|
Summer Update
July 2024
I always think that summer is going to be more laid back, and every year I am reminded again of how crazy it can get! These last two months have been filled with many exciting things. Probably the most exciting thing has been the arrival of a new teammate! Kevin and Jane had their baby girl Emma Yumi on June 11th! Including all the kids, our team now has a total of 23 people.
With the recent birth of a new teammate, we've also had a few teammates go on home assignment. From my small church, Michiyo is on a sabbatical which she hasn't done in the last 11 years of ministry. Because she's Japanese though she is still nearby, but stepped away from leadership and direct ministry to take time to rest and get more training. Melanie, also from my small church, officially went on home assignment and flew back to the states for the rest of the year near at the end of May. We had a fun "See you later" Party with our church before she left. She's planning to come back at the beginning of next year.
Just a couple weeks ago the Nakazawas went on home assignment in the states for the summer and the Lees are planning to go on home assignment later this month for about five months. It feels like everyone is away or leaving soon. With such a big team though it is rare for all of us to be in the same place at the same time so this will probably be more normal moving forward.
Kevin and Jane took a step back from some of their ministries including leading my small church after giving birth so this past month it's left me as the only missionary in my church! I hosted at my apartment for three of the weeks in June and over zoom for one of the weeks. It's been a challenge, but I've seen God really use it. Having to lead and not having Kevin and Jane has forced me to use more Japanese which has been great. On the week we did zoom, for a variety of reasons it ended up being just me and one of our Japanese members who doesn't know much English so I tried to do everything with my broken Japanese. It went over a lot better than I thought it would!
At church last week a few people commented on how much my Japanese has been improving which was really encouraging. I really enjoy participating in Japanese. Sometimes in English I feel like I almost know too much or I fall back on common answers, but trying to look at the text and convey my thoughts in another language helps me come at it with fresh eyes. We've had some really deep conversations lately about the passages we are going through in Acts.
My intensive Japanese classes officially ended in May so it's been helpful to be using what I've learned in a more practical setting in church. I still have a long ways to go and my study isn't over, but I'm excited to be moving into more ministry.
It is a real relief to no longer have class every day! It felt like being back in college again. To continue my study I started getting together with a couple other members of my church and we are going through the Daily Bread devotions in Japanese once a week. I'm also hoping to pick up some more conversational community classes, but since most programs take a break for the summer I probably won't start that until September.
In terms of new ministry that I am hoping to do now that I have more time, I am looking forward to explore more opportunities this summer. I still plan to be primarily involved with my church especially as Kevin and Jane juggle being new parents and coming back into ministry. I was able to rejoin Pray Yamanote, our prayer ministry for Tokyo, last week and really enjoyed it. We had a big team from Hawaii join us. Recently we've been handing out tracts at one of the stations along the Yamanote line each week and that particular week I was in charge of praying for everything as the others handed out tracts. From where I was standing I could see many of the people handing out tracts and the people who took them. We ended up handing out 72 tracts that day! It was such a blessing to be able to pray for the Japanese people who took the tracts. I watched and prayed as many of them read the tracts as they continued walking down the street.
Another ministry I've been a part of has been for the planning for the Challenge Conference this year. You might remember that I attended the EFCA Challenge Conference in Kansas City two years ago before I came to Japan. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend this year because I was needed here, but it was exciting to help as much as I could. The conference is actually going on right now during this week so please be praying for all the high school students and youth leaders attending. Pray that they could really encounter God and deepen their faith because of their time there.
|
|
|
|
Emma Yumi Moore was born on June 11th!
|
|
|
|
Melanie's "See you Later" Party
|
|
Prayer Requests
- Pray for my Japanese learning. I am done with language school! ... At least for now. It has been a long year and a half of classes and studying. I wouldn't say I'm fluent just yet, but I feel a lot more confident in my ability than even just a couple months ago. So praise God for how I've been able to learn. Please pray for my ongoing other Japanese study opportunities and that I can use it more and more out in my daily life. Pray that I could communicate effectively in Japanese and be able to make Japanese friends without relying just on English and that I would have opportunities to share the gospel with them.
- Pray for my church. Michiyo and Melanie are on home assignment and Kevin and Jane have a lot on their hands after the birth of Emma so please pray for us and our church! Pray that I could continue to lead and help as much as possible. Pray for energy and good sleep for Kevin, Jane, and Emma. Pray for our other members as well that they would take on leadership and responsibility as well and that we could all grow in our faith.
- Pray for this new season of ministry. I am excited to see where God leads me in ministry. Pray for discernment in the new season and wisdom in what to say yes to and what to say no to. Pray also for healthy habits and good balance between ministry and life.
|
|
|
|
If you'd like to give, please click on the link below!
|
|
Thanks for reading!
I appreciate you all! As always, feel free to email me at adam.bailey@efca.org or text me at 802-505-7676. You can also go to my website at adamintokyo.com. Thanks! - Adam Bailey
|
|
|
|
|
