Week 1

Tyler and I were safely arrived in Japan. We are staying in Okayama, Japan. Let us continuously praise our Lord and count blessings. So far, everything is going well. We have cruised around my town by bike, and gave our praises to the Lord at beach yesterday. We felt peace and prayers from others. Thank you so much! By Setsuko

Jeremiah's Prayer

As I grew up in Japan, I did not have any chance to meet a Christian. Coming to USA is definitely God's mighty plan for me. It took me a long time to know Jesus, but now I believe in Jesus and my faith in Him has been making my everyday life in USA. I was reading Jeremiah, the other day, as I prepared final greeting message on Sunday worship service at First Japanese Baptist Church. God touched my heart by showing Jeremiah's faith and hope in God. It certainly is encouragement from God. He was praying and asking God knowing WHAT KIND OF GOD HE BELIEVES.
Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
I am leaving everything up to God, and He will outreach His mighty hand and do His work. After Jeremiah prayed this, God responded to him.
Jeremiah 32:26 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 27 Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
The power of God is so powerful. I just pray and wait to see His signs and wonders! By Setsuko

Two Weeks To Go!!

Packing up my things... What a job! I have too many things that I did not need. I am trying to fit into two suitcases... If I could, it is miracle! Nine years ago, when I came to US, I only had two suitcases. Jesus said, "Take nothing with you for the trip: no walking stick, no begger's bag, no food, no money, not even an extra shirt." (Luke 9:3) All I need is to stop packing, and listen to Jesus. God is bringing me my home country, Japan with Jesus. Why should I need my stuff other than Jesus, then? by Setsuko.

Men's Retreat

This past weekend I was blessed to attend CCMB's men's retreat. Wayne Taylor was our guest speaker and the Lord used him mightly to speak to the hearts of the men who attended the conference. He began by sharing from Luke chapter 3:5. The theme was repentance, and we all needed cleansing. I found myself convicted of each of the four areas described in Luke 3:5. The "low valleys"; which referenced things like self pity and ultimately unbelief, the "high mountains" which referenced pride and lack of dependance in our Father, the "crooked paths" which referenced lying, cheating, defilement, and impurities, and "rough ways" which referenced sinning in anger, harsh words, lack of gentleness, meekness, compassion, and ultimately lacking the fruit of the Spirit. How obvious it is to see the need for Christ is our lives when we become aware of the sin in our lives, therefore we must keep our focus upon Him and not on ourselves.

The second lesson Wayne Shared with us was based on 2Kings chapter 4:1-6 where a widow was unable to pay her bills after her husband has died. So Elisha advised her to ask for cisterns from neighbors so that she could fill them with oil, which was the only thing of value that she had. So, she sent her sons to get the cisterns and as many cisterns were brought, so were they filled. The typological lesson was, as many areas of our life that we bring to the Lord, so shall they be filled. Let God take control. What an encouragement to hear such a promise from our Lord, who is willing and able always when we seek Him.

Another aspect to the lesson, was that the widows oil filled her neighbors cisterns. Therefore, as the Lord fills us with His Holy Spirit, so shall we bless our neighbors. Therefore, reach out and be available for increased responsibilty, that you may be a vessel for the Lord to use so that others may also be blessed.

The third lesson Wayne shared with us was about faith. In 2 Kings chapter 6 a young man was chopping wood and his ax fell off and went into the river. The ax was borrowed and so the young man was very concerned about getting this ax out of the water. So he told his master, who was a faithful man of God, and his master used a piece of a tree to retrieve the ax and told the young man to pick it up when he had brought it to the surface. The typological reference here was that we are the borrowed ax, and that Jesus, who died on a tree as prophesied in Isaiah, brought us up from the bottom because we had faith which He gave to us.

Furthermore, as we read on in 2 Kings 6:8-22 we see that Syria had surrounded Israel and that Elisha was made aware of this. Upon his awareness, he said in verse 16," Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then Elisha prayed that blindness would be upon those that surrounded Israel and it was done. The enemies were then lead to their captivity whereupon in verse 21, the King of Israel asked Elisha if they should be killed. But in verse 22, Elisha said to feed them and to love them. Therefore, we are to have faith that the Lord will take care of us and protect us against our enemies and we are to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).

Finally, pastor Roger blessed us with a message on the importance of morning devotionals. Earlier that day, pastor Nate had shared about the importance of morning devotionals and so it seemed that the Lord wanted us to realize the importance of "getting our orders" as each day begins. We need to "go to our post" and seek the Lord in the morning as referenced in Isaiah 50:4. It was interesting to know that the hebrew word for "seek" implies "early".

What a blessing it was to spend in fellowship with the men of CCMB and other local congregations. We were blessed and refreshed and the Lord encouraged us and it was good.

reflections

Today is Tuesday March 6, 2007, only 22 days until departure. We have been so blessed to be supported by so many different people. Last night at Calvary Chapel Monterey's prayer meeting, brothers and sisters prayed over me and officially sent me out to minister in Japan. The day before that I was able to share how the Lord put everything together with everyone at the missions luncheon at CCMB. Looking back, I remember last month when pastor Arai and First Japanese Baptist Church officially prayed over us and sent us out to minister in Okayama, Japan. I am just so thankful to know that when God guides, He provides. I will be working in Niimi with elementary school students shortly after I we get there. Once again, God has blessed me to be able to have a day job while things begin to get set up. This weekend I will be going to the men's retreat for CCMB and I am sure it will be a blessed time. It will be a time of great fellowship which I am sure I will remember fondly as I begin to situate in Japan this coming year. I really just wanted to take time right now, to write a few things about what has been happening and what will be happening in the near future. As I keep focused on the prize, I pray that the Lord may keep me focused and strong, so that I may continue running the race for His glory. What a joy it is to serve the Lord. Last night our dear sister Nora Braselton prayed with recollection of Neimiah8:10, as it was written, "...for the joy of the Lord is your strength." This was such a blessed prayer for me to receieve because "the joy of the Lord" has been the theme for ministry in Okayama since the beginning. As I read on in Neimiah 9:24, "the children wne in and possesed the land," and I again am reminded of another Word from the Lord that was given to me, as brother Dan Thornton encouraged me by the power of the Hoy Spirit from the book of Joshua chapter 1. To be supported and to give support is essential, that we may help and encourage one another in Christ, with the love of Christ. Another prayer that was prayed for me last night that ministered to me was by sister Melinda, who prayed, "that the Lord may give me the humility of Christ so that the people of Japan may receieve me with love and know that I am there for them to share Christ. Togetherness. As we bless one another through encouragement in Christ, this must be one of the reasons why Jesus said that the greatest commandment is that we first love God, and then love one another.