Early last month I spoke at Westfield Evangelical Free Church. If you want to hear what I shared, they streamed it on YouTube which you can see here by clicking on this link. They start to introduce me at about the 9:20 minute mark in the video.
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February Ministry Update 2021
Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,
Already, 2021 has gotten off to a busy (but good!) start for me and my team. Thanks to your prayers for my teammates Kevin, Sarah, and Melanie, they made it safely back to Tokyo. I shared in my newsletter that Kevin would be arriving at the end of last December and Sarah and Melanie would fly out in the middle of January, but a few days after I sent it to you, the Japanese government announced that they would be closing their borders in the beginning of January, so Sarah and Melanie quickly changed their flights and made it in before the close. The three of them spent the first two weeks in quarantine and they are now all getting settled in their new apartments! I'm really excited for them and looking forward to joining them hopefully soon.
I also did some traveling of my own in early January to speak at a big EFCA church down in Westfield, Massachusetts (while following all the proper guidelines). I really enjoyed my time at the church and met some great people. They were so welcoming and encouraging to me. The church is also considering partnering with me so pray that they would be able to in a big way and that more individuals from the church would want to partner with me as well!
I spoke with the missions board of another EFCA church over Zoom last month as well. I was encouraged by their heart for missions which goes back over 100 years! They are also considering partnering with me so please be praying for that opportunity.
As far as my support goes, I've been floating around the 50% mark for a while, but this last month I finally passed it! I've been blessed to have four new partners join me recently that pushed me over the halfway mark. I still have a long journey ahead of me, but through everything that's happened I have been very encouraged and am excited to see how God is going to continue to work.
You can read about more of my plans for this year below.
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Plans for the Year:
I like to hike, but climbing Mount Fuji a couple years ago was a huge challenge for me. In the roughly 12 hours it took my group to get to the top (more if you count the time we spent resting and sleeping), I remember praying multiple times, God, give me the energy to keep going. If I make it to the top it will be because of you. Besides pray, something else that kept me going was memorizing Psalm 121. The first two verses start with, "I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." I kept repeating that over and over in my mind. Thankfully, God did sustain me and I made it to the top. I was rewarded with the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen.
After that experience, I've continued to pray the same way and rely on God the same way for other challenges I've faced such as raising support. The difference between climbing Mount Fuji and returning to Japan though is that hiking requires only one person while missions requires a community. Without people partnering with me financially and in prayer, I won't get back to Tokyo. So, I appreciate all the support you all have given me so far, and if you want to find out how you can help more then let me know! We can reach the Japanese together.
Currently, we are officially halfway to reaching my goal of being fully funded and being able to return to my ministry in Tokyo. While this is awesome, I still have a good chunk to raise. With my current support level and my goal to leave by the beginning of March quickly approaching, I had a discussion with my team leaders and unfortunately we've decided to push back my return date goal to May 1st. One of the bigger reasons other than the unlikelihood of being fully funded by March is that my team wants me to attend a Second Language Acquisition Training and the next one is happening in April.
While I'm a bit disappointed that I probably won't be going back to Japan in March, it means I have more time here in the States and it is already filling up. God has been providing numerous opportunities for me to grow and be more equipped for my ministry in Tokyo.
I am continuing to work through the process of getting my Ministerial License through the EFCA which has been great theological training. The books I have to read are not the most engaging, but I've learned a lot. The other parts of the application are coming along as well and I'm hoping to have it all done by the end of the month.
Probably the most beneficial ministry that is preparing me for Tokyo has been working with my home church. I've been able to help out in a lot of different areas, and I've recently joined the Transitional Leadership Team which has been formed to assist the church as it seeks to be revitalized and renew its vision. I hope to share more about what I'm doing in my next update!
All in all, I'm excited about all the good things God is doing in me and through me. I think I will be much more fruitful when I return to Tokyo after my time here than if I had been able to return when I wanted to. I'd appreciate your prayers though as I navigate through it and still try my best to raise my funds as quickly as I can!
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Prayer Requests
- Pray for my teammates who just got to Tokyo. Pray that they could settle in well, develop good routines, and begin their ministry in the city.
- Pray for my support. Currently I have 50% of my monthly support and about 65% of my start-up costs. I still need about $3,200 in monthly commitments and about $12,000 in one-time gifts to reach 100%. My goal is to have 80 partners. Right now I have 48. Pray that God would place people and churches in my path that would partner with me and that these needs would be met in miraculous ways.
- Pray for my home church and the work I am a part of. It has been a long year of transitions and other challenges such as Covid, but I am hopeful and excited about the opportunities we have. Pray for unity and restoration.
- Pray for my other work such as the ministerial license application that it would be a benefit and also not a distraction to my partnership development.
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Thanks for reading!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at adam.bailey@efca.org or by phone at 802-461-4771. You can also go to my website at adamintokyo.com. Thanks! - Adam Bailey
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