Manga Messiah

After having some struggles at her junior high school last spring, 14-year-old Eri became very discouraged. Eri's mother has been attending the Tuesday morning Bible study at Agape for about two years. Her mom tried to encourage her by telling her that God was with her and watching over her. Even though Eri knew some things about God, she couldn't really understand how He could help her. Kathy was spending time with her, too, during the spring and doing what she could to encourage her. Just before leaving for the USA, Kathy made a point of giving Eri a copy of Manga Messiah to read. When we returned from the USA, Eri was one of the first people we saw. Eri could not wait to tell us about the way her life was changing. No, the school situation had not improved. But, Eri's heart was changing. She told us how she read the Manga Messiah book and was so moved by the story of Jesus that she cried. For the first time she began to understand how God forgives our sin through Jesus when we confess our sins. God made a way for Eri to change schools to one much closer to her home! In fact, she entered the school where Kathy and I both teach one day a week. How special it is to have her there! Eri told us her desire to get to know God better and started attending Sunday services. Eri has also become part of the worship team and is really enjoying pitching in to help out in a variety of ways. The best part of it all is that Eri's smile is back! Eri is not the only one undergoing changes in her family. Eri's mom has decided that she is ready to step out in faith and get baptized. So she has begun attending a special study to help her prepare for baptism. We are continuing to share the Manga Messiah books with folks of all ages around us. The message is penetrating hearts through this medium and we are excited to be a part of reaping the harvest! May God bless all of you who have given a special gift that is allowing us to distributed more of these great books!! Next time I will tell you another great Manga Messiah testimony!

hey, it's good to be back home again!

Hey everybody,

After a very busy and fun summer in the United States, we are back home again in Kobe. I want to just briefly highlight for you some big changes in the Trim family.

1. Our daughter, Mikaela, is now Mrs. David Coon. She and David were married on June 18th in Hutchinson, KS. It was a lovely unique outdoor ceremony and Mikaela's artistic flair was evident in every aspect.

2. Our son, Caleb, was wed to Beth Anne Bettis on July 11th. It was another blessed weekend filled with grand times with dear friends and family as we celebrated their marriage.

3. Our youngest son, Josiah, has decided to remain in Kobe for his senior year of high school and will be starting online studies soon through an American correspondence school. He has become very active in music at church and many other activities.

While we enjoyed our time in the United States with lots of visits with friends and family, we really are glad to be back home in Kobe. God blessed the work in our absence, using a lovely retired couple, Larry and Alma Oline, to lead the church.

We will try to post some pictures soon of the summer's major events. For now, please enjoy the above photo of us with Pastor Larry and Deb Harrold, ministering at Center Baptist Church in Omaha, our home church.

Some exciting news from Agape Bible Church: One or two passionate people attract more. A few weeks ago we only had a couple of people involved in leading worship. Today we had seven, including two guitars, djembe, tambourine, vocalists, piano, and flute. As we develop music arrangements, we are hoping to add clarinet and baritone saxophone. This is especially exciting as we now even have one evening a week set aside for rehearsal and the members are excited about spending time together preparing for the next events. Pray that this new development in our music ministry will keep growing, that the members will become comfortable working together, and that it will be a blessing not only to those currently attending but will draw even more people to join us each week for worship!

my hospital buddy

This is Mrs. Y.  Mrs. Y. is an elderly woman who lives in our neighborhood.  I often see her when I visit the doctor's office.  She is there many times per week.  Since the doctor's office (hospital) is located in our community, having to go there frequently for treatment for my knees means that I am having opportunities to build friendships with the other patients who frequent the doctor's office, many of whom live nearby.  Because getting in to see the doctor means submitting your "member card" and waiting (first come, first serve), those waiting periods of time can often prove invaluable in opportunities to talk with other patients.  The day I first met Mrs. Y., I must admit she didn't endear herself to me.  She asked me what I was there to see the doctor for, and after hearing about my knee problems, proceeded to roll up her pant leg and show me the scars from her various surgeries.  Then she promptly told me that I was fat (Oh, thank you, I wasn't aware of it!) and that she thought all Americans were too fat, etc. etc.  At the end of this scintillating conversation, she told me I should come by her house for tea sometime.  Right.  Sure.  I just love to put myself in situations where people can verbally attack me.  Besides, it is a polite thing to ask someone to stop by for tea and everyone knows it is just for politeness because you don't have their address or know where they live.  Well, as time has gone by, I meet Mrs. Y. almost weekly at the hospital.  She is opening up more and more and recently, her invitation to tea included an address and directions to her house.   I feel that this is a great privilege because most Japanese do not like to invite guests to their homes.  Last week when I saw Mrs. Y. and asked how she was doing, she was having a bad day.  She was in a lot of pain, and told me that she just wanted to die.  I took her hand and said to her, "Mrs. Y, when you die, you will meet God.  Are you ready to meet God?".  "No, I'm not," she replied.  "Then you can't die yet, because I haven't had a chance to tell you how to get ready to meet God. I will come to see you and tell you!".  She politely nodded her head, and I had to leave.  I haven't forgotten that conversation and I'm trying to plan a time when I can visit her and share with her more about Jesus and the way to heaven.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will be preparing her heart.  

I believe that elderly people here in Japan are a very unreached people group.  Sometimes it's because missionaries believe that they are so set in their religious ways of Buddhism that they would not be open to hearing the Good News of salvation through Christ.  Another reason may be that it is HARD to meet them and spend time with them. They are usually slower to accept friendship with foreigners than the younger generation.  Some of them still harbor negative feelings from WW2.  Yet, we find our current living situation has us placed in a community surrounded with a high percentage of elderly people with time on their hands.  We would like to get more involved at the local community center, but haven't found our niche there yet. However, surprisingly, several retirees from the neighborhood have started learning English and enjoy coming to our monthly Agape English Cafe.  

Pray with us for the elderly of Japan.  More and more they are becoming the "nuisance" of Japan as they don't have enough of the younger population to care for them.  They are lonely, and often looking for meaning in their lives.  Many wish they could die soon.  Yet, so many have never heard the Gospel.  Pray for us as we seek to reach our friends and neighbors in this community.   

Come one, come all!  We wish all of our friends around the world could join us for a great weekend of fun and fellowship.  Mike and Barbara Gray, TEAM missionary friends living in Takamatsu, Japan will be coming for the weekend of Dec. 5-7 to join us in a weekend of outreach through music.  They specialize in Country/Bluegrass style music and will perform in both English and Japanese.  In case your Japanese is rusty, this flier says that they will be performing:  

1.  at our local Starbucks on Fri., the 5th at both 7 and 8 p.m.

2.  at our monthly English Cafe on Sat. evening, the 6th

3.  during our Sunday morning worship on the 7th

4. and giving a full concert in Japanese at 4 p.m. on Sunday.  

It is our hope that these events will be a delightful time for all involved and also bring many new people to visit Agape Bible Church.  

Miyu Akano's testimony Part 1

Miyu Akano's testimony Part 2

Miyu Akano's testimony Part 3