Today started out with early prayer time and then off to the store to get some needed food because of the 4 day New Year’s Holiday! There was major blowing snow with -1C temperature at 9:30am. Glad to have snow tires on our car thanks to my friend Mr. Fujinaka who “loans” me a set of snow tires every year for about 3 months! The local discount supermarket was very crowded with last minute shoppers buying up special foods used for the holiday. Some days it would be good to have an “aisle traffic cop” in the stores.
Sharon and Stephanie stayed up until 4am talking last night. This cold weather gives me some extra aches and pains so I went to bed early. Kikuko is coming over for her birthday dinner. She is one of the first members of Gideon’s Army IN Japan (GAIN) having accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior on July 9, 2008. Since then eight people aged 28-100 have confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord. There have been three more in the month of December with the oldest being a 63 year old lady whose husband committed suicide last year. Her daughter became a Christian earlier this year in May. God is working on many previously Buddhist families with grandchildren reaching their parents and even the grandparents with God’s Love. Intercessory prayers from ministry partners all over the world are causing these family doors to be opened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
After returning home I noticed a Christmas card from Singapore. It is from a former Hindu man who worked at a Christian owned hotel I used to stay at when traveling through Singapore. He had a severely handicapped son who was born prematurely with many serious physical problems. A few years ago I put this man on my daily prayer list. When arriving at the hotel he always greeted me with a wide smile declaring, “Welcome home Mr. Corbett”. I took an interest in the welfare of his son praying for him daily and bringing small gifts or Japanese snacks on arrival. Three years ago I traveled there to hold a final church leadership transition meeting. A couple days before my departure an email arrived from the man informing me he was to be baptized the Sunday before my arrival. He later wrote a letter stating that the prayers and acts of kindness were what made him decide to turn to Christ and away from his Hindu gods. PTL!
There have been two Words from the Lord to me the past week that are directed toward the coming 2010 New Year. The first one is that we are to live from the “Fat of the land”. The second is that the New Year’s theme is “Hope in God”. When we first came to Japan in the US military nearly 42 years ago we taught English conversation which opened up doors to share God’ Love with Japanese friends. We were not touched by or concerned with the world’s stock market fluctuations or currency exchange. Then when we came in 1979 we taught English conversation which made up for the lack from the denomination support. In 2009 while being self-supporting, we have been hit with a 15% devaluation of the dollar against the yen. Once again, God is telling us to live primarily from sources of income from within Japan. We would appreciate prayer support in that aspect. We need to hear God's Voice clearly in all we do in 2010, both in ministry and finances.
2009 has been punctuated by wars, economic crises, social and political changes that have left heads spinning not knowing which way to turn. God is still on His Throne. We are the ones who need to change our focus. God’s Word is true and His Promises to supply the needs of His children are still in force. We need to pray, praise and sow seeds of His Love being assured that He will supply all of our needs as He has promised us as His children.
May God bless you richly as you look to Him in 2010!
Dan Corbett
“Reaching One Among Millions”
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