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Nozomi's grandfather passed away in the beginning weeks of October. We believe God gave him the gift of salvation before he passed. One sign of this is that he asked for a Christian funeral service. Pray for Nozomi's extended family, we love them and we pray that they may have the hope and joy that only a relationship with their Creator can bring.
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November/December 2018
Highlights and Answered Prayers
<<Salutation>>
It's only been two months but so much has happened I don't think I can share it all in a short update email. But I'll try to be short and cover the highlights. Thank you so much for your prayers. God directly answered multiple requests from our last update.
First off, we went to the immigration office and received my new resident card without any "scares." It only took about 15 minutes. We are happy God answered our and your prayers for another year of serving Him here in Japan.
Nozomi miraculously passed her second attempt at the driving test. It's a long story, but essentially the tester had marked numerous mistakes all over the map as she drove the course. He sat there afterward for an uncomfortable amount of time making "thinking" noises. Then he turned to Nozomi and said, "I guess I'll pass you since you tried really hard." God is good. We both now have our Japanese DL's! Thank you for all your prayers in this matter.
Thank you for praying for my Japanese studies. I'm still steadily moving along in learning Japanese. Please pray for me as I'm getting into a little more complex Japanese and it's taking much more time just to retain the vocabulary and grammar concepts. Pray for Nozomi and the kids as, of course, this affects the amount of time I have to spend with them. I can definitely see how Japanese language study would be seriously affected by being in full-time ministry.
A few prayer requests:
All of us, except Nozomi, are suffering with Whooping Cough right now. It's no longer in the contagious stage, but I've read that this nasty cough continues for about 3 to 4 months. We are only about halfway through at the 2-month mark. We're all struggling to sleep at night with the coughing spells that just suddenly come. For the kids, this usually results in throwing up. For me, it just means I'm falling asleep in Japanese lessons (which is really embarrassing since I take private lessons).
Keep praying for the kids. Their greatest need is for God to use the Gospel in their hearts. They need a relationship with God. I can see God working a tenderness to spiritual things in their lives.
We need to find a doctor who does Optometric Vision Therapy for Kensei. From our research, we are convinced surgery will not be a viable permanent fix for him and OVT is the best option for Kensei future. If we cannot find such a doctor here one of us might fly to the States for a week for special training to do the therapy at home. Of course, flying to the States is the most expensive option and we hope we can find an Optometrist here.
We will be visiting a few churches in the next couple weeks. One, in particular, may result in some Gospel-centered partners in church-planting here.
We are still praying for Gospel-centered Christian friends and fellowship. That being said, we have multiple non-Christian Japanese who have invited us to dinner or just to hang out. Pray we can be good friends and let them know of the hope that is in us, because of God's mercy and love.
Pray for us as we pray about where God would have us begin planting a church. We are still praying about possibly planting an international church here in the West Makuhari area. Pray for God to give us wisdom as we seek His guidance for the next steps to take once my full-time Japanese language studies are finished.
Here's a link to our video about the need in Japan and here's a link to our website. You can become a support partner on our website by clicking on the "support" button (or just click here) and signing up with a monthly pledge. If you would like to increase your monthly pledge amount, the easiest way is to call our mission board at 603-821-5232 so they can adjust your pledge amount over the phone. Let your friends know about our ministry by sharing our video or website on Facebook.
Thank you for your love and care for us. It is an honor to be working together with you to take the Gospel to the many lost in Japan.
Love,
Jared M. Vanning
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For those of you praying for my Japanese studies, this is a picture of the board after one of my recent lessons. I'm so thankful for patient and kind teachers.
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Taishi and I had the chance to go to the local professional baseball game with a Japanese family. We cheered for the local Chiba Marines, got wet from a typhoon, and became friends with the Obuchis. Pray we can be good friends and lovingly share the hope of the Gospel with Mr. Obuchi.
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