June Newsletter

To Our Family and Friends,

The month of June marked a milestone for us as we joyfully celebrated our 1-year anniversary! It was a great opportunity for us to remember the many wonderful moments of our first year of marriage and renew our commitment to each other as well as our mission here in Japan. We owe much of the couple we have become to many of you who have influenced, encouraged, and supported us. So please know that the Lord has used you specifically to impact our lives in a unique way as well as make our vision and ministry here in Japan a reality.

Before we departed for Japan, much of the information that we were giving people focused on how the English language could be such a crucial vehicle for reaching the people of Japan with the Gospel. And it is with great excitement for us to report to you how significant and effective English has been to our ministry. As mentioned in previous letters, we have been taking part in what has come to be known as “Coffee Night” once a week. Here, we meet at a café and simply converse in English to build relationships. This has proved to be exceptionally popular among the Japanese as a result of their desire to learn English in a way that is convenient and cheap. Thus, it is no surprise that our Tuesday Coffee Night has grown so much that we decided it best to start another coffee night on Thursday evenings. By doing so, it ensures that our interactions can remain intimate and comfortable within a small group. However, in just the few weeks that we have started meeting on Thursday nights, the number of people attending has already grown larger than that of Tuesday nights! Both coffee nights have been such a blessing to us as we continue to grow more meaningful relationships with Japanese Christians as well as non-Christians.

In addition to using Coffee Nights as a vehicle to cultivate friendships with others, the young adult ministry at Riverside Chapel, known as Youth Alive, has also become more evangelistic in their vision to reach non-Christians of Japan. With the train station serving as the center of most towns and cities, it is natural that many people, especially college students, use these areas to shop, eat, travel, and to meet with others. Capitalizing on this opportunity, Youth Alive held two “Street Live” events this month that we were able to participate in. These outreaches were aimed at exposing many university students that gather at the train stations to Gospel music as well as to Riverside Chapel by inviting them to special events. Through handing out flyers with event information and by just setting up a small stage where we sang simple worship songs, we were able to meet dozens of people and explain the purpose of what we were doing. Furthermore, understanding that food and film (particularly foreign food and film) were two main things that could bring Japanese together and inspire conversation, Youth Alive hosted a movie night and tacos party at the church a couple weeks ago. Both events proved to be successful in drawing newcomers and heightening the visibility of Riverside Chapel within the city. However, there remains the great challenge of getting these students to continue to come to church as many young Japanese often get distracted by the stigma associated with going to church and, in their view, the negative implications it could have on their social life.

The leadership of Riverside Chapel has had its own set of challenges this month as Pastor Amano (Senior Head Pastor) and Pastor BB (English Service Pastor from Ghana) were both given poignant news. Pastor Amano had visited a doctor earlier in the month to find out that he may have had a type of leukemia. The subsequent weeks of June were trying for the congregation and leadership of Riverside because the worst-case scenario had to be considered. Hence, the people of Riverside, along with other churches and pastors in Japan, prayed earnestly for a complete healing and full recovery for Pastor Amano before his next appointment with a specialist at the end of June that would confirm or refute the initial diagnosis. Just three days before the date of this letter, Pastor Amano saw the specialist and the test results came back negative! Praise the Lord! As far as the English Service Pastor of Riverside is concerned, Pastor BB, thankfully, does not have any health issues; however, he was informed earlier this month that his father had passed away in Ghana. Just a couple weeks ago, funeral arrangements were made, and Pastor BB left to return home. He will not be back until late July.

As we close this update letter, we ask that you continue to pray with us concerning:
➢ Both our Tuesday as well as Thursday Coffee Nights – that relationships will grow deeper and opportunities to share the hope of Christ will arise
➢ Youth Alive – that this ministry will find even more creative ways to reach out to university students and that these students will be drawn to attend Riverside Chapel
➢ Pastor Amano – health and complete bodily restoration
➢ Pastor BB – safety as he travels as well as leadership guidance in his absence

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as our ministry here in Japan continues to develop!

Always,
Jeremy & Kathy