GospelRest

The other day I received an emergency bulletin from the US embassy indicating that there were severe tsunami warnings along the coast.  They were expecting 30 waves to hit sometime in mid-afternoon on Sunday.  The tsunami – incidentally a Japanese word – would be a result of the huge 8.8 earthquake in Chile.

That afternoon I was rushing to the airport by train escorting visitors who were leaving that day.  I noticed several train lines along the coast were closed due to expected high waves.  Fortunately we had planned an inland route.  By the time I got home I had heard that there was no cause for alarm and the tsunami did not come.  We live far from the coast so normally do not pay as close attention.  Now scientists are debating what happened and why.  I guess with tsunami’s it is always good to err on the side of caution.

1. Ask God for great wisdom and a learning heart as John participates with 4 Rengo and 5 US Japanese pastors at the Retool Kit training in Los Angeles 3/8-12.
2. Ask God to bless the women who meet with Elaine for a LEADNet meeting on the 12th.
3. John shares his testimony at Crossroad Church 3/14.
4. John would like you to especially pray for the two men in his Bible study meeting 3/17.
5. John will be visiting Hamamatsu Megumi church 3/21 participating in the service.
6. Ask God for clarity of issues, deep fellowship, relaxation and fun at Japan Mission Field Council 3/22-25.  We both have significant responsibilities.
7. Continue to ask God for strength, wisdom and joy as Elaine continues to teach her cooking, needlepoint and Bible study classes.
8. Both Tim and Beth are looking for suitable employment.  Tim is back at school and Beth is contemplating the same.
9. Pray for wisdom as we organize the schedule for the Levi and Diane Velasco Visit 3/26-4/5.  They are the chief recruiters for Converge Worldwide and want to sense the needs here so they can better recruit people to come to Japan.  Ask the Lord of the Harvest to provide another generation of missionaries to Japan.
10. John’s research project is proceeding as he has completed two more chapters. Continue to ask God for focused time to complete this important Kingdom project.
11. Ask for help in promoting and preparing for the CPI Leaders’ Summit in April – Elaine and I are facilitating this event.

1. Three people shared stories at the JEMA meetings how Japanese who attended years ago are using our CPI training materials in their ministries.  One missionary between last November and last month has received from God a new vision for church planting and Japanese partners.  What a turn around.  CPI is playing a part in helping people on the frontlines of ministry.
2. We had a great but short visit with Dan and Sandi Peterson, district executive minister from Converge Midatlantic.  There were many highlights including meeting with key Japanese leaders and discussing partnering in ministry.  Pray that God would guide and bless Kingdom partnerships in the future.  Thanks for coming Dan and Sandi!
3. The Hamamatsu Megumi Church is extremely encouraged that after a wait of 5 years they will be getting a pastor beginning in April.  When John went to preach on Feb 21 they were all excited but also tired with the preparations.  The pastor arrives March 16^th.  John will be participating in the March 21^st service.  Now John can go on to other Sunday morning projects and churches.

We had four Japanese couples over to celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day last week.  Of the group only one is a Christian, though 3 are in our Bible studies.  These are the same couples we had over for a Christmas Dinner party last year.  God is really working in their hearts.  Yesterday at Bible study Mr. F. told me the entire gospel story which was extremely exciting seeing he is not yet a Christian.  Elaine said he has been talking to his wife, also a pre-Christian studying the Bible with Elaine.

So many cool things going on.  I was at a Cell Church Summit conference last week which was attended by over 200 people.  Over half were young people!  2/3rds of the group were lay people are excited about growing and multiplying churches.  One church shared their vision of starting 40 churches in 10 years.  Even they admit it is impossible without God’s help.  I think they will do it, of course, with his help.  At this conference I talked with some key Japanese church leaders about raising the vision for multiplying churches.  They share with my vision that this is now the opportunity to make a difference in Japan.  Thanks for praying for us and for Japan.

Coming up later this month.  1) JEMA and CPI Meetings 2/22-23.  Pray for wisdom and new visions!

2) Dan and Sandi Peterson, District Executive Minister from Converge MidAtlantic, will be staying with us, meeting some key people, and seeing what God is doing in Japan 2/25-28.  Pray for a good visit, warm and refreshing times.

I just found out I was on Christian Television here in Japan.  I was working with one of their staff on getting a list of names of church planters that they could interview for a weekly show on church planting.  They sent me a web link to see about the program.  When I was at the home page I noticed something about the Rengo.  It was about the Coming of Age celebration on 1/12 where I gave a short greeting to the young people who had just become adults.  I would boast more about it but the video was all in Japanese and I was only in a few shots.  Though I was glad Elaine picked out my tie that day.  If you are interested this is the clip.  http://japan.cgntv.net/_inc/player.asp?pid=2304&type=vod&player=8&bit=high&vid=45898&dreamon=Y;%20text/html;%20charset=UTF-8

One Japanese pastor would like someone to come for over 3 months or more to build relationships with Japanese.  Through these relationships they can share their Christian experience.  This would be with church activities, their interests, English classes and other activities to connect with people.  Depending on gifts and interests an outreach plan can be determined in discussion with the pastor and church.

The pastor along with Church ministry has an NGO (Non-government Organization [Charity organization] which works to help prevent people from suicide.  Japan is a world leader with over 30,000 suicides annually.  There are possible connections there in terms of connecting with people in a mercy and compassion ministry.

The pastor would look forward to having someone come as part of his staff and there is another local missionary that he works a lot with.  His wife is a certified Japanese teacher so if there is interest a short-termer could have regular weekly Japanese classes.

The church will provide a place to live and they think that opening English classes will probably help with living expenses.  The pastor will take either a man or woman worker.  If a woman came the pastor would like them to work with young women, especially those with young children.

There are a lot of Japanese loan words in the English language such as Typhoon, Kimono, Sushi, and more lately I have heard Sukoshi (a little) even on TV shows.  The loan word Tycoon really threw me.  I am from Illinois and value Abraham Lincoln highly for many reasons.  I had never heard him referred to as a Tycoon before. This is the “rest of the story.”

The word tycoon is derived from the Japanese word taikun which means “great lord,” and it was used as a title for the shogun. The word entered the English language in the nineteenth century with the return of Commodore Perry to the United States. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was humorously referred to as the Tycoon by several aides. The term spread to the business community, where it has been used ever since (From wikipedia).

Tokyo has more high rated restaurants than anywhere else in the world including New York and Paris according to the Michelin guide.  We always new that was true as it is the largest city in the world.  Tokyo has such a rich variety of food with Western and Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Indian to name just a few.  For more in a BBC article see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8364051.stm

As you read this we are winding up our short working vacation back in Illinois.  We return to Japan on 1/5.  It has been frenzied being back but extremely good family times.  Also on the work side have been possibilities for CPI in another Asian country, recruiting career workers, and recruiting ministry teams from a partnering church.  We both hit the ground running when we return to Japan and there are various things in the works for the Rengo, the mission, CPI, and Elaine’s various classes.

We try to keep you updated on timely important issues for prayer.  But sometimes it is not obvious what we should pray for missionary ministries.  Of course we should pray for their health, growth in love for Christ, wisdom and energy in all their ministries, their marriages and families, and for good relationships with nationals.

The following link has some good resources in this area: http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/FreeTools/HowToPrayForMissionaries/prayForMissionaries.htm .