We made it safely to LA, and will be driving to San Jose today. Sunday Mark preaches at Pioneer Bible Church in Somerset, CA. The morning services are at 8:15 and 11:00. Pray for clarity and recovery from jetlag as we share what God is doing and challenge the congregation from God's Word.

 

You can reach us on our cell phone until August 21 at 408-821-9240

 

 

Thank God with us for a good Sign Language Bible Translation board meeting.

We are also thankful for a good chunk of time with Mr. Toyoshima, a young Deaf man (24) who is living in our apartment while we're gone. He moved in a couple days early to give us time to show him how things work in our house.  He is helping with the translation work at ViBi two days a week. He is a potential full time worker, perhaps even a possibility for on-camera signing, as his parents are Deaf, and he has excellent intuitions about his native language, Japanese Sign Language. Please be in prayer for him.

Pray for the NPO status application for the wheelchair project. Pastor Tahara went to file the application, and there was a new person in the office. This person required the application be re-done in a different format than the former person we were dealing with. Pray that we'll be able to make the corrections quickly and get the application on its way.

 

Friday is a Wheelchair Cleaning Day in Tokyo.  We expect to send a couple chairs to Myanmar this weekend. Thank you for praying for the storage situation, the next negotiations are on Friday.

Tomorrow I (Mary Esther) take my Japanese Language Proficiency Test.  I’ve heard that eating fish makes you smarter and do well on tests.  I should have cooked fish instead of chicken tonight.  Maybe I’ll eat a can of tuna for breakfast tomorrow.  Maybe the tuna swam in Japanese waters. You think that will help? We’re thankful our mission takes life long learning seriously and give us opportunities for assessment and accountability. And, we're glad tunafish cans come with pop-tops.  

Also while in Tokyo tomorrow, we have our quarterly Innovative Ministry Team meeting.  We’ll assess the progress that’s been made, discuss job descriptions and strategize how to proceed.  Our team leader is relaxed  and we often have lunch together. 

 

Thank you for praying! We have wonderful news long awaited. Daniel’s Physical Therapy assessment went well, and he will be starting PT as soon as there is an opening in the schedule.  We are very grateful!

 

Anna has had some let up in the neck pain.  She has only 3 weeks of school left this year. 

 

Penner Prayer Update 5/1/07

  Many of you have prayed not just for us and the ministry but also for our children.  Thank you!  We want to give you an update and ask for our prayers for some very specific things.

  Anna is finishing up her junior year at Biola in LA where she is studying anthropology (emphasis linguistics.)  She chose Biola because of their Torrey program and it has proven to be all we heard and expected—including the amount of reading and writing of papers.  A couple months ago she began to talk about pain in her left shoulder and for the last 3 weeks has had numbness and rather severe pain in her left arm and shoulder.  Last week’s x-rays showed the problem to be a disc in her neck.  Please pray for relief from pain, restful sleep at night, and the ability to finish up this last month of school well. 

  Daniel has been doing well in his group home in San Jose.  We have prayed for many years now that he would be able to have physical therapy (PT) by a trained therapist but the TAR (Treat Authorization Request) and our appeals have been denied.  Two days ago we learned that the need for his PT will be assessed on Tuesday at 9:30 AM (California time) in San Jose at the Valley Medical Center (VMC).  Please pray that God’s will be done.  We of course would like to see they recommend PT for Daniel and that they schedule him to have PT there at VMC.

  The other news we heard was that the house where Daniel is staying will be sold to another company.  We always knew that potentially this could happen someday but did not anticipate it happening, and definitely not this soon.  The sale will take place on the 6th or 7th .  We have been in touch with the US and right now it looks like there will essentially be no change in Daniel’s day to day care.  Please pray for a smooth transition for all involved and again, that God will be glorified. 

  Andrew and Emily spent a several days with us while we were in Chicago.  They still live in Berkeley/Oakland area, but traveled to Chicago during their spring break.  Emily is teaching first grade in inner city Oakland, while Andrew continues to study/research at Berkeley.  They go to see Daniel every Saturday.   

  Thank you for praying for our children at this time.
Mark and Mary Esther