Thursday is the Wheelchairs of Hope annual meeting.  There are new official members who have joined since last year, some who are not Christians.  Please pray that this meeting will bring them closer to faith in Jesus.

Tomorrow morning, (Tuesday) a major Japanese newspaper (Asahi Shinbun) will be coming to the Wheelchair cleaning day.  Please pray for not just the finished article that will appear in the paper, but for the time we’ll be spending with the reporter explaining what we do and why.   

Last week I took a wheelchair to Narita Airport and passed it on to a Japanese believer flying to Bangkok.  (This is the 3^rd chair he has taken.) While visiting he told a wonderful story. Last month, Mr. Ohara, a young Japanese “business backpacker” volunteered to fly a wheelchair to Bangkok. He delivered the chair to the missionary there, and later went with him to a Japanese church service there in Bangkok.  At the service a whole family was baptized, so the young man heard the gospel several times in their testimonies. He also went to the Japanese Christian businessman’s club meeting.  Please pray for his salvation. 

· Praise God, a contact has put $25,000/year in their budget for ViBi. Pray that the budget will pass.

· Final draft of the final eight chapters of Genesis are looking good.

· Two Wheelchairs change lives in the Philippines

Q: Have you heard from the foundation about possible funding for the project?

A: Thanks for asking since we forgot to tell the results. The last word we had from the foundation was a no.

On a happier note, I just heard two days ago that someone is putting $25,000 a year in their budget for ViBi. With our present level of funding in Japan, this will add just enough to allow us to fund one more salary! Pray that their budget will pass, and pray for wisdom as we consider how to proceed with the hiring process. And when you give thanks, remember also the Japan Bible Society and the many churches and individuals in Japan (97% of our funding is from Japan) that make up the solid base of funding that has brought us this far.

The Old Chair Shared by Two

Picture #1 is of a wheelchair that was shared by two Filipina friends living in Pangasinan; 51 year old Flordeliza Ramirez and 29 year old Rose Ann Tuazon.  Flordeliza had polio as a child and didn’t attend public school until age 38. She has now finished high school, and supports herself by selling candy at an elementary school. Rose Ann is a freshman in college studying computer and secretarial skills.  The two took turns using their wheelchair.

New Chairs

A local church pastor (Pastor Raul Marcos) presented them with two wheelchairs so they could each have their own, and he shared the Gospel message with the many neighbors who had gathered around for the occasion.  There was a burn victim in the group who Flordeliza decided should have the chair she and Rose Ann had used up to then.

Please pray for Pastor Raul and the church as they follow up with outreach.  

Please also continue to pray for us as we work on getting a 20 foot container of chairs to a church in a nearby country to use in outreach for the earthquake victims.  Right now the government there is asking for documentation to allow the chairs to pass a quarantine process.  In sending chairs to 8 countries we’ve never experienced anything like this before.  God knows the timing of when the chairs should arrive if indeed they should arrive there at all.  Otherwise we will send the container to missionaries in Indonesia or Thailand who would like to use the chairs for outreach in those countries.  Pray that we will be wise.