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Christmas in Japan

In recent years there seems to be an annual battle in the US over what Christmas is all about. Some seem to want to remove all references to Christ, or to make the season a generic holiday that caters to people of all religious backgrounds, while we Christians often loudly protest and strive to keep Christ as the focal point. I mention this not to weigh in on what I think is the appropriate response American Christians ought to have in this battle, but simply to set in contrast to the Japanese view of Christmas. Because in Japan, despite the fact that Christmas has become a wildly popular holiday in recent years, virtually no one knows why they celebrate it.

As near as I can tell, Christmas was introduced and made popular in Japan, not by Christians (as of now there are not enough Christians in Japan to popularize the celebration of Christ’s birth), but by retailers. Department stores in Japan saw a huge opportunity to increase sales by capitalizing on the popularity of American culture and importing the Christmas holiday (and shopping season). And as you would expect, it’s all Santa Claus, snow men and Christmas Trees, without even a hint of Christ; in fact few even knows that Christmas is actually the celebration of Christ’s birth.

On the one hand it’s sort of sad that when a country like Japan looks at the way we Americans celebrate Christmas they only see materialism and a marketing opportunity. But on the other hand, God lets nothing go to waste. While there are millions of Japanese who are getting ready to celebrate Christmas by shopping and looking for a romantic partner to spend the night with, there are also a few Churches, Christians and missionaries who cherish this time of year to joyously celebrate the coming of their savior, and look to share this joy with the millions of lost people surrounding them. Be praying for the individuals in Japan who will hear the gospel for the very first time this Christmas. Be praying for the churches to have successful outreaches. Be praying that the Holy Spirit will move in people’s hearts to respond to Christ’s calling this Christmas and that they will never celebrate it the same again. Finally, be praying that God will send more missionaries to Japan to work along side the small indigenous churches in Japan to share the hope of salvation through Christ Jesus in the coming years.

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7.3 Aftershock off the coast of Tohoku

I’m sure that many of you heard about the earthquake in Japan Thursday night. This was a huge aftershock (7.3) from last years 9.0 earthquake in the same area. Thankfully there was little damage reported and no casualties, however Tsunami warnings forced many to evacuate, out of fear of a repeat of last years catastrophic Tsunami.

Tomo’s family is safe and unharmed, so praise God for that. Her parents are currently serving as indigenous missionaries in Kamaishi, one of the cities that was hit hard by last year’s Tsunami. Her mother was at their home and heard Tsunami waning sirens going off, but since they live a safe distance from the coast she did not have to evacuate, however Tomo’s Dad was out with some volunteers ministering at a temporary housing complex in a neighboring town, and along with all the people living in the temporary housing (who were victims of last years Tsunami) had to evacuate to higher ground. Although ultimately there was no Tsunami this time, it was an incredibly stressful event for many of the people living there, particularly those in temporary housing who lost their homes a year an a half ago. Please be praying for God’s Peace to be brought into the hearts of these people, that through the work of Tomo’s parents and other Christians in the area that many would find a solid hope in Christ and an assurance of an eternal inheritance. And pray that God would send more Christian workers to this area!

Support update
Once a month we get a report from JEMS showing the gifts that have been given towards our ministry. November was the first full month with JEMS, so we were a little nervous to open the email and see if we still had any supporters now that we were with a new organization. (I’m joking a bit there, so many of you have already told us in person and over email of your continued commitment to partner with us, but still, this whole support raising thing puts weird thoughts into your mind.). We were blown away to see that through your generosity, God had provided an additional $4,845 of funds to help send us to Japan!

This was made up of a combination of special gifts, and monthly support sent in by supporters that were quick about filling out the paperwork and transitioning with us to JEMS. To all of you who gave in November, thank you so much. We’re praising God that 16 out of our 60 monthly supporters have already transitioned to JEMS with us, and that God has provided a number of new supporters this month as well. Also we have one new church committing to support us beginning in January, and another church has informed us of their plan to increase their support. Praise God!

If you were supporting us monthly while we were with SEND, and haven’t yet mailed in a new support form, please click here to download and print the form. If you intend to start supporting upon departure, please email us and let us know so that we can better plan our departure date, and also let you know how to begin supporting when the time comes.

Our greatest need is still for additional individuals and churches to commit to giving on a monthly basis during our first two year term in Japan which will begin in March. Please pray this week for God to provide the support we need to minister well in Japan. Pray for me to have courage in contacting new people, and that God will connect us with believers that are interested in partnering with us in prayer and/or financial giving. Pray for a deeper relationship and partnership with our sending churches, that we will be able to appropriately engage and invite them to participate in our ministry, and in so doing allow them to share in the blessings of being a part of the work that God is doing in this world.

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Monthly Budget Set!

After a lot of prayer, research, and number crunching, we’ve finally set a budget of $6,500 a month for serving through JEMS in Japan. We are currently at about $4,000 a month in promised support, meaning that we still have $2,500 a month to raise before March. If you are interested in seeing how this money will be allocated, click here. Please be praying that God will prompt His people here in the US to join us in participating in His work of spreading salvation to the Japanese. Pray that God will give potential supporters the faith to trust Him in this difficult financial time to provide for all their needs so that they can have the freedom to serve Him by partnering with us.

This is a step of faith for us as well. There are many unknowns, and it is possible that the budget that we have set may result in us also being under financial stress once we get to Japan, as it is almost $4,000 a month lower than the budget SEND set for us when we were with them. Also, because JEMS does not use a pool system like JEMS, we will be much more dependent upon the faithfulness and generosity of our supporters while in Japan. Our hope and prayer is that this will cultivate a greater dependency upon Christ to meet our daily needs, and that same dependency will grow in the hearts of our financial partners, and that all of us will find freedom in truly believing Christ’s promise to meet the needs of those who seek His Kingdom first and foremost in their lives.

We are praising God every day for providing the opportunity for us to engage in full time support raising. Please pray that God will give us the wisdom to know how to best use the time, and for fruitful results as we seek to call Christians and Churches to rise up and partner with us to obey Christ’s command to make disciples in all nations. Pray that people will make time to meet with us during the busy holiday seasons.

Pray for the churches of the Iwate 3.11 Network in Japan, that God will continue to supply them with resources and laborers in order to minister to the needs of the victims of last years Tsunami and earthquake. Pray Tomo’s parents, Yoshie and Kazuyoshi, as they seek to provide children’s programs among the temporary housing camps and seek to build relationships with the residents. Pray that God’s love, poured out by the example and actions of His people, both national believers and international missionaries, will soften hearts and spark an interest in the God who these ministers worship. Pray that the lost would come to know, love and serve their creator, that established churches would be revived and that new churches would be planted in the cities of the Iwate coast.