When COVID Shut Down School, Japanese Kindergartner "Especially Missed Praying"
A church-run kindergarten in Japan held a belated birthday party to celebrate April birthdays due to COVID-19. Most of the families are not Christians. At the party, the parents took turns saying kind things about their children in front of the group and sharing ways they have grown over the last year.
One mother, who is not a Christian, said that during the school shutdown her son was sad to not be able to go to school. He especially missed praying. He asked his mom if they could start praying together at night. She said she didn’t know what to do, so they just talked to God like they would talk to a friend. They told Him the good things about their day and thanked Him, and they told Him the hard things about their day and asked for help. The mom said she wasn’t sure if she was doing it right, but she thought it was a good thing to do together. This family still doesn’t know Jesus, but this is a huge step in Japanese culture where Christianity is often “caught” before it is “taught.”
Please pray for this boy and his mother to come to saving faith as they pour out their hearts to God.
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SEE MOREPray for Japan in the wake of the Sea of Japan earthquake, that God would bring comfort and healing to those impacted, and that He would use it to draw people to Himself.
Pray for believers in Tokyo, Japan, to grow in their faith, and pray for their loved ones to come to know Christ.
Pray that Japan would open its doors to new and returning missionaries in the wake of COVID-19. Many missionaries are eager and ready to go once the borders reopen.
Pray for MTW Japan as they grow and expand, transitioning some churches to new leadership and planting in new areas.
Pray for children in Japan who are attending Christian school and influencing their families for Jesus.
Pray for the U.S. church to send workers to Japan where less than 0.5% of people are Christians.
Pray for the Japanese people, particularly that they would see that the beauty within brokenness—a very Japanese concept—is also a core message of the gospel.
Pray that God would use our Japan teams to open the hearts of the Japanese to God’s presence and love for them.
Pray for Tim Mills (Thailand), Abi Lowther & Roger Lowther (Japan), Joe Congdon (Japan), and Shannon Hinkle (Australia) as they all use their artistic gifts to support the Church in gospel outreach, mercy ministry, and community building.
Pray for a Japanese student who is eager to believe, but still skeptical and asking a lot of really good questions.
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