Familiar Faces and Familiar Spaces

For most of January I was traveling around America. At the beginning of the month my mother took our family to Florida for our first family vacation in several years. It was a great week of relaxing, enjoying each other and soaking up the sunshine.

Then I traveled to Wyoming to visit my sponsoring congregation, the Cheyenne Church of Christ. What a welcome I received there! I was so thankful for the hugs and smiles, and for the blessing of worshiping with my brothers and sisters there. It was an encouraging time for me to see familiar faces and to make some new friends too. I was given the opportunity on the 18th to talk to members of the congregation about the work in Sendai. It was so great to share about the people I have grown to love so much this past year and the need for God's love and grace in Japan.

During my visit in Wyoming, I met with the elders to talk about my experience in Japan this past year and plans for the next year. One of the concerns that we all shared was for my support. Right now the support that is coming in is several hundred dollars short of my monthly budget. As the Cheyenne church is unable to cover the deficiency any longer, I am hoping that God will provide that support from other sources. So again, I am asking in faith for you to be in prayer about that -- I still feel that God has work for me in Japan. If you are willing to become a financial supporter, please send your donation to:

Cheyenne Church of Christ
Attn: Sasha's Support
PO Box 2847
Cheyenne WY 82003

or email me at sashainsendai@yahoo.com for information about setting up a direct deposit into the church account set aside for my support.

I also visited York, Nebraska during my time in America. I was able to connect with some of my supporters and other friends while I was there. I was blessed by the encouragement and support that they gave me.

I have just returned to Sendai after being in America for about six weeks. Over the next several days I will hopefully be getting back into a routine and starting up my Japanese study again, as well as other activities. Joel, one of my supervisors, is back in Japan after a year of rest, learning and training in Southeast Asia -- he and I will be working together on a plan for how my responsibilities and goals will be changing for this second year in Sendai.

Please pray with me . . .

~a prayer of thanks for the people who encouraged me while I visited the States, especially those who welcomed me into their homes and the ones who listened while I talked on and on about Japan.

~a prayer of thanksgiving for safe travels.

~a praise to God for giving me the opportunity to continue sharing his love and grace to my friends in Sendai; and a prayer for support -- that God will provide for me financially so that I can stay here this year.

~that God will continue to work in the hearts of the lost in Sendai, and that he will protect those who are seeking him -- that he will draw them nearer.

~that God will give us wisdom as Joel and I talk about ministry plans for this next year.