Tak & Chee Newsletter! Vol.15 EN

2024年3月6日 12:57

We have happily finished our ski instructor season.
Thank you for your prayers for us!

Aquila Church's vision is to
"produce" and "support"
a "modern Paul"
like Aquila and Priscilla.

Takeshi has become a cooperating staff member of hi-b.a.!

We had been praying about this a while ago, but Takeshi himself was led in prayer and decided to start up a hi-b.a. congregation to cooperate with hi-b.a. work to evangelize high school students here in Nagano. After submitting the application, going through the interview process, and attending the staff training, I am thankful to finally be able to share this news with you!
hi-b.a. is an organization that reaches high school students with the gospel.

For more information →　https://www.hi-ba.com/english/

Takeshi himself was saved through the ministry of hi-.b.a. when he was a high school student. Many full time ministers are being sent out to Japan through this organization.
We are very happy to be able to help start a gathering in Nagano prefecture where the gospel can be shared with young people.

We are currently starting to look for a venue here in Ueda City, financial supporters for hi-b.a, local helpers, etc.
Please pray for us!
If you are interested in supporting us for this organization, please click on the link below!

Lots of Visitors

February was a particularly busy month with many visitors. It went by so fast. And now it's March. One of the most fun things we did was making miso! We did it last year with Taka-san's family, but this year we did it together at our house! I hope it will be ready before summer. Then we might be able to have it for the missionary team that will be coming in the summer!

We heard the testimonies of many people who came in February, heard their stories of joy, heard their struggles, and were healed by God's work in our conversations. It was a blessing for us to be able to see this up close.

Of course, there are times when we cry with them, and there are times when our hearts ache, but we feel that it is a blessing to be a part of God's family to be able to share in their pain.

And there was a lot of joy.
In February, youths with a passionate desire to make a full-time commitment to God came and left us and the church with a fire of passionate faith.

Takeshi has named her "Revival Girls.

Emi x Jesus x Coffee

We sent a dear friend of ours to Australia, who is often mentioned on our SNS. She is Emi, a barista and a long time friend of ours from when we were in Yokohama.

She had been saving up money this winter for a live-in job at an onsen ryokan in order to go to Australia on a working holiday visa to train as a barista. During her stay in Nagano, she came to have the desire to "share God's love through coffee!" and set off with a renewed desire to do so.
Moreover, the first place we headed to was Jonathan and Carla's family, whom we have introduced to you many times! Emi was interested in Jesus Coffee, a coffee ministry that Jonathan and his family are involved in, and she wanted to learn more about what kind of ministry they do through coffee.

Since she had always come to visit us for the past three months and stayed for the last week or so, it was a bit like sending our family off. As Emi left, she said she wanted to stay in Nagano.

We interviewed Emi before she left and recorded her testimony, so please take a look if you like!

Please pray for Emi as well!

Please pray for this situation!

There is one thing we would like you to pray for. It is for the healing of the hearts and restoration of relationships of the churches, leaders, pastors, missionaries, and, of course, each and every Christian in this area.

We are newcomers to the area and were led here without much understanding of the situation. There used to be a time when there were pioneer churches and active youth ministries in this area.
There were testimonies of salvation and many blessings. But at the same time, there was a history of "burnout," "relationship problems," and what is called "sheep stealing. Of course, I believe that each of them were genuinely, enthusiastically doing ministry for God with the same purpose. However, it seems to be a situation where, along with the wonderful work, pain also remained.

I wondered whether or not to write about this in this newsletter. But I decided to ask for intercessory prayer. Pray for the protection of each of God's vessels who are called to this area, for healing if there is pain, for forgiveness and reconciliation if there is discord, and for freedom from guilt and fear if there is any. And please pray that all churches and Christians in the area will be able to minister more powerfully!
In this situation, the activities of Aquila Church are very easily misunderstood. So please pray that we will be given wisdom and be a blessing to the local churches!

Fundraising Report

2 more monthly supporters were given last month, bringing the total to 17 now!　

Monthly Support Amount Total 67,000 yen and $200
Monthly Supporters Total 17perosn

February 1st - 29th 2023
One-Time Donation Support Amount Total 119,000 yen
(part of the previously reported donation is included in this amount)

We are so grateful to have even more people arise to become supporters! Thank you for planting a church together! We feel that we are able to pour our time and energy more into ministry!

Support partners for Aquila Church

Aquila Church's vision is to "produce" and "support" a "modern Paul," just like Aquila and Priscilla did.

Monthly support target of $2500

We are looking for financial support partners to help us move toward the mission and vision given to the church.

50$ x 50 persons = 2500$
　50$/month for 50 support partners to continue to operate the church.

Credit card transfers can be made at the following URL
Starting from 10$/month, you can specify the amount and one-time support is available.
We would appreciate your prayerful consideration.

https://achurchjapan.wixsite.com/aquilachurchjapan/support-1