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I would like to introduce myselfA short bio of SEND Japan’s new director, Paul Suzuki.

Name: Paul Suzuki (45)Spouse: Carol (age withheld for domestic reasons)Children: Jessica (13), Stephen (11), Krista (9)

BackgroundMy father was an im-

migrant who left post-war Japan to go to the United States by himself when he was 19 years old. It was really his older brother who was sup-posed to go as a domes-tic helper to a US military family, but at the last

minute my father took his place. After making it through high school in Indi-ana, he got into the University of Southern California and studied aeronautical engineering. After graduating, he landed a job at Boeing and was well on his way to fulfilling the American Dream. Along the way, however, an Egyptian friend named Magdi Guirguis from college days had become a Christian, and shared his new faith with my father. Magdi’s witness was so compelling, and the change in his life so great, that my father accepted Christ and was baptized. After moving to Seattle he began attending Faith Bible Church where he met my mother. God spoke to them about giving their lives for the sake of the Gospel, and they left behind the weekend Cessna rides for a career in missions to Japan. Those life decisions had obvious significance on my own life and the person I have become.

Carol’s father was a Japanese-American dentist, rising out of the west coast internment camps and overcoming wartime discrimination to work himself through the Army, and then dental school. Along the way Jesus seized his heart, and he was compelled to trade the dentistry in Seattle for further ministry opportunities. Moving his family to Chicago, he worked for years without pay at a Christian organization before taking on the pastorate at Lakeside Church of Chicago. His passion for personal evangelism defined his years of ministry.

Our children were all born in Japan and have attended Japanese schools all their lives until this past home service. They are currently attending the Chris-tian Academy. We speak English at home. The church we attend is Imanuel Nakameguro Christ Church.

I am looking forward to serving you in whatever way that I can.—Paul Suzuki, Japan Area Director

a publication of send international of japan

September 2011, #632

YamabikoInside2 “Paul talks”

Yamabiko is published 11 times a year by SEND International of Japan, 2-4-12 Higashi Tokorozawa Wada, Tokorozawa Shi, Saitama Ken, Japan 359-0023.

Phone 04-2945-9077E-mail office@send.jp

Editor Steven TarterDesigner Scott Ponzani

Articles and photos submitted for publication may be edited for content, clarity or space considerations.

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“Paul talks”Paul Suzuki talked with a number of people recently and sends these snippets.

SEND Japan MK Ernie Leaf, who lives and works in Abu Dhabi with his wife, 8-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, was fasting and praying for the people of Japan following March 11, and was compelled to come in Au-gust on a two week trip to help the people in Tohoku. Here is what he told Paul:

“I went up to Rikuzentakata and worked with a group from Singapore through CRASH. We worked for a lady who looked crushed. You could tell she was broken. She wanted us to wash some items that were in her house that got dirty from the sludge brought by the

tsunami. We also worked on cleaning out the ditch in front of her house. As we worked, we were able to talk with her. She wanted to share her story with us and to simply talk. When the tsunami came she picked up her three year old son and ran. He was facing backwards and could see the water coming in and wiping out their house and everything around it. Five months later he is hav-ing a hard time, struggling with fear and having nightmares. It is affecting him physically as well, with signs of asthma and just getting sick all the time.

“She was sharing these stories with us, and you could sense her feeling of hopelessness. Her house was submerged, and the walls were dirty and wrecked. They had built the house just 5 or 6 years ago, and now they have no money to fix it up. Her husband lost his job, and is now trying to do odd jobs here and there to make ends meet. They are living with her parents currently but that is a stressful situation as well. She questioned why she was still alive. She didn’t know why other people had died but that she had survived.

“At the end of the day we asked if we could pray for her. The team began to pray that she would be a light and a source of hope for her family and espe-cially her son. We shared that Jesus loved her and had died on the cross for her, and she began to weep. We prayed over her as she continued to sob. There were some workers with us who were not believers, and they asked later if they could work with us again. Every day we went out there, God provided oppor-tunities for us to share with people.”

SEND Japan MK Brad Loewen was a counselor at Hi-B.A. International Camp in July. This is what he had to say:

“One highlight from camp is that I felt and experienced God’s power to heal, both physi-cally and spiritually. In relationships especially, and not just in other people’s lives, but also in my own life as well. I really got to see the Spirit work in my life in ways I haven’t experienced before.”

DatesSeptember 16 Japan Council 19 Respect for the

Aged Day 23 Fall equinox 29 JEMA Women in

Ministry Prayer Day

October 7 Quarterly Equipping 10 Health/Sports Day 13–14 Japan Council 17–21 ARES 28–30 Women’s Retreat 31 Reformation Day

Home ServicePray for SEND Japan members on home service:• Jim and Chris Milby• Richard and Keri

Nakamura• Jon and Maki Robison• Jon and Elaine Winter

AppointeesPray for our appointees.• Tim and Chie Burns• Karl Friesen• Jeff and Tamara

Hershberger• Arthur and Meg Kraai• David and Tomo Robison

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Joni, a member of a church started by SEND missionaries many years ago, became a Chris-tian in high school and then went to Canada for university. He is back in Japan working as an engineer, and trying to live out his faith each day.

Joni told me that one day he was waiting for a friend in Ikebukuro who was running late by half an hour. Since he had some time, he began people watching, and then felt God

nudging him to talk to a homeless woman nearby. After some small talk which wasn’t going anywhere, he offered to buy her some ice cream (it was a hot To-kyo summer day) and her eyes lit up. He came back with two kinds, and asked her which one she wanted. The look on her face said, “Which one do you think, dummy?” and she grabbed the bigger one! They enjoyed their ice cream, did some people-watching together, and then Joni left.

About 30 seconds later, two guys came up to him and asked him if he knew of any good places to play sports (note: people in Ikebukuro do not usually make sincere inquiries of strangers). As he consulted his smartphone to help them with their odd request, they came out with their real question: do you always talk to homeless people? These guys had obviously been watching him show kindness to this lady and were curious. Conversation ensued and contact info traded. Joni now plays soccer with these guys on a regular basis, and he has found out that some of the guys in the group are Christians. And it all began in obedience to a divine prompting.

Paul recently had a chance to catch up with SEND summer missionary Aaron Ghent. Aaron was fulfilling his internship requirement from Moody through SEND Japan this summer. He greatly helped the SEND summer team from Azusa Pacific University by driving, interpreting, and providing overall leadership during their time out at Hi-B.A. camp. Paul asked Aaron what was the highlight of his summer

“Seeing God in control. I was stressed out at first because I wanted things to go a certain way, but God showed me that his way was the best. It was great to see so many people touched this summer, and to be a part of God’s work here.”

Support ReportJune 2011: 82%July 2010–June 2011: 86%Due to summer schedules, this is

the latest data available.

AnniversariesOctober 28 Leigh and Jana Fehr

BirthdaysSeptember 4 Rebekah Fehr 5 Tina Lin 6 Bernhard Triebel 10 Heidi Barkman 10 Lindi Barkman 13 Alisha Nakamura 18 Gretchen Ekstrand 18 Ty Vanderpoel 25 Jon Winter

October 13 Karen Stoesz 18 Timothy Harris 23 John Edwards 25 Bradley Loewen 28 Nathan Nakamura 30 Elaine Winter