Photo above: ( The Peterson and Nesburg families who came to volunteer in Japan with Merge Ministries)

Dear Prayer Partners,

It’s hard to believe May is already here. Japan’s world renowned cherry blossoms have come and gone in a pink flurry…. and we’re rushing toward summer. We have a few items to report and a few items for which we’d really appreciate your prayer work on our behalf.

Some recent blessings and gifts from the Lord:

• Two wonderful families who came from the States at the end of March with Merge Ministries….to volunteer their time and resources for ongoing relief work in Tohoku. Amy & Karl Peterson, and their daughters Emma & Betsy came from Faith Covenant Church (one of our supporting churches) in Burnsville, MN. Kristen and Dave Nesburg, and their daughter Lindsay came from Michigan where Dave is executive director of Portage Lake Covenant Bible Camp. Both Lindsay and Emma are graduating seniors this spring and it’s pretty impressive that they would choose to use their free vacation time like this. The team was only here for a week but WOW did they cover ground!  Tim, Sam and colleague Jay Haworth joined them to form a team of 10 and we spent a week in the Sendai area volunteering with Samaritan’s Purse out of their Shichigahama base camp. Check out some photos HERE.

• Andrea’s off and running in her new school year at the Gunma Prefectural Women’s University. She’s also auditing a class herself on Friday nights at the Covenant Seminary in Tokyo so she is busy! (Plus the dryer broke down last week and we’re hanging out a lot of clothes by hand….OK, that’s a different story…sorry)  Anyway, we’re really grateful for all of Andrea’s opportunities and she appears to be thriving on the activity.

• We had a great Easter celebration on April 8 in the afternoon as our Gunma area churches gathered for their annual music singspiration.

A few quick prayer requests for the refrigerator door:

1. CRC – this stands for “Covenant Refreshing Camp” and it is the annual denomination-wide retreat for our Covenant churches here in Japan. We are gathering this week – May 2,3,&4 – at a facility in Saitama Prefecture. Tim will be attending the first day and Andrea will be attending the entire event. The guest speaker is Pastor Akira Sato, well known among Christians in Japan since his church was located within 5 kilometers of the the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Reactor. It has been a year of relocation and wandering for their congregation, but also one filled with miracles. We look forward to his encouraging messages. Please pray that our entire group of churches will be encouraged through these few days of worship and fellowship.
2. Concert at Isesaki Church – on May 12 (Friday evening) we will be having a concert of music and testimony at our Isesaki Church. A visiting band will be singing and speaking. Please pray that many young people will be able to come out and experience the joy of Jesus.
3. Music and Message – on Wednesday, May 23rd, I (Tim) will be giving a concert and message at the Shibukawa Church in Gunma. Please pray for me as I put together the program and plan for this event. Please pray that hearts will be open to hear the gospel message.
4. June 3 – this will also be an important Sunday for me as I speak at the 55th anniversary celebration of the Chigasaki Covenant Church. My folks were the primary planters of this congregation and I grew up there and was baptized in that church.
5. Andrea’s teaching ministry – thanks for continuing to pray for Andrea as she meets and interacts with many students and staff at the university.
6. ABC – it’s time again to be opening up our Akagi Bible Camp facilities and preparing for a busy summer ahead. Thanks for praying about just the right volunteer staff for the summer, particularly in the kitchen.
7. Our children – thanks for praying for Sam, Lilla & Sky as they wind up their school year at CAJ. Lilla has a formal middle school graduation event on June 1, Sky is involved in some summer school activities in June, and they all are involved in various camps during the summer, with Sam traveling the farthest…. all the way to Tennessee for CHIC. May they each grow in their walk with God.

OK, that was more than just a few. And there are actually a lot more… maybe you would be willing to just choose one to focus on and remember that in your prayers??

Thanks, as always!!                                                                                                            Your partners in prayer and mission,

Tim & Andrea Johnson                                                                                                     (Sam, Lilla & Sky)