Prayer Letter 2009 March Burwell[1]

Chuck & Jan Burwell 1-11-14 Hiraki Dai, Ube Yamaguchi 755-0094 JAPAN  hm 81-836-35-4760  cell - 81-90-2095-7084  [email protected]  www.burwellfamily.com

Burwell Bulletin March 2009

Dear Friends & Family, Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory…Eph.3:20 As missionaries we have had lots of experience stepping out into unknown circumstances and seeing God provide in truly amazing ways over the years. But the Lighthouse Ube Church has taken two big steps in the past two years that have really challenged them. The first was hiring a pastor and the second one has been the partnership in purchasing the Ube Ministry Center. So far the Lord has provided abundantly as promised and we are asking Him again to provide once again this year with a big miracle.

Church board signing the new property deed The new property and buildings come with a hefty real estate tax bill ($15,000 for the purchase and about $7,000 a year in property taxes). But Pastor Uchida and the church have been working hard for three months to put together all the materials for an application to the Yamaguchi Prefecture office to receive official registration as a non-profit religious organization (called “shukyo hojin” in Japanese) and we will be submitting everything this April. If the church can get approval by October 2009, then we will not have to pay these real estate tax bills. Therefore we ask that you keep this prayer request before the Lord continually for the next few months. Along with that, please keep praying for additional funding for the ministry center remodeling and expansion work. Short Term team and church moving prayer needs Thanks to the work of our teammates, the Taylors, and in answer to many prayers, there is a short term team coming from the First Baptist Church of Atlanta from April 11th to the 19th. They will be doing various remodeling

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projects in the new ministry center and they have raised enough money for their travel, lodging and all of the materials that are needed for the work they will do here. Praise the Lord! Please pray with us that the team would be unified, protected from injury and sickness and that God would use them to draw many of our unsaved friends here into His kingdom. The gospel choir will be singing at the Easter service mingling with the team after church at the barbecue and one other day that week. We also hope that English students will come on Easter to greet the team. Easter will be the only Sunday the team can spend with us so we also ask prayer that the Lord would bring in many of our unsaved contacts plus new folks from the local neighborhood around the ministry center. The Lighthouse Ube Christ Church will actually be starting worship services there on April 5 th. The church and missionary team have been and will continue to work every Sunday afternoon cleaning, packing and moving from the old building to the new one. We must be out of the old building by March 31st. We will have two weeks of English classes and choir and other ministries in the new building before the team arrives and then will cancel all ministries for a week. Other ministry updates There are many new faces at the Lighthouse that we would like to tell you about. First of all, our newest teammates, Colby and Theresa Weinhofer, arrived on Feb. 14 and have been settling into the ministry center as well as language study. They currently live in the house next to the ministry center building but will move to the 2nd floor of the center after the first phase of remodeling is done. It is a great blessing to have them join us in Ube. As you can see they are just a few years younger than us. While we were on furlough the church and gospel choir put on a Christmas concert and although the total attendance was low, there were three new faces, two of whom are co-workers of church member Dr. Ono, and the other is Mrs. Yamakawa. She has joined a seeker study with the Uchidas each week. Others who are in seeker Bible studies each week are Mr. Okuno, and five choir members, Mr. & Mrs. Tamura, Mrs. Oki, Miss Yamamoto and Miss Samura. There are also seven new English students this year, one of whom, Mrs. Moriyori,

is showing a lot of interest in the Bible study. She has never read it before and it’s a joy to teach folks like her who have a genuine interest and openness. Please pray for all of these folks to have their eyes and hearts opened, to be convicted of sin, to understand the gospel and God’s love for them. As mentioned in our January letter we ask for prayers for the upcoming wedding of Dr. Ono and his fiancé, Megumi Miyawaki on April 18th. Pray also for our son Nick and his wife Megan as they travel to Ube on April 16 th. And we also want to share that the Lord answered prayer for Melissa and she found work in Santa Barbara. Now she needs prayer that she can reduce her hours! Other special needs and blessings Although we have many new English students and seekers recently, we also have some losses. A few folks were less than enthusiastic about the church and mission purchasing property and moving. One family, the Nakamas, have left the church, and there are a couple of others who have been attending less frequently. The spiritual battle is intense at times like this so we ask you again to please pray fervently for God’s Spirit to strengthen and protect His people here in Ube. Another blessing with a prayer need attached is for a believer who has recently transferred in to the Lighthouse. He used to live in Fukuoka and be in the gospel choir there and was baptized there two years ago. His name is Mr. Akiyoshi, he is single and in his late 30s. He has moved to Ube but he has not yet found a job. He also has a heart condition and is still gaining strength after a long hospital stay. We would really appreciate your prayers for him. Another blessing for Jan and I was our trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand last month for a leadership conference. The teaching was great, the weather was beautiful and the fellowship was very encouraging. We were just thoroughly blessed, and also had a couple of extra days there to enjoy an orchid festival and a wild time on a zip line course through the jungle, soaring hundreds of feet in the air. We will try to post a video of that on the web. The choir has slowed its pace of performances fortunately since we are up to our eyeballs in work at the ministry center right now. Unfortunately one lady has quit recently and two men and two other women are taking a break from choir because they are too busy at work or home. The women have pretty good excuses since they both gave birth to babies recently! And we were really blessed to have a “good bye to the old Lighthouse and thank you Lord” time with the choir this past week. A number of former members attended and we shared many laughs and a few tears as well. At least six of the non-Christians in the choir are thinking seriously about the things we have been teaching them. One of them, Mr. Tamura (front row –

center), said this week, “My heart wants to become a disciple of Jesus, but my mouth is not yet ready to cooperate.” Pray for these precious folks to have faith to overcome the obstacles to believing. Burwell Bloopers As I (Chuck) was sharing with an English class about our leaving Japan next year, I told them that God was leading us to new “ministries” in America. But one lady thought I said a very similar word meaning “star” and asked her friend, “God is leading Chuck san to a new star in America? Is that like Jesus at Christmas?” The other women got a big laugh out of that one. Specific Prayer Needs 1) For all the preparations for the ministry center remodeling and the church move on March 22nd & 29th 2) Please pray for another miracle for the provision of a shukyo hojin (religious incorporation in Japan) and the funds for future expansion and remodeling. Over $100,000 is needed. 3) Pray for the work team from Atlanta to accomplish much, have safe travels and protection from injuries. 4) Pray for our teammates, the Taylors, the Weinhofers and the Uchidas who are all going through major changes and adjustments and need God’s wisdom and peace. 5) Pray for the salvation of many in the English classes, gospel choir, seeker Bible studies and youth group. 6) Pray that the 7 new believers since 2006 would get baptized in 2009. 7) A job for Mr. Akiyoshi, better work hours for Melissa and safe travels for Nick and Megan. 8) Please keep praying with us about our future ministry, God’s guidance and provision. With love to you,

Chuck and Jan