Blessed May

May was a little bit of a blur -- filled with lots of activities, visitors and preparations. In the first part of the month there was a cluster of national holidays, so many people had some time off of work, and Debi and I were able to join some friends from our roommate's church for an overnight mini-retreat near the ocean. It was a excellent time of fellowship and fun.

Then on the weekend of the 17th and 18th we were blessed by a visit from Lisa Bloecher, who came to share her music ministry with the people of Sendai. She gave a free concert in a park near downtown on Saturday and then a Sunday afternoon concert at our church. God blessed us with good weather on Saturday despite a forecast of rain. (It started raining about 5 minutes after the concert was finished.) We were so encouraged to have Lisa, Hope (her daughter), Michelle (her niece) and Hajime (her friend/penpal/Japanese tour manager) with us for a few days.

A few days later, Joel arrived for a short visit to Sendai before he went to speak at the national preachers' conference. While Joel was here, 7 of us (Joel, Debi, and I -- plus 2 young Christians and 2 friends involved in the ministry here) took a weekend trip to visit the church in Hachinohe and help them host an LST follow-up activity. It was my first time to Hachinohe in 3 years, and it was so excellent to spend time with the church family there. We also got to see Yui -- a young woman who has been involved in LST in Sendai, but recently finished her university program here and moved back to live with her family in Hachinohe.

And at the end of the month we were excited to welcome Crimsen, who came to help with LST for a couple months this summer. Crimsen's expertise and guidance has been a particular blessing to me, as we worked together to prepare for the beginning of this year's LST program in Sendai.

Now LST is under way, and we are in the midst of a wonderful, busy time full to bursting with opportunities to share the love of our Savior. Our LST workers have full schedules, and I am reading with 5 people. Crimsen and I are also providing a coffee shop at the church for readers who come early for or stay after their LST lessons -- an excellent opportunity to build friendships.

Please pray with me . . .

~a praise to God for the myriad of ways that He reveals himself to his children and those who are without the knowledge that He is the only hope and salvation.

~a praise for Joel's time in Sendai (and Hachinohe and Ibaraki) and for his safe travel back to Singapore.

~a praise for Crimsen's safe arrival in Japan and for the ways she has already been and will continue to be a blessing to all of her friends here as she works in Sendai this summer.

~that our LST team (Jason, Cami and Andrew) will continue to be led by the Spirit as they have opportunities to serve the people of Sendai by teaching English and minister to them as well by sharing the love of our Father.

~that the hearts of the people who are coming to our church this summer for LST will be open to God's truth. Please pray that they will begin and continue to hunger and thirst for the righteousness that belongs only to God.

~that we will be protected from the attacks of evil as we try to serve Jesus and live our lives as testimonies to His grace.