Greetings everyone!

My first full month with WCF has flown by and I have seen how God has been working in every area of the ministry. I have  been careful to start each day in Scripture and prayer, something I was not always so consistent with in my former career. I feel this consistency has allowed me to better hear God’s leading through the Bible and given me tremendous peace of mind as I navigate unfamiliar waters.

World Christian Conference

The World Christian Conference, our key annual event, will take place in less than two weeks, from February 17-20 at Redwood Christian Park in the Santa Cruz mountains. By the power of God alone through prayer, we saw our registration numbers quadruple in just over a month. God turned our worries into joy, and now we celebrate the 230 attendees whom the Lord has called to WCC this year. 94 of these individuals are first time attendees, 2 are coming from Nigeria and another from Mongolia. We are so excited to see so many new faces this year!

Prayer: Please join us in prayer for these individuals, as each comes with their own unique circumstances and attitudes about missions. We pray that God will speak to each person and inspire them in their missions journeys. We pray for the health and safe travel of each of our speakers, leaders and conferees prior to and after the conference.

WCF Leadership and Ministries

I had the privilege of attending a three day conference on Volunteer Ministry Development in sunny Orlando with one of our WCF Board members in January. This conference, put on by Newell and Associates, is a fantastic resource for Christian volunteer ministries as it truly focuses on applying biblical principles to your ministry. I was able to learn so much from this training and I felt it was a blessing for me to start my tenure with WCF in this way.

Apart from the excellent training, I had a chance to spend a lot of time with one of our Board Members, Pastor Brian Leong. We got to get to know one another much better and share ideas about the organization. Brian is a fellow Oakland A’s fan, so I knew he’d be a good guy, but now I know him much better and I’m really happy to be able to work with him.

From the training and discussions with Brian, I have started working on some strategies for building momentum in WCF over the next year. Due to the resource intensity of hosting the World Christian Conference, we won’t start discussing these strategies with leadership until after the conference, but I have spent a lot of time praying over these ideas and discussing them with some of our Board members.

I have also been attending our four regional prayer groups in Fremont, Mountain View, San Francisco and our new South Bay group. It has been a wonderful time to get to know members of our community as well as our volunteers. Prayer groups are an important piece of the WCF ministry, giving people a place to share, encourage one another, and of course pray for missions, missionaries and each other.

Prayer: Please pray for smooth discussions and implementation of these strategies over the next few months. Change is never easy and we want to affirm the important contributions of our current leadership team while at the same time accepting that some changes are necessary to move the organization toward our vision. The true blessing is that WCF is an organization full of passionate, capable people who are truly seeking after the Lord’s heart and we know that is something that will not change.

Other Ministries

I have also been very active with the other ministry activities that I have been involved in. I have started a conversation group with International Student Fellowship once per week, meeting one student (for now) over lunch for conversation time. I also attend ISF meetings and events on a weekly basis. ISF is a practical way for me to do missions work without moving overseas and it has been a great way for me to meet some wonderful people, both volunteers and students.

I remain active with our church’s Missions Committee and we have found the level of activity going on in Missions at our church continues to grow. Praise the Lord that missions is a growing part of San Lorenzo Japanese Christian Church!

Next month, as part of our partnership with Daisuke and Cheryl Ikegami of Young Life Japan, we will be hosting a Japanese student for about a week as part of an annual American homestay program that the Ikegami’s organize. The student, Jib, who will be staying with us is no stranger to us. We met Jib on our mission trip to Chiba in 2010 where he participated in many of our events. We are grateful to have Jib stay with us and introduce him to life in California, if only for a short time!

Prayer: Please pray for the relationships we will be building with Jib and the students of ISF and that we may be able to show them God’s love through our relationships with them. Pray for the many important decisions our Missions Committee will be making over the next few months.

Thank you for your partnership!

For those who have already begun to partner with me in this ministry, I extend sincere gratitude for your generosity and support. I doubt I could say it in better words than our brother Paul the apostle in his letter to his supporters in Philippi:

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

That I am in the place I am today is a miracle of God alone, but my ability to move forward comes from your support and prayers. Thank you so much for all that you give to me and my family for the ministry of WCF.

If you are interested in learning more about WCF and how to partner with me, please let me know and I will send you a prayer letter. My prayer requests will go out in email and through this blog, and financial support can be sent through our website under “Executive Director – support“.

Joyfully Serving in Christ Jesus,

Todd