Pastor's Pen | Deacons' Report | Kelly Der’s Mission Work Update

Kelly Der's Mission Work Update
CUPC Newletter | Janaury 2007

(Tokyo, Japan)

            Akemashite-Omedetoo-Gozaimasu!!!  Happy New Year!!!  I can’t believe it’s 2007 and another year has gone by so fast. 
Highlights from 2006…

• Kimby & I graduated from UC Irvine!!!
• Met my STINT team for the 1st time in Colorado.
• I raised all my support and moved to Tokyo, Japan to be missionary with CCC.
• I ate Sashimi at a Japanese Hotel (this is big news, because I don’t like raw fish)
• Went back to Kyoto for New Years and revisited all my favorite places from studying abroad in 2004-2005. 
• Went to a Hot Spring in Kyoto and soaked outside in the snow.

I’ve been on vacation for a couple weeks now, and I was able to spend the New Years visiting a friend in Kyoto.  I have to say that Kyoto is my favorite place in Japan.  It is such a peaceful, traditional, wonderful city with beautiful gardens, delicious food, friendly people, and a fun dialect! 

The month of December was packed with lots of time on campuses all over Tokyo, inviting people to our biggest outreach of the year.  We passed out over thousands of Gospel CD’s with Gospel tracks in them promoting our Gospel Concert/Christmas party!  It was a 2-day event and there was a great turn out on both days.  Jeremiah (part of AIA = Athletes in Action with CCC) and his friends from the states flew in to perform!  They had amazing voices and we were all very moved by the worship! 

I have a praise… one of my teammates shared the Gospel with a Japanese student Maoko, and she prayed to receive Christ!!!  We’ve been a bit discouraged, that we haven’t seen much fruit over the past 4 months that we’ve been here, but it’s so great when even one person comes to Christ!  She was able to spend Christmas eve with my team =)  She came to our Thanksgiving outreach a couple months ago, got a bible, starting reading it, and was just super ready to become a Christian and give her life to the Lord! 

I feel really refreshed now and am ready to go back to work on Monday!  We have our first team meeting of the year to evaluate last year and see where God will take us in 2007!  I am looking forward to mid-year conference in Thailand (February), Ski camp in March, and lots more ministry in Tokyo!