Newsletter 2022 December ,2023 January English

 Praise the name of the Lord 🙌

Thank you for revealing me so many things that God has worked in 2022😊.

I continue to put my hope in what God has for us in 2023! 

[Mission megumi]

The 10-member short-term mission team that came from Australia on November 19th returned to Australia safely on December 20th. They have been playing a very important role, and I would like to share with you what they did and how God has been working in Nagoya since December.

・Christmas party 

We had 25 students we met through the short-term mission team when we invited them to our Christmas party on 12/9. Most of the participants were unbelievers. The purpose was to connect students with SI Nagoya staff through this Christmas party and to hear the gospel. We are thankful for the Australian students who organized the party and shared their testimonies with them. We got to have a deep conversations in small groups.

At this Christmas party, SI Nagoya student shared the gospel during small group with a female student and then she accepted christ as her savior 😭 Sharing the gospel with someone is not easy to do, but we thank God for using this opportunity.

The student who accepted christ is called Miu. She is in the Christian Studies Department and will be a senior next year. Please pray that she will stay connected to the community and continue her Christian life.

・Thankful for the megumi team 

I thank God for sending the students from Australia for a month. They were so passionate to share the gospel with the Japanese people, and they served us really well in Japan where the language and culture are different. Through this short-term mission team, I felt that most Japanese students have certainly never heard about the gospel. However, it does not mean that they are not interested in christianity. When we talked about Christianity with students on campus, they not only listened but also expressed their own opinions and shared their own images of Christianity. In Nagoya, only staff members are doing evangelism on campus now. We are thankful that we were able to work together to share the gospel with a larger than usual number of people. Evangelism in Japan takes time because many people don't know what Christianity is, but God has given us hope that the gospel has been spreading in Japan.

It was really encouraging to see Australian students who are passionate about missions. It made me want to see Japanese students get passionate about missions in Japan as well.

・Prayer requests

Through the short-term mission team, many non-Christian students were connected with SI Nagoya staff. Each staff member will meet with the students and invite them to Bible studies and Friday meetings. Please pray that the students who have been connected will know what Christianity is all about and how it relates to them.

[started bible reading with a meijo student]

I was thankful for connecting student through an event at Meijo University!

His name is Fumiya, a sophomore at Meijo University. Thanks to a professor at Meijo University, a new campus ministry has begun, and we are thankful that God used this opportunity. he participated in all the SI Nagoya events and short-term mission team events. As He attended every event, our relationships were built and enoch and I got close to him and were able to talk with him personally.

He is open spiritually. He doesn't  believe in Christ yet, but he have tried reading the Bible by himself. However, he told me that it was difficult to read the Bible by himself. This conversation led me to invite him to read the Bible regularly with the three of us. I asked him if he would like to read the Bible with us, because reading the Bible by himself is very difficult ,even for Christians, and he replied, "I would love to do it!

We got to read the Bible together using my devotional material called living life.

And he also came out to our gathering called Immanuel on Friday 😊.

We also read the Bible together at Immanuel , and had bible discussions with the staff and Christian students, had dinner and fellowship.

I thank God for working in him and connecting him.

・Plans for him

After we have a few devotions session together, and see what it says in the Bible , I will invite him to a basic Christianity study . Please pray that he will be able to know what Jesus has done to him and not only know it, but also believe it in God's timing.

[Staff Conference]

The National Staff Conference was usually held every two years, but due to Covid19 , it was not held for the past three years. This was my first time attending this conference.

I appreciated the opportunity to have fellowship with many staff and overseas missionaries from other regions. I was grateful to be able to share ministry situations and encourage each other in the same position.

Theme: "Restoration of Fellowship with Christ and Community

1 John 1:3 　

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

When I read this Word, I reflected on my year 2022.

When the mission team was here, I realized that my personal relationship with God was becoming less and less because of my busyness, while I was working to share the gospel with those who did not yet know relationship with God. I felt that my behavior in teaching about personal relationship with God was very inconsistent. However, I strongly felt that God wants to have personal fellowship with me. When the mission team came, I was like it was now or never! this made me think that in 2023, no matter what kind of work I am assigned to do, I will put my priority first to relationship with God and not lose sight of my goals.

I am thankful to be reminded by God during the conference. 

[short term missionary return]

I sent the short-term missionaries off to the airport on January 11th.

Olivia and Enoch (the couple in front row in the picture ) will extend their mission in Nagoya for another year, so they will temporarily return to Australia to raise support. Please pray that their needs for another year will be fulfilled.

Nicole (the woman wearing the black mask in the picture) finished her missions in Nagoya for 1 year. She plans to come back to Japan in three years as a full time Japan missionary after staff training in Australia.

I am thankful that God has sent missionary to Nagoya. Please pray for their needs and guidance in their missionary training.

[Plans for January and February]

From mid-January to the end of February, staff will take theology courses. This year, we will study John 1-3 and Inductive Bible Study.

In February, I will have a month-long support raise. There is still a need, so I hope to meet new people in February. We would appreciate it if you could introduce me to someone who has a heart for Japan missions and is interested in what CCC looks like. 

I would also like to meet those who are currently supporting me with prayer and financial.

I plan to return to Kansai in the second half of February.

My current need is 500 USD monthly. 

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Thank you for reading and praying for me! 

I will update the prayer requests here every two weeks. I appreciate your prayers.

Click here to see Prayer requests

If you would like to support me, DM me on instagram. 

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JCCC staff Shota Otsuka