Some quick hits:

• Roy and teammate Derrah spent Jan 13-16 in Colorado training people in some of the stuff we are doing in ministry with the M28 initiative. This was in a sense a dry run for another nationally teleconferenced training in Omaha in February and a international trip to do training in Asia in late March. God really blessed the time as people seemed receptive and open to trying what we were teaching: implanting church planting concepts in discipleship of students who follow Jesus. We also learned about what works and doesn’t work in training this material. Almost everyone there said that we encouraged them to really look deeply at how they do ministry.
• We welcomed several hundred new students at UTA. Roy helped out with the rides to Walmart and Roy, Lisa and the team helped out much with the Big Howdy party this last Saturday. On the Walmart run, in his group of 6, he met a young friend from Iran who really connected with Roy.

Big week coming up. We have a big meeting with our Texas staff – planning our Tejas spring break retreat. This is an important meeting because many of us will be very busy right before the retreat and so much of the planning has to be done early. This is the retreat where God often leads many to start the journey with Himself and many discover God through the Bible and learn how to help other discovery God through the Bible. We are anticipating a very busy semester coming up. We will need your prayers as Roy will be traveling a lot to train people in ministry stuff and doing other things. We have busy regular schedules too with Friday night groups, PTO discipleship groups, lots of sports, scouts, etc. Here are some recent pictures including some from the holidays, etc. http://www.flickr.com/photos/yabukibreeze/.

Some Quick hits form the last few weeks:

• Roy and Charis got sick during the holiday. This is a blessings because it forced Roy to rest a lot which he needed. We got really close.
• Roy just finished yesterday the next major version of the PTO discipleship curriculum for our offering the ISI M28 initiative that he has been working on the last month. It is curriculum designed to help disciple groups to disciple other groups.
• The kids are excited about all the special gifts they received for Christmas. So are their parents.
• We met with our UTA ISI Team at the Phillips for a fun get together. Wow! I can’t believe how big and tight our team has become. Good job Ron as our UTA team leader.
• A fair number of students were exposed for the first time to the story of Christmas at churches during the holiday. Two student were even involved in Christmas plays at churches.

Pray for

John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

 Rejoice because for the first time, when Jesus was born, we could see God dwelling among us “in the flesh” through his Son, full of grace and truth – the light of the world!

Check out some of Christmas pictures! Check out all our latest pictures.

Merry Christmas every one from the Yabuki’s!

• A new student Andrew from Nepal made a decision to follow Jesus through one of our volunteers doing Discovery Bible Study with him. God was influencing him in many way through many people and when he read the Bible he recognized what he was looking for.
• We are praising God that several of some of our closest students finished school this last weekend. Still we will miss them dearly. Vritant, Fernando and Bibianna specifically said that we all were their family in Texas (they even said it in a caption on facebook). Cynthia and TCU was showered with many blessings by the team over there. We are very sad to see these very special friends go home.
• We are excited that our student friend, Greg from East Asia welcomed his family to the US to join him after 6 months apart.

We know that during this time we all think about serving others and the Lord through giving in different ways. ISI in the DFW area is in a special time right now. God is doing amazing stuff and we feel that God has put us smack dab in the middle of it. In the last year God has started two huge new ministry opportunities that allow us to touch the world more effectively for Christ through internationals students. We invite you to consider being a part of one of these giving opportunities and projects.

Three opportunities to give where God is working (click on the following to learn more):

1. We need your regular help to allow us to be a catalyst for to serving international students! – Backing up God’s Call
2. Do you ever get goose-bumps when God works so clearly and immediately? We do! – UTD Ministry House Project
3. Special people God is using in special ways with South Asians – ISI Midwest Aradhna Concert Tour

1.We need your regular help to allow us to be a catalyst for serving international students! – Backing Up God’s Call

As you have seen in the last year through our newsletter and blog, God has been doing amazing things in and through our family & ministry. Many of you have been partners with our family & ministry and have been praying and tracking what has been going on for years. You know that this is an unprecedented time. God has brought many international friends to our weekly Friday gathering. So much so that we have had to divide up in to two groups. Many of these students have asked and so we have been able to start many Discovery Bible Study groups and Passing Truths On (PTO) disciplemaker making groups to help students meet and walk more closely with Jesus.

Our team is at ground zero where God is teaching us revolutionary ways to touch international students  through new strategies and concepts that have the potential of many students being cultivated as leaders who will perhaps become multiplying ministry planters back home – taking what they learn here and applying it. The rumblings of God’s movement through students are beginning to be felt. As we saw in our Asia trip, our dear student friends are starting groups in their home country to disciple other who can start groups to disciple others. Imagine the impact if this continues.

So many wonderful things, yet, at the same time, we all know that times are tough for individuals and organizations which depend upon donations, and we are no exception. As you know we have been faithful in the work of the ministry – praying and reaching out, and mobilizing volunteers to do the same. But we cannot continue without help from people who care, who love seeing God at work, and who love partnering with God in what he is doing—people like YOU! You make it possible for us to be the catalysts for movements of God, empowering people like you to touch students’ lives.

We have been receiving anywhere from $200 to $800 less than our monthly budget many months this year. Just doing the math you can see that we have had a considerable shortfall and our formerly considerable reserves are depleted. Won’t you help us to make this up by sending a tax deductible  gift through our ministry fund (you can give online here) to help us make up the shortfall throughout the year? These gifts are Roy’s sole source of income and we have been living and doing ministry in deficit. We believe in God’s call for us and in His promise of provision and so it is vitally important that you all, who believe in what we do, join us and perhaps be the means of His provision. We also need additional monthly donors who will stand in the gap and make up for our lost monthly givers. So again prayerfully see if you are called by God to use this link to make a gift which will continue to keep us on the front lines!

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2. Do you ever get goose-bumps when God works so clearly and immediately? We do! – UTD Ministry House Project
At the Dallas-Ft.Worth ISI annual planning retreat, the Lord led us to focus on the critical need for 20-something year old interns to reach out to the international students at UT-Dallas. We had to face the fact some 20-something

year old international students like being around 20-something year old Americans and the trend is towards a larger number of 20-somethings coming! In planning HOW to recruit such interns, we were led by the Lord to pray for a home within walking distance of the UT-Dallas campus where the interns could live (paying only utilities). These interns would be students also—strong Christians—who could devote 15 hours per week to outreach to internationals. They would probably be Dallas Theological Seminary students or UT-Dallas grad students. BUT THE IDEA OF A HOUSE THAT NEAR CAMPUS SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE!

But the God who led us to pray for the impossible specializes in doing the impossible! JUST ONE WEEK LATER, the UT-Dallas ISI Campus Director was contacted by an old church friend who wanted to see if ISI could use his house near campus. His renters has trashed it, and he was prompted by the Lord to see if the Lord wanted to use it for ministry. He did not want to sell the house, but could see how its proximity to the UT-Dallas campus could benefit our ministry there!

We prayed, and the Lord made clear this was from him! GOOSE-BUMPS! We have a multi-year agreement with the owner to use the house, and we are responsible for fixing it up and maintaining it while the interns live there and minister through it.

We need your help with the costs of fixing it up—estimated at $4,850! We have guys from two churches who will do the labor along with local ISI staff, but we need your help with the cost of paint and materials to get the house back in shape for living in and for ministry.

Doesn’t it sound like the Lord to use disastrous renters, a Christian home owner, a local ministry in need, church guys with fix-up skills, ISI staff, and YOU to partner to make ministry happen?! The Lord led us to ask him for the impossible; we listened-obeyed and he worked mightily; and now we need you to be a part of the team. Will you join us in seeing God at work through his people?! Please click on this link and see how you can give towards this project.

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3. Special people God is using in special ways! – ISI Midwest Aradhna Concert Tour

Two years ago some 500 Asian Indian and Nepali international students in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area attended four concerts by the Christian worship team Aradhna. The members of Aradhna are former missionary kids in India/Nepal who learned the language, love the culture, and use their musical gifts to worship the Lord by writing and playing music in the cultural traditions and styles of India and Nepal. Go to www.aradhnamusic.com and click on sample tracks. You can also read the words of the music. You can see that they honor God with their words but also by their professional and yet soulful sound.

The South Asian Indian and Nepali international students love this music. But more importantly, the guys playing it are doing so in the power of the Lord. We had prayer teams on their knees, and what happened in the concerts was powerful spiritually! The Lord inhabits the praise of his people, and these were worship concerts attended and loved by hundreds of non-believing and secular students who witnessed God at work!

Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. ~ Psalm 108:2-3

Aradhna has responded to our invitation and made room in their tour schedule for another visit to the Dallas-Ft.Worth area campuses (as well as campuses in Wichita KS and Colorado Springs, CO where ISI is ministering). Again, we need your partnership to make this special ministry by very special people happen! Aradhna only asks for their travel expenses, concert expenses, and a small honorarium, but for five concerts in our city that amounts to $4,500. Could you help us make this a reality? We have staff and volunteers ready to follow-up Indian and Nepali students who attend. This could be the start of many significant relationships. Please use this link to help with this outreach project.

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In closing…

This is shaping up to be a wonderful year of seeing the Lord at work! We just took more than 100 international students to tour NASA and had incredible conversations about spiritual issues while there and on the way back. Something about space and the vastness of the universe which turns our thoughts to the idea of a Creator! Follow-up from a fun event like this is so easy and natural!

Blessings on you and your extended family for the celebration of Christ’s birth! And let us know how we can pray for you as you interact with family and friends this holiday season. Sometimes it isn’t very easy!

Roy & Lisa and the Kids

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Here are some quick things to pray for.

Praise

• Friday nights – As we continue this experiment with Friday Night ISI at UTA meetings at two locations (early & late groups), God continues to bless. This last week is a example of how God is working. The late group had a student who just got baptized this last week. In the early group, our volunteer Cal had some significant conversation with several students which led to him meeting with a South Asian person of peace and starting to set up relationship with a couple of other students. Roy also had a couple of significant discussions about Jesus with the result being one East Asian couple taking the discovery Bible study “cheat sheet” with the intention of doing a family discovery Bible study group in their apartment. Praise God also for workers for the Harvest. Keep on praying for more. The fields are VERY white for harvest who want to be loved on and who want to learn more about the God of Creation and His Son.
• PTO (Passing Truths On)- Three PTO groups have started. PTO groups are a 16 week mode of discipling students where they are trained to 1) become disciples who train disciples, 2) learn the essentials of how to walk with Jesus, and 3)  learn how to start and lead discovery Bible groups. One of these groups is being led by a couple of American volunteer girls who are learning the process themselves and are passing it along immediately to another students. Ron is training one other key volunteer on how to lead PTO groups. Roy is leading an on-campus PTO group with three students and also  two volunteers who are learning how to lead these groups. Roy is also doing one PTO group using video Skype to disciples a student in Colombia and another one in Mexico. This process of starting these groups helped us too to tease out who the followers of Jesus are, those who the seekers are and whose not interested in Spiritual things but have a deep relationship with us.
• Right Now Conference – Roy and staff members, Jeff, Hannah, Judy and key volunteer, Tom joined in a conference to learn how to minister together with churches from the 20-30′s demographic. Tom and Judy also were involved with a conference with business leaders on helping believers see “Work as Worship” – using the workplace as a place of ministry. We need to help our students to have this perspective. We also were able to network with business leaders in the area to kick off a new ministry that we are looking at related to students in internships.
• Lisa is enjoying her new job because she is actually encouraged to share her faith with her students. It does require more outside time with students and it has less regular hours than her previous job.
• Ti* is getting more and more involved with Boy Scouts and playing the cello. He is getting better at both. In scouts, he has had the opportunity to learn things such as orienteering and tying knots. Cha* is really growing into a sweet young lady who loves to do crafts, cook, and spend time with her friends. She even made her own dalmatian Halloween costume. Jonathan is navigating through his sophomore year of high school and is learning how to be more responsible with managing his home work etc.
• Phoenix Training – Ron, Roy & Derrah had the privilege of training the ISI Phoenix team of 12 in some of the things we have been learning in our work with M28/CPM using video Skype. Imagine training a group of 12 people  hundreds of miles away with three local presenters and still be able to see their reactions, give feedback and everything. What a blessing that was to join hearts with kindred spirits and they seemed to grasp it. We hope that through all this training in M28 all over, it will catch sooner than later and a student movement will spark.
• At TCU, the team continues to flourish with several students growing through the Bible study there. Sharon, Sarah, Tim, the Moores and the rest of the team are ably leading the team. Recently, 8 UTA ISI students joined with 8 TCU ISI students in helping out with the Fall Festival as volunteers at Christ Church Assembly of God in Fort Worth. The student’s eyes were open wide as they were part of 300 volunteers who served 6000 kids and family members. They were touched by how a church would do such a thing through volunteers and donations without government help or anything. They asked many questions including “Why?”

During this time, God has answered prayers for Roy, Lisa and the kids that you all lifted up. We very much covet and appreciate your prayers. Lately, we have been putting more focus on prayer in our lives and ministry and I have heard and am experiencing that when one does, especially in areas that break new ministry ground that there is generally MORE spiritual opposition than less. So we need you all covering our backs especially now. You don’t know how much it means to us to know your all are behind us.

Here is a quick report of the last couple of weeks:

• The Houston trip went very well. All the students went and came from Houston safely. We were concerned that there was no astronaut to speak to the students. It wasn’t a problem. The students truly enjoyed their time at NASA and afterwards they heard from a NASA team partner who arranges for HAM radio demonstrations with schools where kids get to talk to the astronauts up in the International Space Stations. There was a great “live-looking” video from the space station itself where we watched an astronaut give a tour and then talk to some HAM radio operators. The students really mobbed the speaker, taking pictures and asking for autographs. It was great. We also experimented with more students staying at each host home and it was a rousing success. I had a couple of Russian speaking students and family members in my car and many of the NASA people spoke Russian. The students felt so special because they could talk with the space program people in their native language.  The students also attended churches and met even more NASA people there. No doubt they see that rational, highly educated people could be followers of Jesus too.
• The week after the NASA trip, I was feeling very exhausted, with little enthusiasm and with several problems I had to deal with. (small things that the enemy often shoots our way). God blessed me as as we had our ISI Rocky Mountains and Plains regional retreat in Colorado Springs and He used it as a tool to heal and restore. It was incredible being up in the mountains. Normally, I am very social and stuff at these retreats –  learning  from other staff different things God uses to reach international students. This year, I spent a lot of time in my room. I rested some but also I was supposed to give a talk on the “Gospel of the Kingdom”, a HUGE theme in the gospels, the New Testament and much of the Bible. I spent much of the weekend immersed in the Word in the beautiful scenery of Colorado and it was just what the doctor (or Lord) ordered. It didn’t feel at all like work. Praise the Lord for times like these.
• Praise the Lord that the M28/CPM project is starting to gain traction outside of the just the Metroplex and spilling into our region. Praise also for a wonderful Skype discipleship opportunity I had on Friday, filling in for Ron with a couple of former students who now live in East Asia. Wow, God is working powerfully in their lives.
• The new school where Lisa works changes terms every 8 weeks. It is not always certain her classes would have enough students and she would have the classes she wants or if she will even teach. The second eight weeks started and she was concerned about teaching and and that she didn’t hear if she would have a class. At just the last minute, God provided and continues to provide enough classes for her to teach.
• At UTA they had a 72 hours of prayer group effort and God blessed and God we still feel the residual effect of that ministry at our groups and events.

• Charting the course of a new ministry initiative for ISI in developing a new discipleship and outreach ministry strategy
• Meeting to help look at sites for our ISI national conference in June of 2012 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
• taking students furniture
• Sharing at a national conference of South Asian (Indians, Pakistanis, etc.) Christians about the possibilities for them doing ministry with international students
• Picnic meeting with our family and our friendship partner students and their friends and families from China
• Meeting with students to share the Bridge illustration.
• Meeting to share at a seminary class about helping with ministry with international students
• Meeting with our friends from Central Asia to discover what the Bible says
• Meeting with a staff friend in New York over the phone to encourage each other in ministry
• Meeting with a church friend about the possibility of working together on a special project
• Meeting with some seminary students who have decided to focus on serving Indians at UTA and doing some pioneer work there
• Meeting to prayer walk with a couple of people
• Meeting with a man who wants to volunteer and share about our ministry for a mobilization effort called Perspectives
• Meeting to talk and plan for Friday nights with several individuals
• Meeting with another couple to talk about how to help with international students
• Meeting with a national speaker, who wrote the book Death of a Guru on Hindu ministry

Okay, I think you get the message. Honestly, each of these things were energizing and invigorating… It reminds me that God is at work right now. Continue to pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up more people for the harvest. Also pray that he will take these that He has risen up already that He will empower them to share with the 18,000 international students in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area the love and message of Christ.

The original purpose of the Friday group going to two different locations was to alleviate pressure in the homes that we meet in. There were just too many people for our homes. We are praising the Lord because while the late group is growing and developing a regular following and a level of stability, the early group is still bursting at the seams with as many as 50 people still coming. God is working in different ways in each group and he is able to touch different types of people in different ways because of the different natures of the groups. Praise the Lord. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest will raise up more workers (and maybe more and bigger houses to host) Pray also that the students will still feel like while we meet at different locations, we are still “one group” following one Lord.

Lisa started her new job at DBU. After around 10 years at the same school this is quite the change. She is excited that she can overtly make a lot of noise for Jesus and share her heart as she teached English to her new students.

Our family continues to meet for Discovery Bible study with another family, our dear friends from Tajikistan. Wednesday was the husband, Alex’s birthday but the Alex and Maria  insisted that we did Bible Discovery group before we celebrated with Alex for dinner. Praise the Lord for their excitement over studying together. Pray that as Wednesday church and other things start up again, we can find a day of the week that works for everyone to meet.

Continue to pray for UTA Friday night group(www.utaisi.org) as we transition to two separate locations at around the same time. This is not easy, to see our awesome and close team work in two groups but it seems necessary. Pray for discernment as we decide who goes with who in the two groups both with volunteers but also student leaders. And pray that the students take to one or other of the groups and don’t get lost in the wash.

Many students are going home after the summer long term. One student shared on Friday that she was “concerned” when she came here and was worried about not having anyone here. She shared she never would have thought that she would have found a place that felt like family like the Friday night group was to her.

• When we look back on the summer, the obvious HUGE thing was the trip. I was asked the other day about post processing the trip with my kids and we have done that in a way. Jonathan’s interest in Anime and doing art has been re-kindled by the trip. He used a lot of his birthday money to buy a digitizing tablet that allows him to sketch and draw on the computer and he spends much of the day perfecting his skill.  I asked Tim the other day if he would like to eventually do an exchange program, even to Europe. He said no… while he is our most adaptable traveler, he is also our staunchest Texan and loves it at home. Charis seems more “secure” in terms of thinking of her Chinese family and stuff since she returned. She has also become a huge part of our ministry of late as she acts as a great host to a fairly large group of kids who have been coming to Friday night group.
• One of the blessings this summer has been the team who did the UTA Friday night groups while we have been gone. The Friday night groups are healthier than ever and we are so blessed by this wonderful team. In fact it has been so healthy, the group has outgrown any single home and we are looking at expanding to two homes. God has been very very good and we praise Him for this.
• As few weeks ago, our good friends the Speed’s hosted a gathering with the 35 UTA East Asian EMBA students. Their Host families were also there. Many of the students this year will be  bringing their own families over. This was a wonderful time of swimming, talking, connecting, showing God’s love… It was a huge blessing for all who were there and it had a real sense of family together. Also with this group we have the honor of being the host family to two of these students. One of the students has told us that he has been baptized and he has such a sweet spirit about him, always wanting to serve people and he also has a keen interest in studying the Bible. A different students who has been regularly coming to our Friday night and has been a regular part of our Bible study has been going to church with us the last couple of weeks. In fact last week he brought three friends with him. We also have some really good friendships with several of these students. It has been amazing how close we have become in such a short time.
• Lisa changed jobs and will be working at DBU this fall teaching ESL in their Intensive English Program. She begins teaching there on Monday of this week. While she is sad to leave her previous post at El Centro college after so many years, this new challenge as brought a real jump to her step and a real sense of purpose in he eyes. Needless to say, there will be adjustments that we will have to make as anything new always does but working at a ministry oriented university where one of the President’s goals is to be a beacon to and reach out to unbelieving international students is truly refreshing for her.
• One huge blessing this summer has been our relationship with Alex & Marianna from Tajikistan. Marianna came about a year ago to begin graduate studies at UTA and her family soon followed. They’ve got two of the sweetest girls who are around Charis’ age. These three girls, and the daughter of the Phillips, key volunteers, enjoy every Friday night playing together. This precious family stayed at our house when we were gone to Asia. They just got a taste of what it is like to live in an American home for a while. We also are meeting together doing family church on a weekday night together using the discovery Bible study format. It has been a real blessing seeing their eyes light up as they study God’s word and learn the joy of studying it. We are really blessed by their friendship.
• In late July our ISI staff meet met together for some sweet prayer and planning for our annual vision/planning retreat. We learned how to be more effective prayers in ministry. We also evaluated where God took us last year in light of the goals he gave us last year and we established new strategic goals that we felt we needed to set for this next year. Among the things we felt we needed to do was continue developing and improving  the new model of ministry that we have been developing already, strengthening our leadership in prayer, developing creative ways for young people could serve as staff, and looking for special staff with unique gifts for unique large projects. For example we need someone who is good with the internet and facebook who could be a “internet minister” for students… to make initial contacts before they come, to keep up with students so that when we hear of their needs on social networks we can serve them with Christ’s love more effectively, and to help with the follow up with students from a distance. We also felt the need for an entrepreneurial business savvy and networked  staff person who could be a point person in developing a new way of doing international student ministry where we help develop them and get started in the work place. (more to come on both of these things in the future)
• The kids have been recovering nicely to the trip though the summer has gone by very quickly. Jonathan is working on his digital art skills with a new graphics pad that he got for his birthday. He is getting really good. Timothy is working on his cello and his game playing skills. Charis has been visiting with her neighbor friend Olivia a lot and enjoys doing many art projects.