Dear brothers and sisters,

Here in Japan, COVID-19 is spreading to many regions of the country and has infected more than 940 people. This week, the Prime Minister decided to close all schools and is preparing to announce more measures to contain the virus spreading. Japan’s economy is also being affected. There are concerns for recession due to the disruption to supply chains, a sharp drop in the number of overseas tourists and sports and event cancellations. The 2020 Olympic Games are at risk of being canceled, and shops and supermarkets are running out of essential items because of people and panicking and buying all the merchandise. As Christians, we need to see all these events through the lens of God’s Word and with a spiritual perspective. Our Lord is blessing Japan with the opportunity to see how fragile and weak we are, how dependable and in need of a sustainer we are. Please pray that Japan will stop relying on material possessions, the worship of self, on other people and will turn to God.

Please pray so all Christians in Japan will not panic as the world does, that our faith will be tested and strengthened, and we will be grateful for our health. God has purposes in the events that He allows to happen to His creation. Please pray that Christians will share the Gospel.

Praise the Lord for the power of His Word that leads to salvation. A Japanese- Peruvian man and a Japanese Peruvian lady came to Christ after listening to the Gospel visiting our Church for almost ten years. I am so joyful and grateful to our God; He is mighty to save! He is indescribably kind and loving, slow to anger, and quick to give mercy and forgiveness to all who call on His name! They are being discipled, and we are preparing them for their baptisms. Please pray for them to continue growing in their new life with the Lord.

One of our Japanese members has prayed for six years to share the Gospel with her elderly mother, who has refused to listen to the Word of God for years. Recent events in her life moved her to allow her daughter to read the Bible to her daily. Please pray that our Lord will make another miracle through His Word. Please pray so our God will ignite her faith, and the Gospel will make her run to Christ.

Please also pray for the growth of our young men at Church. I have shared the Gospel with them since they were kids. Now they are becoming young men, and some of them are serving at Church: sharing the Gospel, serving at the homeless ministry, caring for and teaching our children at Sunday school, sharing the word of God at Bible studies, and growing in prayer. Praise God for His gifts, for blessing us with a new generation of men to train. We want to continue encouraging and assisting as they prepare to be the next generation that will pass our Christian faith to the next generation in Japan.

Our God is being good and helping me to learn how to live with back pain, the pain persists and comes intermittently. My arm ligament has not recovered either. I try to play guitar and sing praises this week, but I had to stop because the pain paralyzes my arm. Please pray that I will have patience, I will recover, and I will be able to sing worship to God with my guitar again soon.

Thank you always, brothers and sisters, for holding the rope through your prayers, care, support, and encouragement.

Luis Ramirez.
Tokyo -Japan

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Luis R.

Church Planter

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