September Prayer Letter

I have decided to upload my prayer letter. here it is!!
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Dear Praying Friends

It was a joy to have met many of you during my stay in the UK, and it is a joy to be able to write this letter to you, reminding myself of all those who are praying for me.
There are three things I would like to share: first a report on my stay in the UK, then about my current situation and finally, some personal matters. I hope this will inform and guide your prayers.


My stay in UK (April-July)
It was about 2 weeks after the great earthquake and tsunami of north Japan when I arrived at Heathrow. The reason for my return was simply “to make known the great spiritual need in Japan so that more might pray for that land”.

With this aim in mind, I went around sharing about Japan's recent earthquake, and Japan's spiritual apathy. With only 0.2% of Japanese regularly attending a Bible-believing church and with so few who have heard the gospel, Japan is not ready for Christ's return nor are her people ready to face death. They need that sure escape, which is found only in Christ. They need the gospel.

What I found as I went around was that many were already praying for Japan because of the great disaster that hit that land. Seeing people’s interest and their earnest prayer brought encouragement to my heart. Though Japan might have faded from the news, I would like to ask you, please do continue to pray for Japan. The north is still far from recovery and, as I have already mentioned, the nation as a whole is in desperate need of the gospel.

My time spent in Britain was refreshing and encouraging and I would like to thank all of you who showed your support and welcome. And if I was not able to meet you this time, I'm sorry we couldn't meet but I hope to see you next time.


Current Situation
I returned to Japan on 21st July, and resumed my role at Hiratsuka Church. My aim is “to make Christ known to the Japanese people through evangelism and by motivating the church”.

With my own lack of experience, and with little existing evangelism, I have not been sure quite where to start. But I hope to be reaching out to people one by one, and also to encourage and equip our church members to share the gospel with those around them.

So, what am I up to?

- I preach once a month on a Sunday evening when about 5-10 people come (most come in the morning). I am currently going through the “I am” statements of Christ. My hope is that we might be reminded of who Christ is and together be challenged to go out and share Him.

- Once a month I also lead the Bible study at the weekly Wednesday evening prayer meetings, where we are looking at Romans. It is my hope that we might be reminded of our sinful state, and of God’s immense grace and, through that, be united to proclaim God's glory.

- I am currently planning a Christianity Explored course to be held twice a month for the young adults. We aim to start at the end of October. As there is no Japanese version, I am translating the material and doing the talk myself. There are a few youngsters I have in mind whom I hope will come to it. Please pray they will come, that I would present the gospel clearly and that we would have good discussions that lead them to faith in Christ.

- I am preparing to restart of the Quest English club. We had 6 children attending in the past, of whom 3 are from non-churched families. Please pray these children will return to the club, that more might be added to their number and that the gospel might be clearly presented to them.

- Every Sunday afternoon three of us lead a youth meeting at which we are going through the gospel. Three in their teens and three in the twenties come regularly, all are from Christian families. Please pray that they might make personal commitments to the Lord, and that they too may be challenged to share Him with those around them.

- Other than this, I lead various different church meetings and also do some office work.

As you see, I haven't started doing much evangelism yet. Please pray for me as I begin these outreach ventures as I feel a lack of wisdom and experience. Pray too that church members will be encouraged and challenged to be part of these things. My hope is that they will take ownership of them rather than seeing them as “Tim's work”, as I feel they sometimes do.

Every Wednesday I meet with the pastor, Rev Koji Yamaguchi, to talk and pray together. Please pray that we might have a united vision for the church, know the Lord’s will for this church and that our fellowship with one another would deepen.


Personal Matters
Following our engagement party in London at the end of April, my fiancée Ai and I are currently preparing for our wedding, to be held very soon, on 17th September at Tokyo Baptist Church.

For you who don't know, Ai (pronounced like “I” or “eye”) works in Tokyo at the Japan Swimming Federation, and is a member of Tokyo Baptist Church. She will continue with her job to help finance us for now but, as Tokyo is a long way away (over 3 hours round trip) and as there is much to do at Hiratsuka Church, she is praying for the Lords guidance.

Please remember us as a couple, both now as we prepare for the big day, and for our new life together thereafter. We have a blog where we plan to post regular updates, including our wedding photos, so please take a look at www.timandai.blogspot.com

Thank you again for all your prayers

Tim Williams