a visitor from Global Partners HQ coming here Feb. 21-23.
We’ve connected with a couple of new artists to work with us on some of this year’s Waypoints manga.
Things we’d love for you to pray about:
Please pray for us and our collaborators as we prepare stories, art and blog content for season 3 of Waypoints, our current Drawbridge Creations online manga series.
Please pray for our health and safety as we do some traveling later this month and in early March…
We’re planning to be in Tokyo from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1 for JEMA Connect — a time of connecting with missionaries from various organizations working all over Japan. Pray that this can be a good time of networking and promotion for Drawbridge Creations.
We’re scheduled to visit Nagoya from Mar. 4 to 7, to reconnect with our former church and other friends, and to do some more promoting of our ministry. Please pray for good networking during this trip as well.
Thank you again for your interest, prayer and support for the mission in Japan!
