Two before zero!

[simon at simon-cozens.org]

Simon Cozens prayer letter
Sat 27 January 2007
--------------------------

This prayer letter is available in Japanese at 
    http://simon-cozens.org/prayer-letters/2007-01-27-jp.html

News
====

One Before Zero

    Hello friends! Who can believe that it's only one months before I leave
    for Japan! Still, there's a lot that's going to happen in the next two
    months, and a lot that's happened in the past few months. So let's
    catch up!

 The past

    My Candidate Orientation course with WEC ended on December the 6th,
    when I was formally welcomed into the mission. After that I spent a
    weekend in Stafford and a week in Oxford, to do a little work and see
    my church, before returning to stay with my mother in Wales for
    Christmas and the New Year.

    While in Wales, I visited the Wales UK WEC prayer group. There's a
    network of prayer groups throughout the country committed to pray for
    WEC missionaries around the world. Perhaps you could get involved in
    your local group?

    Mum and I came back to Bulstrode in the middle of January, and we spent
    a few days here together.

 The present

    I've stayed on at Bulstrode while I prepare to go out to Japan; I'll be
    packing up and shipping my things, sorting out my visa and other
    paperwork, and trying to visit churches and meet friends before I go!

    As well as that, I've volunteered to work in the IT department, where
    I'm certainly being put to good use! I've already taught the current
    set of candidates about presentation skills - using Powerpoint, and
    standing up in front of an audience and delivering a presentation - and
    web-based communication. I'm also, for the technically inclined,
    working on a small-business server groupware implementation; in other
    words, we're making a nice easy way for WEC departments to get their
    email, share their calendars, and generally function as an office.

    While I'm here at Gerrards Cross I've been attending the local chess
    club - my chess is atrocious but it's a way to get out and meet people.
    One of the guys at the club is a young Japanese high school student,
    and he was most surprised to find another Japanese speaker in the area!
    So I really hope I'll to see him a few more evenings while I'm about.

    As well as all that, I'm still attending London JCF most weeks, and, as
    ever, really enjoying being part of what God is doing there. But I'll
    also be visiting my home church in Oxford and meeting up with my family
    as well - my weekends are already full up until the end of March!

 The future

    And then... Japan! My current, tentative plan is to leave here on the
    20th of March, depending on how quickly my visa comes through. I'll be
    based at a place called Nagahama, which is an industrial city of about
    85,000 people in Shiga Prefecture, one hour east of Kyoto. I plan to
    work with the WEC-established church there, under Pastor Takahashi,
    although I'm not yet sure exactly what that will entail! As well as
    that, I shall be studying language three days a week at a language
    school in the center of Kyoto.

    I'm really looking forward to being back, but there's an awful lot that
    needs to get done before then: visa paperwork, booking tickets, packing
    and shipping, and saying any number of goodbyes. If you're in the UK
    and want to see me before I go, please do get in touch! I'm planning to
    have a send-off in Oxford on the 10th and 11th of March, and one in
    London on the 17th and 18th. I'll write once more before I go with more
    details. In the meantime, I'd appreciate your prayers for the next two
    months!

 Schedule

      * February 18: St Aldate's pastorates lunch, Oxford

      * February 25: Preaching at London Japanese Christian Fellowship

      * March 11: Commissioning service at St Aldate's

      * March 18: Commissioning service at London JCF

    I hope to see you at some of these events! God bless you!



=============

Please pray for:

 * Visas, paperwork and general arranging things: my nemesis!


 * Quality time with people before I go


Administrivia
=============

This prayer letter can be obtained in a slightly prettier format from 
    http://simon-cozens.org/prayer-letters/2007-01-27.html

The latest issue can always be obtained from
    http://simon-cozens.org/prayer-letters/latest.html
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    http://blog.simon-cozens.org/

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Blessings,
Simon
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