Photo of the Week — Kakegawa Castle in Black and White
Photo of the Week — Signs of Spring in Japan
It’s a little early yet, but it is starting to get warmer and I’m hearing more birds. So in anticipation of spring 2017, here’s a photo from April 2016, taken at nearby Nakamura Park, featuring cherry blossoms and a crane. Not only signs of spring but very Japanese images too.
Hello From Nagoya — March Prayer Letter
Hi everyone,
In February we completed our second year with our current kids English class. As you can see from the above photo, they’re an energetic bunch, and it’s a lot of work keeping up with them; but we have a lot of fun together.
As I’ve mentioned before, most of my students in all 4 of my English classes (3 for adults, 1 for kids) are from non-Christian backgrounds. I’m thankful for the relationships being developed between our church and community through our English ministry here, and that little by little we’re getting to sow Kingdom seeds in their lives. During this month’s English Bible study, we had some really good conversation about Jesus, heaven and the Gospel, and I think I was able to help the two non-Christians present see some major differences between Christianity and other religions.
Please keep praying for the students, families and friends we’re connecting with through our English ministry at Immanuel Nagoya Church. Also, here are some upcoming dates to keep in prayer about:
3/3 — English Cafe
3/4 — Mountain climbing with friends that I’m starting a new climbing ministry with. This is kind of a “test run” for this ministry which we’ll be doing once a month starting this month. Meanwhile, a couple of American missionary friends will be covering my English class that day.
3/15-16 — The Immanuel Church Annual Conference in Tokyo. Pray for productive meetings, vision and direction for our partner denomination in Japan; and for the churches and pastors going through transitions this year.
3/22 — Leading worship at my church’s prayer meeting.
If you’re up for a little more reading, here’s a link to an infographic about the State of Missions in Japan to fuel your prayers some more: https://omf.org/blog/2017/01/17/japan-mission-church-infographic-team/
As always, thank you for your partnership!
– Robin
Photo of the Week: Gamagori Gateway
Since my photo blog is ridiculously out-of-date and I have a HUGE backlog of photos to share, I thought I’d ease my way back into photo blogging again by sharing some photos here on my missions site. This will hopefully have the added values of keeping my supporters interested and engaged through this site. So without further ado, here’s my first Photo of the Week of 2017:
The bridge from lovely Takeshima Island back to Gamagori City, where I visited with friends back in April 2015.
Winter Wanderings — February Prayer Letter
Hi everyone,
Earlier this month, we got our annual allotment of snow. Since we get so little snow in this part of Japan, when we do get some, it always warms my Canadian heart. As you can see from the above photo, some of the locals enjoy it too. These are some of the young people from my church and the snow Snoopy they built together. Not bad, eh?
Two Sundays ago I visited Kyoto to do an English Bible study at Immanuel Kyoto Nishi Church. I was filling in for fellow GP missionary Andrea Swarthout, who had to be away that week. I really enjoyed connecting with the church and seeing so many non-Christians taking part in the Bible study.
The first part of the year is relatively quiet for me in terms of my work schedule. But looking ahead to spring, it seems like it’s going to be a busy year, with an increase in travel and preaching. It’s not too much, but it does mean I have to stay on top of things. Please pray that I can plan and prep well in advance, before another busy season arrives.
In addition, here are some specifics to pray for:
2/2 — English Cafe
2/8 — Worship Leading at Prayer Meeting
2/19 — English Bible Study
As always, your prayers and support are much appreciated! Thank you for your partnership in advancing the Kingdom and Church in Japan!
– Robin
PS — If you haven’t already, please check out my New Year’s newsletter HERE: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_HFtReSrjVRUE5xVFR1czdsR0U