Dear “Tidbits” Friends,
I sure appreciate you so much. I don’t write often enough, I sure can’t seem to get my thank-you notes out in a timely fashion, especially recently. But please be assured that I am soooooo grateful for each and every one of you. This of course includes all of you who have joined my financial team. There is still room for more!!
Plans Beginning in September: As you know, I survived cancer surgery and am in the recovery process now both internally and externally. Your cards and notes of encouragement have been so wonderful. But I will need further treatment. I’ve decided to have it done in the USA and stay with my sister and brother-in-law. I’ll be in the US for a few months, exactly how long, I don’t know. This works out better for my family since my sister will have double knee surgery on Aug. 17th. I will arrive in the US on September 3rd and can help some with her recovery while I’m waiting for my treatment to begin. Then, we’ll change places! Please especially pray for my sister, Pat.
Please do not send any more regular mail to my Japan address. If you’d like to correspond by regular mail, please send mail to the following address:
Roberta Stephens
17411 1st Pl. SW
Normandy Park, WA 98166
RobertasTidbits will not be sent out for a period of time. Instead, I will use the International Ministries website for letters.
When I can, during my recovery stage, I will continue to prepare to receive volunteers beginning in May 2009. If you’ve been thinking about it, it’s not too soon for you to let me know. I’ll be introducing the current possibilities I am working on. Your unusual skills might make it possible for a new kind of volunteer position. I am working closely with Angela Sudermann with Volunteers In Global Mission. Please feel free to contact her through the IM Website. But we’re not doing this alone. We work with the Japan Baptist Union and depend on them for finding positions for you to fill.
A Corporate Act: I’ve come to realize that prayer is a community or corporate thing. When I pray for you, you are brought to my conscience in a way that just remembering you does not bring. Henry Nouwen said, “…when we pray, we will increasingly experience ourselves as part of a human family infinitely bound by God who created us to share, all of us, in the divine light…To pray for one another is, first of all, to acknowledge, in the presence of God, that we belong to each other as children of the same God.” Please let me know your needs so that I may pray meaningfully for you.
In Christ,
Roberta Stephens