David & Sue Verwey More about David & Sue Verwey

2018 June Prayer Letter

Dear Praying Friend,

The Lord blessed our 6-week tour of meetings and visits in the UK as we renewed friendships and made some new contacts. We drove about 8,000 km (5,000 miles) without a flat tire or any other incident! Praise the Lord! We left the UK greatly blessed and encouraged. The Lord has indeed answered your prayers for us. Thank you!

OVERWHELMING STATISTICS
As we shared with people in the UK about the work in Japan, we were once again forced to take a look at the bleak statistics of Christianity in Japan. Of a population of 126 million, about 0.05% claim to be protestant evangelical Christians (about 600,000 members). On any given Sunday, fewer than 300,000 people attend church in all of Japan. Many cities have no church. There is one church for every 16,000 people. There are 34% fewer missionaries at work in Japan today as compared to the 1980s!

Many mission agencies recognize the Japanese people as the second largest unreached group in the world. While traveling in the UK, we found that most people were unaware of the extent to which Japan has not been evangelized. Please pray that Christians all over the world would recognize this desperate need and be mobilized. Thank you for the way you continue to stand with us in the vital task of sharing the Gospel with the people of Japan!

MEDICAL ENGLISH
Although the statistics are dire, we continue to be greatly encouraged as we see the Lord moving in the hearts of those around us. Mark Bercero joined JM from the Philippines in February this year. He now travels to a number of churches to serve as an English Evangelism Teacher, to help those churches reach their communities for Christ. Many who would not normally attend church, come to learn English and make friends with a foreigner. Each class ends with a Bible Time and a time of fellowship over a cup of green tea.

The Lord is also using Mark in another wonderful way. Mark is a trained medical nurse and was able to teach Medical English to doctors in our area via the internet, while he was still living in the Philippines. Now that Mark is located in the Osaka area, these same doctors want to meet with him to once again learn Medical English. Please pray for Mark as he is uniquely gifted to befriend these doctors and share Christ with them!

When Mark shares his heart for this ministry, he often says that he feels called “to influence the influencers of society.” Pray for wisdom as we seek to partner with local churches to host Medical English classes in their communities.

GOD USED A GRANDSON TO COMFORT & SOW THE SEED
Workers of JM recently prayed for a student named Yoko, because her grown son was about to undergo brain surgery. As relatives gathered, his brother who was working overseas, flew his family in from the USA and stayed in a nearby hotel. We assured Yoko of our prayers during this time of great anxiety before the surgery.

It was during this time that Yoko’s four-year-old grandson, who was visiting from the USA and had evidently attended Sunday school, took the Gideon Bible in the hotel and placed it in his grandmother’s hand and said, “Grandma, we need to trust Jesus!”

The next week Yoko shared with great relief that the surgery was a success and that her son was recovering! She gave us a small gift and expressed her deep appreciation for our prayers. She then shared of how her grandson was such a great encouragement to her during this time. We were astonished to learn of how the Lord used this little boy to comfort and sow the seed in the heart of his grandma! Please pray that Yoko would receive the Lord as her personal Savior.

Despite the bleak statistics, we are full of hope and stand amazed at the many ways the Lord continues to work in the hearts of the people around us. He worked in the heart of a medical nurse to join JM from the Philippines and now many, including doctors, hear the Gospel each week. The Lord even moved a grandson’s heart to encourage his grandmother to ‘trust Him’! The Lord continues to use many from all walks of life to accomplish His special task. With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26).

It is wonderful to see how the Lord is answering your faithful prayers for us in remarkable ways. We are encouraged to know that you continue to stand with us as we press forward in this vital work to reach to Lost for Christ!

David and Sue Verwey
(On behalf of all the Verweys and the Japan Mission workers)