13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
– James 4:13-15
The new year has brought us new opportunities to walk faithfully, after Christ, one step at a time. We are thankful for that at times, and frustrated by that at other times. Thankful that we don’t have to be overwhelmed by the whole picture, and that we can trust Him with everything that we don’t need to worry about right now. But sometimes we wish that we could see three or four steps ahead, and have a better idea what His plan is. We can rejoice in the fact that we serve a God that is so much smarter than we are. The current step has been great so far, and we will be well prepared once the next step comes.
On January 5th we celebrated Missions Sunday with Calvary Chapel Saving Grace. The church prayed over us and allowed us to have a ‘Japan’ table at the church BBQ where we could share our heart with the congregation. Whenever we get the chance to tell people about Japan and what God is doing there, it’s a great blessing to us. I also need the practice at sharing with people, so it was a double blessing in that way.
Later that week we had the opportunity to meet with Pastor Chizuo from Tokyo. He was able to give us a better picture of what the spiritual terrain of Japan looks like, and gave us great advice on how to arrive over there and be successful and as little of a burden as possible. We have had the chance to talk to several missionaries on the field in Japan via Skype as well. These conversations are invaluable, and we praise God for those that have blazed the trail ahead of us.
I am actually writing this letter from Montana. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us on this trip. We were able to bring our friend Isaac with us and he has been a huge blessing. He gets to experience winter and we benefit from his help to get our tasks accomplished that we came here to do. Thank you to our Montana church family for housing us and letting us share our burdens with you. From our small group bible studies to the church leadership, we were able to cast vision and hear input. Alishia was especially blessed by the trip, and is sad to head south again, but I’m sure all of you in the frozen parts of the country can exhort her when you see her.
We would like to tell you all exactly where we’re headed next, but we only know the current step. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to move forward. We are continuing in prayer about a vision trip to Japan later this year, if that be the Lord’s will. We also desire to go to the school of missions and church planting this summer in Mexico and Nepal. If you feel led to give to either of these trips, please use the link below or you can mail a check to us at Saving Grace World Missions.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
– Proverbs 3:5-6
We love you all.
Jeff and Alishia