Yabuki Breeze Blog

It has been a while since my last post. There have been many very time consuming projects afoot. Anyway, I wanted to post some things that have been on my heart but I haven’t had time to post. I am going to bring in some tidbits from our most recent prayer letter that share what is on my heart right now…

In many ways this has all the indications of being a very emotionally draining week for me and my family. So many difficult things happened (see Prayer needs below). There were some sleepless nights and lots more prayer than usual. Still, God is here and working and for that I am truly grateful. We have lots of huge prayer requests this week. Please pray specially. The next couple of weeks will feel difficult and the effects of the last couple of weeks will start to be felt.

Praises

• God gave our DFW team a wonderful, wonderful retreat. We looked at a new strategy for ministry for the DFW area that incorporates what we already do but looks to expand on it using a new paradigm. We will need some prayer warriors if this will work, but if it does, it could be really special. Let me know if you are interested in praying specifically for this for the next year in a concentrated way.
• I have been really blessed by seeing how my kids have been getting along at this point of the summer. I will miss the special times together working at home with them here when the summer is over.
• We had a wonderful banquet for the Chinese EMBA students at UTA where they got to hear from a wonderful Christian business man who spoke at their level and also they connected well with their friendship partners.

Prayer Needs

• Many of you have been praying for the Chinese student, N, who police are looking for as she has been missing since Saturday. There is no new news to report. Please keep on praying for wisdom on the part of the police and that she will be found one way or another.
• My grandfather in Japan passed away today. I did not know him too well as he was always so far but I do know he was a very special man who was a huge influence for my mother. I’ll never forget his wonderful laugh, his constant smile and his deep but simple wisdom. I just wish I could have gotten to know him better. I don’t believe he ever knew the Lord. That saddens my heart.
• My oldest son turns 13 this week. I can’t believe that that little boy who was little more than one year old when we came to Texas is going to be a teenager. In many ways I am so proud of him and yet I feel compelled to pray for him and all the kids every day. There is so little we control and so much we depend on God’s grace.
• We began our “Politics, international relations and religion” discussion group at Starbucks on Wednesdays two weeks ago. The first one had one Italian student. This week we doubled our attendance with the Italian student, an Iranian couple and myself. Please pray for good conversations about worldviews and stuff eventually opening up discussion about Jesus.
• We are winding down our summer groups and getting ready for the craziest month of every year when we welcome new students. At UTA alone there are over 600 new international students coming and we meet most of them in this busy month.
• Pray for wisdom on some financial and priorities things we need to decide on for the city ministry soon.

Tags: Big Howdy, Birthday, discussion group, Grandfather, international relations, Japan, Loss, missing, paradigm, police, politics, Praise, Prayer, Staff retreat, Strategy, Teenager

I’m am waiting at the airport after an incredible 5 days in California. One of the special part of our ministry is our interaction with the people, churches and organizations that make what we do possible though their time, prayers and financial gifts. We can’t do it without them. One of many favorite supporters is Calvary Church of Santa Ana, one of the churches we consider home around the country.
While Calvary is one of our most faithful supporters in prayer and financially, it is how they take care of us personally that is most special. They have their children regularly correspond with our kids, we get birthday cards, they regularly send building and support teams to different fields.
This week underscores their care for us.

Every year the church has a 2 week missions conference. This is fairly common. What makes it special is that during that time all the missionaries are treated to a three day retreat with all the missionaries present.

From the general director of a mission agency to the young campus minister all are lavished with the same care and sense of special value by MOST of the staff and pastors. These are busy guys and yet they take the time to listen and care. It is incredibly fun and by the end we have gotten to know some incredible people, have prayed, cried, learned about the going on of the church, etc.

The missionaries there are truly incredible and have done amazing things with the Lord. Pioneering Christian presence in new countries, saving countless lives, helping headhunters adjust to a new world, leading missions organizations with thousands of ministers. Yikes! Still we all have many things in common and the same Lord who makes it all this possible.

And to know there are literally hundreds of people praying for you and caring for you. It’s hard to keep a dry eye.

Tags: calvary, church, Prayer

One of our dear student friends, Ken finally said yes. We were looking high and low for someone to watch our house while we take a 18 day 4000 mile road trip to California to visit friends, family, supporters, churches,  see some world class sights with our kids, etc. the next couple of weeks. For those of your who want to pray for us on this trip, we made a special “drop.io” blog site (at http://drop.io/YabukiCalTrip.  You can subscribe to an e-mail/RSS/podcast/etc. there.) where it is easy to journal our trip with pictures, notes, & audio files, etc.. On the right of this Yabukibreeze blog we have a box with the RSS update notices from that trip log. Also, here is the schedule so you can plan for our days… Please pray for safety, patience, a good holiday, good experiences, growing love for our family, good re-connections with friends and family, etc. Sadly, we won’t be able to visit all of you all given the tight schedule because of the transit times, family times during the holidays and all, but we are excited about seeing some of you all!

Tags: California, holiday, Prayer, travel

Last Monday seemed like a bleak day. We were gathered for our monthly ISI DFW Staff meeting. Usually a good thing. But on this particular Monday, several things were weighing heavily over us. Little did we know that God was going to use this to grow our faith…

Our colleague Derrah, spend the last couple of weeks struggling with a medical situation with his mother Polly. This normally vigorous nonagenarian recently fell on a outing with her Sunday school class and then later again at the ER. This was very uncharacteristic of her. The result was a couple of hematomas in her head. Then they found out that the reason she fell was that she had a couple of silent heart attacks in weeks previous and a part of her heart and lungs were failing. Fearing a stroke because of the hematomas the doctors did not want to do surgery but her body had other ideas. She began to suffer from dizziness and disorientation. They couldn’t figure out what was going on. Bounced from the internist to the neurosurgeon to the cardiologist, it was looking bad and she was getting progressively worse. Some said seizures, others, pressure from the hematomas. About the only things they “could” do was surgery to relieve the pressure. Surgery seemed out of the question… She would not likely survive it. But, by last Monday, she was determined to have surgery to relieve the pressure. Whether it was successful or not, it would be a win for her… to be with the Lord or to “hopefully” get her functions back. So on Monday, we were praying for Derrah to have courage and wisdom to do the hard but right things in the spirit of her wishes.

At the same time, our colleague, Ministry rep, Pat Bradley had struggled through some things too. Earlier in the week she had heard from her doctors that they would not treat a condition that caused her constant pain because there was nothing left that they could do. She felt the need for prayer from elders. One of the other staff shared both of these needs with me and we decided to devote much of our meeting to praying for her and Derrah’s situation.

Be began by praying for Derrah, and then we prayed over and for Pat at our meeting. It was very intense. In addition, we have had our network of prayer warriors on both of these prayer needs for several weeks now. It was clear God was there. His presence was palpable and it was exciting. But at the end of the meeting, Pat got a call and we found out that her also nonagenarian father had a stroke. Oh man… we let her go and prayed over lunch for her. On Thursday, both situations came to a climax and we just happened to have our staff Christmas party. Neither families were there. While we had fun a the parties, we were all aware of the life or death situations going on in the lives of two of our compatriots… We prayed then too…

Then… we began to see God work… at the end of the party, we got a text message from Derrah saying Polly made it through surgery… Then we started hearing reports that she was progressing quickly. Pat shared with Derrah that since the prayer, her pain was much reduced. Wow… what was going on? God answering prayers the way we asked… in His will? Pat’s dad, while still very bad, was walking and stuff… she was able to be his advocate… By this Monday, the storm clouds, while still present, seem to have dissipated much in energy. Things are better… and God not only answered ours but your all’s prayers!!! Below is an e-mail sent by Derrah…

Dear Friends and Family,

God continues to answer prayer in unbelievable ways concerning my 90-year old mom (Polly Jackson). Tonight she came home with us—discharged from ICU to HOME! Five days ago a surgeon drilled two nickel-sized holes into her skull to relieve pressure to two large subdural hematomas. For the five days before that she could not speak three words together, remember anything, walk, or use her right hand… and more than one MD was ready to write her off at that point as incurable with brain damage and to send her to a nursing home to die! The hospital social worker met with me to arrange it. But God has other ideas…

Despite not having walked for 10 days, today she got out of bed at the Physical Therapist’s request and walked the equivalent of one city block unaided except by her walker. She took care of her own toilet needs, needed no more nursing care on her two head incisions, and was stable on all her meds and vital signs… so they let her come home! One nurse in ICU told us that instead of four DAYS, most folks who had what she had spent four WEEKS in ICU.

The hospital was full and there was no bed for her on regular nursing floors. Since she no longer needed ICU, and I asked the MDs what prevented her from coming home. They shrugged their shoulders, and I said, *Let’s make it happen.* And they did! So at 6:00 p.m. this evening, we drove mom home… by God’s love and grace… and in answer to your faithful prayers! The unbelievable happened. Her neurosurgeon was amazed!

How can we say THANKS sufficiently to you for your prayers and TLC? Simply give us the privilege of praying like that for YOU and your needs!

Below is a pic of mom taken tonight. Pam gave mom a pink cap a friend had given Pam recently to cover mom’s shaved head and keep it warm. Mom said, *I always wanted to be able to wear a ballcap!* [One of the reasons she made it to 90 may be that kind of positive attitude in the face of adversity!]

Derrah (for Pam and Mom too!)

Tags: Illness, Praise, Prayer

February, 2007

Dear Ministry Partner,

What has God been doing in your life during the first 2 months of 2007? It has been a challenging time for us, and yet the Father’s care is constant and His blessings abundant. Following are a couple examples of what’s been happening with ISI in Dallas/Fort Worth.

Spring Howdy

As the Spring Semester came along, ISI, its partner ministries and volunteers worked together to help the many new students arriving at UTA. This culminated in the Spring Howdy Party where over 200 students from 22 countries got together to celebrate the beginning of spring semester with line dancing and great food donated by local churches and businesses.

In December and January, Roy got calls from some of the student organizations on campus because they were short handed in picking up students from the airport. Roy was able to mobilized friends, ministry partners and volunteers to help with very short notice.

Students Learn About Their Calling – Urbana Missions Conference

I (Lisa) have fond memories of my first Urbana experience in 2003, so I was excited about participating again this year. Altogether 30 of us from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, including ISI staff, volunteers and students loaded up in 2 church vans and 2 individual cars to make the 11-hour drive to St. Louis. This year the theme was “I Have a Calling.”

We were challenged from the book of Ephesians to see how God poured out His grace on us so that we could bring glory to Him through our lives. Different ones of our students were touched in different ways. Sam was challenged to pray for others and for the world, realizing that prayer is more than just asking God to bless us. Mari talked with reps from different missions organizations trying to see where God’s plan for her might be when she finishes school. Yoko, a recent graduate, made preliminary applications with a couple missions organizations. Irena participated in the HIV/AIDS track to learn more about how to minister to people with this devastating disease. All of us enjoyed the powerful worship.

There’s something electrifying about praising God with 22,000h 22,000
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin people in several different languages. It kind of reminds me of what heaven might be like. As for me, I really enjoyed learning about the technique of manuscript (inductive) Bible study. I’m looking forward to trying it out this year.

Thanks to the many churches and individuals who helped make the Urbana scholarships possible. Altogether we were able to give 17 scholarships or partial scholarships. Urbana is only 5 days, but it is powerful and life-changing. Your investment will bear fruit in eternity!

Prayer Needs

• The transition of the day to day ministry at UTA from Roy to Ron Bunyard. This will enable Roy to focus more on his City Director responsibilities.
• God’s perspective in dealing with electronics that all seem to be breaking down at the same time (frustrating—we need patience to deal with this!)
• Roy’s work to get ISI recognized as an official organization at TCU (Texas Christian University).
• Good teamwork with the students planning the Spring Break retreat. Wisdom for Roy as their coach.
• Health for the family—T-6 and C-4 have had the flu recently!
• Revitalization of Friday night Bible study. The current group is not showing much spiritual interest.
• Wisdom for Lisa in dealing with a relationship problem with one of our students.
• Adequate monthly income to meet our needs.

Blessings

• Great time with our new Chinese friend Mr. Sun at the Maverick’s game.
• Fantastic Houston trip last weekend hosted by ISI staff in Houston. Seven UTA students participated.
• Jonathan will be getting his Arrow of Light (highest recognition in Cub Scouts) on Feb. 17.
• Two recent large donations to help us make up last year’s deficit.
• YOU. Yes, you are a blessing to us, more than you know. Every time you bring this ministry before the Father, you bless us in tremendous ways, and breakthroughs happen.

Remember that you can learn more about our ministry or make tax-deductible donations by visiting www.yabukibreeze.org.

Partnering with you to reach the Nations,

Roy & Lisa

Tags: Praise, Prayer, Spring howdy, Urbana

PRAYER NEEDS

• A staff person to head up new ministry at TCU
• Ongoing relationships with Jen & Wang (China), Charlotte & Canon (Taiwan), Ted (Vietnam), Ting (Taiwan), Silvia (Mexico), Darren (Malaysia) and many others
• Joy in serving students & creativity in building relationships
• Wisdom to be good parents to J-11, T-7 and C-4

PRAISES

• Our wonderful team of volunteers who serve so selflessly
• Fruitful outreach at Big Howdy welcome party and Stephenville campout
• Rejuvenating time for Roy at regional staff retreat in Branson, MO

Tags: Prayer