Wheelchairs had a great cleaning day on Friday.  A non-Christian volunteer who comes regularly grabbed a “random” DVD on his way out the door to listen to while cleaning wheelchairs, unaware of the content.  It turned out to be something his daughter (Christian) had given him, something that Campus Crusade put out, with the entire plan of salvation clearly laid out.  Then the main page had various language options and a Brazilian man who was there noticed this and wanted to listen to it all in Portuguese!  God works in amazing ways!  One of our Christian volunteers had tears on her face as we quietly (in sign language) prayed for those who were listening.

Thank you for your prayers.  Two chairs went to Bangkok on Monday.  Please pray for the Japanese missionary who will be distributing them to the prisoners he works with in the Thai prison ministry.

Genesis is almost ready to record. We will probably start recording this week.

Time Flies!

A quick update:

Mrs. S. is out of ICU and apparently doing well. They removed a tumor the size of a golf ball, and she returns in 6 months for a follow-up surgery.

Mary Esther contracted shingles about the time we wrote last, and life has been a bit crazy, but we’re thankful that her case was not as severe and debilitating as many.  

Because of the shingles we will NOT be making a short trip to the U.S. in March/April. Thankfully we are flying on donated miles and are able to change the flying dates with no problem.

God has been very good to us.  

Genesis is almost ready to record. We will probably start recording this week.

Four more wheelchairs went to Cambodia last week.

Please pray for Mrs. S. as she was hospitalized yesterday and undergoes sudden emergency brain surgery today.

Mrs. S. was saved back in 1999 after working as a comprehension checker for Thessalonians and Galatians, and as a consultant for the JESUS movie. She has been active in the church since then, but has been struggling recently. Her husband and daughters are not Christians yet, so be praying for them during this difficult time as well.

 Praise God! You are praying, and God is working. We’re past the first support discovery hurdle—we now have enough pledged support to stay in Japan come May.  Since the beginning of the year, we’ve had word of $2,055.83 in new pledged monthly support. With everything that is happening in the world economy, this is nothing short of amazing. Of this, $708 is only for this year, not an “indefinite” pledge, and there are strong indications that we may be losing another $800 or so in November, so we’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re heading in the right direction. There are some new churches thinking of taking on support, and supporting churches moving toward an increase as well.  Another deep encouragement is that $583 of the new support is from sources in Japan.

Last weekend was a wonderful opportunity to re-connect with Yamagata Deaf church people. A young, energetic pastor, Deaf, with Deaf parents, was up from the Kansai (Southwestern Japan) for special meetings. On Monday, we had a meeting of Deaf pastors from the area along with Pastor Minamida, who just “happened” to be passing through as well. For a good part of the day, we were working together on how to get the Word to the Deaf in JSL. It was great to see, and a privilege to be a part of.

Mr. Nagasawa, a Yamagata Deaf Church member, has been using and learning from the JSL Bible for years, growing, learning to preach, and always eager for more of the JSL Bible translation to become available.  In fact, he’s tired of waiting. He’s decided to get involved himself and try his hand at translation work. He had several older siblings who were Deaf, so had good JSL input at a young age, and is growing in his understanding of what translation is all about. He’s hit some roadblocks, though. He has a full-time job, and is very involved at the church, so time is limited. He’s also fighting a cold that just doesn’t seem to quit. Pray for health, stamina, and that he won’t grow disheartened.

Thank you for praying. God’s answers once again amaze us.    

An airline flying out of Tokyo airport (on which we hoped to send 12 wheelchairs) has a new manager.  Last week, a person from Wheelchairs of Hope called him regarding the chairs, and during the conversation they discovered he is friends with two of the caller’s sister-in-laws!  He ended the phone conversation with “is there anything else I can do for you?”  And yes, we were able to send all 12 chairs. Thanks for your prayers.

I once read that every year more Japanese become Christians outside of Japan than inside Japan.  On Thursday a Japanese young man traveling to Bangkok for two months volunteered to take a wheelchair along.   Since the plane is arriving in the middle of the night the young man offered to hang onto the chair and deliver it later.  We’re glad, because this will give him more time to connect with the Japanese missionary in Bangkok receiving the chair. Please pray that God will be glorified in this encounter.