Thank you so much for your prayers and support of South America missions with JEMS. I wanted to provide you with an update on where we stand with our summer program.
As you are aware we are facing a global health crisis with the current COVID 19 outbreak. Despite uncertainties as to the impact of this disease spread, it’s certainly clear that at this point we are at a concerning level of potential community infection.
With the utmost caution and concern for our neighbors in South America, we want to wisely move forward with our summer program. We don't want to conduct business-as-usual as in the case of the Shincheonji Church in Daegu, which became the epicenter of the outbreak in South Korea.
We have a number of churches in Brazil and Paraguay that are interested in receiving JEMS workers. I have informed them that we are not formally committing any workers to them until we get a better handle on this health crisis on the US side.
JEMS looks forward to serving this group in Paraguay at the end of July.
(Photos provided by IMEL Pedro Juan Caballero) Click any photo to enlarge!!
At the same time, we are moving forward in the receiving and processing of applications for the summer mission program. However we are not assigning workers until such time as we have a clearer indication of the community transmission situation in South America and here. This means that we may not make any steps forward until mid-April. We understand that this creates a challenge for our applicants in terms of ministry planning and support raising. Please pray that donors will be understanding of this necessary delayed start.
How can you pray?
1. Pray for workers to move forward in their decision to serve this summer. The Covid 19 outbreak is not as high in South America at this time. But again, we are exercising as much wisdom as possible in terms of the final decision to send or not send workers.
2. Pray for receiving churches to be wise stewards of the human resources we hope to send to them. That our workers' gifts, talents and ministry experience will be used to the fullest.
3. The decision to move forward will be determined toward the middle of April or when we have a better sense of the global health situation. This includes my own mission schedule which is slated for early July at this point.
Ministries in West LA and a reunion with members of SD Japanese Christian Church
(Some remaining Niseis and my former youth group)
I continue to be busy with my recruitment schedule and with special opportunities to share. These past two months included the chance to renew contacts with my former churches in San Diego (90th Anniversary celebration) and in West Los Angeles (missions sharing).
Listen to Pastor John's recent message at South Bay Presbyterian Church: Matthew 22:1-14
My brother, through various seasons.
At my birth, at Mount Hermon with Rev Kuroda, and finally two years ago during a visit to Canada
I both mourn and celebrate the homegoing of my brother, Roland at the end of February. His education and employment journeys took him from BIOLA in the 1960s to the University of Oregon. He taught at the University of the Pacific, UWisconsin Oshkosh, UHawaii Manoa, UBritish Columbia in Vancouver. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 1990 that left him significantly disabled. Funeral services will be held on March 18 in British Columbia. Please pray for his family during these days.
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