Luke 18:29-30 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” The life of a missionary has been so fulfilling for me!!

When I think back to last year at this time, God was preparing me for a journey of great magnitude. I didn’t feel any conflict about leaving my family and friends and going to work for Him in another country. I felt an overwhelming sense of His love and grace that filled me with such peace about everything…a peace that still fills me every day as I serve Him here in Japan.

Golden Week has just ended in Japan…a time of travelling and of celebrating and rejoicing with family and friends. I had time off during this week and headed up north to see my friend and ‘daughter’, Mina, who lives with her husband and new baby in Chiba (near Tokyo). As I was packing an overnight bag I slipped one of the Japanese/English Gideon bibles into it…I wasn’t sure why, but I did it anyways. Travelling for 6 hours by bus wasn’t something I was too excited about, so I climbed aboard and took a window seat. Now, I wasn’t aware that you have actually seating arrangements on a bus…in Canada, you pick a seat and that’s it. But in Japan, you are assigned seats for everything - even for sitting in a movie theatre. But back to the bus…At one of our stops in Gifu Prefecture, a young man gets on and looks at me, then at his ticket, and back at me. I was very comfortable, shoes off, relaxing and enjoying the ride so far. He says “Excuse me, but you’re sitting in my seat” in English. Of course, being me, I replied “Sumimasen, gominasai”, which I believe is “Excuse me, I’m sorry” in my not so clear Japanese. He started to laugh which was very kind of him. I showed him my ticket and he said my seat was 2 rows up and by the window also, but then offered to sit in the seat beside me which was still empty. If no one wanted to sit here, he would stay until someone came on, at which time we would all have to rearrange our seating. As the bus rolled along I learned more about the young man, who calls himself Demi (his English name). He is an artist and was on his way to a museum in Tokyo to show some of his paintings. When he asked why I was in Japan, I explained I was a missionary and here to share the love of God with everyone but also an ESL teacher. He amazed me with his knowledge of different religions, but proceeded to tell me he was athiest. But then I remembered I had put the Gideon’s bible in my backpack. I offered it to him and he began reading - and read for over an hour. He really enjoyed Acts and we discussed Paul for a while. After he fell asleep I prayed silently for this man…that a seed of God’s hope is planted in his heart and will bear fruit. We parted at the Shinjuku station in Tokyo and exchanged email addresses. I ask that you pray for Demi, that he will come to know God and His love and one day accept Jesus as his personal Saviour. What rejoicing there will be in Heaven!

Praise items:
1) For the students who come to Bible study and enjoy learning more about God.
2) For the barbecue and fellowship afternoon on April 22nd at Komaki Hope Chapel. Pray for the 7 students who came to the service and for 7 more who came afterwards for the lunch and stayed the afternoon. What a wonderful day that was!
3) For a team from YMI who are planning to come this summer to the Nagoya area. This should be an exciting time to reach out to the students and their families.

PRAYER request:
1) For Demi and the hope of his salvation
2) For my nephew Derek (30) in Calgary who had a ‘mild heart attack’ at work a couple of weeks’ ago. Please pray for him as he goes through tests, etc.
3) For the upcoming trip to Canada. Pray for families to open their homes to my students and interact with them as much as possible. Also for a vehicle to use….please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it if you have one I might be able to borrow during the month of August.
4) For my sons…that they are seeking out God and finding their way back to Him while I serve overseas.

Thank you always to my family and friends who support me in Japan. Your prayers make all the difference in this ministry…so please keep on praying!! I miss you all very much and look forward to seeing you in a few short months.

Love and blessings

Wendy