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A Baptism in Japan!!!!

Written by admin on . Posted in baptism, evangelism, Japan, missions. No Comments on A Baptism in Japan!!!!



A friend named Mike Ackerman and his wife our doing missionary work in Japan and he recently sent out an update explaining that they had their FIRST BAPTISM. My heart rejoices with Mike and his desire to serve in Japan. He is such a talented young man and could easily work any where in the world, but God has burdened his heart for the people of Japan. Please read his post and pray for him and his work and consider sending him prayer and financial support if God so leads you.

Keep up the Great work Mike. Praying for you today.

His letter….

Dear Friends,It has been an exciting and busy start to 2010. We have begun holding our weekly church services. There is more I wish I could tell you than I have room here to do, but it has been a great start! We have had a number of people consistently coming, and I think there have been new people every week.

The most exciting part of this past month came just this past Sunday. A woman named Kyoko made a decision to follow Christ and was baptized. She has come to every service except our first event in December. Part of what is neat about her story is that none of us knew her a month ago. She was invited to church by an acquaintance I invited a couple months ago.

It is clear that she had been searching for something, and the neutral ground of our sports bar church provided the context for her to learn about the love and grace of God.

There are literally millions of people in our city who haven’t been to a church and heard the Gospel. We thank God that Kyoko was able to make her way to our church and hear!My friend Reo who plays drums in our worship band sounds like he is really considering taking the step to put his faith in Jesus. He has been at every service, and him and I continue to meet up every once and a while one-on-one.

A couple weeks ago he told me that coming to church, along with having relationships with our team, has really impacted him. He said he is trying to find his way in life and wants to learn more about God. Him and I will begin going through a short book together that introduces Christianity.

Please be praying that those times serve to help him find a relationship with Jesus Christ.I wish I could share more of what is happening, but I hope you are encouraged that the prayers and financial support are helping the Kingdom advance here in Japan.

This coming year looks to be a challenging year for us financially, so please pray for God’s provision. Lord willing, there will be many more people like Kyoko who are able to hear the Gospel at Mustard Seed Christian Church and respond in faith!

Mike, Erin, Brayden, and Cooper

Japan and the Tall Man

Written by admin on . Posted in evangelism, Japan, missions. 1 Comment on Japan and the Tall Man

Recently, I took my wife, Renee, to Monterrey for a couple of days, and for some reason 🙂 I took my golf clubs, so WHILE she was shopping, I could hit the links. I ended up at Spyglass and was paired with three men from Japan.

These men did NOT speak English at all, and it was very interesting to spend 5 hours with three men who were probably spiritually lost, and yet I could NOT communicate with them in their language.

They had a guide that was able to teach me their names before we tee’d off on the first hole, and I was able to learn a few details about my three golfing partners.

The gentleman to my right was named “Oya” and all day I shouted his name whenever he hit a good shot…. “Ohhhh Yeahhhhh Oyaaaaaaa” He laughed every time I said that, and I could tell he wasn’t used to this type of excitement from a golfing partner.

Then to my immediate left was a man named….. are you ready for this…. his name was Sunami… yes….. Sunami….. and the entire round, I would call his name out…. Both Oya and Sunami were 71 years of age…. yet hit the ball a long long long way….. (not as far as me, of course, but a long long way nonetheless) (I just thought I’d throw that last bit of info in there… hahaha).

Then the gentleman to my far left was named Shirai. He pronounced his name She-rahh–eee.

He was 65 and I rode in the cart with him.

I spent five hours wishing I could speak Japanese so that I might share the gospel with them. I was able to share a little through the interpreter, and I told them about my blog. I told them that I would be posting their picture and telling the world about our day at Spyglass.

When the day was over… it just reminded me of our need to reach Japan with the Gospel. We have Mike Ackerman serving at our church right now, and he and four other couples are committed to going to Japan for the next seven years to start a church.

I have mentioned to you my desire to do the same. Japan is populated by 130 million people, and 99% of them are NOT believers in Jesus Christ. How long can we sit on the sidelines and just act like that doesn’t really matter to us? It should matter a LOT to us…

Please begin to ask God what you can do to make a difference in the world…

I hope and pray that my example, in spite of the language barrier, would begin to lay the foundation so that my three friends from Japan would one day find Jesus.

Perhaps my encouragement, clapping, and shaking their hands with a genuine deep love and respect would one day allow them to listen to a gospel presentation…. One never knows what God can do….

In love,

Dudley