Dear brothers and sisters:

Our ministry here in Dallas is about to come to full bloom.  With this comes bearing fruit and after that it is time to graft from this fruit bearing tree to a new soil.  After the New Year I shall be going to Japan to found a mission of the Puritan Church there.  While our time here was short we accomplished much.  We have a church that shall be led by a very competent pastor of your choosing.  We have ministered to battered women and their children.  We have reached out to the homeless and to the lonely.  We shall continue to do so.  I shall do so in Japan and you shall continue here.

Itsuko is progressing in hear deacon studies.  She read the gospel this morning and is almost ready to assist at the Table of the Lord, and to preach her first sermon.  Itsuko has the heart of a true humble servant of the Lord.

The Missions Office in Washington DC is drafting the mission charter for Japan.  The preliminary working name is The Protestant Christian Church of Japan (日本プロテスタントクリスチャン教会).  I shall be consecrated Presbyter November 9 and shall be fully responsible for the mission in Japan as it begins to grow.  Itsuko shall be more than able to assist in our ministry to both the Japanese and expat communities in Nagoya.

We shall not be without helpers in the vineyard.  Rev. Takeshi Amazawa of Tokyo Baptist Church shall be advising on church planting in Japan.  In all there shall be challenges and unexpected problems but how they are handled shall be the difference.  So long as Itsuko and I stay faithful to the Lord, help one another, and be of comfort to those in need then all shall work out to the greater glory of God.

As our Puritan forefathers braved ocean, New World, and famine they clung to the phrase Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam - All for the greater glory of God.