Spring English Language Intensive - 10/10/2016

New Missionary Arrival! Genesis College is very happy to have received another new missionary in Osaka this past month! Frank Harrellarrived from West Point, GA on September 9. Frank has an M.Div. degree from Covenant Seminary. He felt a call to missionary service at a young age, but has only spent two months in Japan prior to moving to Osaka for long-term missionary service. He will be starting language school this month, planning to study full-time for two years. His primary focus will be church planting, along with teaching some classes at our college. Frank is living with me, so you can pray especially for him! With the Rose family who arrived in July, our Osaka-based team has doubled from three adults to six! Praise be to God! ELI Workshop Genesis' third English workshop was a success! Nine students attended our English Language Intensive held August 29-31. One-third of our students fit our eventual Genesis College target group: young adults who, for various reasons, did not attend a university. The "task-based learning" lessons were especially well received by these young men and lady. I have interviewed a number of these young people (including some from previous events) to learn about their past, their goals, and how we can best serve them. Our team will be brainstorming next week regarding this, and whether additional ELI events will help us help them, or if we need a different strategy. Your prayers are welcomed! Stateside Recruiting I will be attending the "Fall for Japan" missions conference in Baltimore on October 21-23, looking to recruit faculty members, church planters, and a college president. I'll spend several days before the conference in Minneapolis, visiting with one particular presidential prospect. Please be in prayer for this time, asking God to provide the people we need to serve in Osaka. It's not too late to register for the Fall for Japan conference! Click here for more information! THANK YOU for your partnership in the gospel! Prayer Points Praise God for bringing Frank Harrell to Osaka, for providing for all his physical and spiritual needs! Pray for him as he continues to adjust to life in Japan, and begins language school next week. Praise God for blessing our three-day English event at the end of August. Pray that He will also provide wisdom and direction for our future events -- that they will be strategic in accomplishing our goals of practical help for young Japanese people and effectively sharing the gospel with them. Pray for my time in the States in October, that God will provide the people needed for the college and for church planting, and that He will give discernment in meeting with the one particular presidential prospect. Also praise God that my Mom is able to fly to Minneapolis for a few days, where we will stay with my aunt. Pray for me and my new missionary roommate, Frank. At 47, adjusting to life with a roommate may be a challenge. So far, so good! Culture Corner Japan's national sport is sumo. Dating back to at least the 8th century, sumo began as a prayer for a fruitful rice harvest, then evolved into a public sport in which two men fight in a circular ring, with one winning when the other was either knocked out of the ring, or any part of his body besides the bottom of his feet touched the ground. Sumo is a living Japanese tradition, containing ancient customs and dress. - from Matthew Johnson, on udemy blog