Dear Friends,

Konnichiwa from a very humid Chiba (East Tokyo).  In the last few days there have been many big storms and a lot of heavy rain.  I haven’t experienced storms like this here before.  Yesterday I was completely drenched walking to the station and then the trains weren’t running because of the storms.  It was a great opportunity to review my Japanese Bible verses that I am trying to memorise!

A new home!

Thank you so much for praying for a new home for me.  God has provided a great place.  I’m living in a very big brown 12 story building on the 5^th floor.  It is 10 minutes walk from the station, 15 minutes bike ride to the church and 1 minutes walk to the 24 hour supermarket and post office.  I can take out my rubbish and post letters at the same time!  I am very thankful to God that the building managers are kind and helpful.  It is traditional here to go and greet the neighbours beside you and below you and give them a gift.  Traditional gifts are laundry washing powder or handtowels.  Because there is absolutely nothing traditional about me I gave some very nice biscuits.  I was welcomed warmly and everyone said to come and ask them if I ever needed any help.  I am very thankful to God for this.

 45 Freedom Outreach English Camp Report

Thank you also for praying for this camp that I helped with at Tokyo Baptist Church.  There were 85 students ranging from late primary school to university age.  65 of these were non-Christians and there were over 60 volunteers and leaders.  Over the week students studied English using Bible accounts of Jesus, had intensive 1-1 English sessions, enjoyed very lively worship times, sang gospel songs, learnt cooking, studied other cultures and had small group discussions in Japanese.  About 50 students also had home stays with Christian families. 

Praise God that the good news about Jesus was very clearly proclaimed and 14 students turned to Christ.  Please pray that God will protect these young Christians and help them to grow in their faith and knowledge of His love.  It is likely that most of them will be the only Christian in their family and at their school.

 New Japanese Bible Study

A new Bible study for seekers is starting on Friday 12^th September (2^nd and 4^th Fridays).  We have invited the outreach Mum’s and Kid’s club mothers.  I will be leading this group with Mrs Hirohashi, the pastor’s wife. 

Please pray that God will bring people whose hearts are seeking Him and who are ready to hear the gospel.

Please pray that God will speak to people’s hearts through His living and active word.

Please pray that God will help me as it will all be in Japanese.

 Open House Outreach English Classes

We have just distributed 3000 brochures for the English Outreach Classes at the church.  In these classes we teach English for 1 hour and then there is a 30 minute Bible study.  I will begin teaching 4 of these classes in September.

 The purposes of the classes are the following;

1) Broad sowing of the Gospel (around 225 students weekly at 5 churches)

2) Finances for ministry (renting space for worship, paying the Japanese secretaries, paying for brochures etc.)

3) Providing opportunities for Japanese believers to begin to share their faith with other Japanese people.

We aim to have a Japanese Christian in every class and encourage them to participate in the Bible time.

Please pray that God will bring a Japanese Christian to each class.

Please pray that the church will take ownership of these classes and be committed to pray for this outreach.

Pray for the Holy Spirit’s power in the Bible lessons.  Pray that the Word of God will not return void, and that we will see more and more students come to faith in Christ.

Please pray for me and other teachers that we will walk closely with the Lord, be faithful in praying for our students, that we will do this work in God’s strength, that we will teach English well, that we will teach God’s word clearly and share our lives and faith with the students.

 Pray for a breakthrough for the gospel in Japan

Praise God that we see Him working in people’s lives, people coming to Christ and some churches are growing here in Japan.  But there are still less than 0.3 percent of people who are Christians.  There are over 800 million idols in this country.  People make offerings, prayers and burn incense to them.  Though often these actions are just traditions and not heartfelt, they are not worshiping the true God.  99% of people continue to worship their ancestors.

Please pray that the Japanese church will not see themselves as a struggling minority group but as God’s chosen people in whom the powerful Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives.

Please pray that the hopelessness in this society which saw over 32 000 people commit suicide in 2007 will be replaced with knowledge of our loving Creator and Saviour.

 Thank you so much for your continued prayers, financial support and encouragement that enable me to remain here in Japan.  Thank you for your partnership in sharing the good news about Jesus and equipping Japanese Christians to serve God and to share their faith. 

                        Kind regards

                                    Nerida Bell

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