CHRIST IS ALL
Winter (December 2007, January, February 2008)
Dear Friend in Christ,
Greetings in our Lord’s Most
High and Holy Name. Picking up where I left off in my fall letter, I preached
at Miyota Bible Church, Sunday, 18 November and then the next Sunday, I
preached at Minakami Baptist Church. God blessed in both services and the few
people who attended listened ever so well. May God bless them as they live for
Him in this heathen nation of deep spiritual darkness.
On December 4th,
God gave me a safe flight to Guam, and what a joy it is each time I leave the
snow and cold of Japan to go on that 3 and half hour flight to balmy, tropical
Guam. Likely you saw my Guam & Rota preaching schedule I had on this web
site and the pictures I took on Guam & Rota. (I have already deleted all
that.) Both on Guam and Rota, God gave me numerous opportunities to preach,
teach, and speak from the Bible, both “from the pulpit” and to individuals. How
I thank God for that, and pray that many lives were changed for good. Thank you
so much for praying for that ministry.
Tho I have been to Guam many
times, this was my first time to go to Rota, a small island near Guam with a
population of 3,500. Rota was especially refreshing with its sparse population,
much natural beauty, and a slow, “laid back” pace of life. Most everyone there
knows each other and it is common to greet everyone you meet in public, both
when walking and riding. I stayed with Pastor Tony and his wife, Serita, at
Rota Christian Center, and they and everyone I met were so hospitable to me.
People I met there often took their machetes and hacked open many coconuts for
me to drink the milk inside and eat the coconut meat. I picked lemons off the
tree there in the yard at the Christian Center and squeezed them to make fresh
lemonade. I got to eat fresh papaya and other delicious tropical fruits. The
Christian Center is just 100 yards or so from the ocean. From the spacious yard
and front porch, I regularly gazed much on the beautiful ocean (rainbows over
the ocean were frequent) while reading my Bible, praying, singing aloud, and
such, rejoicing to be wearing short sleeves instead of bundled up against the
cold where I live in Japan.
I stayed on Rota until
January 3. During that time, Pastor Tony let me preach at every regularly
scheduled church service. Also he held several special services during
Christmas and New Years and I preached at them. He and Serita scheduled several
children’s services. Leading the children in singing and teaching them was such
a blessing to me. Please pray for God’s work at Rota Christian Center. They are
getting out the Gospel to a good number of people who really need to hear it,
especially Muslims who have come to Rota from other places.
I returned to Guam on January
3 to continue preaching there. On the 16th, the Zielski family of 6
from New York state came to Guam on my invitation and stayed till January 28.
They stayed at Temple Baptist Church, sang as a family, the men preached, and
they all helped out any way they could at the church and school. The 6 of them
were a great blessing to us all, and the Zielskies sure were glad to trade the
New York cold for 12 days in the warm tropics. Who wouldn’t be?
In late January and early
February, I helped at Temple Christian School as an assistant teacher, and so
enjoyed being with the students and staff. On February 7th, I prayed
at the school assembly that morning, soon loaded my luggage into my rental car,
said “Farewell” to everyone at the school, drove to the airport, and caught a 1
PM flight back to cold Japan, arriving at my house about 9 PM. Oh, it was cold
inside the house when I arrived. So different from Guam. But I returned
rejoicing over the much preaching and singing God enabled me to do on Guam and
Rota. May much fruit come from it.
I spent the next week
attending to matters at home. Then on February 15, I rode the trains southwest
to Gifu City and spent that night with a Japanese family who are good friends
of mine. The next day I went on to Mino Mission in Mie Prefecture and stayed
there till February 29th, fellowshipping in all 3 of their churches,
distributing Gospel literature, and preaching and singing on the streets just a
little. The brothers and sisters in the Mino Mission churches are diligent
Christian labourers and they blessed and encouraged me so much.
On February, I went back to
Gifu City and spent the weekend with the Suenami family. I spoke to them of
salvation in Christ and pray they will all be saved. Please pray for them. On
March 3, I went on to visit missionary Jeff Brigham who lives 30 miles or so
from Gifu. For 2 days, I distributed his church flyers and Gospel literature to
houses in the area of his church. I also sat in his English classes as a guest
speaker. That was a blessing, as was fellowshipping with Bro. Jeff and his
family. I was blessed to see their faithful labour and their love for lost
souls. On March 5th, I returned to my house in Matsuida, glad to see
the weather getting warmer and winter fading away. The many plum trees here are
beginning to bloom and they are most beautiful.
As I go about the missionary
work here in Japan and on Pacific islands, I slowly, but regularly, keep typing
book and sermon manuscript. At the same time I post this letter on this web
site, I plan to post a new sermon, “A Two Edged Sword.” By God’s grace, this
year I hope to add a few more sermons and a few more chapters to the book, “Creature
Versus Creator.” Please pray for God to teach me exactly what to write and
to put Holy Ghost power upon these writings. I pray that God will lead many
people throughout the world to read these writings for their spiritual benefit.
You see the simple prayers that I weave into the books and sermons. I pray that
God will bring people to read them who know nothing of their Creator God and His
Holy Bible. While reading my writings, if they will pray these prayers from an
honest and open heart, that will give the Holy Spirit much free access to work
in their hearts to make their lives into what God wants their lives to be. If
you care to tell other people about this site, or give a link to it, I pray
that God would be greatly glorified by that. With God’s Help, I endeavor to
make the writings as spiritually rich as possible, and they are FREE and freely
available for anyone to read. May God use them in accordance to His Divine
Will. As I go about preaching Christ here in Japan to Buddhists and Shintoists,
I constantly pray for God to put His power upon these writings and to use them
to benefit many souls, both lost and saved, throughout the world.
Thank you for caring about me
and the missionary work I do on this far side of the world. As God leads you,
please pray for the many souls to whom I am able to preach. God is enabling me
to reach many lost souls with a Gospel message. Please pray that they will be
saved. Thank you for praying. Several of you give offerings to this work. What
a help that is to me. May God bless you for your generosity and kindness to me,
and may He repay you many fold over for all you give to me. I believe that the
end of the world is drawing ever so near. No doubt, harvest time will soon end.
May God help each of us Christian workers to faithfully occupy and labour in
the fields that are white unto harvest until our Lord returns for us. God be
with you to bless, help, and keep you as you faithfully live your life for your
Lord and Master.
Christ’s unprofitable servant,
Richard Yerby
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