Thanks for praying for Toyoshima (the young man who was in the horrendous motorcycle accident and has now returned to Tokyo to consider a job with the Bible translation project). It was thrilling to see him walk into church and the joy on everyone's faces as they welcomed him back. He also came to ViBi for a short visit on Tuesday, and plans to be there for the day on Friday (tomorrow).  There are still some major hurdles to overcome.  Do you know anyone who would like to cover salary for a young man seeking to work so his people can have God’s Word in their own language?    

Tomorrow we will both be in Tokyo, and in the evening look forward to some relaxed fun with fellow missionaries.  Saturday morning we leave for the Yamagata Deaf church —after some pick up basketball for Mark —aren’t you glad we’ve got our priorities straight?!   We’ll spend that night with Pastor Matsumoto’s family, and Mark speaks at Deaf church there on Philippines 3: 4-12.  The afternoon will be spent with people who are hurting.  We wish we could untangle the messy knot but go knowing that there are few rational answers but plenty of grace for all.  Please pray for wisdom and strength for Mark.

 

Sunday night we head across the mountains into Sendai for a week by the ocean, reading, praying, planning, and strategizing for the new year.  (The Japanese church calendar, fiscal calendar, school year etc begin in April.)  Please pray for Mary Esther as she goes over structure, function, and focus, for the wheelchair project.  It’s exciting to see who and what God continues to bring to the project. 

The container of wheelchairs arrived in Mongolia this week. They said that within three hours, 70 of the chairs had already been distributed  and there is a huge need for more chairs. We are glad to be a small part.

From Nigeria, we got pictures of the one chair that went to the nephew of an exchange student here in Japan.  The picture says it all.

Just a quick note to say please pray for Mr. Toyoshima. He is a promising young man who is considering moving to Tokyo and working for ViBi in Bible translation. He was planning to come to ViBi on Friday, but developed a fever and is supposed to rest Saturday and Sunday as well, so we won't be seeing him at church tomorrow either. He has an overwhelming set of obstacles before him. After a serious accident, and being on the "injured list" at work for over a year, he is having to quit his job now, and move out of his company dorm soon, This latest fever is just one more pressure as he seeks to set up a new life for himself here in Tokyo. Please hold him before the Father.

Today was Spring Thrift Shop day at the missionary kids school in Tokyo. The gym is converted into a repository/store for used clothes, used books, used household items, all in variety of used-ness, and use-ablity.   Walking between the aisles of tables piled high with this collection are missionaries; just as varied as the mounds of stuff they’re sorting through. 

 

Putting together a coherent wardrobe here is not unlike puzzle work. Some are masters.  They put pieces together and look like they’ve returned from a shopping spree at Sachs. Others of us struggle to find a few edge pieces and anything we come back with would look like--well, the missionary thrift shop.

 

So if I don't even try doing clothes there, and promised myself not to come home with two more shopping bags of books, why do I walk through the doors of that gym knowing that tables of chaos await me?  I love to meet the people our Master puzzler has brought together, to work in Japan.  Today I learned a bit more about radio ministry, disaster work, pre-school mothers Bible study, prayer focus, MK schooling and university outreach.  Thank you for your prayers and giving that allow us to be here as another piece of the puzzle in Japan. 

Mr. Toyoshima returns to Tokyo tomorrow after having been gone a year to his home in the southern island where he’s been recovering from the horrendous motorcycle accident he had.  He can walk, but doesn’t run and has had to give up soccer.  He will be visiting Tokyo to see if his gifting may be a fit for the work at the Japanese Sign Language Bible Translation project.  He is Deaf of Deaf (his parents are Deaf.) 

 

While in the hospital here in Tokyo Mark visited him every week, sometimes studying the Bible, sometimes watching movies.  Then he moved back home to SouthWest Japan to recuperate. With plenty of time on his hands and a hunger to learn God’s Word, he’s adapted a Buddhist practice of copying out religious holy writings by hand.  He started in Genesis and is now in Kings, and has been plying pastor Minamida with questions about what he reads and writes. Now he’s returning to Tokyo.  Please pray for wisdom for those meeting with him and making decisions about his future.

It’s Sunday evening 5PM.  We came home early from church.  The mile walk from the train station home was wonderful—the pear orchards are in bloom, farmers are out harvesting the last of the large winter radishes, and the wind from the ocean is almost warm.  Upstairs the sax player is practicing Greensleeves by the hour and supper will be rice and fish.  All is well.

It was good to be in the States for two weeks.  LA was in the 80s (we didn’t pack the right clothes,) Chicago had snow (we didn’t pack for that either.)  Our friends loaned us sweaters, scarves and jackets to keep us warm on Easter.   Andrew and Emily took us to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and with enough blankets (from the same friends) and the hot cocoa, we stayed through the end to cheer and celebrate Mark’s 50th birthday. 
Most memorable of course are the conversations, often over very good food, with friends and pastors, some whom we’d not seen for quite a while. Re-connecting, sharing what God is doing here, hearing what God is doing there.