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明けましておめでとうございます！

Happy 30th birthday to me

Who’s laughing? I can hear it across the seas. Okay, so in December I hit the 59 earthly years mark. But, on 21st January 2020 I celebrated my 30th year in Christ. What an amazing life it has been.

That day, on 21st January 1990, in a conference room at Toyota Financial Services in Torrance, California my life forever changed. Thank you, Jackie Priestley, for your obedience to God’s voice and for knowing it was time for me to “give up the ghost and surrender my life to Jesus.”

Now, 30 years later, Jackie is still inspiring me in my walk with Jesus. In fact, she recently aired a two-part “personal Bible study” lesson on HSBN.tv and had her friend Ikuko translate it into Japanese just so I can share it with my Japanese friends, students and colleagues.

I shared it immediately with my dear sister, Makiko-san, who I was staying with and celebrating our birthdays and the New Year together. It inspired her to go deeper with Jesus and grow in her relationship with Him, instead of just “reading my Bible” like a duty every day. I also shared The Chosen: Season 1 with Makiko. “In my 40 years as a Christian, I have never known Jesus like this.” This is a new beginning for Makiko-san. Please pray for her to grow in grace and experience the joy of knowing God’s love intimately.

As 2020 begins, it is “the year of the rat” (mouse in Japan). That is my birth year. It reminds me that life has many re-starts. 2019 was my “year of healing” and this year will be a “year of yielding”. Yielding to serving God with what is in front of me. Yielding to the will of God in His direction for what He wants me to do next. Yielding to His Spirit to lead, guide and provide.

Celebrating New Year`s dinner with Makiko-san

There and back again… time in Aotearoa In late November, early December I enjoyed a visit to New Zealand for three weeks. I did a lot of driving and visited staff, alumni, supporters and students in many cities. The purpose of this trip had many layers. I had a wonderful time at our ISMNZ 20th Anniversary Kick-off Celebration in Wellington. It was like diving into the pool at the deep end, immersing once again in this amazing ministry amongst like-minded and like-hearted people. It never ceases to amaze me how being one in Christ unites people from so many languages and nations.

It was encouraging to see our ISMNZ workers continuing to grow in their passion for the students and finding fresh vision for their ministry. I enjoyed spending time with staff, no longer as their ‘boss’ but as their sister and friend. Even though ISMNZ is small organization, it is a complex mission spread throughout the country, led by missionaries from several different nations. Please pray for the national leadership as they seek the Lord for His direction over the next 20 years.

God blessed the trip and I marvel at how many people I was able to spend time with in only three weeks. There were joyful moments, and moments of tears and deep sharing. I am so privileged and humbled to be used by the Lord to care for so many of His precious people (and receive care from them too). I always say “I could never be a nurse because I’m not wired that way” (I pass out a the sight of blood)… but God reminded me that there are wounds of the heart in people, and our role is to graciously love, minister His words of life, and tenderly care for them.

I am also grateful for my Kingston Community Church family. Neil and Jean Crawford, the couple that took me in when I moved to NZ in 2003 (after I broke my ankle in week 3), once again hosted my stay in Palmy. It was a special homecoming. The pastoral/elder team at church met with me and are taking extra steps to provide pastoral care and mentoring for me while I complete my time in Japan and transition to whatever God has next. I met with heaps of brothers and sisters from the church for talks and walks and meals… even got some cricket lessons from two of the kids (thank you Sophie and Dara).

ISMNZ 20th Anniversary

Christmastime in JapanFlying into Tokyo after my visit to New Zealand was like stepping into a winter wonderland. The city

was illuminated with sparkling lights everywhere. And it was COLD! But my time was warmed up as I reconnected Momo, our first reunion since she graduated from IPU four years ago. It was so good to spend time with her and explore the city together. Please pray for her, that God’s light would flood her heart and she would meet some followers of Jesus near where she lives in Gunma.

On the town with Momo-chan… even experienced the HUGE Starbucks Brewery together.

I was also able to treat La Casa de Cashmere high-school homestay daughter, Natsumi, to a day at Disney Sea. It is hard to believe that she will be graduating from University in March and beginning her career as an elementary school teacher in April. She is an accomplished young lady. Pray for her, that God would direct her steps to a good school and that she too would meet some kind followers of Jesus in Ibaraki area.

Back in Izumo in time to help with the Christmas party for the children (and moms) from Nozomi’s English Classes. Had a great time sharing about “Christmas in New Zealand” and teaching them about the real meaning of “Christmas”: Christ = kirisuto and Mas = reihai (worship/celebrate). In Japan they do a phonetic translation of the word: kurisumasu, which means nothing. So I shared Christmas was started to celebrate the birth of Jesus! Happy Birthday Jesus! And of course, you cannot have Christmas in the Kusunoki + Mills orbit unless you watch ELF! We ended the day that way. ☺

Minami Chapel Sunday before Christmas is always special, with the Kid’s “Praise Club” playing songs on the bells during service. Everyone enjoyed a fellowship lunch afterwards.

Our Wednesday night small group hosted an international Christmas dinner at the local community centre. It was a great mix of people –Ethiopian, Korean, Japanese, Nepalese, Ameri-Kiwi… it was a warm atmosphere and two young men were able to have great spiritual conversations with our pastor, Sato-sensei. It was encouraging for him and it was the first time they talked about Jesus or the Bible. Praise the Lord!

Praise & Prayer• Thank you for praying for my visit to New Zealand. It was good to be home and spend time with

so many dear friends, alumni, supporters and students. Please continue to pray for ISMNZ as we begin our 20th year of ministry amongst international students. The harvest is still plentiful and the labourers are still few. We pray for God to raise up the next generation of workers to join our teams throughout New Zealand.

• Please continue to pray for our ISMNZ Operations Manager, dear brother Sione, as he undergoes intense treatment for the coming weeks. Pray for healing, for the right treatments, and for rest. Pray for God’s grace and strength to keep his family in peace, and that there would continue to be a flow of encouragers caring for them during this time.

• Praise God for the wonderful time with Makiko-san after Christmas until early January. She is growing deeper into God’s word and closer to Jesus than ever before. Pray that God will bless her friendships and also help her continue to be a light to the many young students she teaches English for.

• Our discipleship group continues to meet on Wednesday nights as we read through Philippians and encourage one another. Pray that we will grow deeper in God’s word and that we can serve others as a result of our time together.

• I will be in Colorado from 17th Feb – 6 March, and California from 6-31 March visiting supporters, friends and family. Please pray for safe and healthy travel, quality time with many people, and for God to reveal clearly the plans He has for me as I continue yielding to Him in 2020.

• The J2 Reunion Camp is set for 3-5 April here in Izumo. Pray for Nozomi, Masa, me and others as we plan and prepare for many to come and be blessed. We are excited to even have some guests who may make it from New Zealand. YAY!

How you can help me financially to reach the nations…

For the 16 years I have been in the mission field, I have been blessed with enough financial support to help me stay focussed on the ministry. It has been miraculous, and I thank God for you.

As people’s circumstances understandably change, some who have faithfully given for so many years are no longer able to do so. As a result a few monthly donations have declined over this past year. At the same time, the cost of living in Japan is much higher than anticipated with many surprise costs. As a result I begin 2020 at $550 per month below budget.

I still have a few more months to serve and finish well here in Japan and will also have the expense of relocation to continue ministry amongst international students. Please pray for the ministry here in Japan and in New Zealand as I mentor locally and long-distance. Pray that my trust in God will continue to grow during this challenging season.

If you can join my financial support team, either with a monthly donation or quarterly or one-off: any amount is a blessing from the Lord through you.

Our address for correspondence and processing donation checks (payable to) is:ISM NZ North America, P.O. Box 208, Lawn, TX 79530

Or if you want to donate online, go to: http://www.ismnzjaneen.org/donate.html and follow the links to give to ISMNZ North America via eGive.

Kicking off 2020 in fellowship with Makiko in Higashi-Hiroshima, then back in Izumo to host Michiyo-san (missionary in Tokyo) for her “retreat” visit; celebrating Ku-chan’s 4th birthday at Yakiniku; spending time with Fumi-sensei &Shino-chan reading children’s books (helping her with English and getting help with my Japanese); and learning about the Japanese medical world… had lingering foodpoisoning so Nozomi took me to hospital for rehydrating!!