June Newsletter

Dear Praying Friends,

Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. Jeremiah 14:4
God’s great mercy toward us is marvelous! God sends us, his servants, with warnings and cautions early. He doesn’t wait until we are deep in sin’s horrible results. He uses the Bible, Christians, and a multitude of other means to give us plenty of time to repent of our evil and turn to the Holy God’s marvelous righteous and safe way of life. The God of mercy and grace rises up early to warn us, sending all His servants to help us wake up before it is too late. May we as quickly recognize the dangerous paths of sin that lead to destruction. May we quickly repent and turn from our wicked ways that the God of love may bless us and save us. How thankful we should be this day that the living God is such a compassionate God!

God ordained appointments: Vicki’s taishogoto stringed instrument group presented a concert and a tourist from Taiwan saw them practicing. When Vicki approached and spoke Japanese to him, he replied in English “I don’t speak Japanese. I am from Taiwan.” She got to speak to him for a little bit and told him the whole performance would be the next day and to watch for her husband who would attend the concert. Ken was able to sit by him and while visiting also witnessed to him. He agreed to accept a couple tracts including a Chinese language one and a NT in English. We always rest in Christ’s plans to our day no matter what they may bring—may this man and his wife have seeds planted that others can water and reap the harvest. Please pray for “Wen” and his wife to recognize their need of salvation and who Christ truly is.

God ordained plans: Beings we are currently in the training program with the Marks family, we were not actively looking for single interns trying to fulfill their mission major requirements as we have in the past. About two months ago, a young lady, via email and an introduction by her boyfriend who we have known for quite a few years now, approached us about coming during the summer of 2017. Her boyfriend will be in northern Honshu doing his internship as well that summer and beings they are looking towards the future and feel called to Japan, she truly wants to do her internship in Japan, as well. So we prayed about it, had her go through the steps we have all possible interns go through including recommendation letters and a skype interview with her and her parents, and felt that the Lord truly seemed to be leading us to say yes to her request. The Marks will have been here two years by that time and able to do much more on their own so while the Japanese lessons would continue, we feel this could work as well. For all practical and personal reasons it is best to have two or three in the summer internships. We ask that you would not only pray with us for this second young lady, but also get the word out to college age/single young ladies who would be interested, not necessarily a call to Japan, but an interest in getting acquainted with missions; with a goal to at least become more mission minded. You may give them our contact information and we would like to see that set in place by this fall or at the latest, first of the year. The time would be June and July of 2017.

God ordained blessings: Ken’s passport has to be renewed at a different time than Vicki’s so this was included in this month’s plans. We also are keeping our eyes open to replace our main vehicle as it is 16 years old. We made an overnight trip to the only consulate on our island about 5 hours away. Because we are now permanent residents and God’s blessings, we had no problem getting his new passport. We spent the afternoon looking at second hand vehicles because Ken has to at least sit in various possible vehicles to see if his 6’4 ½” frame will fit in even a minivan here. We came away with two or three possibilities and have a couple people watching out with us so that Lord willing by the end of summer, we can have that replacement vehicle. Vicki had another eye check and praise God, the daily drops are still holding the virus back in her right eye.

Prayer Requests: – thank you for your intercession on our behalf

Physical, Emotional and Spiritual strength from day to day.
Christian wives’ whose husbands and families need to be saved.
Weekly Adult English and Bible studies. (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings)
Weekly Bible study with Dr. Urayama (growth and strengthening in his Christian life)
Japanese language and culture study with the Marks
Sonoda’s health continues to be a daily battle but she has been pusing herself to attend on Sundays again. Now her mother is starting to have some cognitive issues and is in the hospital, so Mrs. Sonoda is having to go back and forth (3 hrs away). Please add her mother’s health and for extra strength for Mrs. Sonoda with this added responsibility.
For children to attend S.S.

Serving Christ Together, Ken & Vicki Mansell Just A Prayer At Night – Your evening is our daytime!

We attended a junior high and grade school field day event. They are unique in activities and the opportunities to talk to people and cheer students on. Here is a little bit of what we saw and did!