FROM: Leon & Cheryl Hill ADDRESS: 5805 Stratford Ave. NW Albuquerque, NM 87114 USA EMAIL: Email CELL & Voice Mail: 708-975-0814 *** *** *** *** **NOTE to friends in Albuquerque: Though we are located here in Albuquerque the above cell phone # is a long distance call for you. 19 MAR 2002 PRAISE & PRAY from the Hills of Japan BACK IN ALBUQUERQUE Now back in Albuquerque, we have set our sight towards Japan. Packing and shipping now fill our minds and time. Well, shipping does NOT REALLY fill our minds, but demands a bit of our time. Our hearts and minds continue to meditate on our time in Michigan with Cheryl's mother after Dad's entering the heavenly presence of Jesus Christ our Lord. Our grief continues, sometimes griping our throats by surprise. Mostly it lingers in the background as we come to grips with the reality of our temporary (but real) separation from Dad. We spent some time this morning looking again at photos of our summer vacation in Yellowstone Park with Cheryl's family... THE HILL's PLANS We now have tickets to return to Japan on April 10th. In addition to packing we will spend our time cherishing fellowship with Leon's family in this region and long talks with Cheryl's mom. We hope to take the pace slow to refresh our energy and spirits. As you can imagine we are dragging a bit physically. One of our "refreshing" events occurred yesterday. We drove up the mountains into the Cibola National Park and stood on Sandia Peak. We were impressed as we could circle 360 degrees and see the world stretch out before us. The grandeur of God's creation and the approaching sunset warmed our hearts as the cold wind blew through us. Abigail, our family historian, stayed warm by taking photos feverishly with her camera. PRAYER NEEDS * TOMOKO OTAKE Unfortunately, Tomoko could not stand on this peak with us. She has returned to Japan. As her visa period was coming to an end, we bid our farewells to her with our hugs and tears at the Albuquerque airport on March 13th. Please pray for her as she seeks God's guidance for both the near future and the long term issues she faces these days. She informed us of her safe arrival and that her father is currently doing well. Please continue to pray for Tomoko's father's complete healing, and for the salvation of Tomoko's parents and her brother and sister. PRAISE God together with us for her vital and effective ministry during this past year with us. God has used Tomoko in many unique ways among a variety of people. * ERIKA MORIGUCHI We spent some excellent time with Erika last month in Ogden just before the Olympic Games. She continues to progress well through school. But her available funds are running low and is seriously making plans to return to Japan to work. Pray that Erika will make use of God's wisdom and guidance in these days, following faithfully as He provides for her. Areas to take before the Lord for her are: +Continued spiritual growth as a disciple of Jesus; +Growing facility in English; +Studies & classes leading to graduation; +"...not conformed to this world..." Please pray all of Romans 12:1&2 for her. * Pray for the major need our Ministry Account now faces. We praise God for you who have given special to assist us with our additional travel needs. By way of explanation, our Ministry Account provides for those one time expenses related to ministry, such as shipping our things to Japan, computer needs for ministry (after I tried to shore it up a few months ago with a hardware "upgrade", this past 2-3 weeks my 6 year old laptop has developed "rigor-mortis" and moves slower and slower - pray for my patience & sanity), inevitable re-outfitting needed upon our return to Japan and other such ministry related expenses. (Contributions to this account should be designated for Leon & Cheryl Hill's Ministry Account.) * Pray also for Cheryl's mother and ourselves as we continue through the grieving process these days. Know that we are not without wonderful memories and rejoice in those. We also know and experience the Holy Spirit as Comforter these days. Together with You For Christ's Kingdom, Abigail, Jeffrey, Cheryl & Leon