Prayer Requests

After just over a week I am beginning to get a better grasp of what my role is here and what is expected of me. Upon good request I have made up a list of prayer requests that are a little more specific to what I believe God wants to do with me while I`m here:

-Pray that the Holy Spirit in me would lead in creating a spirit of peace and hope in my classes (Masuda Sensei informed me this week that this may be my greatest role, to prepare the groundwork for my students to be more open to spiritual things)

-Pray for Sudo Sensei`s health, energy, English comprehension, and communication/openness between the two of us ( he is the assistant pastor of Kyodo church under Masuda Sensei and he is somewhat of my manager; the one most responsible for me and who I am working most closely with)

-Healing to Masuda Sensei`s back--I forget exactly the medical condition but he has a lot of back pain

-Pray for Emiko (the girl playing the piano in a picture on a previous blog) Pray for our friendship and how we will work together. She is 25 and studied psychology, which I found interesting since that is what I majored in. She has been working at a daycare, but the month of October is vacation for her. She is worried about what she should do next after this month; if she should continue working at the daycare or if God wants her to do something else. She will be helping me with all the classes that are located at the Kyodo church this month. I think she will be a big help to me, not to mention just a good companion my age. She is very friendly and fun to be around and is concerned with my emotional wellbeing. She knows the stresses of being in a different culture. I`m really grateful that she is so willing to help me and I can see she has a faith she is eager to share with others.

-Pray that I will teach effectively in all my classes; being creative with topics and activities but also with how I might encourage deeper conversations particularly with the adult classes

-Pray for a special blessing on the Aritas (Teiichi, Mieko, Yoko) who have opened their home to me (the Aritas told me their concern for Yoko because she is not at all serious in her faith and needs our prayers)

-This may seem a bit strange, but I am having a hard time figuring out how important it is for me to learn and use some Japanese. I would love to learn how to speak Japanese. I know they love to hear me speak it (the little I do know), but most of the people around me can speak some English and want to learn more--whether or not we are in class. So finding a balance seems to be a challenge right now.

The following are a list of the students I have for each class. Please pray for them by name and ask our Father to softened their hearts toward spirituality and His Son. Remember that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective, and also that our Heavenly Father loves to give us what we ask for in His name! This will be updated as time goes on and more people may come, Lord willing.

Tuesday Women's class at Kobuchi, 10-11am:
Hiroko (had a fever and couldn`t come this week)
Keiko
Yuko
Masako (Christian)
Kikuko (Christian)
Yoko
Matsuda (Christian)

Tuesday Women's class at Yamazaki, 2-3pm:
Hiroko
Aya
Kyoko
Sumiko (her husband is in the hospital)
Akiko

Tuesday Kid's class at Yamazaki, 4:15-5pm (all boys):
Nozomu (Christian)
Yuuya (orhpan, lives with grandmother)
Souta
Reo
Kakeru
Ryuuhei
Junpei
Shiima
Sakuya
Michiya

Wednesday Women's class at Kyodo, 2-3pm (Mother Goose Choir group):
Ito
Kyoko
Junko
Nobuko
Atsuko
Sayoko (not a part of the choir; handicapped)

Wednesday Junior High girls class at Kobuchi, 5-6pm:

Thursday Women's class at Kyodo, 10:30-11:30am:
Keiko
Naoko (Christian)
Keiko

Thursday Women's class at Kyodo, 4-5pm (Green Choir):

Saturday Children's class at Kyodo, 11-12am:

Saturday Adult class at Kyodo, 1-2pm:
Rumiko (wife)
Toshi (husband)
Fumiyo Hayata (Christian; woman)
Ai (Christian; woman)
Minoru (deacon of church; man)

Saturday Junior High boys class at Kobuchi, 4-5pm:
Yuta

Sunday Junior High Sunday School class at Kyodo, 9:15-10:15am (where I lead bible lessons):
Ai (not sure if she is Christian)
Mariko (not a Christian yet)
Taro (He is getting baptized this month!)

Sunday Adult class of Kyodo church members, 1:30-2:30pm:
Yuoko Furuya (wife)
Takao Furuya (husband)
Emiko Furuya (daughter)
Shigemi Shimazaki (wife)
Takashi Shimazaki (husband)
Minoru Takeuchi
Fumiyo Hayata
Reiko Ebine