On the Road in October and November

Riku (center front) is a new brother-in-Christ brought to faith and
discipled through his friend, Yusako. Also pictured
are Yushua, Yusako’s wife and Yuki, the pastor’s wife.

11/16/2017
God’s pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor is his delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:10-11 (NIV)
Suzanne and I had a marvelous 4-week trip to Japan, South Korea and (me) Central Asia. Let me share some highlights:

• We met Riku – our new brother-in- Christ. We wrote about him last time, how he was a new believer and had a serious work-place injury. It was a thrill to meet him and hear his story of how he had placed his “hope in God’s unfailing love.” Pray for him and his witness to fellow workers.
  
• You possibly heard about my fall into a
  ditch on our second evening in Japan. I praise God for having people with me to help me out of the 41⁄2 deep concrete ditch and that there were no serious injuries. Suzanne has her own story of the event that includes her belief that 2 angels sat me down in the perfect spot. After returning to the house church to clean up, a nurse who was still there (Yushua, pictured above) cleaned the wounds. We appreciate your prayers – no infection developed!
  
• The Train and Multiply training with other pastors and wives on Shikoku Island went very well – better than I had dreamed. Thank you again for praying. We’re working on a follow-up training, probably next June. Pray for their use of this dynamic material to win souls and disciple them into ministry.
  
• Our work in Korea is always interesting. The believers have great passion for Christ, prayer and missions. Dr. David Jun and FAN celebrated the remodeled training center in Yesan. We spoke at 2 retreats: The first, with the OMS-Korea team, was meaningful and helped the group (with new missionaries Jay & Christina Santos) bond. The retreat for our CMSC training team on the east coast of Korea went well. It was nice to have some time with them in a different setting. We had some great team-building conversations where we were able to cast vision for the future.
  
• Central Asia is, as always, a challenge. The culture is very different and the reception to the gospel has cooled over the years. HOWEVER, God is not limited, and He is moving among the Muslims and among the non-religious. There is a prayer meeting every day at the Central Asia School of Prayer and Intercession (CASPI) lifting the people, leaders and the entire region to the One who can work all things according to His will. Pray for His faithful followers to be encouraged, empowered and to have fruit for their labor. 
• Suzanne and I are serving at Renton Park Chapel as interim pastor until Jan 7th, when their new pastor arrives. We have discovered another fine group of God’s people. We’re living at our home in Vancouver, WA and spend weekends in Renton. Pray for this congregation as they prepare for this new transition. 

Please pray with us for: 

• Scheduling our work for missions and Renton Park Chapel into January.
  
• Scheduling our upcoming ministry trips. We are supposed to be on Kikai Island, Japan in
  February and then on to Shikoku Island, on to South Korea and back to Japan before returning to the US in March. We’re also planning in May & June to be in Korea, then to Okinawa and back to Shikoku. June might also include an extended visit in Tokyo.
  
• The funding of our ministry. A number of our supporters from years past have gone to heaven

I spoke at a South Korean Army Chapel service in the DMZ north of Seoul.

and others’ circumstances have
changed. We’re 20% toward our goal for full-funding. Would you pray that God will put us in touch with those people He would like to have as our partners to minister in Japan and Korea?


Note: I’ve discovered that I’ve not done an adequate job of communicating our role in missions or our need for funding.


Let me take a moment to explain our
role. We’ve not “retired” as some have
thought. We have redirected our focus
to ministry in Japan and South Korea
while living in Vancouver, WA. We will
make 3-4 training and coaching trips per year, each of which will be 3-6 weeks in length. While in the States we will sharpen our own skills and abilities through ongoing training. We will also maintain contact via Skype and email with our international partners. This plan requires us to rebuild our financial support team. Support includes travel (regional and international), office expenses, and others, as well as salary.

These are exciting days! God is moving in significant ways around the world. Of course, He does that all the time even when we don’t notice it.

Thank you for your partnership with us!
Bob and Suzanne Warren 
Church Multiplication Facilitator 
One Mission Society

Korean Folk Village in Suwon, an hour
South of Seoul.

With part of our Korean training team: Reverends Chang,
Ahn and Kim near the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang, South Korea.