Dear Christian friends,

We hope you are doing well. Although I am writing this as a generic letter to each supporter, we often think of the good time we had with each one of you. Since we began to work in Japan, about a year and half have passed. It is the time for me to evaluate my own work. I have established in the community where we live and in the Yokota congregation with which I work. I wanted to establish a Japanese congregation as soon as possible, but it is still far from the accomplishment of that goal. My evangelistic studies have not been as successful as I hoped. I have met a number of people and studied English and the Bible with them. They ran out of their interest in the Bible after a while. Lui Ki An, a Chinese man, was baptized, but after a while his wife began to oppose his attending church. He has not been able to attend worship service lately. At the present time, I have been studying English with a group of three ladies, English and the Bible with a 65 year old man, and English and the Bible with a 30 year old man. The 30 year old man is most interested in the Bible among those people. I hope I will have a good news in near future.

I think I need to be more involved in the community where I live. Therefore, I would like myself to be helpful to the community and try to teach something practical. There has been a major problem about how to raise children and how to discipline them. Parents no longer have a sense of authority over their children. They know this is a problem, but they do not know what to do with their children. Using James Dobson's Video Series, "How to Discipline Children," is now available in Japanese. I am going to use this series and bring a lot of wives together who are interested in the welfare of their children. Please pray for this plan.

On September 11 and 12, John Mark Hicks from Harding Graduate School is going to conduct a two day lectureship on the Lord's Supper. I am chosen to be an interpreter during the lectureship. I have been busy preparing for this.

Beginning in November, I will write an article on Job for Fukuin (the Gospel), a Christian magazine published by churches of Christ in Japan. I have been busy preparing for this work. It looks to me that I will write an article each month for one year or more.

Beginning in October, I will teach a class from 1 Corinthians for Japan School of Evangelism. This has made me very busy getting ready for the class lectures. I want to teach the class as accurately, academically, and practically as possible. It takes a long time to prepare for this.

Finally, I am going to write about our personal need. We have been borrowing a car from a Christian brother. That car has a 550cc engine as small as a small motor cycle engine. Yes, this is a car. You do not see this kind of car in the U.S. Although this car has been very helpful and useful to us, this is too small for us. For some reason, this car's back seats do not have seat belts. We temporarily tie Riki's car seat on the back seat with a piece of string. I know this is not good. But installing the new seat belt is very expensive. Also we sometimes have to take our parents around. They are getting too old to go by train. However, this small car cannot have a capacity for having them inside. Therefore, we have been thinking about buying our own car and also using it for the service of church. Would you consider helping us?

We always thank God for your support and prayers. We are thankful for your helping us reach out to Japanese people. Someday we will have a Japanese congregation here in Yokota. Please pray for us.

In His Service,

Masa