Glenn & Sue Kennedy: Okinawa, Japan

Sue and I have been here in Japan for 25 years. I retired from the Air Force in 1994. My wife is a registered nurse, homemaker, homeschool teacher, co-pastor with me, & a missionary. We have 7 children (4 boys and 3 girls) & 3 grandchildren.
Our ministry continues to expand year after year, but this has been a very challenging year with new areas of responsibility. I started as an assistant pastor of Yomitan International Church & within a year I became the senior pastor. We founded Asian Relief& Medical Services (ARMS) in 1994 as means of going to other nations in Asia & seen over 120,000 lives touched & well over 50,000 professions of faith over the years.
By 1997 I was appointed the Director of Far East for Christians in Action Missions International. My area of responsibility included the churches already established in Okinawa, the Philippines, Macau China and South Korea. In 2007, I was asked to serve as the VP of CINAMI & was appointed as the Field director for Okinawa. We have expanded ARMS into LatinAmerica & trained & assigned missionary couple over this region.
We have planted another church in Okinawa this year, now we have 4 churches. Our Japanese leadership team is taking on a greater role in teaching the Bible & translating. We need more translators. Japan is less than 1% Christian. Okinawa is the poorest prefecture & is approximate 3% Christian. Another area of prayer concern is getting our official documents in line with Japanese laws.
This year Sue & I have been able to minister together in Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, & Cambodia. In April we will lead another team of 100 plus people in Bicol, Philippines.
Sue’s term as chairman of the board of directors for Okinawa Christian School Internationalis coming to an end but the school has asked her to stay for another three years. The school reaches out to Japanese, Amerasians, & foreign children, who cannot attend DoD schools.
This past year my youngest son Daniel, our youth director, has grown tremendously & is doing an outstanding job in discipling our young adults (20-30 high schoolers). He is married to Lisa Metz, a graduate of APU in youth ministries. He is also the Athletic Director of the OCSI & coaches the Girls soccer team.
Our church in Japan is still remodeling & recovering from the typhoons. We need to get favor with the city officials to assist us in protecting our property from future flooding. Your prayers are very much needed in this area.
As Sue & I look back on what has transpired in the past 22 years of ministry we stand in awe at what the Lord has done. We are grateful that He has seen fit to train, teach, & trust us in this area of Japan and Asia. We are eagerly looking forward to what is to come. Thank you for being a part of our support team. One last thought & area of prayer concerns our furlough & transitioning our children to live in America. We have not been on a furlough with our family since 2006. We very much need your prayers in this area. We need someone to come for at least 2 to 3 months & pastor the church while we take a very much needed break. Again thank you for being there for us in support, love &
prayers. God smiles!