Ministry Updates and News from the Mehns
Tokyo is a world-class city and you can find anything you want, if you are willing to pay for it. Some things are readily available like Coke, Pringles, and Snickers. I love 7-up but unlike other imported beverages it is hard to find. Some restaurants carry it but they are few and far between (though one is in Machida!).
Japanese are one of the largest and hardest people groups to reach in the world. While they are out of Japan, they are more open to hear the gospel and respond. The Reaching Japanese for Christ (RJC) Network and their conferences are very helpful in equipping and encouraging US Christians to reach the 500,000 Japanese who are living in Japan. As many of you are committed to missions in Japan, I would encourage you to…
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Gundam animation series, Bandai made a “life-sized” replica of a real Gundam Mobile Suit. This towering mechanoid was 59 feet tall, almost 6 stories, towering over a park on Tokyo Bay. It could move its head and shoot rocket jets. With Japan the world’s leader in robots maybe real one is next. If you into Japanese pop culture, this is right in the middle…
Back in July Haagen-Dazs opened the largest ice cream parlor in the world in the famous Ginza district in Tokyo. There are six fours in the building each floor with a unique deco. Each one has a concierge to serve customers. It is being described as the “ice cream mansion.” They even serve ice cream Japanese style with vegetables, fruit and cheese. Haagen-Dazs has been in Japan longer than we have (just barely) with 25…
Thoughts Along the Way© Elaine Mehn Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18 Over the years of camping by Lake Saiko, we have done a lot of hiking. We even tried to climb Mt. Fuji once – once was more than enough. For most of the years, we climbed a nearby mountain but lack of oxygen, abundant mud, horse…
Japan has the largest unemployment rate right now than since the end of World War II. Also those employed are not very happy. A recent global workforce study by Towers and Perrin said that Japanese workers are worldwide the least “engaged” in their work with only 28% of workers liking their jobs. Pray that the church in Japan would be engaged in bringing true hope to Japanese.
A pastor interviewed us a few weeks ago and asked, “How can we be involved with your ministry in Japan?” Just a few ideas. Please think of some more and let us know. Connect with us Surf this same website www.gospelrest.com (a well kept secret). Shoot us email. Drop us a note. Visit with us on Facebook. Subscribe to our email news updates at this website. Watch for us on video. We will be producing…
John and Elaine were awoken early Wednesday Morning (8/12) by a 6.5 point earthquake less than 30 miles away. Normally in an earthquake we head for the door jams as they are the safest place in a house. But we were camping in a tent and had little to worry about. Fortunately the earthquake caused minor damage. For more information see this page http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/m66-quake-jolts-shizuoka-pref-and-vicinity-disrupting-trains. Pray for Christian relief efforts in the areas affected.
Do you miss us already? We left the US for Japan on July 7th. We have been settling in and getting ministry geared up for another term in Japan. We have just completed our ’09 US tour of our partnering churches, one of the best. For six months we shared messages, hung out in small groups, met up with pastors and missions sending teams, and recruited future short-term and long-term missionaries. We also had key…
John was pleased to find out that he had a few articles published in an anthology of the Elijah Group, a think-tank of Japanese businessmen, pastors and missionaries dedicated to transforming Japan spiritually. John and three other men launched the Elijah Group about 6 years ago. Two articles that were published were “The Purpose of the Elijah Group” and “A Theology of Transformation.” John has published several magazine articles and has appeared in some acknowledgments…