Jordan and Nitasha News

December 2022 Update

Christmas 2022: “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

To our prayer and financial partners,

We just wanted to say Happy Christmas (though it was yesterday) and an exciting New Year for you all, as we approach the years’ end. We are truly thankful for the month and year that we’ve had. Wedding Hair clients have slowed down for Nitasha, though we expect things to pick up right after Christmas (you can hire or recommend Nitasha’s services via Hitched or the website). Jordan has ceased all music production over the holidays but will also resume in the New Year (you can hire or recommend Jordan’s services via SoundBetter).

Our Christmas will be spent visiting family and friends in the UK, as we anticipate it being our last Christmas here for some years to come. We truly hope this holiday season is filled with good times and meaningful moments, spent with family and friends alike. Thank you so much for your partnership so far!! WE CAN’T do this without you! Every prayer said, story shared and financial contribution given has and will contribute to the mission and calling God has for us in Japan with Elim Missions.

Since October, we’ve been met with the question “how come you guys are still here?” so often, especially in the last month, which is a valid question. However, we now feel at peace being here as there is still so much to prepare practically and spiritually, and there a few people we still feel God has given us an assignment to minister to. At the very beginning of the month, we had the privilege of hosting the new Youth Pastor at BCC in our home so we could pray for him and encourage him in his new position. All of us felt as though the baton had been passed on, and that Jesus was present. Linford is a fantastic man of God who has a heart for young people and a humble heart. For those at BCC, we ask that you would continue to support and pray for Linford just as you did for us.

We recently received some good news, and those of you who watched our latest YouTube update will already know the following information. The good news is that we’ve been invited by Elim Ireland to attend a 9-day tour of some of the churches in February, where we will be speaking about and be interviewed on the Japan mission. They have sent us some of the details already and Elim Ireland have kindly asked to handle all the accommodation for us, so all we need to do is organise our travel. We’ve never been to Ireland before, so we are really looking forward to seeing the sights and seeing God at work in the hearts of those who receive us. Please pray that these meetings and talks will be God-inspired to the point of successful vision casting and fundraising.

Last Monday, we were scheduled to make our first visit to the Japanese Embassy in London in order to enquire about the timeline of a visa application. We needed to do this in order to set a leaving date - for ourselves and those who support us - as to when we as missionaries will leave for Japan. Sadly, we didn’t make the appointment because Nitasha was unwell with the Flu. But all isn’t lost! After a few hours of online research, we learned that it can take about 6 months to obtain a visa (up to 4 months for Certificate of Eligibility, and 5-7 days for the visa). We will be having a meeting with Elim Missions UK in January to discuss the timeline, church planting strategy and visa application, which hopefully leads to an official leaving date in June 2023! Please pray that this very important meeting leads to a date being set and our fundraising goal being met.

And because your prayers need some specificity, here are some dates for our January:

• January 9th - Meeting with Elim Missions at the Elim International Centre.
• January 11th - Meeting with local Elim church pastor regarding fundraising from within that church.
• Starting Jan 22nd - Jordan will be offering his help with the youth work of another local Elim church on certain Sundays until March 2023.

Visiting Elim churches to preach and share about the mission has been our aim since leaving BCC, but we haven’t had many invites until very recently, as you can tell. But we are really hoping to develop a much closer relationship to another Elim Church called Ealing Christian Centre. ECC plays host to a regular Japanese congregation - in London, locally and in Tokyo, virtually - and its pastors Rev. Aogu and Chisato Tateyama, are the ones who we’ll be working with in their church plant in Tokyo. Over the next 6 months we endeavour to visit them in London much more regularly in order to develop relationships with those who might receive us in Japan next year. Please pray for the opportunity and finance to do this! These relationships are important for our effectiveness in ministry and understanding Japanese culture. There are also another 3 non-Elim churches who would like to support the mission and vision in Japan, so thank you so much for your prayers regarding this!

We appreciate all you’ve been for us in our transition from full-time church pastoring into full-time missionaries over this past 6 months. We’d love to hear from you on how you’re doing, so feel free to contact us using the numbers you have for us or this email address.

We are so glad to still be meeting up with so many of you before we leave. As we now have a leaving date, we will do our best to connect with you all, whilst preparing practically for the move. As always, reach out whenever you can because we’d love to hear from you!

Thank you again for walking this journey with us!

Love and Mega Blessings from,

Rev. Jordan & Nitasha Christian