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Sapporo Japan – January 2011

Crushed but not destroyed

(Month 10)

Hello and blessed 2011 for you and all your family, friends and Church!

Wow this is month 10 and it is 2011 already!

Crushed but not destroyed, 2 Corinthians 4:8, I’ve started this new year thinking about all the big challenges I faced last year and I realized, yes it was hard, challenging and all other difficulties I faced but I still with joy and glad because God took care of me and I am not destroyed.

I hope I don’t need to wait until next year again to realize that God is faithful.

I had a very had time during Christmas and New Year, my sister moved to Italy and she went through a lot, when she arrived there, things that she planned before she moved were completely different from what she really expected, planned and agreed, she was in a bad situation, it was a hard time for me and my family. Finally people from a Brazilian Church helped her and now she is going to church again, she’s been away from God for more than 9 years now she is back, crushed but not destroyed.

Also one of my best friend who lead me to Christ and taught me how to dance, he’s mother died on Christmas eve and during the same time he found out that his wife had a brain tumor, when they found out it was a bit late, they had to operate her quickly and after the surgery she was in comma for nearly 3 weeks fighting for her life. For me it was as if it happened with my own sister, it was hard! But New Years day, by the power of God, she woke up and now she is slowly getting better and better, now she is talking, walking and smiling, praise God, crushed but not destroyed.

2011 started very good, I have new Japanese teachers and is going very well!

For the last 2 months I’ve started to get more comfortable to use and hear Japanese, and I’ve decided stop saying that Japanese is hard, difficult, impossible to learn and bla bla bla…must get on with it and by God’s grace I’m getting there.

I’ve moved to another flat, now living with my friend who is also an OMF missionary and we are getting on very well.

Winter in Sapporo started, now it is extremely cold, I never seen so much snow in my life and after long hours of snow shoveling, I’m almost an expert, interesting experience, loving it! Crushed but not destroyed.

My Japanese friend who I meet every Friday is interested in Christianity and he heard and read once about David now he wants to know more details.

At my Church is going well, after being there for nearly a year I have good relationships and better understanding of churches and culture in Japan.

Please keep praying for my sister, my friend who went through surgery, my Japanese friend who is interested about Christianity; in February I will start study the life of David with him and please pray for my new 2 teachers, both of them are not Christian yet. Thanks for praying for me and all OMF finance situation, God is being providing, crushed but not destroyed!

We are crushed but not destroyed, God is faithful!

From my heart thank you for your prayers, support, and also for replying to my newsletter, it is so encouraging when I hear from you and please let me know how I can pray for you too! Thank you very much!

Be blessed and be a blessing!

João Pedro (JP)