CHRIST IS ALL
Winter (December 2006, January, February 2007)
Dear Friend in Christ,
On November 30, God gave me a safe flight non-stop from Tokyo,
Japan to Dallas, Texas, USA. There, I boarded another flight and flew on to
Colorado Springs, Colorado. On Sunday morning, December 3, I preached in a
church near Denver. That afternoon, I went by car to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where I
preached in a church that night and then returned to Denver late that night.
The following Wednesday, I went back to Colorado Springs and attended my friend’s
church there. Then on Sunday, December 10, I preached at both the morning and
evening services at my friend’s church in Colorado Springs. The people at all
three of these churches were a great blessing and encouragement to me, & I
pray that I was a blessing to them. Also, I enjoyed the much beautiful scenery
I saw there.
On December 11, I flew from Colorado Springs to Dallas. In
November, a heavy snow fell in Colorado, but it was quite good weather with
very little snow those first 11 days of December when I was there. Then about
12 days after I left, heavy snow fell again, hampering movement on the ground
and in the air. I thank God for the good weather while I was there and that I
was able to travel on schedule on the ground and in the air.
In Dallas, I visited Japanese friends and attended their Japanese
church on Wednesday night, December 13. I enjoyed the singing and preaching in
Japanese. It made me feel at home. The next day, I flew on to Mississippi, and
spent the Christmas and New Years season with family, relatives, and friends in
Mississippi and Alabama. It was a blessing. And I preached in some churches in
Alabama.
On January 10th, I drove to northeast Arkansas and
preached in a church that Wednesday night. The next day I drove on to Harrison in
northwest Arkansas to stay with a pastor friend till February 3rd.
During that time, I preached in his church and other churches in that area and
in southern Missouri. On February 3rd, I drove on to southeast
Arkansas and preached in 2 churches there the next day (Sunday).
The next day, I returned to Mississippi, soon went on to Alabama
& visited preachers and Christian friends there, and then on February 9th,
I drove on to a friend’s (Barry) in Georgia, just south of Atlanta. The next
day, Saturday, I rode with Barry to downtown Atlanta where he & I went to a
park & took turns preaching and passing out Christian literature. Oh, that
was a blessing. But the next day was even more blessed. On Sunday afternoon, I
again rode with Barry to Atlanta, to the city jail where he preaches every
week. This time he let me preach. About 45 men came to the service. They were
all friendly, listened to the preaching well, & thanked us for coming.
After I preached, two of them asked me to pray for them, so I did. They all
listened more attentively to my preaching than a lot of the people in the
churches where I preached. The next day, I drove back to Alabama and spent the
next week there and in Mississippi, saying “Goodbye” to friends &
relatives, tying up loose ends, & getting ready to return to Japan. On
Sunday night, the 18th, I preached in a church in Mississippi.
On February 20th, I flew to Dallas to again visit
Japanese friends and attend their church. On February 22, I again boarded that
big bird & flew non-stop back to Tokyo. We flew north from Dallas, and the
snow-covered plains and Rocky Mountains of the US and southern Canada were so
beautiful, as was also the coast of Alaska, Juneau, Anchorage, and on west.
Then the plane turned south we came on to Tokyo, landing in rain late in the
afternoon of the 23rd. Thank God for a safe trip and for the
multitude of blessings along the way. Many people were most kind to me in every
way possible. I thank you all for it, and pray for God to greatly bless you for
all your goodness to me.
During the last 5 days of February, I spent much of the time
catching up on matters back here in my house in Japan. With the arrival of
March & warmer weather, I want to get out and again broadcast the Gospel of
Jesus Christ to these many lost Japanese around me, while praying for a great
revival here. Thank you for your prayers for me and for the lost Japanese I am
reaching with the Gospel. As for those of you who give financially to help me,
thank you so much for that help. May God bless and repay you many fold over for
all you do.
Christ’s unprofitable servant,
Richard Yerby