Christmas Service

Greetings all! Thank you so much for praying for the Christmas meeting. We had 11 Japanese attend in all, 19 folks if you include my family. Things went pretty smoothly. I think the movie, which played with no real interruptions, was used of the Lord to speak to hearts about their need for salvation. Not much was said about it afterwards, but I could tell people were pretty thoughful about what they heard. I think it was the first time for some of these to hear the Gospel. For some it may have only been their second time to hear anything about the Gospel. So, I would ask of you now to please pray specifically for some folks that came:

• Mrs. Yamazaki - a hairdresser. We were pleasantly surpised that she came!
• Mrs. Atsumi - a neighbor that lives behind us that works at the nursing home in front of our house. We were pleasantly surpised that she came, too!
• Chisato - a teenager, the granddaughter of our neighbor. She came last year.
• Natsumi Konoh - 16 years old, she came last year, too.
• Mizuki Konoh - 10 years old, he wanted to come last year but was sick. He is my English student. First time attending.
• Tomoki Konoh - 14 years old and a first time attender.

All three Konoh's are from the same family. Their dad is on the school board and asked me about two months ago to assist in the English program in the elementary schools here next year. I accepted! An open door to opportunity. Praise the Lord!

Victoria and Abigail with Chisato and Natsumi:







Mrs. Yamazaki with our church member Mrs. Nishio. They had a lot of fun playing with Zebulun:







Mrs. Nishio and Tanya and the kids were a huge help! I greatly appreciate them and all they do.

Please pray as we try to follow up on these folks and try to reach others as well.

Tomorrow, we are having Mr. and Mrs. Kondo over for lunch. She is my English student and he is a nearby dentist. She will be making sushi and Tanya has prepared oven fried chicken. Please pray that we can plant some Gospel seed.

Lord bless and Merry Christmas,
Alan Minks and family
Gal. 2:20













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Please pray - Christmas Meeting

Please pray for our special Christmas Meeting!

Sunday 5pm we will have our Christmas meeting. We will be having congregational singing, a movie, and a meal. Please pray for the Gospel seed to take effect in people's hearts!

The movie wil be:

Kentaro's Atonement (the Japanese version of course! :) )

As Kentaro’s delinquency progresses from lying to stealing to violence, his Christian Grandmother uses stories and the threat of punishment to reason with Kentaro concerning his real problem, his rejection of and separation from God. When the ultimate consequence is the threat of an ancient Japanese punishment, in a surprise twist, the now penitent young lad understands for the first time God’s sacrifice for him in Kentaro’s Atonement.

We got a new church sign!

We praise the Lord that we were able to purchase a church sign! We had been without one. It reads "Shepherd Baptist Church."

Ministry Update

Zebulun meeting new people

A view from our home and church

We posted some ministry needs and info. on our newly overhauled web page! Please take a look!

Click: www.minksfamily.com

Bike Ride

The girls are pictured here on the Naka Shibetsu Bridge about 1 km from our house. Dad, Victoria, and Abigail took advantage of the nice Spring weather by going on a bike ride!

Zebulun is here!

On Sunday, March 22nd at 4:22 AM, Zebulun Leon Minks decided to arrive in this world! He was 8 lbs. 8 oz. and 20 inches long with plenty of brown hair. Now is 3 weeks old and still doing fine... and Mom, too! He is a blessing to us and we are thankful to the Lord for giving him to us. Thank you all for praying!

Click: Zebulun's first pictures!

Church Office

Well, the church office is nearing completion. Yeah! I will be glad to get moved in to the new office area and get organized. I am looking forward to it. This room...yea, this building, has been basically rebuilt piece by piece, little by little. So, even though I need to wallpaper, put down the flooring, and put the door on... that is practically done to me! Ha! A few days left, not months! It is good to finally be near done. My prayer is that this space, along with the rest of the building, be used by God for His glory!

Here is a picture of the office when we first bought the building: (Bad roof, foundation, smoker used, leaks, bee hive, hornets nest, smelly, etc., etc.):