by Whitey | Mar 26, 2008 | Ministry News
The following is a copy of my April prayer letter, emailed yesterday (yes I know it’s not April yet) to my supporters. If you’d like to get these by email, drop me a line. Several have bounced back as failures, so if you’re supposed to have gotten one, let me know that to. You can use the form on the Support page.
Also, you’ll notice the letter says I’m going away. The blog will keep updating while I’m gone, as I’ve pre-posted (thank you WordPress!) a few things for later this week and Monday. So feel free to keep coming back to see what’s new.
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Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a great Easter! I’m going away for a few days this week, and wanted to send out a quick prayer letter first.
I leave tomorrow afternoon for Yokohama (near Tokyo) in order to attend the Immanuel Church annual national conference. The conference will featuring worship services in the evenings, with guest speaker Dr. Pence (Wesleyan General Superintendent). It’s also when the Immanuel pastors and leaders come together to give reports and do some planning for the coming year, and when pastoral appointments for the coming are announced.
For my small part, I’ll be bringing greetings during one of the sessions. I’ll also have the opportunity to get together with the other Immanuel Wesleyan Federation (IWF) missionaries. IWF is the partnership between Global Partners (Wesleyan missions), World Gospel Mission (another missions organization) and Immanuel General Mission (the Japanese church). This will actually be the first time for all of the current North American missionaries to be together at the same time, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.
Please pray:
1. For safe travel for everyone attending.
2. For God’s leading and anointing on Dr. Pence’s ministry.
3. For God’s blessing on the leadership of Dr. Isaac Saoshiro, IGM’s president.
4. For the pastors who will be making transitions this year.
5. For my greetings — I’ll be attempting to do them in Japanese in front of a big crowd!
6. For my Japanese exam and studies — I get back to Nagoya on Sunday night, have my final exam (for the part time course) on Monday morning, and then begin full-time studies with orientation and a placement exam on Monday! Busy, busy…
Thanks, everyone, for your continuing prayers and encouragement! You all mean a lot to me!
Blessings,
– robin
by Whitey | Feb 8, 2008 | Ministry News, Weekly Re-Cap
This week, instead a normal re-cap (if there is such a thing), I’m posting my prayer letter, also being sent to my supporters via email.
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Hi everyone,
Sunday night I went to a multi-denominational youth worship gathering, called Heart and Soul, hosted by a local seminary. It was bi-lingual, which was nice, the speaker was good, the band was really good, and there were lots of people there. I met some fellow-expat/missionary-types too. It’s great to see someone taking the incentive to get young people from different denominations together. That’s the kind of unity that the Japanese Church — and Japan — needs.
My first month+ here in Nagoya has been spent focusing on language, getting to know people and generally just settling in — not in hands-on ministry. I have to admit that a part of me found this frustrating, as I wanted to dive right in to ministry right off the bat. But I think Pastor Saoshiro was right in recommending that I take this time to settle in. It takes time to get to know a new group of people, a new city and new church. It takes time to adjust to life in another culture, even if, like me, it’s not your first time there. It’s been an adjustment getting used to going to school, doing homework, and studying again.
Tuesday night Saoshiro-sensei and I chatted about getting me involved in ministry. Soon I’ll start getting plugged in to the life of the church more actively, and that’s something I’m looking forward to.
Here are some things you can be praying about:
- Please pray that God will continue to help build relationships despite the language barrier. And thank Him with me for the friendships I’m building already.
- Pray for my language studies. They’re going well but I have a long way to go. Pray that I’ll be patient and diligent in my studies and that God will help me make more progress.
- Pray for my church — Immanuel Nagoya Church — may we have an effective ministry in Nagoya. Also, there may be some pastoral/leadership transitions in the spring. Pray for God’s will to be done and for a smooth transition period.
- Pray for God’s direction and blessing for my ministry here.
Thanks for your prayers!
by Whitey | Jan 7, 2008 | Ministry News
If you went looking for new photos in the past couple of days, sorry. I had some uploading trouble, and still seem to be, so for now the Photo page is down. Hopefully I can remedy that soon, though.
In the meantime, a brief update: I’ve enrolled in a part-time Japanese language course at YWCA Nagoya. It seems most schools start their full-time courses in April or October, corresponding to the Japanese school year. So I’m going part-time for now, starting this Wednesday, and when April rolls around will take a full-time course (20-odd hours a week) at either the YWCA or another local language school.
More news soon, I hope. Stay tuned.
by Whitey | Dec 31, 2007 | Ministry News
This is just a quick note to let you all know I’ve made it safely to Nagoya, Japan. So far so good. More news and regularity of blogging in the new year.
Happy New Year.
by Whitey | Dec 24, 2007 | Ministry News
Here’s a copy of my latest prayer letter for those of you not on the email list. Hope you all have a great Christmas. Come back to the blog next week for updates from Japan.
Dear friends, family and supporters,
It’s Christmas Eve and I’ve been enjoying the opportunity I’ve had to spend time with family and friends here in New Brunswick. I’m also looking forward to more, as I celebrate with my church tonight and my family tomorrow. It’s great to have some downtime, too, as I transition into the next phase of my ministry.
And on that note, I’m happy to report that my visa came last week, my plane ticket is booked, and I’m set to fly to Nagoya, Japan this Friday, December 28th! I want to thank all of you who have been with me on this journey, praying, giving and encouraging me in pursuit of my support goals. God has given me a great support team and it’s because of all of you that I’m able to leave for Japan and begin my new life there.
Please be praying for me this week as I travel and as I settle into my new home in Japan. I’m really looking forward to celebrating the New Year with my new church in Nagoya! I’ll try to send out a newsletter early in the new year.
In the meantime, I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, too!
Blessings,
– robin
by Whitey | Dec 18, 2007 | Ministry News
Yes, that’s my passport, complete with my visa stuck in it.
Less than two weeks now…
