Special Evangelism Opportunities

It's early morning here at SYME Japan. The sun is up and there are no clouds high in the sky; however, a much lower bank of clouds is moving across Mt. Asama, the nearby volcano, revealing the peak and then rolling into the valley where Karuizawa is situated. A new SYME term begins in just a few days. It looks as though we will have 20 full-time students this Fall. One of them, a young lady is coming from Taiwan. A university graduate, this young lady attended a summer-break term at the SYME in Taiwan. She is coming to Japan with a desire to continue learning English, while also interacting with others in Japanese, the third language she is trying to learn. The ability to converse in multiple languages significantly increases a young person's chances of getting a good job in this part of the world.

Please pray for this new student from Taiwan. She is not a believer yet, although she is interested. We are asking the Lord to open her heart to him while she is here in Japan.

 Dale and I have 10 Most-Wanted Lists of people we would like to see become Christians. One person on the list is a student from SYME Japan's Spring term. This student wasn't going to return this Fall due to finances. To make matters worse, the owner of the company he worked for this summer did something illegal with company finances, which in turn led to his not getting paid for several weeks of work. Nevertheless, several of you have joined us in prayer for this young man by name. Well, when he returned home at the end of the summer, his father told him that he and some other relatives had decided to pay for his expenses to return to SYME! The young man, though he is still an unbeliever, responded by saying he believes it was God's doing and that it is God's will for him to return. We are praying for the Lord to open his heart as well.

Finally, we want to ask for special prayer for Sunday, September 8. Last Fall, we saw a Japanese lady come to Christ on our last Sunday of ministry before our return to the States. A few weeks ago, she was stricken with cancer. Sadly, she died two Mondays ago. Meanwhile, a few months ago, her husband also came to know the Lord. Now her sons, two are atheists, one is a Buddhist, would like for me to share with them the same Gospel message I shared with their mother. The pastor of the church where we will do this has set September 8 as the day for this. I will give a sermon during the morning service about death. Then, in the afternoon, we will also meet privately with the sons of the lady who died to share the message with them I first shared with their mother last Fall. This is a strategic opportunity for the Gospel. Please pray with us!

One more thing. Dale's mother is in the hospital in Michigan and not doing well. She has a slipped disk in her back, along with multiple fractures due to osteoporosis. Please pray for her healing and for grace for Dale during this time.