Andrea's 6th Newsletter for 2016

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Sep-Oct 2016 | Year 12 - Issue 6

Dear Praying Friends,

It is getting colder here in Japan and the air feels like Autumn is ascending in the Kanto Area. One month later, this email is a follow-up to my last newsletter which focused on the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering (YLG).

One would think that after the YLG I would have time to rest and recover, instead what followed were a few more intense weeks. Upon arriving back, a new Serve Asia worker stepping in to coordinate media and communications arrived. My grandfather also passed away and I needed to go home for a week to be with family. Straight after this I had to be in Singapore for Serve Asia Committee Meetings, followed by the OMF Joint Mobilizers and Coordinators Consultation (JMCC) and a few days after was my first experience of sitting in as a member of OMF's Global Vision Council.

UPDATES IN SUMMARY

1 - Serve Asia and Japan
2 - OMF Joint Mobilizers and Coordinators Consultation
3 - Global Vision Council

Photo: A new group of coordinators serving in the Serve Asia committee with me. They helped bring together a fruitful consultation this year with me and I am blessed by them.

1| Serve Asia and Japan. I've now been leading Serve Asia for 6 years and by God's grace we have a stronger community of coordinators as well as stable program globally.
+ Two years ago we began praying for someone to step in to help me with Social Media and Communications. Last August, Heather arrived as the answer to prayer. She is from the UK and has a professional background in e-commerce and social media. She came twice as a Serve Asia worker for children's programs and has come back to serve specifically through her skills and expertise. During the last two months God has been doing amazing things through her. Serve Asia now has a Facebook page and we can now also be followed on Twitter and Instagram. To be launched in two weeks will also be our dedicated page on the OMF website.

+ Serving here in Japan has also provided an opportunity for me to serve OMF Japan Field and Homesides. I have been working on restructuring how Serve Asia is run here in Japan to address capacity issues and make it more strategic to field needs and responsive to mobilization opportunities. I've also asked Heather to allocate some of her time to help OMF Japan Field and Homesides with her skills. Through the Serve Asia Facebook page we are also hoping to raise more awareness about Japan's needs and encourage prayer.

Dates for Prayer

28Oct-02Nov : parents visiting
09-11Nov : in Sapporo to train new Regional Coordinator for Japan
17Nov : meeting with OMF Japan Field Leadership Team about Serve Japan restructure, mobilization, and opportunities for Filipinos.
18-25Nov : Taking Holiday, also studying for ....
04Dec : Japanese Exam
15Dec : Heather returns to the UK

Projects for Prayer

Updating of the Serve Asia Manual - Implementation of new Serve Japan structure - 2 Serve Asia Videos - Launch of new Serve Asia webpage - new Serve Asia "tracks" to facilitate partnerships

2| Joint Mobilizers and Coordinators Consultation (JMCC). Putting together the JMCC, a consultation of around 100 OMF personnel alongside the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering, and with both events scheduled back to back was quite the adrenaline rush and not ideal but God knew and sustained. The theme of JMCC was the unfinished task of reaching many of East Asia's peoples with the Gospel of Jesus. This includes helping to pioneer work where there is no church, helping existing ministries and churches to persevere as well as building gospel partnerships.
+ One highlight for me was leading the session focused on partnership. I asked one of the participants who was also at the Lausanne YLG to to co-lead the session with me. At the YLG we met with Phil Butler, one of Lausanne leaders focused on partnership serving as a mentor and workshop facilitator. He helped us think through the session and along with another Lausanne Leader and consultant we were able to plan and think about how to model and facilitate discussions on partnership. The session on partnership went well and it was exciting to watch collaboration at work over challenges and opportunities faced as well as find solutions. .

+ Three days of the week long consultation was also time spent for focused groups to meet and consult. All the Serve Asia Coordinators had our own time together and it was an excellent time to be able to meet and regroup especially with majority of the coordinators being new to the role. Together we grappled with the challenge of capacity and a growing Serve Asia program. Together we affirmed our commitment to mission discipleship and our role in seeing Serve Asia strengthened as a strategic program.

+ Perhaps the highlight of the week for me was being able to see how far God has taken the Serve Asia program and how I could see leaders being raised within and through our community. I watched as one committee member initiated and facilitated a discussion of a sensitive issue during one of the evenings attended by leaders and personnel far ahead of him. I was also excited to see how as a program we were were grappling more with the challenge of follow-up and debriefing whereas only four years ago we were arguing about processing. We've moved beyond justifying the existence of Serve Asia as well and are united by a common vision and passion for discipleship. This we want to see - individuals, churches and communities mobilized and discipled to be intentionally involved in God's mission.

3| Global Vision Council. Mid September was also my first time sitting as a member of OMF's Global Vision Council (GVC). The GVC serves as the Fellowship's highest governance body. The council is composed of 10 members at least half of whom are non-OMF. I think I am the youngest in the council by at least a decade. Being invited to be part of the council was very humbling. Somehow, though I felt deeply inadequate, young and lacking experience, I felt God's prompting to say yes, burdened to serve as a voice for other Asian OMFers and those of my generation and younger.

The council meets twice a year and together we discuss key issues - global as well as internal. Based on these we give recommendations for the International Leadership Team composed of directors of the Fellowship. Evert meeting, we also discuss a missiological topic which affects OMF. For my first time sitting as a member the topic of focus so happened to be about our work amongst Muslims and our position on "insider movements". I marvel at God's timing and wisdom as my experiences 10 years ago serving amongst Muslims suddenly had to be dug up and shared.

I was also asked to lead devotion on the third day of devotion. As someone who does still continue to struggle about speaking in front of others, this was a stretching experience. I used a passage that spoke to me when I was in a very difficult situation serving in Indonesia. One of the members of the council commented after that I was very brave to share what I did and take off from a difficult passage. Truth is I was massively frightened as I shared, but I felt so much God's hand.

I sit as a member of the council for three years. I'm still uncertain why God has placed me on it and I have so much to learn. My desire is to serve and for God to use me to serve others in the Fellowship. I read documents and minutes that break my heart and I have shed tears overwhelmed by the brokenness that I get to know about. I have such deeper respect for mission leaders and pastors who have such a difficult job, deal with so much and I just do not know how they do it. As I see, hear, and learn more that my heart and mind cannot comprehend I am nevertheless driven to be in more awe of God's love and faithfulness.

With love and beneath His wings,
Andrea

FOR PRAYER ...
- continue to pray for someone to come serve as Serve Asia international training and program development coordinator.
- pray for protection and covering for me and Heather as we raise awareness about Serve Asia and Japan through social media and the web.
- I am facing many self-imposed deadlines for Serve Asia. Please pray that I finish what needs to be finished and set aside what can wait til next year.
- a month ago I needed to see a doctor due to lack of energy and shortness of breath. I found it hard to get out of bed and go up stairs. Blood tests revealed anemia despite iron levels being OK. I've been given medication and am being observed still. Please pray that I will not need further tests and my response to medication will be good and satisfy the doctor.
- David F., the OMF Japan Field Director, as well as a Japanese colleague has had to be confined in the hospital due to the need for more intense treatment for cancer. Please pray for them and their families. Many in the OMF Japan Field as well as loved ones are falling ill. Please pray for God's protection and covering.