Category: Updates/News

John recently had an article published in a mission journal, The Evangelical Missions Quarterly.  They interviewed him for a podcast that you can listen to the 30min podcast at http://emqonline.libsyn.com/emq-010. EMQ #010 0 Apr 11, 2016 EMQ’s Keith Peters speaks with John William Mehn whose article “What Kind of Leaders Reproduce Churches?” appears in the April 2016 issue of EMQ. ©2016 Evangelical Missions Quarterly. ℗2016 Educational Media Corporation. Read more at http://emqonline.libsyn.com/emq-010#alcET4wHrkYjb3MT.99

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We had heard this information before but now it was proven in a new study.  What is the greatest influence in people becoming missionaries?  Well we heard it again.  The number one influence is meeting missionaries. A study was conducted of students who had become missionaries and from interviews they determined the number one influence was meeting real missionaries. “Every person we interviewed spoke about the influence a missionary had on their decision to become…

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“We have heard you many times when you have come back on Home Assignment. We have never heard you more encouraged in your work,” is the kind of comment we are getting as we visit our partnering churches and individuals.  Thanks to God, we are doing very well since we arrived and off to a good start. We were in both the MidAmerica region (celebration banquet) and Rocky Mountain region (pastor’s retreat) in several churches…

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SCHEDULE MEHN US TOUR – MAY       05/14-17 Cumberland Baptist Church, Cumberland, WI 05/22 Fox River Baptist, Appleton, WI 05/29 Bethany Baptist Church, Moline, IL   06/05 Community Church, Fond du Lac, WI 06/09 We leave for our 2nd trip to Colorado to visit 4 churches, plus training, and Converge Biennial Mtg. You can follow our tour schedule here every month

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GOD ANSWERED For great visits with our partnering churches. Great to see old friends and make new ones. But visits are too short. Pray for those we have met who are interested in serving in Japan as short-term missionaries. For our travel mercies (already 3,000 miles) and for avoiding a major winter storm in the Rocky Mountains. For an opportunity for John to meet and pray with some Japanese businessmen. PRAYER PARTNER SPOTLIGHTS For the…

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In the early morning of April 14th the area around Kumamoto City in the southern island of Kyushu was hit by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake. Many buildings were destroyed, roads made unusable, and many landslides. In two days a 7.5 earthquake continued the destruction resulting in one church building completely destroyed. To date 49 people have died, thousands have been injured, over 200,000 have been evacuated. There continues to be aftershocks now totaling over 1000.…

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Returning to the US from Japan for Home Assignment always brings with it many adjustments and reverse culture stress. Having lived in Japan nearly half our lives we are more use to living in Japan than the US. This means relearning and adjusting to a few things. Drive on the Left –to- Drive on the Right Use cash –to- Use credit (except at CostCo) Lots of recycling –to- Not so much recycling Non-touch/hug culture -to-…

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    04/03 Village Church, Thornton CO 04/05-06 Combined LEAD Team, Converge Rocky Mountain 04/10 Conifer Community Church, Conifer CO 04/16 Elaine speaks at the Albin Women’s Spring Team 04/17 Albin Baptist Church, Albin Wyoming 04/21 Converge MidAmerica Celebration Banquet 04/30-5/1 Monmouth Baptist Church, Monmouth, IL You can follow our tour schedule here every month

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GOD ANSWERED We have had pretty good adjustments to living again in the US. Continue to pray for our adjustments. John’s presentation in his class at Trinity Seminary on Confucianism and Japanese Leadership went very well. We got off to a good start for our US Tour Home Assignment scheduling. We plan to visit each of our 35 partnering churches but many churches to still schedule. PRAYER PARTNER SPOTLIGHTS (These we are sharing with churches)…

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We just begun our Home Assignment tour in the US from March through December 2016. Home Assignment places many challenges on missionaries. First there is closing down some ministries, transferring others, taking care of details, and the worst is saying all the goodbyes. Then you get on the plane. After the plane lands: arriving, getting settled, getting prepared, planning and scheduling, making new friends, traveling seems like all the time. Now that we have been…

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