Jan 113 min read

November 2024 Mission Trip update

By Glow International

Thank you to our supporters! Connections were made, eyes were opened.

The November trip was unique because it was a time of education for the church leaders in attendance as well as a time of dreaming about the future of Glow. We want to share with you what your support helped us accomplish!

God was glorified.

We hosted a one-day retreat in Tokyo. Through your support we were able to rent a meeting space that accommodated adults and children. Those in attendance were blessed to hear teaching from pastors at Grace Church of Fayetteville, GA and Crossroads Church of Newnan, GA. The teachings were about marriage and parenting, the two most requested topics at Glow. The children had fun hearing the Bible message, paricipating in discussion, doing crafts, playing games and receiving prizes! Their special time was led by Glow’s Prayer Coordinator, Andy Lam. The attendees shared how much they enjoyed talking and learning and how they would love for the time to be longer!

Dots were connected.

Two days were set aside to hear directly from missionaries, a Japanese pastor, and a few Japanese believers about their experiences and needs as Christian leaders in Japan. The goal of this time was to help our guests have a stronger understanding of the spiritual state of Japan as well as the challenges that missionaries and pastors face so that Glow can consider ways to possibly support and impact these leaders. Ideas for future mission trips, types of mission teams and ways to serve while on mission were discussed and ideas dreamed about for the upcoming June 2024 trip! As a team, we attended a local church for Sunday service and were reminded of how small the congregations in Japan are how encouraging it is to have fellowship with other Christians. Many thanks to Jon and Tammy Junker, the Japanese pastor, and a few local Japanese Christian who led and attended the meeting.

Vision Meeting with Crossroads Church and Grace Church Leadership

Connections for returnees were made.

Naoko and Samantha attended a 3-day conference hosted by CPI in Kakegawa. The conference brought together over 600 believers, missionaries and pastors in Japan! It was awesome to see so many Christians in one place! The most valuable resources that were gained from attending were connections with local churches and other Christians for our returnees. When our returnees can be connected to a nearby Christians and not have to depend on zoom meetings for spiritual discipleship, support and community, their faith will grow much faster! The conference also inspired new ideas for future projects! For now, we are praying about these ideas!

RENOWN Conference in Kakegawa, Shizouka prefecutre

New connections were made.

Naoko visited a couple of churches in Sendai to join a mission team from Woodstock Baptist Church. The WBC team makes an annual visit to Sendai to provide support to pastors and missionaries in the region. Additionally, WBC hosts Japanese students during the summer. The purpose of this mini mission trip was to gain insights from the WBC team regarding short-term missions and the hosting of Japanese students. God has revealed new ministry opportunities, and Glow is earnestly seeking guidance from the Lord to open a door for a new project in the near future.