Faithful Yaeko

Faithful Yaeko

Praise & Prayer Report #1, January 2025

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"Hello, this is Yaeko, how can I help you?" Those words rang through our office as Yaeko answered the phone for 20 years. The words "How can I help you?" exemplified this faithful servant's heart, as she served people both in our ministry and in her church. I never dreamed what an incredible blessing Yaeko would be when she answered our founder Dorothy Miller's call for office help in 2005 at our 100th language celebration.

Yaeko arrived with a smile on her face, and the Lord in her heart. She brought much joy to our staff and to our leaders around the world. She served faithfully even when we transitioned to new leadership. 

Yaeko's smile grew every time her church and our ministry worked together. She was doubly thrilled when her pastor and our ministry connected. She served the people of the church with the same faithfulness she brought to our office. 

Although she lived in America, her Japanese honor/shame culture would sneak into the picture when she did anything that might bring attention to her. Yaeko is even in our Simply The Story handbook as the Asian lady trying to learn a 10-verse Bible story in 10 minutes. If you have not read that story, you'll find it on pages 28-29. It is a cute story. You can download our handbook at https://simplythestory.org/index.php/resources/print/simply-the-story-handbook

Soon after Simply The Story began, Yaeko and I traveled together to Japan to lead a pair of STS trainings. For fun and to test our newly developed 5-minute story method, I asked our leaders to go share Bible stories with people in the community near the train station. Yaeko did so skittishly. At first I thought it was just her being fearful. But to my surprise, the entire crowd in the area of the train station disappeared in less than 5 minutes. I have never seen that happen when doing Bible stories in other countries. I realized we were facing the most challenging culture I had ever experienced. Apparently, due to the extreme nature of the honor/shame culture in Japan, Japanese people do not talk to other Japanese people they don't know.

The memory of Yaeko's laugh still warms my heart. She laughed freely when I told her about my midnight experience at the church in Japan. They had given us futons (1 inch mattresses) to sleep on in one of the church rooms. After waking up in the dark and going to the door, I panicked and thought we had been locked in that room, unable to get out until morning. The next morning she simply asked, "Why didn't you just turn the lock and open the door?"

Yaeko's touch can still be seen in our office and on some of the Japanese STS items. She is still that warm, quiet, beautiful, faithful servant that the Lord blessed her to be. Just now she serves our Savior in heaven.

Although she worked hard behind the scenes, and did not want any attention, after 20 years with Simply The Story, we notice the gaping hole she leaves in our ministry and in our hearts. Enjoy your rewards, dear Yaeko. 

Please pray for her husband Louis and daughter Aya, and their friends.

Also, please pray for trainings going on in Brazil, India, Mongolia and elsewhere around the world, along with several God's Story languages being recorded in Cameroon this week. 

Praise God, we are closing in on our 480th language. We expect to reach 500 languages of God's Story: From Creation to Eternity either this year or early in 2026. We thank the Lord for this amazing milestone.

We are a partner supported ministry. Thank you to all our praying partners, ministry partners, and our donor partners.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)

Executive Director