Hello! Thanks for praying faithfully to our faithful God! Even though the events of the week felt like a roller coaster, it was nice to take moments to be still and remember who is God…and it isn’t me!

This week, can you please pray:

• for a final decision about going to East Asia in October. Doors have opened and closed. And opened and closed. And opened and are slowly closing. All in the span of about 10 days. So…yep, pray for clarity. Due to timing, we’ll have to make a decision soon.
• another team ministry that will be starting up, God-willing, this academic year. I’ll be leading a small group of local university students and recent graduates in a vision-sharing/mobilizing/recruiting/support-raising effort through worship and prayer on local university campuses. This is a huge experiment, since it will be the first time we’ve ever tried this. Pray for God to fill in the last remaining roles with His “first round draft picks.”
• for joy. Usually not a problem , but when things are as chaotic as they have been, it’s easy to lose sight of “the joy set before me” among all the crazy details.

Thanks! God bless you with confidence in Him this week!

Immanuel…josie

Hello prayer warriors! In the words of 3 John 13, “I have much to tell you.” For the sake of keeping these updates short, let me just say thank you for praying for punching in Japan, and stay tuned for more details in the next monthly update! Through an invitation to Japan in mid-October, we’re starting to see cracks in the wall and still hoping to see God break it wide open by

• assembling His perfect team for Japan and China (it would be a combined trip: China invited us about two months ago, but we’ve been waiting for God to also open up Japan to us)
• pouring His resources through His Church into this trip
• arranging His best dates, flights, and housing for us

There are actually quite a few other opportunities before us for early next year and a possibility for India this fall. It’s a bit overwhelming and confusing at times to consider all the options, so please pray for a unified heart among the leaders in this, that we would clearly and corporately sense God leading us so we would be followers of Him first before we are leaders of others.

Thank you so much. Your support propels us further along His purposes. Please join us in praising God for faithfully encouraging us, regardless of how He works all of this out.

Immanuel…josie

Hello! Thanks for continuing to pray! I know something incredible must be happening in the spiritual realm because the personal distraction was just ridiculous this past week. God was amazing, though, in the way He brought about a peace I completely don’t understand but can’t deny. Praise Him for that!

In the midst of that, or maybe even because of it, I’ve been sensing a “go”. That word doesn’t fully describe it, but there’s definitely a forward movement happening. As I was in my church’s worship service this morning, that sense was especially strong.

As the Lord leads you, please pray this week for an increase in momentum in different areas of our ministry, from the basics of building resources to the farthest reaches God allows us and anything in between. If He gives you any clues, please forward them to me. That would be hugely encouraging.

Please continue to pray, also, for Japan. A friend sent a message last week saying he was hoping “to see God open doors, windows, or punch a hole in the wall for you to bring WFI to Japan.” Gotta love that image! [Thanks, friend! You know who you are...] Please intercede on our behalf for that, even as we ask God to reconcile the nation of Japan to Himself through any means possible.

Thanks so much for joining me in this journey!

Immanuel…josie

Hello! It’s refreshing (for me) to again start the week dreaming and envisioning with the Lord what He might want to do through worship to fulfill His commission to us in the next 7 days.

As I sat with God this morning, my prominent desire was Japan. With all the movement happening in the Church in Asia, Japan remains tough ground to break. Please pray as the Holy Spirit leads you for future WFI ministry in that nation…and let me know anything He tells you! If you need a starting point, may I suggest:

• entry for WFI into Japan through “persons of peace” (Matthew 10.11-13)

As always, feel free to pray for anything else God puts before you (and let me in on it!). Thank you for interceding for us. I love praying for what we do, but I can’t do it alone…your fellowship in prayer moves us forward.

Have a great week!

Immanuel…josie

For the most recent ministry update, please click here.

Reflections of Praise

I’m going to reflect way back and say I’m thankful for one of my college campus fellowship advisers. During one of his messages, he made the point we try to live our lives like a TV dinner — everything in its own distinct compartment — but life is really like a chicken pot pie with distinct ingredients all mixed together.¹ They don’t lose their identity, but they are all necessary for the finished product. I tend to favor the TV dinner approach, and it’s pretty obvious by my file naming conventions and the extensive use of the categories feature in my project management software.

This past month, I felt led to dedicate some time to initiating involvement in social justice for a variety of reasons. It’s been something on my mind and heart over the last several years, but I struggled with being pulled in two different Kingdom directions: worship and justice. To draw on the analogy, it felt like I was going to mix the mac and cheese with the chocolate pudding, and that never sounds appetizing. Although pursuing this direction while simultaneously working with WFI has been confirmed through conversations and prayer, I was still concerned I would be trying to do too much and eventually not do anything well. Continue reading…

1. He must have been really trying to reach the college crowd to use frozen food as an analogy. [↩]