February 2010 Newsletter

Dear Brother and Sisters,

I hope all is well. These past months and days have been eventful to say the least. I've been hearing a lot about Matthew 24:4-8, which is also a reminder of how important it is to continue sharing the Gospel.

The class at Hiroshima International University has been on break.

Our Daichi church prayer for the city of Hiroshima and worship time has continued. We are still but a few, but the Lord continues to remind us to be faithful to prayer since we know that the fight for salvation is indeed a spiritual battle to be fought in the Spirit through prayer. Recent themes of our meetings as a result of the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit include "unity in the church" and "forgiveness".

At Daichi church on Wednesdays our children's English class has been steady. Natsuko, Ayaka, Onyu, and Chan-soo have attended regularly this month. Our themes for this class have been "John 3:16", "God loves you", and "One God." As for our adult class, we have not had any non-believers attend this month. So rather than being an outreach at this time it is a time to build up the believers in thw who attend such as Beth and Mari.

Also, at Daichi, I have begun my first of six sermons I will teach this year in the book of Ephesians. It was an expository study looking at the first chapter of Ephesians which could be summarized as, the blessings we have and in Christ and Paul's prayer for the people of Ephesus. I am very grateful to my brother pastor Lee for translating for me, and I am praying and studying so that by the 5th or 6th study of this 6 part series I will be able to at least read the sermon in Japanese without translation. Lord willing it will be done!

One final note, I am very pleased to announce that I am now engaged to be married to Yukiji Miyaoka! She is a Proverbs 31 women indeed! I am so very fortunate and thankful for her. We met when I first moved to Hiroshima almost two years ago. Since that time I have prayed continuously asking if it was His will for us to marry. On September 23, 2009 the Lord answered my prayer during my quiet-time. We began pre-marital counseling this past January. I proposed on Valentine's Day. We will marry on July 25, 2010 at Daichi church in Hiroshima, Japan. The Lord is good, and His timing is perfect.

Thank you for reading! May the Lord continue to lead us each and every step!

In Jesus,

Tyler