Jordan and Nitasha News

May 2023 Update

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor." - Isaiah 61:1

Dear Friends,

On Sunday, a Japanese lady shared her testimony with a few of us over some tea and cake after the Japanese service. It was a powerful testimony of how God has worked through her life and family, despite having no Christian community around her growing up! Hearing about how unlikely members of her family had their eyes open to the light of Jesus was truly encouraging (more on this in the Prayer Guide below).

As you know, we do our best to attend the Japanese service at Ealing Christian Centre once per month. And it’s in hearing stories like these that inspires hope and trust in what God has been and is doing in the hearts and lives of Japanese people.

At the Elim Missions Conference this month (1st-5th), we were also very encouraged in hearing the stories from many of our missionary brothers and sisters, who have been faithfully doing missions on the field for many years. We heard beautiful stories about how God is at work across the world, such as the rapidly growing church in Nepal that started several years ago with just one person, and we also heard a brilliant story of how a family, who by God’s divine hand, escaped the recent unspeakable conflict in Sudan.

The conference theme was all about being “Rooted & Established”. Attending the conference reminded us that our ministry on the mission field will be ‘rooted and established’ in our very unique and unusual story: about how Jesus brought us together, how he’s changed us for the better and the purpose he’s calling us to pursue. Thank you so much for praying for us and our time at the conference! We received prophetic words of encouragement for our new season, as well as practical and inspiring teaching and advice. We made loads of new friends and went away full.

The Elim Leaders Summit (8th-11th) was also a real joy! We caught up with old friends, attended the main teaching sessions (they were so good!) and loved the full-on worship from Elim Sound. Most of our time was taken up by meeting pastors from churches, or contacts we’d made so that we could share about our mission to Japan in-person and in detail. We were quite tired at the end of 2 weeks of conferences, and we both caught a bout of Covid, but don’t worry, we have fully recovered now! Our aim with those conversations was to inspire more churches and individuals to join us as partners in the mission. Would you please pray for this to become a reality and that we meet our fundraising goal? We still haven’t reached our fundraising goal yet and we need to soon.

But there is good news! This morning, we received an email that confirms the start of our overall visa application, beginning with the certificate of eligibility!!! Hooray ????! Pastor Aogu has been so patient with us in all the details, and in us asking him about the lawyer in Japan, so we have him to thank for initiating the process for our application. Please join us as we pray for God’s timing, favour and provision in all of this!

Prayer Guide: Ancestor Veneration

Mrs. Sato knelt in front of the butsudan, the Buddhist alter in her hoe. she lit incense, struck a bell, and prayed for her family. Then she turned toward her deceased mother’s photo to tell her about her grandchildren. Family alters have traditionally been the centre of religious ritual within Japanese home.

Japanese people’s relationship to their ancestors is complex and varied. Many want to express gratitude and respect, or commune with loved ones. they ask their ancestors for help, or pray for their ancestors’ souls. The relationship is usually understood to be reciprocal: the living take care of the dead and the dead take care of the living.

Pray for wisdom and compassion for pastors as they answer seeker's’ questions. Pray for freedom and peace in Christ for those who feel bound by fear or obligation to their ancestors.

The last few paragraphs were an excerpt taken from ‘Beneath The Surface: 30 Ways To Pray For Japan’. It was Produced in collaboration with over 35 missionaries and Japanese Christian leaders, from 17 organisations.

This month, we thank God for Jordan reaching this 34th birthday. We really enjoyed our time with family and friends over the weekend. We also thank God that you are on this journey with us - your personal texts and emails of encouragement go such a long way!

Thank you again for walking this journey with us! We believe that God will open His hands to us even more, in His timing.

Love and Mega Blessings from,

Rev. Jordan & Nitasha Christian