February Newsletter

Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Most of us spend all of our timel, effort and resources on the outer man. However, that outer man will perish. The outer man will only last for a few years and counts for little. Yet, the inner man is where Christ lives, where Christ strengthens, where Christ gives eternal riches, where the Spirit works and forms us to glorify God. The inner man will continue when the outer man is old and cold. Let’s take more time today to build up and encourage the inner spiritual man that every real Christian has. As Paul prayed for the Ephesians to do this, we pray for you to do this today and emplore you to pray the same for us. Thank you for your prayers.
February is always a fast month for us especially as it usually is the time we are preparing for a short reporting furlough to the States. This year has been no exception and more involved because of still keeping up with those we have currently been dealing with here in the Teshio area. Besides those that we have mentioned in the past couple letters the Lord has given some one on one time with a couple of adults from the Monday night adult study two weeks in a row. There are usually 3-5 people in this class but for various reasons this month only one has been able to make it and a different one each time. This has given some great opportunity for dealing with them on a more personal level than when the whole group are there. We appreciate that you patiently pray these people. We know that faithfully giving out the good news and trying to find the ‘key’ to unlocking one person’s heart is just a time after time, day by day ministry. Dealing with Dr. Mitsu on Wednesday nights continues to bring new avenues of helping him come to a spiritual understanding of the Gospel and his need for it. Right now there are many things being talked about. Each topic brings about the doctor’s desire to study it some more and bring back new ideas so for that we are grateful. We got to have both him and his wife in our home this past week so trust there will be more opportunities like that in the future.
We leave for our two month furlough on Feb. 25th arriving back in Japan on May 4th. We will be reporting to churches in FL, ID, MT & WY, & Nebraska. In our absence Mrs. Sonoda will be opening the doors on Sunday mornings for the ladies that can to meet together. They will get the messages via the web from a fellow Hokkaido missionary. We are thankful for some kind of continuity to this short time so it is easier to pick up the ball and roll again when we return. We appreciate your prayers for the ministry to be protected in a very special way while we are gone. Satan would love to confuse and disperse but God is able! You may still reach us via the email addresses (mansell@worldtell.com and vicki@worldtell.com).
Dr. Nao Nishino, who we have remained friends with since Ken’s surgery and continue to have Bible studies with at least once a month, is currently in the USA. We will be traveling right through St. Louis where she is at this time and we are hoping to spend an evening with her there including a time in God’s Word! Pray that we might not only be able to get with her but that there might be other Christian doctors and nurses that would come across her path and be a witness to her. Many times Japanese are much more open to spiritual issues outside of their home country. We know God has a plan for Dr. Nao and are excited about this opportunity. She will be studying at the university hospital there for a little over two weeks.
Vicki had a major fall on snow covered ice this past week and hit her tail-bone quite hard. She is still recovering but we are thankful nothing was broken. Her eye difficulty has been stabilized enough that it can be treated by the drops she will take with her and then continue treatments when she gets back. Thank you for remembering this as well.