Chris & Leanne April 2026 Prayer Requests

* We are praising the Lord for the baptisms of three students at SBBC this past month. You have been a part of praying for these kids over the last eleven years. God is so good in how he has called them to himself in such a personal way. Pray for them as they continue to go deeper in relationship with Jesus after making this public profession of faith.

* Kurume Christ Church (KCC) is installing a new pastor this month. This is a church that SEND missionaries planted many years ago. And the Lord has blessed the area through the ministry of KCC. May the Lord bless this transition and new stage of life for this church family.

* Please be in prayer for our visa renewal. Recently, we have been hearing of visa challenges for other missionaries. Where it is taking longer to receive a new visa and their visa is shorter than expected. May the Lord bless this process. And may we be able to get another 5 year visa (longest possible) again in a smooth process.

Chris & Leanne March 2026 Prayer Requests

* We praise the Lord for the work he has done in the lives of AO (Pastor’s son) and AN, who have felt the Lord drawing them into saving faith and are seeking obedience in baptism. AN has been a believer for a couple of years now. But as she comes to adulthood, her father (a non-Christian) has given his permission to be baptized. These are students who were a part of the youth ministry at Shiogama Bible Baptist Church. Join us in praising the Lord for the work he is doing. Please pray for them as discipleship continues. May the Lord finish the work he has started in their lives.

* Our paperwork to extend our visa has been submitted to the government. Recently, there has been greater scrutiny of visa applications. Please pray for a smooth process and that the Lord would bless us with the maximum extension of five years.

Chris

Chris & Leanne February 2026 Prayer Requests

Dear Parkside Family,

Thank you for your prayers for the Christmas services back in December. We’ve seen a couple new moms and their kids coming to church since those events. All moms gather to read and talk about a Bible passage together during the kids’ Sunday school. Please pray for these moms to come to know and trust Christ as their Savior.

Leanne continues to teach high school Chemistry at the Christian International School while their Chemistry teacher is on leave for health reasons. Please pray she can be both a faithful gospel witness to her students as well as an effective teacher.

Chris

Chris & Leanne January 2026 Prayer Requests

* Thank you all for praying for us throughout the Christmas season. A great opportunity to be able to point to the birth of Christ and the ultimate reason for why he came. As we enter the new year, please pray for the leadership of SEND Japan as they seek God's wisdom for the year ahead.

* A couple of months ago, we asked for prayer for Ms N (Noriko san), a baby Christian who had just received her Bible. Ms N has been devouring her Bible and asking many questions. She would like to get baptized and is taking the church’s Baptism classes. Ms. N comes from a deeply spiritual family (worship of idols and ancestors) and is facing heavy spiritual warfare every day. She lives with and takes care of her parents, but she’d like to move out because she is constantly surrounded by these actively worshiped idols. Please pray for this new sister in Christ.

* Mrs A is a mom of 6 young children and a strong believer. Her husband allows her and the kids to go to church, but he is not a believer. Please pray for his salvation and for this family. We pray that God would do a miracle in this dad’s heart.

Chris & Leanne December 2025 Prayer Requests

* A couple months ago we asked for prayer for Ms N, a baby Christian who had just received her Bible. Ms N has been devouring her Bible and asking many questions. She would like to get Baptized and is taking the church’s Baptism classes. Ms. N comes from a deeply spiritual family (worship of idols and ancestors) and is facing heavy spiritual warfare everyday. She lives with and takes care of her parents, but she’d like to move out because She is constantly surrounded by these actively worshiped idols. Please pray for this new sister in Christ, that God would give wisdom on how to live out her new found faith.

* December church outreaches: Shiogama Bible Baptist church in Miyagi will have a large community Christmas event on December 3rd. Our new church Takiyama Bible Baptist Church will be having Christmas outreaches on the 13th and 21st. Please pray that the gospel would be clearly explained and God would draw people to himself.

* Leanne has stepped into an emergency need teaching chemistry at our kids school for the rest of this school year. Pray that she can use this time in the classroom to both teach the content well and disciple these students who come from a wide variety of faith backgrounds.

Chris & Leanne November 2025 Prayer Requests

* Please be in prayer for Ms. N. While at church a couple weeks ago, she came sharing how she felt the idols she was wearing were too heavy for her anymore. She chose to get rid of all her idols and amulets, expressing the feeling of freedom. She came to church, shared what she was going through, and received her first Bible. Since then, she has been reading through as much as possible to learn about this God that freed her. May the Lord continue to draw her to Himself.

* Praise God for doing for us all what we could not do for ourselves. Please be in prayer for us as we continue to connect with our neighbors. We have been so blessed in this new area of Japan. But we still are looking for those the Lord wants us to be his light for.

Chris & Leanne October 2025 Prayer Requests

Dear Parkside family,

Thank you for your faithful prayers. I recently read a testimony from Pastor Yukimasa Otomo. When he visited Parkside in May, he was moved by so many people praying for their church in Japan and other pastors and churches around the world. Pastor Yuki encouraged the believers in the church with your prayers. Thank you!

Recently, we had the privilege to meet Ms. N, a new believer. She received her first Bible just before we met her. Bubbling over with the joy of freedom in Christ, Ms. N described how she recently threw away her spiritual amulets that she constantly wore and how free she is with Jesus. She lives with her parents who have an extensive amount of idols in their home. Please pray for Ms. N’s parents and family to have faith in Christ and be set free from their spiritual oppression. And please pray for Ms. N to grow in her new relationship with Jesus.

In the fall the Japanese elementary schools have a Sports Day that all the families and community members come to. Our school’s is on October 25th. Please pray that we could meet more families in our neighborhood. Please pray God would give us many relationships so we can make Him known here in Nishibori.

Lastly, Chris is working closely with a SEND missionary led church whose pastor will be retiring in a couple years. We ask for God to give wisdom on how to move forward.

Thank you always!

-Chris and Leanne

Chris & Leanne September 2025 Prayer Requests

* Thank you for praying for our family as we have transitioned to Tokyo. Finding a house and getting started on my new role were the first two of the four big transitions to be completed. The third was our kids starting school. Our older three have started their school year at Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ). Please pray for them that the Lord would use this school, the teachers, and students to bless our kids. But that the Lord would also use them to be a blessing at CAJ as well. God doesn’t want it to be a one-way street.

* Graham has also entered his school, which is a public elementary school in our community. May the Lord grant him the ability to integrate well into his academic learning and make some friends.

* As of writing this, Jude has not been accepted into kindergarten yet. But there are some promising options. So I expect the Lord will open a suitable situation.

* The last of the four transitions involves settling into our new church family. Please pray that God would show us how we can best support the body of Christ in worshipping God and making Him known in this part of Japan.

Chris & Leanne August 2025 Prayer Requests

* The Lord has been pouring out his blessings during our first two months in Japan. One blessing we want to highlight is the answer to prayer for finding a house! It was not the first house we tried to apply for, but it is the house the Lord wanted us to have, and the neighborhood you have all been praying for with us. God's plan and place for us is always the best plan and place to be. Please praise his name for this answer to prayer.

* Continue to pray for Chris as he ends his first month in his new role. May the Lord give him wisdom as he leads SEND Japan. We have already seen the benefits of living in the Tokyo area, which has allowed Chris to work more effectively as Area Director.

* Please be lifting our kids in prayer, as this month they will be entering their new schools. Mark, Lillia, and Claire will be entering the Christian Academy in Japan. And Graham will be entering our local Nishibori Elementary School (only a 5-minute walk from our house). Entering school is the last of the big transitions we have foreseen our family facing with our move to Tokyo. God has been with us throughout all of this and has even been preparing the way for us. May our children be a blessing to others at their schools, and may the Lord also use this time in their lives to stretch and draw them closer to Himself.

Chris & Leanne July 2025 Prayer Requests

* We made it back to Japan with hearts full of love from our time with our Parkside Church family. We thank the Lord for you all and our partnership in the gospel. Please pray for Chris, as he has now taken on his new role as the Area Director for SEND Japan. May the Lord give wisdom for what is ahead. Please also pray for our SEND Japan missionaries who are experiencing a transition from an Area Director who served them for 15 years.

* Please also continue to pray for a house. Our first house option has fallen through. But that means God has a better situation and different neighbors he wants to impact. Pray we can find it soon and settle in before our kids start school next month.

* We are thankful to have been able to make a trip up to our church for reunions and goodbyes. Please pray for God’s blessing on SBBC and their pastor, Yukimasa. And that God would reveal himself to the Japanese. Our location has shifted, but our heart still desires God to draw that community and those friends to himself.

* Also, pray for the kids’ camps we will be a part of this summer. Some of the students attending the camps were students who came to Cleveland in March. Please pray for the gospel to be shared clearly and for their hearts to be open for salvation.