• GIVE THANKS for the 8 children and their parents who came to our TMC Family Christmas. PRAY that these children will join the Sunday school re-starting in Jan.
• GIVE THANKS for the one young couple the Lord seems to be bringing aboard TMC for English ministry. PRAY for wisdom as TMC decides over the next few months whether to invite them.
• PRAY that the young pastoral couple who resigned due to stress will find spiritual refreshment and encouragement, perhaps even back at TMC.
• PRAY that in our new way of leading TMC we will be able to effectively encourage and coach the Leadership Team (Dale) and the children’s ministry team (Ann) as the church continues to become established.

• GIVE THANKS that we were able to retain our sanity during our move!

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #175

• GIVE THANKS for our good first Asia ServeBeyond retreat. PRAY that the Lord will grow our ministries and send new workers/partners.

• GIVE THANKS for the younger TMC staff: Moto, Kevin, and Luke & Hannah.
• GIVE THANKS that David & Lina are coming to TMC. PRAY for their financial needs, family transition, and religious visa applications.
• PRAY that the Lord will supply TMC with another missionary/pastoral couple or single (man or woman) for English ministries.
• PRAY that the Lord will raise up a TMC children’s ministry champion to replace Ann.
• PRAY for TMC’s Family Christmas on Dec. 4, and Christmas worship and afternoon fellowship on Dec. 25.
• PRAY that irregular TMC attenders will choose to be involved regularly once again, that newcomers will want to keep coming, and that unbelievers will meet Jesus through TMC.

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #174

• GIVE THANKS for the good connections, discussions and fellowship at the retreat.
• PRAY that the connections made will continue and that our Asia region will be able to develop new ministries and recruit new personnel.
• PRAY for wisdom as we consider when and where to hold our next Asia retreat.

• GIVE THANKS that David & Lina, missionary appointees with SIM Singapore, will be joining TMC staff as Chinese ministries pastoral couple.
• PRAY that we will be able to secure Japanese religious activities visas for them.
• PRAY that the Lord will supply another missionary couple or single (man or woman) to join our English ministries pastoral team.

• PRAY for wisdom, strength, sanity, and peace as we leave our Tokyo apartment that we have called home for the past 10 years. Decisions about what to ship, give away, or discard have become more difficult because shipping prices are 5-7 times higher than pre-covid.
• PRAY that as we transition out of TMC over the next couple years we will be able to encourage and coach the Leadership Team (Dale) and those serving in children’s ministry (Ann).

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #173

• GIVE THANKS that David & Lina, missionary appointees with SIM Singapore, will be joining TMC staff as Chinese ministries pastoral couple alongside Kevin & Grace.
• PRAY that we will be able to secure Japanese visas for David & Lina, with SIM Singapore as sending agency and ReachGlobal/EFC Japan as receiving agency.
• PRAY that the Lord will supply another missionary couple or single (man or woman) to pastor TMC English ministries alongside Luke & Hannah who are part-time bi-vocational.
• PRAY for assurance of salvation for K-san and especially that he will learn to know the love of Jesus.
• PRAY that SW will learn to show his love for Jesus by obeying him when it is easier to follow the world’s ways.
• PRAY that the Lord will provide TMC’s newest member H-san with better employment and improved health, and GIVE THANKS that he is helping lead some worship services and a small group.

• GIVE THANKS for our one granddaughter (born Jul) and two grandsons (one born Mar) in Michigan and Missouri, and that we have been able to visit all our children and grandchildren this summer. Lord willing, we return to Tokyo on Sep 13-14.
• PRAY for our transition during the fall months as we move our primary residence from Tokyo to Maine at the end of the year. We will maintain a secondary residence in Japan to give us the freedom of re-entering Japan while covid border restrictions are in place, and we will continue to carry a full-time missionary budget. (More info here.)
• PRAY that Ann will be able to raise up a children’s ministry team at TMC that she can coach in-person and remotely.
• PRAY that Dale will be able to continue encouraging and coaching TMC leaders in-person and remotely.
• PRAY that the Lord will bless our first ServeBeyond Asia retreat in Thailand Oct 10-14. We have delayed it for 2 years due to covid.
• PRAY that we will be able to visit all our US supporting churches during the first half of 2023.
• PRAY that beginning in 2023 we will be able to take 2-3 annual trips of 1-2 months each to Japan and Asia so that we can be at TMC 6-8 Sundays a year, visit ServeBeyond missionaries and partners n Asia, and for Dale to teach his modular seminary classes in Tokyo.

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #172

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #171

• PRAY for TMC’s younger pastors/missionaries who are learning how to assume overall responsibility as well as take on specific ministry roles.
• PRAY that the Lord might lead an English ministries pastor/missionary couple to TMC who can join our current part-time bivocational English ministries pastoral couple.
• A Chinese ministries pastor/missionary couple is considering coming to TMC via Singapore. TMC’s Leadership Team and the attenders of TMC’s Chinese Fellowship have each met with them several times by zoom.
• GIVE THANKS that this couple amazingly heard about TMC’s need for a Chinese ministries leader through another mission agency in Japan.
• GIVE THANKS that the Lord seems to have been preparing them for Japan and a ministry like TMC for years.
• PRAY for wisdom for both TMC and this couple as we seek the Lord’s will.
• PRAY that if the Lord leads this couple to TMC, he will give us and their sending mission agency success in procuring their visas.

• GIVE THANKS for our second grandson born in March.
• PRAY for our daughter as she gives birth to our first granddaughter in mid-July, for a safe delivery and healthy baby.

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #170

• Worship service attendance and offerings are increasing. PRAY this might continue.
• Some parents with children are attending again and Ann teaches Bible to the children. PRAY that parents will be consistent.
• Some are considering baptism as next steps in following Christ. PRAY for those struggling with obedience to Christ.
• PRAY for our humility, gentleness, patience, and love as we maintain and model unity during leadership transitions (Eph. 4:2-3).

• GIVE THANKS for the pastoral couple pursuing the possibility of leading TMC’s Chinese language ministries. ASK the Lord to give them and TMC wisdom as we seek his will. Several positive interviews have taken place. Several more need to happen before they will be presented to TMC members who will decide whether to extend them an invitation.
• PRAY for another pastor/missionary or couple to join Luke & Hannah for English ministries.
• PRAY that the Lord might raise up someone to champion the children’s and ladies’ ministries that Ann has been leading.

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #169

TOKYO MULTICULTURAL CHURCH

• PRAY that the love of Christ and one another will become the glue that brings us back together again.
• PRAY for the children who are especially vulnerable. Many connected with TMC have caught covid at school and passed it on to parents.
• GIVE THANKS that some new children are coming with their parents on Sundays and that we will be able to hold a few baby dedications soon.
• PRAY for those who are struggling with socially reconnecting in many settings, including TMC, and for those who have faced or are still facing financial difficulties because of covid.
• PRAY that the giving at TMC will increase to the point of not needing subsidy from the TMC church planting fund held at EFC of Canada Mission.
• PRAY that the Lord will provide a Chinese ministries pastoral couple to launch Chinese worship services and to contribute to overall church leadership.

FAMILY

• GIVE THANKS that Bryan & Jessica welcomed their second boy (our second grandson), on Mar. 19 in Missouri. Jessica and baby are doing wonderfully, while big brother looks on. And we are enjoying plenty of pics!
• PRAY for Matt & Kristy who are expecting their first baby (our first granddaughter) in July in Michigan.

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #168

• GIVE THANKS that we were able to spend about a week post-Christmas with our children and that we will be welcoming our second and third grandchildren this year!
• PRAY for Tokyo Multicultural Church’s financial stability. With covid restrictions in 2020 and 2021 that curtailed in-person gatherings, TMC’s weekly offerings have taken a hit.
• GIVE THANKS for TMC’s full-time Japanese pastor. PRAY that the Lord will lead us to pastoral or missionary couples for both English and Chinese TMC ministries that are currently led by part-time personnel.
• GIVE THANKS for EFC of Canada Mission personnel in Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan that we have the privilege of coaching. PRAY for wisdom for those who for various reasons need to define and refine their overseas ministries in the midst of covid concerns and restrictions. PRAY that our EFCCM Asia retreat scheduled for Oct. 10-14 in Pattaya Thailand will be of encouragement to these missionaries and will not need to be postponed because of covid travel restrictions.

Thank you for Praying for the Tokyo Littles! – PTL #167