August 2025

 

Praise the name of the Lord. Thank you for your offerings and intercessory prayers.

It has cooled down in New York, and we are enjoying pleasant days. My wife recently returned from Japan and shared her testimony at our worship service. While she decided to extend her stay by a week, she was able to share the gospel with her mother, who came to believe in Jesus and prayed with her.

She testified that it was the work of the Holy Spirit that soften her mother's heart, made possible through the intercessory prayers of many faithful friends. For years, she had been praying for her salvation and sharing the gospel, even as her mother kept her heart closed. But this time, she gave thanks and praise to the Lord, recognizing that  God's appointed time for her mother’s salvation had finally come.

Having fulfilled one of the key missions of this trip, she was able to return safely. I, too, am very grateful —especially now that I can refocus on my central ministry, after carrying various responsibilities during her absence.

Pastor Paul Akimoto's R1 (missionary) visa application was approved on July 30^th, after a long period of  for delayed response from the USCIS. Praise the Lord.

We are now preparing to begin the next step –applying for the visa in the US Embassy in Japan. The timing of this approval, just before the American team is sent out in September, feels like an encouraging sign that the Lord is advancing His work in the U.S. Please continue to pray for the American team as they step into full-scale missionary work.

July 2025

 

Praise the name of the Lord. Thank you for your offerings and intercessory prayers.

I participated in Hakuba Camp online, and even attended both the morning and evening holy meetings in real time. Sensing the Lord's presence, He spoke to my heart in many ways through the messages that were delivered. Since the World Gospel Festival was held in the daytime -- midnight in my time zone, I missed the opportunity to watch it, thinking I'd catch up later. During a prayer meeting over the phone with Sister M, she shared how deeply moved she was by the praise competition. Her words inspired and reminded me to watch the Gospel Festival two weeks later and was able to truly appreciate the praise and worship songs performed by many selected groups, just as Sister M had described. I sensed the praise band's work progressing and felt it was anointed.

This September, the American team will be dispatched to Los Angeles and San Diego—their first visit in seven and a half years. I am excited to see this happen again, marking what we call a full-scale stage of our church group’s outreach. My wife and I are praying to fly to the West Coast and participate if God wills. Please join us in praying for the team.

Meanwhile my wife was led to return to Japan at short notice. Her mother's discharge from the hospital coincided with Hakuba Camp just as she had been praying. As a result, I have continued to take on some of my wife's responsibilities. To be honest, it's been very challenging. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matthew 9:37-38). I declare by faith that the workers God has prepared will gather together for the harvest of revival. Please also pray for the praise band ministry in New York and throughout the U.S.

 

June 2025

 

Praise the name of the Lord. Thank you for your offerings and intercessory prayers.

In June the Iran-Israel war broke out, and the United States joined in, shaking the world. Although a ceasefire has been reached after 12 days of war, there are concerns about how Iran may retaliate against the United States with terrorist attacks in the future, so please pray for this.

My wife and I recently visited Sister O, a member of another church, who used to live in our neighborhood.  She has faithfully attended every NY Charismatic Meeting in the past and even participated once in the Israeli team. Having recently moved into a senior residence, she welcomed us, and we really had a good time with her in her new home. Before we left, she asked us to invite her to the next NY Charismatic Meeting.  Although she now lives quite far away, I am praying that she will be able to join us once again with God’s help.

During the service at Tokyo Antioch Church, Pastor Paul Akimoto clearly spoke about sending a team to the United States. We are praying to move forward with more concrete prayers and practical preparations---especially we explore the possibility of holding a joint praise concert with Japanese-American Church in NYC. Please pray that the next team will include praise band members and the team will be sent in God’s timing and to the places He has appointed.

We also continue to pray with our online member who live in the State of Maine, seeking God's will, to take a step forward in faith in Maine.

May 2025

 

Praise the name of the Lord. Thank you for your offerings and intercessory prayers.

While the TLEA group has entered a full-scale work, we once again started to pray and seek God’s will about going to the State of Maine, where an online member lives. Hopefully we can stand together as a praise band and have a good time of sharing together.

The mission office told us that the American team would not be sent in June, and when we reported this to Pastor Stanley of the Japan-America United Church, he replied, "So sorry." With that, I learned that he is still enthusiastic about holding the joint praise concert. We told him that the team has not been canceled, but postponed. We hope that it will be realized in God’s perfect timing. We are also praying with the pastors of TLEA in North America for the next American team.

The other day, when I went to the dealer for regular maintenance on my car, I happened to meet Pastor N of the Japanese Church in New Jersey. I hadn't seen the pastor for over 10 years. Sister O, who lived four blogs away from my apartment, was a member of that church, yet she never missed the TLEA NY Holy Meeting and also participated in the Israeli team once. I was able to hear from the pastor that Sister O had moved apartments. I found out about this just as I was about to visit her, and I would like to visit her there soon. I am also grateful that I was able to meet the pastor again at this time, reminded that I could send him the invitation to the worship concert once it is ready to take place.

April 2025

 

Praise the name of the Lord. Thank you for your offerings and intercessory prayers.

The winter weather has been prolonged, but as of April 20th, it has suddenly become warm, and the buds of the double cherry blossoms in front of our apartment have swelled up all at once, and are about to bloom.

The day after we returned from Japan, the Israel team was sent, and since we had to adjust to the time difference, we were able to follow the live online broadcast of the Israel team's holy meetings. Even through the broadcast, we felt the strong spiritual blessing of the Lord's presence flowing over us, and we were blessed. We have a ticket voucher that we bought for a previous Israel mission team that was canceled, so we have started praying that we will be able to go to Israel next year.

The Sunday after we returned from Japan, we immediately went to meet with the pastor of the Japanese American United Church in preparation for a next American team. We were able to reaffirm our intention to hold a joint praise concert when the team arrives. We also confirmed that the American Presbyterian Church, which we rent as a place of worship for our church, can be used whenever it is free other than Sundays. We are praying that an American team will be sent in God’s time.

We resubmitted the application for extension of Pastor Paul Akimoto's missionary visa. Please pray for the visa extension to be approved.

March 2025

 

Praise the name of the Lord. Thank you for your offerings and intercessory prayers.

I am now writing this report in Japan. I thought I would not be able to come to Japan for a while, but by the grace of God, which exceeded my expectations, I was able to return to Japan temporarily. And having participated in the Hakuba Camp even gave me conviction that God was guiding me to come to Japan, and I have received so many blessings. My wife and I were given the opportunity to share our testimonies, and many people who heard about a potential joint praise concert in NYC reacted expectantly for the work of praise bands in the U.S. In addition, for Hakuba Christian Film Festival, the videos submitted by TLEA U.S., "Bonnie Blair House, Azusa Street Revival, the Beginning of the Latter Rain Revival," won an award, and "Japanese are Israelites" won first place. I believe this has inspired higher expectations and prayers for God's work in U.S., for which I am truly grateful.

Personally, I was able to reach out my relatives in Japan. I laid hands on my sister in Hirakata and my 102-year-old aunt in Shimane and prayed for her in the name of Jesus. During the latter half of their stay in Japan, my wife's mother was unable to move due to a suspected compression fracture in her lower back, but my wife was able to care for her just when she needed help most, and my wife is grateful for God's love and provision, praying for her healing and salvation.

Please pray for a next U.S. team and the work in America and also pray that we could continue to take steps of faith forward.

February 2025

 

Praise the name of the Lord. Thank you for your offerings and intercessory prayers.

Thanks to the internet streaming, we were able to participate live in the Nagasaki Martyrs Memorial Service, three meetings in the morning, afternoon, and evening.  Early in the morning I just remembered and opened the Internet, and ended up joining in the evening meeting live, where I received a strong message. I am also grateful that I was led to pray for the dedication to God again.

We have been praying for a long time about relationships with the Jewish community and have decided to take a step forward as this flock has entered a full-blown walk.  I found that the time of the Jewish church service in Manhattan was not convenient for us, so we attended the Friday night meeting at the Jerusalem Center in the suburbs of New Jersey, which we had attended in the past. This time, the senior Messianic Jew pastor Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, who is well known in the United States, was preaching. The presence of the Lord was very strong in the congregational praise, and we were blessed and strengthened in the entire meeting.

Pastor Paulo Akimoto's application for a missionary visa was sent back by the Immigration Bureau due to incomplete documents. Thankfully, the application was not rejected, so we will be reapplying in April. Please pray for his visa extension and the mission work in the U.S.

 

<Prayer Requests>

1. For the foundation of prayer and our obedience to God

2. For the work through Internet, short film making and praise bands

3. To deliver a message of God’s will and the online services

4. For the core members of our church to be gathered

5. For a worship service place and for a next U.S. team

6. For the work of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, of salvation and healing

7. For cooperative relationships according to God's will, specifically with the Jewish community in New York, and for the works in the U.S., Middle and South America, and Europe

8. For our health and finance, and protection from danger, accidents, crimes and terrorism

9. For our English skills to improve