Praise God! Sure wish you each could have been there for the celebration of what God has done with Wheelchairs of Hope. There was a lot happening in the various communities connected with Wheelchairs of Hope, but even so, 51 people joined the party, put on by a donor to celebrate our NPO incorporation. For some key people, it was their first exposure to the project, and God opened many doors in the short time there.

Some highlights:

l  The pastor of the church where we met attended, and was so touched by the work he heard about that he offered us a large area for storage and cleaning of wheelchairs. Many of you have been praying a long time for a solution to our storage problem!

l  Two wheelchair users came, an OMF missionary, and a Japanese man who was recently baptized. The Japanese man owns his own wheelchair business and wants to come and help at cleaning days, and the missionary, too is interested in getting involved.  Their insights and perspective as wheelchair users will be invaluable.

l  A lady who travels to Bangkok several times each year said her husband met our Thailand partner in Bangkok last week.  (God's timing is amazing!)  She wants to take wheelchairs with her when she goes next month.

l  Six Deaf people came, including a man who has been in Tokyo 4 years and has no deaf friends.  He was delighted to be at the table with other Deaf and was smiling the entire time. The Deaf church members stayed to the very end of clean up and that was meaningful to me.

A question from our last update:

Q: What is NPO?? (nothing per os??)

A: Great question from a nurse!  That's exactly what I thought the first time I heard it too!  It's a Non Profit Organization and the application/authorization process here in Japan is rather involved.  It's what is often called an NGO (Non-Government Organization) and in Japan the application process and laws are the same for NPOs and NGOs. 

PS. Today we received 10 pediatric wheelchairs.  We go back tomorrow to get another 5.  Pray for the volunteers necessary to get the cleaning done.