Chuck & Jan Burwell
1-11-14 Hiraki Dai, Ube Burwell
Yamaguchi 755-0094 JAPAN
 hm 81-836-35-4760
 cell - 81-90-2095-7084
Bulletin
 theburwells@yahoo.com
March 2009
 www.burwellfamily.com
Dear Friends & Family,
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly
beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power
that works within us, to Him be the glory…Eph.3:20
As missionaries we have had lots of experience stepping
out into unknown circumstances and seeing God provide in
truly amazing ways over the years. But the Lighthouse Ube
Church has taken two big steps in the past two years that
have really challenged them. The first was hiring a pastor
and the second one has been the partnership in purchasing
the Ube Ministry Center. So far the Lord has provided
abundantly as promised and we are asking Him again to
provide once again this year with a big miracle.
Church board signing the new property deed
The new property and buildings come with a hefty real
estate tax bill ($15,000 for the purchase and about $7,000 a
year in property taxes). But Pastor Uchida and the church
have been working hard for three months to put together all
the materials for an application to the Yamaguchi Prefecture
office to receive official registration as a non-profit
religious organization (called “shukyo hojin” in Japanese)
and we will be submitting everything this April. If the
church can get approval by October 2009, then we will not
have to pay these real estate tax bills. Therefore we ask
that you keep this prayer request before the Lord
continually for the next few months. Along with that,
please keep praying for additional funding for the
ministry center remodeling and expansion work.
Short Term team and church moving prayer needs
Thanks to the work of our teammates, the Taylors, and
in answer to many prayers, there is a short term team
coming from the First Baptist Church of Atlanta from April
11th to the 19th. They will be doing various remodeling
Home Office
Christar
PO #14866
Reading, PA 19612-4866
610-375-030
projects in the new ministry center and they have raised
enough money for their travel, lodging and all of the
materials that are needed for the work they will do here.
Praise the Lord! Please pray with us that the team would
be unified, protected from injury and sickness and that
God would use them to draw many of our unsaved friends
here into His kingdom. The gospel choir will be singing
at the Easter service mingling with the team after church
at the barbecue and one other day that week. We also
hope that English students will come on Easter to greet
the team. Easter will be the only Sunday the team can
spend with us so we also ask prayer that the Lord would
bring in many of our unsaved contacts plus new folks
from the local neighborhood around the ministry center.
The Lighthouse Ube Christ Church will actually be
starting worship services there on April 5 th.
The church and missionary team have been and will
continue to work every Sunday afternoon cleaning,
packing and moving from the old building to the new one.
We must be out of the old building by March 31st. We
will have two weeks of English classes and choir and
other ministries in the new building before the team
arrives and then will cancel all ministries for a week.
Other ministry updates
There are many new faces
at the Lighthouse that we
would like to tell you about.
First of all, our newest
teammates, Colby and
Theresa Weinhofer, arrived
on Feb. 14 and have been
settling into the ministry center as well as language study.
They currently live in the house next to the ministry
center building but will move to the 2nd floor of the center
after the first phase of remodeling is done. It is a great
blessing to have them join us in Ube. As you can see they
are just a few years younger than us.
While we were on furlough the church and gospel
choir put on a Christmas concert and although the total
attendance was low, there were three new faces, two of
whom are co-workers of church member Dr. Ono, and the
other is Mrs. Yamakawa. She has joined a seeker study
with the Uchidas each week. Others who are in seeker
Bible studies each week are Mr. Okuno, and five choir
members, Mr. & Mrs. Tamura, Mrs. Oki, Miss
Yamamoto and Miss Samura. There are also seven new
English students this year, one of whom, Mrs. Moriyori,
is showing a lot of interest in the Bible study. She has
never read it before and it’s a joy to teach folks like her who
have a genuine interest and openness. Please pray for all
of these folks to have their eyes and hearts opened, to be
convicted of sin, to understand the gospel and God’s
love for them.
As mentioned in our January letter we ask for prayers
for the upcoming wedding of Dr. Ono and his fiancé,
Megumi Miyawaki on April 18th. Pray also for our son
Nick and his wife Megan as they travel to Ube on April 16 th.
And we also want to share that the Lord answered prayer
for Melissa and she found work in Santa Barbara. Now she
needs prayer that she can reduce her hours!
Other special needs and blessings
Although we have many new English students and
seekers recently, we also have some losses. A few folks
were less than enthusiastic about the church and mission
purchasing property and moving. One family, the Nakamas,
have left the church, and there are a couple of others who
have been attending less frequently. The spiritual battle is
intense at times like this so we ask you again to please pray
fervently for God’s Spirit to strengthen and protect His
people here in Ube.
Another blessing with a prayer need attached is for a
believer who has recently transferred in to the Lighthouse.
He used to live in Fukuoka and be in the gospel choir there
and was baptized there two years ago. His name is Mr.
Akiyoshi, he is single and in his late 30s. He has moved to
Ube but he has not yet found a job. He also has a heart
condition and is still gaining strength after a long hospital
stay. We would really appreciate your prayers for him.
Another blessing for Jan and I was our trip to Chiang
Mai, Thailand last month for a leadership conference. The
teaching was great, the weather was beautiful and the
fellowship was very encouraging. We were just thoroughly
blessed, and also had a couple of extra days there to enjoy
an orchid festival and a wild time on a zip line course
through the jungle, soaring hundreds of feet in the air. We
will try to post a video of that on the web.
The choir has slowed its pace of performances
fortunately since we are up to our eyeballs in work at the
ministry center right now. Unfortunately one lady has quit
recently and two men and two other women are taking a
break from choir because they are too busy at work or home.
The women have pretty good excuses since they both gave
birth to babies recently! And we were really blessed to
have a “good bye to the old Lighthouse and thank you
Lord” time with the choir this past week. A number of
former members attended and we shared many laughs and a
few tears as well. At least six of the non-Christians in the
choir are thinking seriously about the things we have been
teaching them. One of them, Mr. Tamura (front row –
center), said this week, “My heart wants to become a
disciple of Jesus, but my mouth is not yet ready to
cooperate.” Pray for these precious folks to have faith to
overcome the obstacles to believing.
Burwell Bloopers
As I (Chuck) was sharing with an English class about
our leaving Japan next year, I told them that God was
leading us to new “ministries” in America. But one lady
thought I said a very similar word meaning “star” and
asked her friend, “God is leading Chuck san to a new star
in America? Is that like Jesus at Christmas?” The other
women got a big laugh out of that one.
Specific Prayer Needs
1) For all the preparations for the ministry center
remodeling and the church move on March 22nd & 29th
2) Please pray for another miracle for the provision of a
shukyo hojin (religious incorporation in Japan) and the
funds for future expansion and remodeling. Over
$100,000 is needed.
3) Pray for the work team from Atlanta to accomplish
much, have safe travels and protection from injuries.
4) Pray for our teammates, the Taylors, the Weinhofers
and the Uchidas who are all going through major changes
and adjustments and need God’s wisdom and peace.
5) Pray for the salvation of many in the English classes,
gospel choir, seeker Bible studies and youth group.
6) Pray that the 7 new believers since 2006 would get
baptized in 2009.
7) A job for Mr. Akiyoshi, better work hours for Melissa
and safe travels for Nick and Megan.
8) Please keep praying with us about our future ministry,
God’s guidance and provision.
With love to you,
Chuck and Jan