Dear <<First Name>>, Today, lives are on the line. You can help through prayer.
September 1st is traditionally known as the single deadliest day of the year for juvenile suicide.
Why? Because it's the first day back to school from summer break. Bullying and other social pressure is well documented in Japan as the most likely cause for suicide among students. After a brief respite during the summer break, some cannot bear the idea of returning to their tortuous classrooms.
Will you take just one minute to pray against this evil that has plagued Japan?
Despite positive reports of the decreasing suicide rates in Japan, juvenile suicide rates continue to increase. 2017 saw the highest number in 30 years, and now in 2020, it topped the record, with 479 children ending their lives, the most since recording began in 1980.
Horribly, the overall suicide rate increased last year after a decade of decline.
We believe that more than any other resource, the Church of Jesus Christ is best equipped to fight this spiritual battle waged in the minds of our young people. That's why ministries such as Choose Life have emerged out of the vision that PAZ Church has to see Japan transformed by the glorious grace of our God. The data doesn't lie, people are searching for answers. We as the church pray that we will get to them before all hope is lost.
Your partnership is establishing a Christian presence in Japan that will produce more and more testimonies like Miwa's. One of our worship leaders, Miwa, tried to kill herself once. You can watch her transformation story here.
Let's pray for the workers who labor here, the volunteers for our Choose Life ministry, the feet that carry the good news to the people who live and work in their neighborhoods. May their gospel message cut through the darkness and bring the light of LIFE in Jesus to the many who suffer and hurt.
Thank you for taking a moment! And thank you for being a part of God's work in Japan through us!
Expectantly,
John, for our family and the PAZ team
PS - Fellow PAZ missionary Seth Quant recently summed up our 2021 progress in some bullet points, which I believe are worth sharing. These are wins that we can celebrate together.
Choose Life 2021 Wins:
- Choose Life upgraded to a new omnichannel chat system called Echo Global on April 26th, which allows us to simultaneously answer live chats, emails, and Line messages (Line is the primary smartphone messaging platform in Japan)
- Since upgrading on April 26th, we have received 1402 individual incoming messages from 12 countries
- In the same period we had 34 spiritual conversations, and 1 confession of faith
- Choose Life volunteers have served online more than 350 hours this year alone
- In 2021, 2287 people visited our Choose Life Website
- We have seen 32,600 impressions in 2021 on our Choose Life Google Ads
- On Tuesday, March 9th at 10 am, our leaders Junko and Miwa started our first women’s Life Group. This recovery focused, long term discipleship group has been meeting every week since then
- Plans are in place to start a training program for new women's Life Group leaders on Sept. 16
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