Shirrells to Japan

Today was such a sweet day! The Children's Easter Event at Ota Church was wonderful! We had 28 in attendance. The Gospel was preached, games were played, snacks were won, cookies were decorated, but the most special part was that one of our neighbors showed up! This was their first time in church! We praise God for what he is doing in our community here in Japan! The Lord is at work and we are so privileged to take part in it!

We live just minutes from this beautiful display in Tatebayashi! Check it out!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We pray you have an incredible day celebrating Christ!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are so thankful for the abundant grace found in Christ! It is because of Christ that we can live everyday, with the good or bad that comes our way, with thankfulness! Knowing that God works all things for the good of those who love him, for his glory!

This Thanksgiving day we want to extend a sincere and hearty thank you to each one of you! What a privilege it is to be loved by so many, prayed for by so many, and supported by so many brothers and sisters in Christ! We do not take it lightly that God has blessed us with you!

With love and thanksgiving,
The Shirrells

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 ❤️

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid."

Matthew 5:14

Recently we went on a trip north of our prefecture. We decided to take the scenic route and we are so thankful we did. We stumbled upon a massive burial property and stopped in. As we pulled in, right in the middle of a sea of grave sites was a cross. A beautiful sight anywhere but especially here in Japan.

Many churches purchase burial plots so their congregants have a place to be buried since its likely their families would either not allow them to be buried in the family plot or would only bury them in a traditional Buddhist/Shinto way. But this plot is a family. A family dedicated to the Lord. A family that lived and in their deaths left a blaring proclamation that they belong to God! We took a moment to praise the Lord for his faithfulness even here!

What a sweet reminder of why we are here in Japan, proclaiming the name of Christ!!!

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!

We had such a fun time participating in a Christmas caroling event at a local train station. We were a little nervous that no one would take our Christmas tracts (not unusual for people to refuse any material being handed out) but we attached candy canes and Benjamin took the lead on handing them out so we were hopeful. About 60% of people accepted the tract, so we handed out close to 100 tracts with the hope of Christmas! We had many people stop and listen to the caroling (in Japanese and English) and ask questions! It was such a sweet time! Pray with us for those that received the tracts that they will take time to read it, and that the Lord would work in their hearts!

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