Dear family and friends,
These last few months the Lord has truly been teaching us how to trust Him more with the path He has planned for us. To not have to know everything before it’s time and to be okay pivoting when He opens doors we never thought we’d be walking through. And so all that to say, God is so good and He has directed us somewhere we didn’t think we were headed.
As you all know, we have been preparing to move as missionaries to Japan for the last couple years. Now, the Lord has directed us to stay in Yorba Linda, California as SGWM (Saving Grace World Missions) home office missionaries. Let us share how this happened.
Pressing Against a Ceiling
Ever since we got back from our 3-month vision tour in Japan last year, we began the process of being sent out as missionaries. We came home believing that it was time to take steps forward and go, and so we did. The odd thing was, however, that every time we would take a step, the door would be closed. Every time we sat down to create a presentation to share our calling, our minds would frustratingly go blank and hit wall after wall. At the time it was very hard and confusing. Were we broken? Was this spiritual warfare? By November we truly felt like our heads were being pressed against the ceiling.
So we prayed and took a step back and the Lord gave us a peace in that pressing, simply telling us, “wait.” So we paused all our plans and waited.
God Opening a Window
Soon enough, we started to see the plan the Lord had been graciously weaving for us all along. Geoff ended up having a meeting with our pastor and the Lord used him to present a completely new direction of ministry to us. Our pastor presented a question of: “What if instead of the Lord calling us to Japan, He was calling us to be SGWM home office missionaries?” SGWM is our church’s missionary sending organization and we would take part in being the supporting side of world missions through our videography skills and administrative giftings.
This was such a huge pivot of an idea for us. After all, we have been in our church’s missionary training school for 4-5 years. But the amazing thing was, that as we began to pray and consider this change more and more, it felt like a weight was being lifted off of us. It was like the Lord opened a window all of a sudden and our hearts began to grow more and more excited about this new direction He was showing us.
A Vision for a Video Ministry
The Lord has given us both a heart to help bridge the gap between missionaries and their sending churches through video. To support missionaries by helping them share what the Lord is doing through their ministries and allowing the supporting church back home to feel more connected to that work they’re a part of. Oftentimes missionaries get so busy in their ministry that it makes it difficult to update their sending church what’s going on and the missionaries can even become forgotten about by their church because they are so far away. But we are ONE church body! It’s important to remain connected to each other despite the distance.
When we were in Japan last year, the Lord gave Geoff a vision. In his vision, he saw people walking forward inside a roll of old film. As the film moved, they moved, eventually coming to the front of the “screen” and then they burned up. At the time, we thought the Lord used that vision to further burden our hearts for the Japanese people who will burn up without knowing Christ. But now we see the Lord gave us that vision to also convict us with a calling to show the spiritual needs and ministry around the world through film! We hope to connect the Church body around the world through allowing them to see what God is doing and encourage each other to keep praying, keep supporting, and keep connected.
We know this was a little longer newsletter than usual so we thank you so much for reading and for walking with us through this whole journey! We love you and look forward to sharing more soon!
God bless,
Geoff & Lydia
If you would like to become a financial partner, you can do so by clicking the financial button below and you’ll have the option of giving a monthly or one-time gift. Or, if you prefer to mail in a check, you can send your check to the address below. Thank you!
Saving Grace World Missions
17451 Bastanchury Rd., Suite #203
Yorba Linda, CA 92886
*In the memo, write: “Geoff & Lydia Hamano”
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