Dear Friends & Prayer Partners,

Greetings from Tokyo. Thanks for taking a moment to check out this post and stay in touch. These are the immediate prayer needs we have for the next few weeks.

PRAYER NEEDS

1. The Boys’ Discipling Group – thanks to many of you who responded with encouraging words about our work with these young men. We’ve been able to keep meeting every Thursday evening and we are seeing a good change in each of them.
2. Mission Retreat – on March 24-26 we are gathering as a mission family for a time of worship, fellowship and play. Please pray that God will meet each of us in a special way and that we will be both challenged and refreshed.
3. A Special Outreach Event – on March 30th the Isesaki Church has invited a special guest to speak – Ali Lejaian – a former pro soccer player and member of the Iranian national team. He met Jesus during the Iraq / Iran war. After finishing his soccer career in Japan he entered seminary and now pastors a church here in Japan. Please pray that many young people would attend and hear the good news.
4. Our Upcoming Home Assignment – we are planning on spending 12 months in the US beginning in mid-July. This will be the first full year we have been in the US since 1998. We are not sure yet where we will live (sort of depends on where Sam ends up in college) but we are thinking and praying about housing, transportation, schools for Lilla and Sky, as well as connecting with you – our prayer partners and supporters. Thanks for joining us in prayer about these many details.
5. Japan – as we mark the third anniversary of 3.11 – yesterday we paused for silent prayer as we remembered the 20,000 who died or went missing in the earthquake and tsunami of 3 years ago. Time flies quickly but memories and difficulties in the affected areas are much more stubborn in their seeming ability to hang on. Thanks for praying for both the Tohoku region as well as for Christians who continue to serve as volunteers in many organizations and ministries. We pray that many will find their real hope in Christ.

Well, there’s lots more…. but remembering these 5 items in your prayers will be a wonderful boost and blessing to us.

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If you have another minute…. you might want to scroll down through some photos and news from the past few weeks. A lot has been going on!

NEWS 

Although both of us will be involved in connecting with prayer partners and supporters, Andrea will be doing the bulk of the traveling and scheduling during our home assignment. Please contact her and let’s begin a conversation about possible time slots and ways in which we can visit in your area.  andrea.johnson@covchurch.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in mid-February we had some crazy snow! About a foot of it put most of Tokyo and outlying areas out of business for a couple days. Here’s what our driveway looked like on the morning of Feb. 15.

That might look normal for where you live…. but it’s not around here!  A few days later it meant crawling up on the roof of the Shibukawa Church to shovel the snow off – here with Pastor Kogure.

Also in mid-February Sam had the final tournament of his high school wrestling career. About 16 schools from all over Japan as well as Korea, Okinawa and Guam participated. We were thrilled when Sam won the championship for his 135 lb weight class. You can check out his photo here on the front page of the sports section for the STARS & STRIPES newspaper. Here he is with one of his coaches:

and with some teammates….

Several things have also come to a close in the past month.

We said goodbye to Jay & Ellen Haworth who left Japan on February 14th for a year of home assignment and then retirement. They served the Master faithfully with love and grace in Japan from 1983 until 2014. Well done! Good and faithful servants!  We are missing them already…

 

 

Andrea completed 6 years of teaching at the Gunma Prefectural Women’s University last month. March is a break for colleges in Japan with the new school year starting up in April… but with our home assignment, she’ll be stepping away for awhile. Here with one of her classes:

For the past decade or so Tim has been with the folks at the Shibukawa Church on the 2nd Sunday of each month – speaking and doing music. Last Sunday on March 9th they had a “sort of” farewell party for him as his official service there ends.

Our Audio Bible Japan podcast continues each day… Here is a shot of our “team”, Pastor Kogure, Akari, and myself, taken in January at the time of Akari’s “coming of age” celebration.

That’s a lot of news and photos. If you’ve actually scrolled down this far we thank you! We’ll be in touch again soon.

Your partners in prayer and mission,

(Sam, Lilla & Sky)