Before the pandemic hit, we were no strangers to wearing a mask.  Until the pandemic arrived, we were able to avoid it for the most part.  This is a mask-wearing culture.  They wear them to avoid illness or to help with seasonal allergies.  It was only natural that there was no resistance when the mask-wearing requirement came down from the government.  We are guests in this country, so we comply as much as possible.  The youtube video posted here gives you a glimpse of what the last two and half years have been like for us as foreigners living here.  We appreciate your prayers.  We are thankful for the opportunity to serve here and will do whatever is required in this current climate for the sake of the gospel.

The picture meme below pretty much sums up Japanese grammar for the English speaker.  Kim saw this recently on Facebook.  She often describes Japanese grammar as being backward and twisted.  For example, if Kim were to say, “I went to the store with my husband yesterday.”  In Japanese it would be, “Yesterday I store to husband with went.”  The verb is always at the end of the sentence.  Sometimes when Kim gets to the end of the sentence, she can’t remember what she was trying to say!  HA! Now you know how to pray for her and her language ability. She struggles with the language and finds it very difficult to have any kind of extended conversation with someone.  Tim does not have this problem since he grew up speaking Japanese. If someone is talking with him on the phone and then meets him in person, they are always surprised to see that he is a foreigner!  

Some people have had trouble reading Mr. A’s testimony. It is written in Japanese.  Each paragraph is translated into English below the Japanese.  If you have a translator set on your computer you may see the English twice.  If so, please turn off your translator to avoid confusion. Thank you!

To read the testimony, please click here.

This week is a series of holidays that make up what the Japanese call Golden Week. We usually take a few days during this week to visit Tim’s parents. They live in the country, so it is always a relaxing time.  The river is about a five-minute walk from their house, so early morning walks there is a must.

If you would like to know more about the Golden Week holidays, click here.

Photo note:  This picture was taken along the river where Tim’s parents live when the cherry trees were blooming.  This week, the farmers should be flooding their fields to begin planting rice.

Thank you for your faithful prayers on our behalf.

Please see our latest prayer letter here: 

http://timmelton.japanforchrist.com/timmelton/Prayer_Letters_files/March_April%202022.pdf

In this prayer letter, we mentioned a young man that has just come to Christ. His testimony is one of God’s amazing grace. “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:23) With his permission, we have posted the translation here: 

https://meltonministryupdates.wordpress.com/testimonies/mr-as-testimony/

It is written in Japanese.  Each paragraph is translated into English below the Japanese.  If you have a translator set on your computer you may see the English twice.  If so, please turn off your translator to avoid confusion.

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It was a wonderful day to be in the house of the Lord! The service included God-honoring special music and a message about our Saviour’s glorious resurrection.  At the end of the Easter service, we had a a baptismal service.  There were 3 candidates for baptism.  Each one shared their testimony and answered questions before being baptized.  After that, we had our monthly potluck fellowship.  People stayed for hours enjoying the fellowship and talking about the special events of the service.

It is such a privilege to be part of what God is doing in Nagoya.  You, our supporters, are part of that.  Thank you for prayers and financial support that make it possible for us to be here.  We will be including more details in our next prayer letter that is coming soon.

Cherry blossom season is the highlight of the year in Japan.  It usually lasts for about two weeks depending on the weather.  The picture posted here was taken this week at the river where Tim’s parents live.  There are miles of cherry trees on both sides of the river.  It is a sight to behold!  If you would like to know why this season is so special to Kim, please click here.  If you would like to learn more about the culture of the cherry blossom season in Japan, click here.

The quasi-state of emergency that we have been under was lifted on March 21.  The number of pandemic cases in our area is going down and we pray that that continues. We had a wonderful bi-lingual service Sunday.  We enjoyed a potluck and fellowship afterward.  A few people stayed through most of the afternoon.

We will be having a baptism service on Easter Sunday.  This is a big step for many of the nationals here. For some, it means the end of some family relationships.  That doesn’t seem to be the case this time so we are rejoicing. When it was announced that one man would be following the Lord in baptism, a lady talked with my husband that she would like to be baptized.  It is so exciting to see what God is doing here in Nagoya.

Spring is here even though it doesn’t really feel like it.  Tim and Kim go for a regular walk at a park near their home.  The pictures included in this update are from their walk this morning.  The cherry blossom season is Kim’s favorite time of year in Japan!

You may have heard that we had an earthquake late last night.  It comes shortly after the anniversary of the big earthquake and tsunami that occurred on March 11, 2011.  The epicenter was in the same area as this earthquake as well.  We live about 370 miles from that area, but we still felt it here.  It was a long one.  I just started to get out of bed thinking this might be the big one they keep telling us our area is going to get when the rocking stopped.  The adrenaline rush made it difficult to get to sleep.

In this picture, we are the bottom blue dot.  The prefecture where the epicenter was is at the top, north of Yokohama.

I have a link to a website that gives me information about earthquakes and other disaster warnings.  I always check it when I feel an earthquake.

The first picture is a graph that shows where it was felt.  Red is the strongest. The second picture gives the time location and magnitude.  They later updated it to a 7.4.

You can read more about it here:

https://japantoday.com/category/national/2-dead-at-least-92-injured-after-M7.4-quake-hits-northeastern-Japan

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220317_37/

Your prayers for your missionaries matter!

Saturday was our monthly bilingual ladies Bible study.  We had a good study based on a lesson from Claudia Barba’s book When Christ Was Here.  Kim taught on Peter’s failure and what we can learn from it.  It was a blessing to her to hear two ladies talking about the lesson the next day at church.  God is working in the hearts of the ladies here and it is such an encouragement to see them growing.

Many of you prayed for Tim’s parents as they returned to Japan this past weekend.  Their trip went well and they are now recovering from jet lag.  The pandemic policies are constantly changing.  We really didn’t know what to expect when they entered the country.  Because they have had three vaccinations and they had a negative test before departure and a negative test upon arrival, no quarantine was required!!!  This is so encouraging.  It is a sign that Japan might start to loosen its borders a little.  There are missionaries ready to enter as soon as they are able to receive a visa.

Thank you for your prayers for us and the ministry here in Japan.  It means more to us than words can say.