by Hiro & Eryn Bamba
Greetings from Japan!
Words cannot express our thankfulness to have you as partners with us in fulfilling the Great Commission. We are blessed beyond measure to have you working with us, through your prayers and support, to share the Gospel with the Japanese people.
Just like the apostle Paul, “we thank God on every remembrance of you.” We are so honored to have you as partners in bringing the Good News to the Japanese people. The fulfillment of the Great Commission is a monumental task and we are blessed to be able to work with you to spread God’s love and mercy around the world!
Birthday Celebrations:
We always celebrate the birthdays of the children in our Sunday School. As each child’s birthday approaches, Eryn asks them about their favorite movie, cartoon, book, or activity. Then she chooses a theme based on the child’s interests and designs a special cake for them. After the regular Sunday School and Sunday service, the whole church gathers together to sing Happy Birthday as Eryn presents the cake. It is such a joy to see the smile on the whole family’s face as they receive their cake. There are many parents that only come to church to see their child’s cake. The birthday cake celebration outreach has been a great way to reach out to non-Christian families.
Mrs. O and her Son:
During the summer, a lady (Mrs. O) visited our church. She has two sons; the oldest one has autism. Sometime last year he refused to go to school and hasn’t been back since. Mrs. O tried everything she could think of to help her son return to school, but nothing worked. Overwhelmed and despondent, she knocked on the door of our church. On her second visit to our church, she accepted Jesus as her savior!! Mrs. O reports her son is doing better. Please continue to pray for Mrs. O and her son.
Mountain top service:
In July, we took a group of boys – 6th grade and older – on a hiking and camping trip up one of the tallest mountains in our state. We spent a couple of nights at two different campsites on the mountain. After several hours of steep uphill climbing, everyone was able to reach the peak. Everyone was mesmerized by the breathtaking view of God’s creation. We had a worship service on the top of the mountain. Since many of the boys are not Christians, it was wonderful to be able to talk about God’s creation from Genesis chapter 1 in such a setting.
When we, as Christians, experience nature in such a beautiful setting as on a mountain top, we are reminded of God as the Creator of all things. However, the Japanese people have been raised in a culture without any concept of the Creator. The Japanese use the word “shi-zen” to mean “nature” when we would use “creation”. The word “creation” implies that things were made by someone, where as the Japanese word “shi-zen” means “things exist on their own”. They believe things exist and are sustained by themselves. Moreover, the Japanese people do not know their life is a special gift from the Great Creator and that He has a special plan for each one of them. Please pray that more Japanese (currently less than 1% of Japanese people are Christian) will come to know the Creator.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support!! You have touched the lives of so many Japanese people by sending us to Japan through your prayers and giving!
