*** *** *** *** *** 2003 February 6 Thursday - Praise & Pray from the Hills of Japan PRAISE FIRST Last week I forgot to include in our Wednesday plans Cheryl's Drs appointment. (Some material omitted, because this is on the Internet).. currently has no physical affect except some slight swelling of her legs from time to time. No pain or anything like that. Her next appointment is June 11th. A PERSONAL FAMILY REQUEST FOR PRAYER Cheryl's Mom returns to Niles, MI after a couple of months in West Linn, OR with Cheryl's sister's family. She travels on the 12th (Wed) and has only 30 minutes in St. Louis to make the change. Pray for safe & low stress traveling conditions. She is dear to us. ONGOING PRAYER REQUESTS 1) Otake Family: PRAY for Mr. O's health, which has slipped since he has returned home. He does not refrain from rich foods or strong drink. Pray also that he will continue to consider God's Word and confess Christ Jesus as Savior. PRAY for Tomoko studying & fellowshipping in Albuquerque. 2) Nozaki Family. I have not heard yet regarding the court sessions.) 3)Travel plans. (See Wednesday 12th below) 4) Short Term Ministry Trip to Guatemala with Japanese/American team. 5) Young Couples Cell group: Mr. & Mrs. Yi, Mr. & Mrs. Osawa, Mr. & Mrs. Ban, and ourselves (young at heart). We have approached Yamaguchi's about joining the cell. It sounds like they will start with us this next week. Continue to pray for them. 6) Church Planting Strategy Development & Fine Tuning. (see Friday 7th below.) UP COMING SCHEDULE: Thursday 6th: Meet with Mr., Otake this morning. PRAY for him to come in to God's family. Needs to listen to the Holy Spirit's instruction regarding truth of God's word. Lacking understanding at this point. Friday 7th: Depart for Leaders Meetings with the Keisen Church network in northern Japan. This is an extremely important meeting. Planning for church planting growth and regionalizing as we continue to grow. Desire to be true to God's vision for us, maintaining our vital life blood in Him and not become institutionalized. So in addition to annual objectives and planning we are looking about 5 - 10 years down the road also... PLEASE PRAY!!! Saturday 8th: AM: Return from north... PM: Awanas (church kid's program) in the afternoon. Meeting & fellowship time with our young couples group. Victory Prayer meeting in the evening. Sunday 9th: AM: Worship at Midorino Chapel. PM: Annual Family Concert. Pick up Steve Reed, leader of the Guatemala STM event. Dinner meeting with the Guatemala Team with Steve Reed. Monday 10th: Spend some time with Mr. Otake in the morning. Relax, fellowship, pray & plan with Steve Reed, perhaps a personal time with Okitas too.. Tuesday 11th: Kanto Region Celebration and Fellowship among the 5 Keisen Christ Chapels in the Kanto area. All day event. Leon in charge of 2-hour children's program in the afternoon. Wednesday 12th: **Cheryl's Mother's Traveling Day** (see above request) Steve Reed returns to the USA. Cheryl & Abigail to Mid week prayer meeting (8 - 9pm). OFFICE FOCUS (Pray I get time...) 1) Sunday February 16th, I preach from I Corinthians 1:18-31 on 'By His Doing'. The last (I think) of, what has been for me, a life changing series from this passage. 2) We have begun orientation sessions for the Guatemala Short Term Ministry team. Pray for me as I plan and lead that. We still have 2 positions open of 5. Pray that God will lead His choice to us, or lead us in not choosing any others. 3) Plans for Pastor Okita and I to travel. We are praying for more involvement in this outreach by Japanese churches. PRAY WITH US! THIS MINISTRY TRIP'S TIMING AND THE CURRENT WORLD DYNAMICS SEEM TO BE COLLIDING. May we know God's will, act upon it, & experience God's peace in HIS place. Thank you for your prayers. Together With You For Christ & His Kingdom, Abigail, Jeffrey, Cheryl & Leon Email: