Prayer Letter
February 2009
Dear Prayer
Warriors,
Opening the New Year was the privilege I had to challenge the
churches in the Kansai area with a “New Surge into Next Towns”
for church growth and expansion. The meeting was to kick off the
New Year and was held in the new church facilities of the
TAKATSUKI BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH,
George King the
pastor. What a thrill to see the unity and zeal among the
churches and people! George needs our prayers as his heart is
giving him trouble and the rest of us facing scary times. He was
recently hospitalized.
Closing out last year was the visit to Uganda long in planning
with Pastor Hideki Oki.
He is Missions Director of JBBF and Pastor of
TAKIYAMA BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH.
Our missionaries there are KAZUHIKO
& NOZOMI SATO. We had a
Birthday Party Celebration for Jesus in Africa!
And what a celebration it was with 6 churches coming together
for the fellowship meeting to also celebrate the 6th Anniversary
of the KAKOBA BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH.
The Satos are in their 12th year and have done a fabulous job
reaching out “into next towns” from their base church! The
continuous “jolts” over the horrendous roads out to the two
towns in the bushes, where Sato has established churches in mud
huts, brought back memories of post WW2 Japan! I will have
the Uganda Visitation report posted here on my web site soon.
There is a link at the bottom of this letter for you to download
a PDF version of it now.
Clara was like a spiritual grandmother to Bro. Sato, mentoring
him back to church after he got away from the Lord in high
school days. Bro. Oki had led him to the Lord.
Nozomi is the
daughter of Pastor and Mrs NOH, and surrendered to become a
missionary at the Funeral of my first wife
EVELYN. This year is the
20th anniversary of
her call home to glory! For all of these reasons this trip was
deeply meaningful to all. Bro. Sato’s report is attached. We had
at least 4 decisions for salvation. I just talked to Nozomi on
Skype and she said all those who came to the altar asking God’s
help to “reach out”
are doing just that: bringing new people to church! Nozomi broke
down and wept when we arrived. The mission field can be a lonely
place for a missionary, especially for a mother and wife even
among the teeming millions!
Last week I was in the HIRATSUKA
BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH for their Missions Sunday
when Mt. Asama blew its top up in the Japan Alps where we have
the Miyota Church, the Bible College and Campsite. No one was
hurt and I was safely far away challenging this young very
fruitful pastor and church to set their sights on reaching out
to the Next Town & Beyond! Pastor
Mitani and church are an extension church out of
the Yokohama B.B.C.
In closing, let me share a ‘bombshell blessing’ the Lord gave me
suddenly last year. The US military has hired and brought
my daughter JERUSHA
to teach high school at YOKOTA Air Base here in Tokyo. This is
a BIG BOOST for me to have one of my own near me
while I am coping with Clara’s Alzheimer’s illness and carrying
on in ministry, too. Clara
is still doing well physically but I
see signs of decline. God has always been so good
to meet my need in every crisis. This is just another one of
those extra big blessings that God has bestowed upon me over the
years.
Again, I thank you so much for your big part in my life and our
ministry together! Thank you again for praying for me in this
difficult time. God heard your prayers.
Lavern & Clara Rodgers
New Email:
lavern.f.rodgers@googlemail.com
Urgent P.S. Today (Monday, February 9),
Clara fell and broke her hip. The doctors here in Miyota have
scheduled an emergency operation for tomorrow at noon (Japan
time) to repair and replace the parts that were broken off. We
would appreciate your thoughts and prayers as Clara is operated
on, and that God would guide the doctors with wisdom for a
successful operation and rehabilitation so that she can recover
from this injury. Thank you for your prayers.
P.P.S. With this injury concerning Clara, I find it necessary to
postpone any more deputation until at which time I feel it is
wise to leave her side and the caring hands here in Japan.
Download PDF formatted
Uganda Visitation Report
(2.7 Mb)
Click
here to download
this letter in MS Word Format (47kb)
