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!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
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!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
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!
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