Winter Update

Fundraising, Visa, and JEMS

We have been accepted to a sending organization, fundraising has been going well, we are starting the visa process, and we are planning the next steps for moving and ministry.

Official JEMS Missionaries

We are now officially a part of the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (or JEMS for short). JEMS is a sending organization that has been around since the 50’s. They originally started to revitalize Japanese American churches after World War II and currently work with a lot of Asian American churches, college students, and send missionaries to Japan.

We will be a part of their international team along with 24 other families. Each of these families serve across Japan in different ways. Some work with foster families, others run a cafe/counseling business. We will be partnering with the Fisher family planting churches in Gifu Prefecture. If you don’t know who the Fishers are, you can check out their page here (Fisher JEMS Page) or read one of our previous newsletters (previous newsletter).

Visa Application

We are now close enough in our fundraising to begin the visa process. JEMS currently does not have a Japanese office (it is in the works), so they aren’t able to sponsor our visa. However, we are talking with a church in a neighboring prefecture. They have agreed to sponsor our visa while JEMS finishes setting up everything on their end.

The process for getting a visa starts with applying for a “Certificate of Eligibility”. We have to submit paperwork to the sponsor church, who then submits it to the Japanese government. After receiving the approved certificate, we have to apply for a religious visa at a Japanese embassy in the U.S. This whole process, if everything goes smoothly, will take about two months. So the soonest we could leave is mid-February.

As we work through these next steps please pray that everything will get filed correctly and be processed quickly.

Project Updates

Fundraising

We are excited to say that we are now at 75% of our monthly goal. This is due to being able to cut our budget and also the generous support of new financial partners. Our moving goal has also seen an increase and we are now at 27%. Below are the numbers and totals.

Monthly Goal

$8k

Monthly Raised

$6,068

Moving Goal

$50k

Moving Raised

$13,000

If you are a financial partner, we want you to know that our giving setup has changed. Because we are now JEMS missionaries, all of our funding should go directly to them. I will be reaching out to you directly with instructions on how to switch over. If you would like to get a head start, the process is fairly simple. You will need to stop or cancel any giving setup with Calvary Baptist Church and then sign up using this link (JEMS giving page). Once you have completed this, please let me know by emailing (newsletter@meuermissions.com) or texting me (806-893-8888). Special steps are needed if you prefer to give with a check.

Thank you all for your continued support of our ministry!