Bridgman Prayer Update - August 2008

Praise for:

1) For record church attendance in July
2) For our faithful supporters
3) For a piece of land that our church can already afford (The elder board of our mother church wants to research about the land some more, but will most likely give their approval to buy the land in September.)
4) Church members continue to have unity about the purchase of land and building
5) A kids summer program on August 6th (praise we can have it/pray for a good turnout)
6) Miss Ishihara wants to witness to her sister this summer vacation
7) Mrs., Nakahara has started coming to church
8) Jeffrey is doing well and has a good job this summer
9) Paul is getting to know the members of the neighborhood committee more - pray for good outreach to them (none of them are Christians, yet)
10) Kevin had a ministry with high school kids on the northern island of Hokkaido for two weeks in June. He is now in the mountains of central Japan helping out in the outreach there. ( Thanks for praying for him, and thanks to those who contributed support!)

Pray for:

1) In our follow up of the ladies who came to the ABC meeting, two ladies (Mrs. Mori and Mrs. Yamada are studying the Bible in English with Violette. Pray for their salvation)
2) Mr. Igarashi, a Christian businessman, asks for healing and salvation for his son who has cancer (His son isn't baptized yet, but recently prayed to Jesus)
3) Mrs. Omura asks for continued prayer for health and her daughter's special needs
4) Dr. and Mrs. Yoshii are seeking the Lord about when they should wrap up their medical practice, so they can have more time for ministry
5) For the kids and moms who come on August 6th to be open to the Gospel.
6) For new members in Violette's English Bible class on Sunday morning to stay for church in Japanese
7) For Mrs. Watanabe to choose to get baptized soon and Her daughter's salvation (She hasn't been able to attend church recently)
8) Financial provision for Sanyo Church as we look forward to purchasing land (we have the funds!!)and building (Pray for the financial goal of $300,000 to be met for the building)
9) Mrs. Omori continues to miss church because of bad health, pray for healing
10) More English students and friends who are seeking the Lord
11) For Paul as he fills the role of the chairman for the Japanese neighborhood organization (Cho nai kai)
12) For Mr. Hamada as he hasn't been well enough to attend church recently(he came for a few Sundays but has stopped again)
13) Our financial support to continue to improve (also special needs for Kevin's educational expenses)
14) For Miss Ishihara to be faithful in attending church and to keep growing spiritually
15) The planning of effective evangelistic events for all of 2008 ( We will have a nationally known Christian special speaker on September 28th)
16) Spiritual growth and unity of the believers at Sanyo Church as we develop a vision for growth that includes purchasing land and building
17) That Miss Kubo and Mrs. Demura would be free from family obligations to come to church again.
18) For a missionary couple to fill in here for our year of home assignment, starting summer 2009

Bridgman Prayer Update - July 2008

Hi! Thanks for praying for our church meeting on Saturday, July 26, to discuss the church land we found that looks like a good possibility!

Everyone had a chance to speak at the meeting. The main concern was the danger of getting out onto the four-lane highway. On that stretch of the highway, some of the cars get going pretty fast. However, after looking at all the positive points and spending some time in prayer, they all agreed to go for the land!!

Next this matter will go before the elder board of the Saidaiji Church, our mother church, on Sunday evening, August 3. If it is approved, then the next step will be taken. We will need the owner's willingness to sell to us, before we can buy it, of course.

Please pray for continued guidance from God and for God's will to be done! Thank you!

Paul and Violette Bridgman

Bridgman Prayer Update - July 2008

Praise for:

1) For good attendance at prayer meeting when our visiting speaker was a missionary to Taiwan
2) For our faithful supporters
3) For good attendance at our church 19th anniversary worship service (15 people came)
4) Church members are encouraging eachother to pray for land and building
5) Some boys who attended the Easter program want to have a summer get together
6) Many opportunities to witness to kids playing baseball and soccer in the park, and older folks in groud golf club
7) Mrs, Michihiro came to our church for the first time in June
8) Jeffrey is doing well and has a good job this summer
9) Paul is getting to know the members of the neighborhood committee more - pray for good outreach to them (none of them are Christians, yet)
10) Kevin had a ministry with high school kids on the northern island of Hokkaido for two weeks ( Thanks for praying for him, and thanks to those who contributed support!)

Pray for:

1) In our follow up of the ladies who came to the ABC meeting, two ladies (Mrs. Mori and Mrs. Yamada have started studying the Bible in English with Violette. Pray for their salvation)
2) Mr. Igarashi, a Christian businessman, asks for healing and salvation for his son who has cancer (His son isn't baptized yet, but recently prayed to Jesus)
3) Mrs. Omura asks for continued prayer for health and her daughter's special needs
4) Dr. and Mrs. Yoshii are seeking the Lord about when they should wrap up their medical practice, so they can have more time for ministry
5) For the boys who were coming over on Friday afternoons to be spiritually open again.
6) For new members in Violette's English Bible class on Sunday morning to stay for church in Japanese
7) For Mrs. Watanabe to choose to get baptized soon and Her daughter's salvation (She hasn't been able to attend church recently)
8) Financial provision for Sanyo Church as we look forward to purchasing land and building a building (Pray for the financial goal of $300,000 to be met)
9) Mrs. Omori continues to miss church because of bad health, pray for healing
10) More English students and friends who are seeking the Lord
11) For Paul as he fills the role of the chairman for the Japanese neighborhood organization (Cho nai kai)
12) For Mr. Hamada as he hasn't been well enough to attend church recently
13) Our financial support to continue to improve (also special needs for Kevin's educational expenses)
14) For Miss Ishihara to be faithful in attending church and to keep growing spiritually
15) The planning of effective evangelistic events for all of 2008 ( We will have a nationally known Christian special speaker next September)
16) Spiritual growth and unity of the believers at Sanyo Church as we develop a vision for growth that includes purchasing land and building
17) That Miss Kubo and Mrs. Demura would be free from family obligations to come to church again.

Bridgman Prayer Update June 2008

Praise for:

1) For good attendance at ladies ABC meeting on May 30
2) For our faithful supporters
3) For the wonderful testimony of Ralph Cox who went home to the Lord on May 27th (see blog at http://ralphandstella.com )
4) Church members are encouraging eachother to pray for land and building
5) Some boys who attended the Easter program want to have a summer get together
6) Many opportunities to witness to kids playing baseball and soccer in the park, and older folks in groud golf club
7) Mr. Taniguchi has come to church during May
8) Kevin and Jeffrey are doing well and looking for jobs this summer

Pray for:

1) Good follow up of the ladies who came to the ABC meeting and that some would be interested in a Bible study
2) Mr. Igarashi, a Christian businessman, asks for healing and salvation for his son who has cancer
3) Mrs. Omura asks for continued prayer for health and her daughter's special needs
4) Dr. and Mrs. Yoshii want to start a ministry of evangelism and couseling with their patients
5) For the boys who are coming over on Friday afternoons to be spiritually open.
6) For special evangelistic meeting on June 29th
7) For Mrs. Watanabe to choose to get baptized soon and Her daughter's salvation
8) Financial provision for Sanyo Church as we look forward to purchasing land and building a building (Pray for the financial goal of $300,000 to be met)
9) Mrs. Omori continues to miss church because of bad health, pray for healing
10) More English students and friends who are seeking the Lord
11) For Paul as he fills the role of the chairman for the Japanese neighborhood organization (Cho nai kai)
12) For Mr. Hamada as he hasn't been well enough to attend church recently
13) Our financial support to continue to improve (also special needs for Kevin's educational expenses)
14) For Miss Ishihara to be faithful in attending church and to keep growing spiritually
15) The planning of effective evangelistic events for all of 2008 ( We will have a nationally known Christian special speaker next September)
16) Spiritual growth and unity of the believers at Sanyo Church as we develop a vision for growth that includes purchasing land and building
17) That Miss Kubo and Mrs. Demura would be free from family obligations to come to church again.

Bridgeman - June 2008

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Japan! God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Jesus is the Light of the world. God is giving us NEW OPPORTUNITIES to be His lights in dark Japan!

Paul’s opportunity – Recently Paul has become the chairman of the neighborhood committee! What an opportunity to get know people! Getting known in the community will hopefully help people to trust us! A man from the Sanyo newspaper came to interview Paul. The day the article went out, I received a phone call from a man we didn’t know, saying it was wonderful and he wanted to meet Paul! He came over for a good visit! The big annual meeting used to be on Sunday mornings, but since Paul could not come on Sunday morning, they changed it to Sunday afternoon! Even with the change, they got a good attendance! Paul also cannot bring rice wine to the local shrine. *Pray that the stands he takes will be a light to this world!

Kevin’s opportunity – Kevin is planning to go on Hi-BA’s Gospel Team on June 7-21, after he finishes his junior year of high school. The teams will go to Tokyo, Osaka, or Sapporo for a 2-week evangelistic outreach to Japanese high school students. They get up early to pass out invitations to the kids before school and then they hold rallies after school is out. He is to raise 30 prayer supporters and at least $300 of the $650 it actually costs. If you are interested in teaming up with Kevin, contact us for more information. *Pray for Kevin as he raises prayer and financial supporters. *Pray that God will minister to Kevin and through Kevin to bring God’s light to Japanese young people.

Violette’s opportunity – Awhile ago I wrote a course for my English Bible Study at church, that included the key points of the Bible built around the theme of light and darkness. I have been feeling led to teach this course to my unsaved Japanese friends, too. So now I am working on redoing the lessons. Then I would like to go door to door, inviting them to attend this 6 week course, calling it English Bible Tea Japanese will come to a cooking class, a concert, a party, etc., but they may not come so readily to a straight Bible class. *So please pray that God would prepare their hearts to want to attend! *Pray that, Lord willing, I will be able to actually get the lessons done and that God will use the course to lead Japanese under the power of darkness into the kingdom of light!


Prayer requests:

Church – We are pleased that our Japanese church members are taking leadership for the growth and fellowship of our church! They have formed an Esther Circle for the women believers of our church and a Grace Circle for the men and guests.
We are continuing to look for land to build a church on. We found another land possibility that looked exciting, but then realized it wasn’t the right place for us after all! *So pray for us as we keep searching for the land that God has for us!
We are greatly encouraged by the financial gifts and promised contributions from our U.S. supporters that total about $10,000! *Keep praying for the remainder of the U.S. side goal of $90,000 to be met for our new church.

Home Assignment – Instead of having our usual four-year term, we are staying an extra year, so that Kevin can graduate from his high school in Tokyo. So next summer, in 2009, we plan to come back for our one-year home assignment! *Please ask God to provide someone who knows Japanese to take our place for that year!

Our sons - Jeffrey has finished his second year at Arkansas Tech University. *Pray that he will be able to find the summer job that God has for him. Kevin has recovered from his Stevens Johnson Syndrome (or whatever it was?!) that put him in the hospital for 16 days, although his immune system may still be recovering. Thanks for praying!

Thank you so much for partnering with us by your prayers, letters, gifts, and financial support! Together may we reflect Jesus, the Light of the World, to the people around us!

In His Service,

Violette Bridgman

Bridgman - May 1, 2008

Praise for: 

1) For good attendance at kids Easter program

2) Prayer meetings on Tuesday; we are studying th the book of Ecclesiasties.

3) Starting new English classes

4) Church members are encouraging eachother to pray for land and building

5) Some boys who attended the Easter program have been coming on Friday afternoons

6) Many opportunities to witness to kids playing baseball and soccer in the park, and older folks in groud golf club

7) Mr. Taniguchi has come to church during April.

8) Kevin and Jeffrey are doing well

Pray for:

1) Good follow up of those who have started comimg to our fellowship recently

2) Mr. Igarashi, a Christian businessman, asks for healing and salvation for his son who has cancer

3) Mrs. Omura asks for continued prayer for health and her daughter's special needs

4) Dr. and Mrs. Yoshii want to start a ministry of evangelism and couseling with their patients  

5) For the boys who are coming over on Friday afternoons to be spiritually open.

6) For special evangelistic meetings on May 24 and 25 (Paul sings a solo)

7) For Mrs. Watanabe to choose to get baptized soon and Her daughter's salvation

8) Financial provision for Sanyo Church as we look forward to purchasing land and building a building (Pray for the financial goal of $300,000 to be met)

9) Mrs. Omori continues to miss church because of bad health, pray for healing

10) More English students and friends who are seeking the Lord

11) For Paul as he fills the role of the chairman for the Japanese neighborhood organization (Cho nai kai)

12) For Mr. Hamada as he hasn't been well enough to attend church recently

13) Our financial support to continue to improve (also special needs for Kevin's educational expenses)

14) For our evangelistic meetings planned this Spring (one in particular is our 19th anniversary on June 29)

15) The planning of effective evangelistic events for all of  2008 ( We will have a nationally known Christian special speaker next September)

16) Spiritual growth and unity of the believers at Sanyo Church as we develop a vision for growth that includes purchasing land and building

17) That Miss Kubo and Mrs. Demura would be free from family obligations to come to church again.

Bridgman - Japan

Challenges for 2008

Ⅰ．Our son, Kevin’s challenge was to contract a severe case of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (an allergic reaction to some medication that he received). It started out as sores in his mouth that got so severe that he had to be hospitalized. At first they thought it was some kind of infection like herpes, but when he didn’t respond to the medication, the doctors at Tokyo University Hospital had the wisdom to change what they were doing. We praise God for the wisdom He gave them and that Kevin is now recovering and should be out of the hospital in a couple of weeks. We were impressed with how Kevin handled the ordeal. He really enjoyed being read to from the Bible, and when he felt up to communicating with us, agreed positively that God was going to do something good through all this (as in Romans 8:28). Keep praying that God will be glorified.

This experience has made us appreciate what our Christian brother, Mr. Igarashi, is going through. He has a son with terminal cancer. Pray for healing and salvation!

Ⅱ．The believers of our church in Sanyo are challenged with vision for growth and a building. Each week in the worship service they take turns praying for the growth of the church and provision of land and building. Although we have some land that we like, and it is for sale, the land-lord isn’t quite ready to sell it, yet. While we wait, we are looking to God to provide the finances and to make us, the church, grow numerically and spiritually. Praise the Lord for the offerings that are coming in to the building fund, both from some of you and our believers.

Ⅲ．Individuals that we minister to are a challenge. Here are two. Mr. Nakae has lost interest in studying the Bible right now, but we still work together passing out each other’s announcements. Pray for God’s time when his heart as well as many others hearts will be open again. Miss Ishihara found out about our church from the web site. She came to prayer meeting a few weeks ago and has accepted Christ and has already read through 1/3 of her Bible.

Ⅳ．Our Lord’s return must be very near. We are challenged to be faithful to Him in all that He has called us to do. Then we can sing: “We are more than conquerors, over comers in this life. We’ve been made victorious through the blood of Jesus Christ.”

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

Paul and Violette Bridgman

Bridgman - Japan

Hi!

I went up toTokyo on Sunday, 2/3, and returned home on Friday evening, 2/8. I was gone 6 days and got to see Kevin 5 of those days! Paul was there during his worst time and was able to be the strong father figure to him. I was there during his recovery and was there to enjoy talking with him.

I also had an encouraing time at Ladies' Retreat and a profitable time talking to staff and teachers at Kevin's school.

Kevin was discharged from the hospital on Saturday, 2/9, at 10:00 a.m.!!!!! He was in the hospital 16 full days, but normally it would be 1-2 months! He is staying at some fellow missionaries' home now. He is unable to go back to the hostel yet, because another boarder got sick and they don't want to risk Kevin catching anything.

Kevin is in good spirits! He is already diligently working on getting back into shape and getting his make-up work done. His plan is to start back to school next week. He seems full of energy and eager to get on with life. Someone may need to slow him down a bit??

The song that expresses my thoughts well is "Great is the Lord" by Michael W. Smith and Deborah D. Smith.

"Great is the Lord, He is holy and just; By his power we trust in His love.
Great is the Lord, He is faithful and true; By his mercy He proves He is love.
Great is the Lord and worthy of glory! Great is the Lord and worthy of praise.
Great is the Lord; now lift up your voice: Great is the Lord! Great is the Lord!"

Praise and glory be to God!! God protected him from what could have been very serious and gave him a speedy recovery! Thanks so much for your prayers! We would appreciate your continued prayers for Kevin's safety, transition back to his life, and for opportunities to give glory to God. Thanks again! God bless you!

Love, Violette

Bridgeman - Japan

• Pray for Kevin's recovery (their 17 yr old son), from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and for his return to school life as usual
• Pray for God to be glorified in the Sanyo Church