NEWS FROM THE LOWLIES IN TOKYO!

Greetings from the hot & humid Tokyo! On July 20th, the local temperature hit a record high of 39.5 degree Celsius! We have been surviving on the air-con almost every night when we go to bed. : But the kids are exceptionally excited since the arrival of summer means their portable pool is waiting for them!

A. Hong Kong Mission Trip (from 9th to 26th of June)

The team of 16 (3 staff members and 13 students) left as suddenly as when they first came! We are grateful for their partnership and trust that the lessons they have learnt will stay with them for the rest of their lives! The team was split into 3 teams; Gakushuin, Hitotsubashi & Tokei to help us pioneer the 3 new campuses. They went to their assigned campus almost every day to make new contacts by developing friendship & trust in the hope of introducing them to the gospel. The team's task is not to produce many contacts but help us filter out those who are spiritually interested and would like to meet up with people like Patrick. In this aspect, the team has been successful. Since they left about a month ago, we have managed to meet up with quite a number of their contacts although we have yet to see any of them trust Christ. Currently, the campuses are having their exams and once they are done with their papers, they will be off for their summer break till early Oct. Please pray that our Japanese contacts' interest will intensify even during their summer break!

B. Annual Summer Training Camp (from 9th to 12th of Aug)

This year, we are trusting God for our biggest camp ever of 260 people from all of Japan. Please pray that the Spirit of God will work mightily and that our Japanese Christian students will rise up and be set on fire for God! And as usual, we will have some pre-Christian (about 22 of them) in our midst who will attend our Welcome Class, which is essentially an introduction to the Bible and God. Please pray that many of our pre-Christian friends will have their spiritual eyes open to receive salvation!

Megumi turned 4 on the 25th of June! Estella baked a cake and we were able to have a simple celebration for her early in the morning before the kids left for school. Right after that, Patrick was away for an evaluation retreat with the Hong Kong Team till the very next night, having also sent them off to the airport.

Hitoshi turned 1 on the 12th of July! Like his sister, Patrick was not around for his birthday too. He was away for a Tokyo Campus Team retreat to evaluate on the first semester which has gone by so quickly.

However, on the 14th of July, we were able to take time off as a family to celebrate their birthdays together at their favorite family restaurant, Sizzler! They love the salad bar and of course, the ice-cream bar!

Last but not least, our plan for our mid-term furlough has been confirmed.
On the 16th Aug (Mon) DEPART from Narita, Tokyo by NW11, 6.40pm and arriving at Singapore at 12.40am (17th Aug)
On the 17th Sep (Fri) DEPART from Changi, Singapore by NW12, 6.05am and arriving at Tokyo at 2.20pm
* Our house owners, the Kaneko will be visiting Singapore with us, from 23rd to 29th of Aug.

On the 29th of Aug, our home church Chinese Service has an evangelistic outreach and please pray that our parents will be available to join us for the event and that they will understand the message well and be drawn closer to Jesus!