Hi everyone,

Hope your summer’s off to a great start! Here’s a link to our latest JapanLog newsletter, in PDF form. We’re only doing these twice a year now, so trying to make them count. Please read and pray with us about some big needs! Also something in there about going to Canada — What???

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1si_W_LRV_xQ0jSOOn0gh19lGDjFK3rxC/view?usp=sharing

Thank you for your partnership!

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your prayers this past month. Can you believe it’s June already? In Japan that means the rainy season is coming, though it hasn’t quite hit us yet.

As we mentioned in our previous prayer letter, in May we had a ministry opportunity at Immanuel Komatsu Church. We both gave testimonies and shared about the vision for Drawbridge Creations, and I (Robin) preached. It was great to get out and do some in-person “tag team” ministry after such a long time. We’re thankful for the opportunity, and for the church’s responsiveness and encouragement.

June Prayer Points:

1. We are hoping to have more opportunities like the one above. Please pray for open doors to share the Drawbridge vision in-person over the summer months. For this ministry to succeed, we feel it’s important to get buy-in from the Japanese Church.

2. Please continue praying for our work on Waypoints. Our tenth manga (previewed in the image above) hits the website this month, and the next six months of manga are in various stages of development. Please pray for us and our collaborators as we continue with this project.

3. Please pray with us about the next steps for Drawbridge Creations. We need God’s wisdom as we figure out how to go from an exclusively online ministry to one that also does print publishing. We also want to plan ahead for what comes next after Waypoints.

Thank you again for your partnership with us for Jesus and Japan!

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your continuing prayers! Yoko and I are just back from a few days’ vacation and celebrating our third wedding anniversary. The picture above is from the Takaoka Art Museum, where we got to see original art by Fujiko F. Fujio, the creator of Doraemon, a popular Japanese manga. We enjoyed our getaway to Toyama, and are grateful for the time off and for God’s blessing on our marriage. 

Here are some prayer points for May:

1. This Friday, May 6, Waypoints season two begins at Waypoints.jp. A new story, “The Well,” will be posted in its entirety that day. Please pray that the manga we share over the next few months will help us connect with new readers and point people to Jesus.

2. On May 22 we are scheduled to speak at Immanuel Komatsu Church, having the opportunity to share about our ministry Drawbridge Creations. I (Robin) will also be preaching that morning. Please pray for God’s direction and blessing on our preparation and ministry.

3. Also at the Komatsu Church, a couple of members there are starting a new English outreach for kids. Please pray for this new ministry, which begins in May, and pray that we can be a blessing and encouragement through our involvement.

Thank you again for your prayers! We are grateful for your partnership!

Spring has sprung! In Japan, spring means the end of one school/business/church year, and the beginning of a new one. It’s a time of transition and change for many people. For us, while there are no huge transitions this year, here are some of the changes and challenges we’re praying about now…

Church Life: Multiple waves of Covid have made it difficult for churches in Japan to do ministry as usual, especially with limited space to begin with. So for us as missionaries, in-person ministries have been few and far between this past year and a half. But as things slowly become more open, we are praying about a potential ongoing ministry at our church in Komatsu. Please pray with us for direction about this and other ministry opportunities that may come our way in the coming months.

Drawbridge Creations: In March we finished our first season of serialized manga at Waypoints. We’re taking a break from posting new content in April, in order to work ahead on season two, which starts in May. If you want to catch up, there are eight full stories on the site now. We’re thankful for your prayers and support, and for the excellent artists we get to collaborate with. Please pray that we can reach a wider audience in the months to come, and point our readers to the hope we have in Jesus.

We recently had 10,000 of these cards printed as promotional items for Waypoints. We hope to take or send them to churches and ministries all around Japan so Christians can give them to friends they want to share their faith with. Let’s pray that these cards will all find a good home!

Thank you for partnering with us!

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your prayers over the past month! Here are some recent highlights and prayer points.

1. February was a month of many online meetings, as we connected with artist collaborators as well as fellow missionaries both GP and other. Yoko and I both attended the annual JEMA meetings via Zoom as well. JEMA is a network that most evangelical missions in Japan are a part of, and is a great resource and connection point to the wider missionary community here.

2. I also had the opportunity to be a part of an online English outreach with English Connect, where I got to share about Waypoints and talk about manga in general. I’m doing it again on March 12, so please pray for this to be a good chance both to promote our ministry and share God’s love.

3. Our Japanese church partners, Immanuel General Mission, are having their annual conference this month, on March 23 & 24. These meetings will be online as well. Please pray for God’s guidance as important issues are discussed and pastors’ assignments are handed out for the coming year.

Yoko and I are thankful for all of these connections, especially during a time when connecting in person has been so difficult. Thank you for staying connected with us as well. We truly appreciate your ongoing partnership with us!

Robin (& Yoko)

Two Praise Points: 

1. Our church in Komatsu celebrated two baptisms on January 23, as a couple who have been connected with our church since last year were baptized together. Praise God for changed lives.

2. We finally raised 100% of our start-up funding goal for Drawbridge Creations! We’re thankful for everyone’s giving and for God’s provision, and look forward to focusing more on the ministry itself this year.

2 Prayer Points:

1. Our goals for Drawbridge Creations in 2022 are to (1) Increase our readership, (2) build our network, and (3) expand our team. (Details on the Drawbridge blog HERE.) Please pray with us for God to enable us to reach these goals and ultimately reach more people for Jesus!

2. Japan is currently experiencing a huge wave of COVID-19 infections. We feel pretty safe here in Ishikawa, but this will continue to limit our in-person ministry opportunities, and for at least a few weeks we’ll be worshiping remotely too. Please pray for Japan, and pray for us to make the most of this time, even with its limitations.

Thank you as always for your prayers and partnership!

Hi everyone,

We hope you had a merry Christmas, and that your new year is off to a good start. After a busy end of the year, we were able to have some much-needed rest over the holidays, and looking forward with expectation for what God has in store in 2022.

The good news is that our Drawbridge Creations funding campaign finished the year on a high note, with some very generous donations bringing our total to almost 94% — a HUGE jump from the 61% we reported in December! Praise God for providing, and thank you to all who have prayed and given! We’re confident this fund will be fully raised soon.

Please pray for us as we set plans and goals for this year, and take the next steps in growing our digital manga ministry. Pray, too, for wisdom and direction for how to approach in-person ministries and travel this year, as Covid continues to make the coming months unclear. 

We hope and pray for 2022 to bring you many blessings, even in these challenging days. Thank you again for your partnership with us for Jesus in Japan!

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your continuing prayers! Here’s a brief update on how you can pray for our ministry this month…

1. Robin is scheduled to preach at Immanuel Kanazawa Church this coming Sunday, December 5. Please pray for God’s anointing on this ministry!

2. Due to some generous donations to our project fund over the past month, we are now at around 61%, with only about $13,300 US left to be raised! Please pray for God to provide the rest! If you’d like to give, please see the info below.

3. The end of the year is fast approaching, and we’ve got lots going on. Please pray for God’s guidance for our life and ministry in 2022. 

Thank you again for your faithful partnership! We hope you have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

If you would like to make an end-of-year gift to Drawbridge Creations…

American supporters can give online HERE. // Or, make checks payable and mail to Global Partners, 13300 Olio Road Suite 400, Fishers, IN 46037. Note that it is for Fund # WM06-1575 (The GP Manga Project).

Canadian supporters can give online HERE. In the “To” section, choose “Drawbridge Creations — evangelism publications.” Or, make cheques payable and mail to The Wesleyan Church of Canada, PO Box 4458, Sussex, NB, E4E 5L6. Note that it is for Fund # GMF09 — WM06-1575 (Drawbridge Creations). Donations can also be made by e-transfer to ac.na1679580906yelse1679580906w@eci1679580906ffo1679580906.

Thank you for your consideration!

In case you missed it

• Drawbridge video update: 
  https://youtu.be/CI1P–VxRkU
• Our fall newsletter (PDF): 
  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZwJFfZnJenefBgNxForWAnsE22zP3EKy/view
• OK, now what? (Drawbridge blog): 
  https://drawbridgecreations.com/ok-now-what/
• Waypoints manga – in English:
  https://www.waypoints.jp/english/

End-of-year giving info for supporting Drawbridge Creations

Hi everyone,

Autumn is upon us! Guess that means it’s time for another quarterly newsletter. Please follow this link to view, download or print the PDF:

Autumnal Updates

Thank you!