Dear brothers and sisters,
Praise God for His power to sustain His creation. We learned from the times of Noah that all nature obeys His sovereign will. Today we hear about many kinds of disasters in the world and we ask ourselves: In this times of floods, earthquakes and hurricanes how shall we pray? As Christians, we should pray like the prophets and Moses prayed in times of disasters and death:
“Lord please remember mercy.”
Not just mercy in saving physical lives but mercy in continuing sending the Gospel to all the world so all men, women and children will be saved not just from disasters but also from our sin.
Praise the Lord for the prayers and encouragement we received from all the world during the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan back in 2011. Today we praise His name because through Samaritan’s Purse, we are having the privilege of praying and supporting people affected by the hurricanes in the United States and the Carribean , and also people in need after the earthquakes in Mexico. Please help us to pray for the churches and Christian brothers that are not just attending physical needs of people affected by the disasters but that are also bravely and joyfully sharing the Gospel with them.
Praise the Lord for discipleship from the word of God. We shared the Gospel last year with a man from Peru and his girlfriend from Bolivia. They were struggling with the idea of what to do with their unexpected pregnancy. The Lord was merciful and gracious and through eight months of sharing of the Gospel weekly, they surrendered their lives to Jesus and got married. They have now a precious little girl, the husband was baptised some months ago and is serving in our homeless ministry. Praise God that through discipleships with my wife, this lady is growing in her assurance of salvation, she is sharing the Gospel and wants to get baptised. Praise the Lord for the power of His Word.
A lady who had been invited to a club style charismatic church, started attending our church because this church closed. She started attending our bible studies and she said that it was the first time she heard the Gospel, that the other fellowship baptized her and her daugther without them understanding anything, like an initiation in the international club. She asked us last week that after a year listening to the Gospel with us she realized that she needed to be baptized now because she was baptized before without even reading the Bible and knowing anything about the Gospel. Praise the Lord for His constant calling, the Word of God has power and let’s keep it as the center of our gatherings, prayers and fellowships so we will see miracles and His power transforming and saving us.
Praise God for our next church retreat at the end of October. We will be studying as a church the foundations of a healthy church. Please help us praying while we continue preparing for the sharing of the Gospel at the retreat and for the people that will be sharing the word of God with adults and children.
The Lord is leading us to assist and pray for the foreigners that are in jail in Japan. We were trying to find a way to assist and share the Gospel with some foreigners in Japanese prisons. We were able to regularly assist some of the needs but there was not permission to have a religious visit to the inmates. We were able to share bibles with them through the embassy. Please pray for all the foreigners that are in Japanese prisons and that soon the laws will change and that conditions will change for the preaching of the Gospel.
Thank you always for all your prayers and support,
In Christ,
Luis
Tokyo-Japan.