We planned on sending several wheelchairs to Mongolia on July 7.  Yesterday the airline said they would not be able to accommodate the wheelchairs.  Pray that they will take at least two wheelchairs as gratis excess baggage.  A local civic leader there approached the church asking for two wheelchairs for two people who very much need them.  

We continue to wait for our friends in the large country next door to receive an import permit so we can send a container of wheelchairs to them. 

Mary Esther went to Kansas City to join her father for his 94^th birthday.  After what she saw there, she stopped by again on the way back to Japan to care for him and  his affairs.  About a week after she returned to Japan he was admitted to CCU with congestive heart failure.  He is doing well now and we expect him to be discharged to rehab soon.  Pray for those working with him there to assess well what his future care should be.  Pray for us to be wise in making these decisions.

It was an intense two weeks for Mark. He was interpreting lectures from English into JSL all morning, and then in the afternoon working track meetings,  both English->JSL and JSL->English during discussions and presentations—all while trying to be a participant as well.  On top of the official meetings, there were meals with translation consultants from all over the world, learning from them and sharing about Sign Language as well.  Thanks for praying him through. Especially rewarding was our connection with the Japan Bible Society representatives who were attending. And the translation consultant for one Sign Language  project said,  “ I wish I had this information a year ago. I would have done things completely differently.”

Back in Japan, Pastor Minamida and Ms. Yano have been working hard on Matthew, and have seven chapters drafted and ready to be checked. But the pain in his arm is recurring, so pray for wisdom as to how to proceed. Pray that we’ll be able to find the funding and put a strong, full-time team together to take pressure off of him.

Penner Prayer Update 5/6/09

Blog site:  http://pennermnm.spaces.live.com/      

·         Praise God for a great trip to the Northeast

o   Productive meeting with Hori and with a start-up translation team at Yamagata Deaf Church

o   Wheelchair cleaning day in Shiogama with a church that is beginning a new outreach

o   Two days to rest and re-coup

·         Pray for:

o   Pastors Matsumoto and Minamida leave tomorrow for Hong Kong and points north.

o   Mark and Mary Esther join them on the 11^th and 12^th.

Pastors Matsumoto and Minamida leave tomorrow for Hong Kong and points north. They will see Y and others there (and are delivering a wheelchair too). Pray for God’s timing and blessing on them and the people they meet. After finishing there, they will return to Hong Kong and join Mark, Mary Esther, and others to help a Deaf start-up translation team learn the skills they need. We will be there May 11-17, returning for meetings here. They will stay on until the 21^st and continue the training. Pray for the Hong Kong translation team, and for our team, that we will mesh well and make good progress

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.