April 2004

Greetings from the Land of the Rising Sun!

As we write this, it is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Passion Week. We look forward to the glory of Easter morning next Sunday. Tim recently returned from a quick trip to the United States, where he participated in a conference on “apologetics” at La Habra United Methodist Church. He gave an hour-long presentation entitled, “Darwin and the Problem of Evil,” in which he looked at the historical development of science and how an emotional reaction to the problem of evil and suffering played an important role in the takeover of much of the scientific enterprise by naturalistic philosophy. (The text is available by email to anyone interested in seeing it.)

While that trip itself went well, we’ve hit a major snafu upon Tim’s return. Juji has been the one with the continuing health problems over the years, but now Tim has come down with asthma, and so please remember this situation in your prayers. It appears to be triggered by a sudden increase in sensitivity to allergens (house dust, cat dander, etc.), and last week in the middle of the night, he had a full-blown asthmatic attack that lasted two or three minutes. Since there was no history of asthma in the family and little in the way of allergic reactions either, needless to say, this comes as a bit of a shock. Hopefully, a major house cleaning, “hepa” filters, and medication will do the trick, but do keep us in your prayers.

Many of you have no doubt seen the movie, “The Passion of The Christ.” It will be featured in over 150 theaters here in Japan beginning May 1, and we look forward in anticipation to the potential impact it will have here. Some are calling it the greatest evangelistic opportunity ever here in Japan. Whether that turns out to be the case or not remains to be seen, of course, but certainly it does provide a great opportunity for Christians here to engage their friends in discussions on who Christ really is, why this event took place and what it really means. Please lift up in your prayers that Christians will be able to make the most of this significant opportunity.

Speaking of evangelism, Jennifer will be leading a group of eight Biola students in a short-term mission trip to Japan in June. They will be involved mostly in youth evangelism in Tokyo but also plan to spend a bit of time here in Tsukuba as well. They would certainly appreciate your prayer support as well.

In Christ,

Tim and Juji Boyle

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 92