stories from august

so as everyone can see from the last post, a lot went on this summer. lately, i've been spending my time meeting friends and sharing with them. the last week of july, i met a guy named yu-san through some of the interns and volunteers. here he is pictured below.

when i first met him i had originally thought he had just become a christian, but then later found out that he had believed but it was just something he accepted just as he accepted buddhism. he didn't understand the importance of believing in one God and no other gods or idols. in the following weeks after the interns left i met with yu-san and introduced him to some of our japanese christian friends to help with the language barrier. yes, i've been in japan for 2 1/2 years but no, i can't effectively share about christianity in japanese. anyway, last wednesday yu-san left for australia to study english for one year and in one of his last emails to me he said he was very thankful that he had met me and that i had thought him about christianity and he hoped that he would meet a christian in australia so he could learn more. he also said he was searching for the truth. i'm going to mail him a copy of the purpose driven life in japanese so he can understand a bit more on his own.

so everyone, please join me in praying for yu-san. pray that he does meet a christian who can continue where i left off. pray that God will speak to him through the power of His word and other resources. pray that God reveals His truth to him and that God's truth will set him free! (jn 8:32)

also, this month i had the privilege of meeting a girl named na-chan. she became a christian over the summer with one of the interns and started going to a japanese church near where she lives. she's pictured below with nikki and me.

when we met her, she was so thirsty for the word. she had been reading the bible every day on her own and trying to learn as much as she could. when we mentioned that we did house church and studied the bible together she said, "can we do that now?" so we opened up to luke and started studying. when she saw that our bibles had Jesus' words in red, she asked why and then started highlighting all of Jesus' words in her bible in the passage of luke that we were studying!
she has been sharing with her parents and younger sister and last sunday her mom and sister went to church with her. now her sister is interested in learning more about God!

please pray for na-chan and her growth as a new believer. pray that God continues to reveal new things to her in His word. also pray for her family and especially her younger sister to know God.

thank you for praying with me for these two. i'll keep you all updated on what God does in their lives!