Current Events and Updates of the Ministry

Let me begin this blog with a heartfelt thank you to each one who sent a personal letter of condolence to Theresa and me following the death of my father. I apologize to those of you who did not receive an acknowledgement from me. It certainly was not for lack of appreciation or gratitude. Life just gets crazy at times.

I greet you from Fukuyama, Japan where Theresa and I have spent the last six weeks with our children, Dustin and Laura Reimer and their family. Laura was expecting their third child, a little girl, and they asked us if we would consider coming to Japan to help out with their very energetic two and five year old boys while she was having the baby, and later with their new little daughter. Dustin is teaching English with the JET Program (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program) in Fukuyama, and as such was unable to be a stay-at-home dad over this time.

It was a privilege for us to accept the invitation and request. However, we are finding out

a little truth of life first hand; there is a very good reason that God gives most of us our children while we are in our twenties and thirties rather than in our fifties. Ones energy level in running after an active two and five year old just isn’t up to snuff any more when the very act of getting out of bed in the morning requires the readjusting of aching bones. But it has gone well, and it was a blessing to be a part of this wonderful time in Dustin and Laura’s life, and to help out a bit with the boys.

Rosemary Blythe Reimer, our beautiful granddaughter, was born on June 5, 2013 at 9:25 Japan time to her proud parents Dustin and Laura Reimer and her big brothers Theodore and William.

Since we were to be on the eastern side of the big Pacific pond it seemed like a shame not to “hop” on over to China and visit James and Jessica and the boys as well while we were here. James and Jessica, as many of you will know, are working with an organization that allows them to work across various areas of eastern Asia. After their sudden forced return to Canada in July 2010, and Jessica’s subsequent miraculous healing, they have returned to Beijing in February of this year, where they are once again serving in almost the same capacity (albeit, somewhat expanded) that they were before.

Theresa and I will be leaving Laura and Dustin’s place in Fukuyama early tomorrow morning and heading by shinkansen train (also called the “bullet train”) to the western side of their island to a port town called Shimonoseki. There we will be catching the ferry to China (the proverbial “slow boat to China”). We are planning on being with James, Jessica and the boys for two weeks before we fly back to Winnipeg, and then drive back to Mexico where we plan on arriving around the first part of August.

We have had a wonderful time in Japan. It is a country of beautiful green mountains, gentle and courteous people, and good food. It is also a land where the vast majority of people are completely secular and where somewhere around 63% of the population declares themselves as agnostic/atheist, 26% as Buddhist, 2% as Shintoists, and less than 1% as Christian. However, from what I have read, stating that even less than 1% are Christian is being very generous. Also, this figure encompasses anything that in any vague way accepts Jesus in their religion in some form or other, and certainly does not necessarily mean that they have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We have met some wonderful, godly men and women here. Both national Japanese as

well as a number of people who moved to Japan specifically to be a witness for Jesus here in this nation. Laura and Dustin are involved in a small, wonderfully warm Christian fellowship close to their home. We have had the privilege of getting to know some of the brothers and sisters over the past weeks, and will leave a big part of our heart here with them.

Still, there is the need for so much more of Jesus here in this nation. As God moves your heart to remember the Body of Jesus here in Japan, please pray for them. Pray that the Holy Spirit will break through the secularism and spiritual vacuum that is so evident here, and that he will bring a hunger and thirst for truth and for a relationship with himself that no substitute can bring, either false religions, or secularism and prosperity. Also, please remember to pray for the believers here in the city of Fukuyama – specifically those who fellowship together under the name Fukuyama New Life Church. Theresa and I have learned to love and appreciate these lovely brothers and sisters.

We have been receiving very good news from the work in Mexico while we have been gone. Janny wrote recently that the Project L.A.M.B.S. courses began in Monterrey on the 15^th of June and that several other teachers besides Janny and her husband Mario will be leading the work there.

She also wrote that the probability of the Bible Institute moving via extension to Rio Verde is also moving closer to becoming reality, and that they are in communication with the alliance of pastors there with whom this work would begin.

One troubling need though, is for finances to drill a well on the Training Center farm site. We have discovered water on the land – an extreme necessity if the site is to be developed, and something that will make the property much more valuable since water will allow for the development of the school and housing, as well as for irrigation of the farm. We have had a major setback this year because of the drop in value of sugarcane in Mexico (as you will remember from a previous blog entry). This means that the money that we had been planning on using for the development of a well has vanished into thin air because the value of our crop dropped way below what we were planning for. The well drilling crew is in our area now, and if we are to get a well drilled we do need to do it now. However, we need roughly $4,000.00 dollars to do so. We thought that this could be done with the money from the harvest. However, I just found out that not only will we probably not receive the second payment from the cane processors, but we may even owe them money now because they paid out at too high a rate on the estimates on the first payment earlier this year. This is not only a blow for us, but leaves us wondering what God wants us to do now.

If you feel that you want to assist with this specific need then we certainly would

appreciate your help. Any gifts from U.S. donors for this need can be sent as normal through the regular channels (ie., check made out to “NewSong Church” in Grove, Oklahoma and simply earmarked for VitW Ministries – well project), and the gift will be tax receipted.

For Canadian givers it gets to be a little trickier. Any Canadian donations specifically for the drilling of the well cannot be tax receipted, and will need to simply be sent without the benefit for you of receiving a tax benefit. Still, the need is great. We desperately need water on the land. If you desire to help, God will bless your giving, even if Revenue Canada will not.

I must close. Two year old William is getting “antsy” and is running amuck. He needs lunch and his nap before he tears the place apart. Theo will be returning from preschool soon and will need to be picked up at the bus drop off spot. And amidst all of this, we do need to finish packing so that we can catch the train in the morning for the coast and then off to China.

Thank you for your friendship and prayers.

With all of our love,

Steven and Theresa

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013 at 9:16 am and is filed under VitW Blog.