Ministry Updates and News from the Mehns
On November 29, Elaine held her annual Christmas Tea for all the women in her various classes. Usually there are about 20 ladies but this time 28 came! (And 10 more were unable to attend.) There was no place to put them in our small house. Mrs. Yoko Saito, originally from our Niiza church, shared with the ladies about the true meaning of Christmas. Pray for these ladies as they contemplate Christmas and also for…
The first CPI BootCamp for basic church planting training was November 16-18. About 50 participated from all over Japan, from Sendai to Okinawa. John thinks that the BootCamp was the most effective regional training CPI has ever done. At the last minute, a guest speaker from the Acts 29 Network cancelled so John and Dan Iverson had to do an additional session. For the first time publically, John presented some of his research and new…
What were you doing on Respect for Elders Day (09/20)? Well, I was out walking in my neighborhood. At one point, I saw an older Japanese man, I thought in his 80s, who was being followed by a man with a large video camera, a man carrying a tripod, and one man carrying one of those sound boom microphones. I figured it was Japan, land of the Sony video camera, so I simply greeted him.…
1. We send out monthly Intensive Prayer Memos via email. You can subscribe to these mailings at our website http://www.gospelrest.com/phplist/public_html/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 . We have had scattered reports that some people who signed up are not receiving it. So please check your spam filters and permit them through. If you still do not receive them, then let us know. (We are also addressing the technical issues.) 2. This website is usually updated usually weekly, definitely monthly. If…
The dollar is taking a beating against the yen making our support level very precarious. If you would like to give to our ministry, even one-time, we would appreciate it. Information is at our new webpage at the updated Converge Worldwide website http://www.convergeworldwide.org/give/49651.
Thanks for your prayers for John as he returned to the US to defend his doctoral research project on Oct 22nd. John passed! In fact, he said that it was stimulating and at times fun. The discussion will make the project better. John has some minor revisions to complete and then wait for official graduation in December. More information on John’s research is at http://www.gospelrest.com/research. John was able to visit both our kids, Tim and…
John is just wrapping up his doctoral research project on Characteristics of Leaders Reproducing Churches in Japan. The purpose was to understand what makes some leaders who reproduce churches in Japan effective. Through CPI and other avenues we want to clone and develop these kind of leaders. More information is at http://www.gospelrest.coJohn is just wrapping up his doctoral research project on Characteristics of Leaders Reproducing Churches in Japan. The purpose was to understand what makes…
Ah, summer in Tokyo. Some say it has been long with typical days in the 90s with 80% + humidity. With Elaine a bit tied down with her foot and John with his busiest summer ever we have stayed in Tokyo most of the time. Fortunately, both of us have not had any physical problems with the heat (except cabin fever). We did have a few glorious vacation days by the lake near Mount Fuji…
The August cover issue of Time Magazine Asian edition caught my attention: A Clouded Outlook. Over these last few years, we have felt being in Japan that the hope index in Japan has been dangerously eroded. People in Japan are pretty beat down these days. Time observes, “Japan’s political leadership is paralyzed, its corporate elite befuddled, its people agonized about the future.” These are the same people we live and work with everyday. Decades ago…
In this current age of crisis, we are facing major problems in Japanese homes. Society has a major influence on couples and family sexual morals. Abuse and violence are problems in the home. Our mission is to bring recovery to family relationships and to help families grow in a healthy manner. This society does not create a healthy environment for children. While children are growing, they get caught in the pressure of competitive society and…