Christ Is All
Autumn
2004 (September, October, November)
Dear Friend in Christ,
Greetings
in the Name of our most wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Mt. Asama, a
live volcano about 15 miles from my house started erupting on September 1st
and has erupted several times since then, raining ash down on us often. All the
eruptions have been relatively small ones, with no lava flow as far as I know.
Small earthquakes accompanied some of the eruptions. A time or two, I stood
preaching on the street in Karuizawa as volcanic ash drifted down on us and
several people on the street were wearing gauze masks because of it. I too, put
on a mask at times. One day in September, I was walking from house to house
leaving Christian literature, as another eruption sent a large plume of smoke
and ash straight up into the air several hundred feet. That was a reminder to
me of the soon-coming end of the world destruction. I prayed for God to save
the Japanese people who got the Gospel literature that I left at their houses
that day. “Safety is of the Lord.” Oh how people need the Lord Jesus Christ.
A
record number of typhoons made landfall on Japan this year, causing much
damage, flooding, and several deaths. About suppertime on October 23rd,
I hastened out of the house time and again as it shook from one earthquake
after another. Each time I prayed for God’s Protection, and am thankful that
there was no damage nor anyone injured here in Matsuida. Those quakes were
centered about 100 miles from where I live. They killed several people, and did
much damage, derailing a Bullet train for the first time ever. Recently, there
are so many places on this earth that are reeling and rocking in destruction,
both man-made and “natural disasters.” Oh that people would trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life. True safety lies in Christ and in
Him alone. I continue to preach Christ to the Japanese people around me and
pray for many of them to get saved. Would you also please pray for their
salvation? I pray that God will help you to tell many people how to receive
God’s eternal life, and that God will give you much fruit for your labor. It is
heartbreaking to see so many lost souls who are headed for an eternal Hell.
Truly we need to be laboring diligently in the fields of harvest, as the end of
harvest time is drawing ever so nigh.
On
November 29th, 2003, I was dismissed from the hospital after having
surgery for a brain aneurysm and spending 20 days in the hospital. I thank God for
much healing He has ministered to me since then. He has given me a good
recovery and I am back close to normal. I feel so blessed to be able to
continue preaching Christ to the Japanese people here. I really appreciate you
who have prayed for my health and healing. I still have a few small effects
remaining after the surgery, a little paralysis, depression, forgetfulness,
weak mental concentration, and such. So would you please continue to pray for
healing for me. This year has brought several adversities my way, recovering
from the surgery, natural disasters, and a few other smaller problems. God has
been so faithful to uphold me, and how I thank Him for that. You are so good to
me to pray for me, encourage me, and help me. Thank you for it all. You Christian
friends have become more precious and dear to me since I was in the hospital. I
want you to know that I appreciate you so much. For those of you who have given
me offerings during the fall, that sure has been a tremendous help to me. Thank
you so much for being willing to impart of your finances to me. May God richly
bless you for it and repay you many fold over.
I
pray that God will bless you and your family with a wonderful Christmas season
as we commemorate the birth of our Lord and Saviour. It was nighttime when the
angel appeared to the shepherds and proclaimed the birth of the Saviour as the
glory of the Lord shined brightly upon them, causing them to fear. Truly, this
is a dark, dark, old world we live in, darkened by the much sin in human hearts.
The Light of the world is Jesus. What a wonderful change comes about when any
lost sinner opens up his or her heart to the Saviour of the world and allows
Him to shine that marvelous Light into that dark heart. That True Light
overcomes the darkness inside that heart. We Christians need to be doing all
that we can to let our lights shine in the world of darkness around us. May God
help us to do that. May God bless you in every way as you live for Him.
Christ’s unprofitable servant,
Richard Yerby