Dec. Prayer Letter

December-January Cummings News
Dear Friends and Family,

We hope this letter finds you well and growing in grace. It has been delightful to read through your letters, cards and emails to us, and to reflect on our Lord?s gracious mercies to us all. Thank you for keeping us in your lives and in your prayers.

We thank you all for praying for us during the busy month of December. It was a flurry of activities preparing for Christmas and our son?s wedding. The following are a few things we asked you to pray for and God graciously answered those prayers. Please take time to look at the few photos we are sending, too.

Wedding – It was WONDERFUL and very honoring to God. It was probably the most unique, creative, relaxed, informal, kid friendly wedding we have ever been to! Caleb looked very handsome all dressed up in his Scottish kilt with all the accessories! Lisa was a beautiful bride in a very lovely simple, white wedding dress. They each had 10 friends and family members stand up with them. Since the church was so small, all the attendants stood up on the stage. Dr. Daniel surprised us by coming at the last minute. He had found someone to switch shifts with him at the hospital. Two of Caleb`s Japanese friends wore skirts they had purchased in Myanmar (formerly the country of Burma) and walked in with toilet slippers on!!!! You should have seen the faces of Lisa`s Japanese relatives! So while our family was very informal, Lisa`s family were quite the opposite with the women all dressed in lovely kimonos and the men in tuxes! Six of Caleb`s friends came from Philadelphia for his wedding. A Japanese-Scottish friend played the bagpipes. Another Japanese friend gave a short message and Cal married them. A Chinese-Japanese couple wrote and sang a song for them with their 2 kids sitting at the keyboard fooling around!

We really enjoyed having most of our children here in Sendai before and after the wedding. Esther came with her boyfriend, Rob. It was his first time to Japan. He was born and raised in Ecuador as his parents were missionaries there for many years. We gave him the grand tour and he seemed to enjoy his stay here. It was fun, too, for us to get to play with our 2 adorable grandkids! They are tooo cute and have such fun personalities!

Kids Bible clubs ? Last month 27 children again attended our Bible club in Watari. Next week we meet with them again. We praise God for the good attendance and their eagerness to learn. This Saturday we will have a children`s meeting at Megumi church. Please pray for good response there, too.

Yukihisa ? Cal still disciples him and another 18 year old boy as they meet for Bible study nearly every week. His Christian mother is very eager for him to make a profession of faith. Please keep praying for him as he seeks the God of Truth.

Mother-daughter cooking classes ? Last month we made 2 kinds of quiche with the mothers and children. We will meet again this Saturday afternoon and make a Valentine chocolate cake. As church members join us, please pray that these contacts will respond to the invitation to believe and worship with us on the Lord?s day.

Edie`s Bible class ? Please keep praying for Mrs. Oh and Chie. Mrs. Oh has had trouble with a herniated disc lately and has been in great pain. One morning she called Edie and asked her to pray for her. When Edie went to visit her, she said after Edie had prayed for her, she read the Psalms and prayed God would speak to her heart. She then turned on the TV and heard the song Amazing Grace. She thought that was God trying to comfort her and she was greatly encouraged. Last week in Edie?s Bible study they talked about the parable of the sower and the different responses to the gospel message. Chie said, “This is deep stuff”! I think my heart is like the thorny ground because I am making other things more important to me. I don`t want to be like this.” Oh san said, ” I think my heart is like the stony ground because when God gives me trials I don`t like it. I want my hernia to be healed right away. But I think this trial is good because it has made me rely more on God. In fact I went to church this Sunday but I didn`t like the preacher. His message didn`t move me like I thought it should. Edie you teach us too good!” She also said ever since she came to believe in God, she has become more conscious of His presence. She said, “You taught us God is always with us, He is near us and everywhere. I sometimes get uncomfortable when I remember this, especially, when I speak harshly to my children or husband. I realize God must see me and hear me. I don?t like that!”

Messiah chorus ? Cal sang in the Messiah chorus this year with about 80-90 other men and women. One of the choir members, Mr. Terashima, invited us over to his house for dinner a few weeks ago. He is a journalist and even wrote a book on folk religions of the Tohoku. We had a good discussion and are preparing to have them in our home next week. God is answering your prayers to meet and establish relationships with men.

Coffee house: As you know Cal intentionally goes to Starbucks several times a week to meet men, preferably. Last week, shortly after he sat down a lady in very clear English asked if he was waiting for someone, which was the beginning of a very interesting conversation. She is the wife of a priest of the Kofuku no Kagaku, one of the new religions in Japan. They had spent three years in San Francisco proselytizing. There are some 1,000 adherents in their nearby temple in Sendai. They are attempting to give people assurances that they will be reincarnated into a happier life by various activities and spiritual exercise which includes buying various spiritual items. When I asked what assurance one had that he or she had done enough to secure their ?right? place she could only offer ?We have to keep trying to live a better life.? When asked what I do, I was privileged to tell her of the one Savior who purchased our salvation for us to assure us of an eternal life with Him in this world and the next. Pray for further contact and the opportunity to talk with her husband. There are so many who yet walk in darkness, thinking they have seen the light.

Prayer requests

Praise

1. Give thanks for the attendance of many children (27 in November and December) at our Watari children?s Bible club.

2. Give thanks for the good response at our mother-child cooking classes in December and January.

3. Give thanks for Mrs. Oh and Chie?s growth in understanding the Bible

4. Give thanks for Caleb and Lisa?s wedding.

Pray that/for:

5. In the midst of our busyness we would take time to prepare our own hearts. Pray for humility and holiness

6. Our witness to Terashima san and his family.

7. Our witness to Mrs. Idera, the wife of the priest.

8. Amparo, the Peruvian friend in Edie`s Bible study. Pray for her as she is having a difficult time with her first pregnancy and has to be in bed all the time. Pray she and her husband will learn to trust in God and seek after Him in the midst of this difficult trial.

Thank you so much for serving with us and being part of our ministry. It means a lot to know that you?re praying for us, and that we?re laboring together for the Lord. Thank you for your faithfulness to Him and to us!

Again, we?re praying for you, and may God bless you as you serve Him and proclaim His name ? no matter where you are!

Thanking God for your partnership in the gospel,

Cal and Edie Cummings