CHRIST IS ALL
Spring 2015 (March, April, May)
Dear Friend in Christ,
Sunday March 1st I sat all day with Pastor and Sister
Burks in their house in Harrison, Arkansas in a lovely white world of ice and
snow. Most every church in that area cancelled church services that day due to
hazardous road conditions. We three souls had prayer, singing, Scripture
reading and fellowship together.
During late March and early April, I did much in-house work at my stateside home base in Vernon, while preaching in several churches in that area. That was a great blessing! On 8 April, I packed up, closed up, returned Charles the car he loaned me while I was in the States and rode with my brother Sidney to my other brother’s (Joe) house in Tupelo, Mississippi to spend the night there.
The next morning, I left with Joe just after 5 AM. He drove me
to the Memphis airport and left to go on to work that day. I checked in and
waited for the boarding call for my flight to Chicago. When they called for
boarding I headed for the airplane’s door where they had stopped the passengers
in front of me. A man announced that hail and high winds in the Chicago area
had delayed the flight indefinitely. (That was the day 7 tornadoes were spotted
in Illinois.) I went back to the desk at the entrance to the boarding gate,
showed the lady my schedule and she started looking at other possible routes on
her computer as I prayed hard for the Lord to take me on to Japan today, if
that be His Will.
The lady worked wonders, thank God, routing me thru Dallas and
San Francisco to Haneda Airport in Tokyo instead of to Narita Airport near
Tokyo as originally planned. I’d already checked my 2 suitcases to Narita. I
asked if they could re-route my luggage. “Yes” was the answer. I soon caught the
short flight to Dallas and waited over 4 hours to board the flight to San
Francisco. Then I had about a 2-hour wait in San Francisco to board a JAL
flight that departed after 1 AM (Pacific Time) for Haneda. I lay down on the
hard floor in the airport and dozed.
The JAL lady who checked me in said that my luggage didn’t make
it onto this airplane. If that were so, there was no telling where it might
have gone. No matter what that lady-who-knows said, I begged God to have my 2
suitcases waiting for me at Haneda. I tried to sleep most of the way as we flew
over the wide Pacific pond, arriving safely at Haneda before 5 AM Saturday
morning 11 April; only about 12 hours later than I was originally scheduled to
arrive at Narita. Thank God for that!
At Haneda Airport, I processed thru Immigration quickly and
prayerfully waited as suitcases popped up on the conveyer. When both of mine
popped up it was a great relief to see. Thank God for answered prayer! I soon
boarded the Monorail and rode trains home to Matsuida on this chilly rainy day.
It was a great joy to find my house safe and to preach on the streets this day!
When I lay down to sleep on my pallet on the straw mat floor of my bedroom, it
had been over 50 hours since I had gotten out of bed Thursday morning in my
brother’s house in Tupelo. Thank God for safety in much air travel and land
travel since January 14th when I left my house in Japan and for much
preaching in churches, homes, one jail and out in public. Thank you all who
hosted me and helped me in many various ways. May God richly bless you for it
all!
The very next day, Sunday April 12, I preached at the church in
Yoshii. 13 others were present. I preached in public that afternoon. Some
children playing outside apartments asked me whom I was talking to. I replied,
“To everyone.” 3 or so of the children followed me a while, hearing the Gospel.
On Saturday the 18th, I opened the rescue mission in Karuizawa. The
following day, I preached at the church in Isesaki.
At lunch there, I asked Pastor Tamura to inquire about me
preaching once a month (or more often) in the Gunma Prefecture prison in
Maebashi, the prefecture seat. He agreed to inquire for me. Please pray for our
Lord to open this door, if it be His Will. I yearn to preach in prisons and
jails. Here in Matsuida, I have a Japanese friend, Mr. Kanai, on the local city
council. I asked him about preaching in our city jail. He said often no one is
in jail there. So different from the overflowing jails
throughout the US. I long to preach in the Gunma
prison. Please keep that in prayer.
Let me share some ancient history. On Tuesday 5 March 2013,
as I was heading back by train to my house in Matsuida from warm southern
Kyushu (the southernmost main island of Japan), I got off the train in the city
of Nobeoka, put my bags into a coin locker in the station, took a small bag of
prayer sheets and started treading earth my feet had never before trod, leaving
a prayer sheet at each house. I did that glorious ministry for hours while
praying for the souls who would get those prayers. I spent that night in a
hotel and the next morning I traveled on. That’s all the time I have ever spent
in Nobeoka.
Last year, I got a phone call from a Japanese lady named Tazuko
who lives in Nobeoka. She got my prayer sheet and wanted my book of prayers
from the 1st 6 chapters of Ecclesiastes. I sent her one book. Later
she wrote me, asking for 6 or so of those books to give to other souls. I
joyfully sent her the free books.
When I returned from the States to Matsuida on April 11 this
year, I had a postcard from Tazuko postmarked 11 Feb. 2015. In it she writes:
“Thank you for sending me the books last year. These prayers are very, very
wonderful. Daily I am reading them a few at a time while praying that I will
become able to pray them from the heart. I have been giving out the books as a
present to one person after another here and there. I have great respect for
you. May God’s blessings be upon you.” Then she quoted
Mary’s words of praise from Luke 1.
Likely Tazuko is a Christian believer. Likely she is in her 70’s
or so. I rejoiced to read of the prayers being a blessing to her and also that
she would give them out to other people. “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1)
Please pray for our Lord to bless Tazuko. As for you there in
the States who give out my free books to other people, thank you so much for
doing that. Please keep it up. I pray that each reader will greatly
benefit spiritually from what God led me to write. Thank you
“givers” for providing me the funds to print much Christian literature to give
out free in several nations around this globe. May our Lord bless you
abundantly and repay you many fold for helping me.
Presently, the warm spring weather here feels so good as I daily preach outdoors and pass out Christian literature some days. I pray for many lost souls to be saved. I continue to preach in a few churches around where I live here in Japan, as they invite me to do so.
On May 17th, I rode the trains up to Minakami and
preached in the church there. About 16 Japanese Christians were present that
morning and all but 1 or 2 of them were in their 70’s or 80’s. The youngest
person there was in her 50’s or so. One other person was likely under 70. The
younger generation here has no use for their Creator God. I also saw that trend
in several churches I preached in while in the U.S. So few
young people and children in church. Let’s be faithful to witness to all
souls. In the Book of Acts, believers zealously went out thru towns and
surrounding areas to where people were, to tell them the Good News. Let’s
zealously do the same!
It means a lot to me that you care about me and the many
precious lost Japanese souls to whom I preach Christ. Thank you for each prayer
you pray for me and for interceding in prayer for lost Japanese to be saved.
Thank you for your offerings that are a tremendous help to me. May our Lord
richly bless you and your family.
Christ’s servant in
Japan,
Richard Yerby