APRIL
Missionaries of the Month

Mark & Megumi Bocanegra
with MTW (Mission to the World)- Japan

Mark and Megumi met in Chiba, Japan, both realizing that they had hearts to serve Japan. Megumi grew up in a Japanese Christian home. Mark spent 10 years of his childhood in Tokyo and became a Christian at Stanford University. He worked for Rakuten, Japan’s largest internet mall, to confirm his call to Japan before seminary. Mark is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California and is a PCA teaching elder. He is pastor of Kaihin Makuhari Grace Church—a church in the Presbyterian Church of Japan.

KMGC is a 60-person church planted by a veteran Presbyterian pastor in 2001. Mark leads the MTW Makuhari Team that is focused on serving East Kanto with Kaihin Makuhari Grace Church by making disciples in a densely populated residential neighborhood (35,000 people in a third of a square mile), and training shepherds and undershepherds for Japanese church ministry at KMGC. Makuhari Team is a team of diverse missionaries and Japanese nationals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and gifts, but with a singular goal to help plant and bolster Christ-centered and Confessional churches.

Praise and Prayer Requests:

“- Praise God for our new elder candidate and that we would shepherd our congregation well by intentionally nurturing the fellowship of the saints.
- Please pray for the two people desiring to transfer into our church, the one person being prepared to profess his faith, and the four non-Christians who are in a formal "Bible class."
- Please pray for a new couple getting married in June and three families expecting babies in the Summer--these are rare realities in a rapidly aging Japanese church.
- Please pray for our Easter Service and our Easter Egg hunt that draws many neighborhood families (we had 40 kids and their parents join last year). May this lead non-Christian families and Christian families looking for churches to KMGC.
- Please continue to pray for our land search. A good parcel of land has not yet officially been opened for us to bid on. Please pray for God to provide.
- Pray for our family as we hope to navigate various school routines and growing children. Our eldest is hoping to join a profession of faith class in April.”

Ben and Julie Jensen
with MTW (Mission to the World)- Japan

Ben and Julie Jensen, along with their three sons, are serving on the MTW Nagoya Church Planting Team in Japan's third-largest metro area. Ben is serving as the team leader for the church planting team. In addition to leading the team, Ben is on the preaching rotation for Nisshin Christ Church and Nozomi Chapel and is involved with other ministries at Nisshin Church. Ben and Julie have been leading Nisshin's college outreach ministry as well as Nisshin's young adult discipleship ministry. Julie is also active in Nisshin's Mom and Kids outreach ministry and is often busy cooking for various gatherings and hosting people in the Jensens' home.

Currently, the Nagoya Team is focused on three main locations:

1) Nisshin Christ Church- A maturing Japanese Church our team planted with a Japanese session and who has recently called their first Japanese pastor. Our team is involved in various discipleship and outreach ministries in this location.
2) Nagoya Christian School- Our city's only Christian school. Our team started it a few years ago to strategically care for existing and future missionary families. It serves not only families on our team, but also other MTW teams and mission organizations in the Nagoya metro area.
3) Nozomi Chapel- Nisshin Church and the Church Planting team have partnered together for over a decade to support ministries in the Otobashi area (including a crisis pregnancy center and a cafe) and offer an afternoon chapel service. In the past few years, though one of our pastor interns Hayato Tomita has felt called to become the pastor upon completion of the ordination process, and teammates have begun partnering with him and his wife, Miyoko, for additional community outreach and further development of Nozomi Chapel.

The Jensen family will be wrapping up their second 4-year term in Japan in a couple of months and is excited to be able to visit Forestgate this coming July!

Prayer requests:

1. Praise God for 4 wonderful pastoral interns to work with! There is a shortage of pastors in Japan so we feel privilege to see these men go their seminary, support and encourage them, and work alongside them in ministry. Please pray for them as they work through the often daunting 4-year ordination process here in Japan and prepare for a lifetime of ministry.
2. Praise God for new spiritual life! Last year Ben was able to baptize 5 adults and 4 children at Nisshin Church (2 from our college ministry) and is doing baptism classes with another university student who put her faith in Christ this past Fall. Pray these new believers and covenant children, as they continue to grow in their love for Christ and his Church.
3. Pray for the Jensen family as they wrap up 4 years of ministry in Japan and transition to Home Ministry Assignment. Pray for them as they travel, speak, and raise support. Pray also for their sons as they re-enter into American culture and schools.
4. Pray for Nisshin's college ministry as it begins the new school year this month and as pastoral intern Atsushi Kabeya begins leading it in the Jensens' absence.
5. Pray for the Nagoya team as it serves at Nisshin, Nagoya Christian school, and Nozomi Chapel, and also continues to pray and discuss future church development and church planting possibilities.