Shirrells to Japan

Sorry for the late update!

After over 3 weeks of sickness, our family is healthy again! Thank you all so much for your prayers for healing!

This is a busy time of year here in Meiwa, Japan as it is for many of you! We are praying for you all! Be sure to keep up with us through our newsletter which will be coming out soon!

Would you all be in prayer for our family. We are all quite sick and we can't seem to kick it. Samson has been hit the hardest but we are all struggling in our own way. We have seen multiple doctors and no one can seem to pin point what's wrecking havoc in our bodies.

Can you pray specifically that
1. Samson and Miranda can finally get a restful night of sleep?
2. That Ben and Harlan's cough would let up a bit so their bodies weren't so sore?
3. That Chris would endure the worst of it this weekend and be healthy for the busy upcoming week.

We praise the Lord for each of you and covet your prayers ❤️

Miranda and I split our efforts between two amazing ministries taking place in Ota City, Gunma, Japan today.

The first picture is at Ota Bible Baptist Church. We had a special concert, showcasing the talents of church members and a guest flute performance. I was honored to have the opportunity to participate through singing and playing guitar. We had many visitors from the community as well as family and friends of church members. It was a great opportunity for many non-Christians to hear a clear presentation of the Gospel and Christians to be encouraged through a time of praise to the one true God.

The second picture is a blossoming ministry in Ota City. A dear friend of ours is starting a Gospel outreach ministry through some creative cultural outlets. This particular event is called Sip and Paint. It’s as simple as it sounds. Guests come and paint according to a Gospel theme and sip tea. This is part of a larger outreach ministry she is raising funds to begin in downtown Ota called Wateki Tea House. She hopes this tea house will bring people from the community into a calm environment where they can escape from the busyness of life for a moment and open the door for constructive conversation about the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so thankful to God to have opportunities to partner with other Christians in our community who wish to share the Gospel through their individual God-given skills and abilities.

We are so excited for Harlan and Ben. For the next 3 weeks, they will be going to Tokyo every day and participating in a Japanese intensive course. Today they had to interview some of the other teachers at the school(pictured). They have been in Japanese courses online for over 2 years now, but this is an exciting time to put it into practice all they have learned in a new environment.

Please pray for them as this is an advanced course so they have a lot of work to do learning and practicing! It is hard work and we are so proud of them!

November 29-30- The Gospel

We are so thankful for the Gospel. We are thankful for the grace found in Jesus Christ that is worth laying our lives down for. We are thankful that our purpose and joy is rooted in Christ and not in this world. We are thankful for the hope of heaven that makes suffering on this earth sweet. What a stark differece the life of a Christian is and should be!

A theologian once said "a true understanding of God's grace- of God's unmerited favor- always provokes a life of gratitude and obedience." If we truly understand the grace that has been extended to us, there is no response appropriate outside of thankfulness and obedience to the one who extended it.

"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8