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| JEMS 2013 July Summer/Winter Mission Team |
Thank
you to those of you who have been faithfully investing in my ministry with JEMS.
Your partnership and prayer support sustains me as I pass through the doors that God is opening to reach the Nikkei in South America for
Christ.
It
is a bit disappointing to write that I will not be at Mount Hermon this
July. The timing of the
summer mission doesn't permit me to be in both places. I will leave for South America with a special study team on June 24th.
What's in store for the
summer (winter in South America)?
The
last week in June holds some exciting days as a vision team makes the journey to Buenos Aires,
Argentina. The initial contacts we have
made with community and church leaders there will be followed up this summer with
opportunities for service.
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| Argentina Vision Team / São Paulo state survey team |
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| JEMS Staff candidate (provisional) |
We will be
working with three Nikkei churches and with a mission organization based about
one hour from Buenos Aires. It is our
hope to strengthen the ties of partnership and to affirm JEMS' commitment to
serve alongside existing ministries in the years ahead.
This
same vision team will return to Brazil at the end of June to meet with churches that
requested but were unable to receive a JEMS team this summer due to the lack of
workers. We will spend time in each
church sharing our testimonies, teaching the Bible, leading games, crafts and,
in one case, Hawaiian dance. This will
be a fast-paced week of ministry in the cities of São José dos Campos, Pompéia, Marília, Bastos and other cities close by. This
portion of the trip will be primarily by bus.
Please pray for our travel.
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| Pompéia and Caraguatatuba Team |
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| Campo Grande, Curitiba, Presidente Venceslau Team |
July
will be an exciting month as we receive and place our JEMS summer workers in their respective churches. Although our team numbers are smaller, God
has enabled us to serve in six churches and one camp over the three weeks of ministry. The churches served are in four states in
southern and western Brazil. I will provide shepherding support for our teams.
By
August, hopefully my English ability will not be rusty. I am scheduled to work with another JEMS team
member in the city of Niterói in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
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| Niterói Team |
We will use English class as an outreach and
evangelistic tool. In addition, there
will be opportunities to share with the Japanese colony there using our
testimonies and Bible teaching. They've
also asked for a cooking class. I am not
sure that I will be doing that. Ha ha!
August
will be a busy month as I will also be receiving JEMS Music and Media Director,
Lowell Sue. Lowell and I will be
visiting churches mainly in the city of São Paulo and in the interior of São
Paulo state. We are exploring the
possibilities of Lowell forming a JEMS Creative Arts Team for the future. This will be his first vision trip to South
America.
Which
brings us to September. I will return to
Buenos Aires, Argentina where I will be
attending COPANI (Congress of Pan-American Nikkei). The conference is a secular one, but will be
the meeting place for over three hundred Nikkei young leaders. These are the current and future leaders of
the Nikkei community in Latin America, Japan and the US. What an important and strategic opportunity
this will be for JEMS to meet those who will have influence on the Nikkei
diaspora in the years ahead.
Oftentimes
we overlook such events because they are not Christian. But we are reminded of the calling of Jesus
to be salt and light. We are not called
to be a Lamps Plus showroom, all congregated together in one place. We're called to go into the world and bring
light into the darkness. We pray that we
can be a presence of Christ in that place.
Please pray that God would provide
an opportunity for JEMS to build key partnership relationships for the
future.
Thank
you so much for your prayers for this summer of ministry and investment in the
work of the kingdom.
Photo caption: Pastor John ministering to a small group at a Holiness Church in the city of Dracena, in the hinterlands of São Paulo state.
