One of the ways I can clearly see God at work in Alpha this fall is in the lives of Michiko Iida and Taeko Nitto, the two non-Christians who are helping staff the courses.
Actually, I was surprised to find out recently that Michiko was baptized when she was 17. She's kept that a secret the last couple years as she's joined Alpha (previously as a guest) and come to church occasionally. As a teenager she visited a church that encouraged people to very quickly become baptized. Shortly after getting baptized, she stopped attending church. Now, about 25 years later, she'd beginning to grow in Christ again.
Michiko's very actively seeking now. One of several signs of that is that she's trying hard to adjust her schedule in order to be able to attend a part of our Alpha retreat this weekend. She missed the retreat when she was a guest, but really wants to learn more about the Holy Spirit, which is the focus of the study.
Michiko's continuing to bring her friend, Mrs. Ito, to Alpha each week and has invited several others to come. She's thinking about how we can make Alpha easier for her friends who are completely new to the Bible and Christian faith, and sharing good ideas about that.
Please pray for Michiko, that she will make a clear decision to believe and grow in faith. And pray for Taeko Nitto, who is also actively joining in, and is spending more and more time with church friends outside of Alpha as well.
This past Friday we had several guests at the afternoon course, but none in the evening. So our discussion time had a different dynamic to it -- we Christians talked a lot more than normal. At the end Taeko commented that she liked it a lot -- getting to hear more from those of us who often keep quiet and keep our answers short (which we intentionally do to give guests lots of opportunity to talk... when the guests actually come!).
The topic last Friday was God's Leading. Pray Taeko will experience His leading and make a decision to believe.
And please pray for our overnighter this weekend. Only the most serious guests are coming. Noriyuki Shibuta, Toshiko Sato and Mr. Kusano will be there. Hiromi Fukuoka will come for the first session but has to return to Muroran for a drinking party Saturday evening.
Michiko hopes to attend Saturday evening's session. Taeko can attend the whole time.
Pray that each person at our retreat -- staff and guests -- will experience God's leading and His Spirit in a life-changing way this weekend.
Tim
Daily Prayer Requests:
Monday: Pray for Taeko and Michiko, that each will believe in Christ.
Tuesday: Pray for Noriyuki, that he will continue to grow towards faith. Pray that he can open up more this weekend. He's usually quiet during our Alpha meetings. I'm hoping that the change of setting will create opportunities for good conversations with him.
Wednesday: Pray for Mr. Kusano. He's showing more and more signs of actively seeking.
Friday: Pray for last minute preparations for our overnighter (Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning), especially that each person planning to attend will have no last minute problems -- that each will be able to attend, for safety in travel (to a B&B at Lake Toya, about 45 minutes from here), and that all the logistical aspects will go smoothly.
Saturday: Pray that each will experience God's presence in a powerful way at our retreat. We will give each person an opportunity to be prayed for -- pray we can be sensitive to each guest's response to this prayer time.
Sunday: Ask the Lord to protect any decisions that were made over the weekend, and any growth towards faith.
Tim Clark
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