Jelena's son Nino has become a believer and he gave his testimony at church and will be baptized May 25 at 2pm at a park in the river. Please pray this public baptism will be a real witness to anyone who happens to be in that park on that day and that Nino will have confidence, as he is kind of shy to be baptized in front of so many. Pray for his continued growth.

Not in Japan 
Here are a few things I am not likely to see in Japan, or at least not in Osaka where I live. Huge portions of food at a restaurant (actually that wasn't just for one person), signs saying guns are not allowed, a drive in church (probably a sign left over from Covid?) and deer walking right through our yard! Welcome back to America!
 

Jelena was asked to come back to participate and help coordinate festivities in a Japan- Croatia cultural festival that she did before as a non believer. This time she wanted everyone to see that she is a new creation in Christ and she invited a Christian performer to sing gospel songs even though that was against the wishes of the leaders of this secular festival. She was asked to give a speech in front of 1300 people and she shared the gospel at that time. Her boldness in Christ never ceases to amaze me. She said she grew a lot through the experience and saw where He was leading and directing every moment.She thanks all of you for praying as she could have never done it without your prayers and the Lord's help. 
 

Trip to Visit My Nephew
My nephew has lived in Colombia for about 17 years and I have never had a chance to go visit him. My sister had already planned a trip for shortly after I would start stateside assignment so I decided to take a week off and go visit him. We were planning a very quiet restful week at a vacation home that he and his wife rent every year but then plans changed. I got an early phone call while still in Japan and my sister told me we have to make a trip to the jungle! What? I hadn't signed up for this. Sam was asked to be in a Netflix series to play the part of a musician in a 1920's style big band playing the trombone. His main instrument is jazz piano but he also played trombone and they needed a trombone player. So we enjoyed the beautiful surroundings of the vacation home (in the first 4 pictures) and then on the third day we had to fly to Santa Marta and stay at a place located on the edge of the jungle. I have to say, my preparation for that trip was different than for any other. We were told to bring a head lamp, deep woods bug spray, wear clothing protected with insecticide. To our surprise the mosquitos were not too bad.We had about 4 power outages while we were there. The worst one was when a transformer off in the distance blew up and lit up the night sky.   My sister and I had many opportunities to witness to people on the trip, some through a translator and other times with English speakers. If you prayed for my safety and opportunities to witness, I thank you!! I had a great visit with my nephew and his wife but the time was shortened with Sam when he had to be on the set. If you would like to see where we stayed go to this link.
Hotel Villa Maria, Tayrona - YouTube

Sunday- Pray for our churches in Japan. Pray I will be invited to visit churches to share about the ministry in Japan while here in the states. 

Monday- Continue to pray for my teacher Mrs. Koizumi. My ability to call via Skype from my computer to land lands ended May 1 so my last phone call to her was right before that. I was so happy and relieved to see that I did not see signs of dementia like I had seen on our last visit in Japan. She will be 86 years old this month. Please continue to pray for her. 

Tuesday- Pray for language exchange gatherings in our office in Japan every Tuesday evening. 

Wednesday- Pray for all of those who have had or currently have cancer. Paul Cho, Andrea, Charlotte, Beth, Rita, Shelayne, Tak Oue and one of my sister's friends ( Sue from Australia). Continue to pray for Pastor Kuroda who is  doing well. Pray for a team member's mom who just had cancer removed from her colon.

Thursday- Our church plant has prayer meetings on Thursday night. Pray it is well attended and that the church can grow closer through being a praying church.

Friday- Continue to pray for the salvation of all of my family members. Praise God my nephew's new job is still going well. My niece needs continued prayer. Pray my sisters can get back to the Bible study called How to Know God while I am stateside. 

Continue praying for the Friday night language exchange every other Friday night. 
 
Saturday- Pray for our young team members who are in language school: Justin, Michaela, Natalie, Joshua, Brason, Jolene, Jacob, Matt, Brooke, Jared and Callie.Praise God Natalia, Joshua and Brason have made it to required levels and Brason reached beyond. 


Special prayers and praises:
Pray for Liz on May 8 as she moves to Tokyo to serve in our office. Pray for this transition after living in Osaka for 19 years. Needless to say I will miss her so much!

Praise God Tom Patterson is healing slowly but surely.

May 25- Nino's baptism

Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support of our IMB missionaries and of course for for our team  in Osaka and for my stateside time.