It’s been over five months since we moved to Japan to begin a new life as long term missionaries. We are living in Iwate, one of the three prefectures devastated by the 2011 Tsunami. Our long term goal is to help plant new churches among the cities that were affected. But to start we’re living in Morioka, the capital inland city where David is studying Japanese, and together we’re building relationships with the churches and ministers serving in the area as we prepare for the next step in this journey. Click here to download the newsletter.

I know this post may come across as sort of a downer, but it’s not like that. The last few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster with hopes rising and falling, frantic planning and lots of prayers. But somewhere in the middle of it all I felt like God was telling me to just let it go, that He had a plan and it just wasn’t what I thought it was.

First off thank you for all of your prayers. Second, please keep praying; we are still as committed as ever to getting to Japan, and even if we do have to put off our departure date till 2012, there’s still a ton that needs to happen before then. We’re at 34% of monthly support, so in order to leave by next Summer we’ve got to raise something like 5% a month, which is far above the rate that things have been going the last year. The need for the gospel to reach Japan is as great as ever, and there have been few periods in Japan’s history when it has been this open to the gospel.

We will certainly not be idle over the next year as we continue to prepare to serve God as church planters in Japan. We’re expecting a baby in December, and Tomo was actually a little relieved that moving to Japan before the birth was taken off the table. We’ll have a little more time to prepare for our new arrival without having to worry about packing up and moving across the Pacific. I’ve been serving as an elder at our little church here in San Juan Capistrano, and I feel as though God has given me a greater opportunity to serve the local church and learn how it needs to function, for which I am constantly grateful.

Thank you again for your prayers, we need them; and we need your partnership and support; and Japan needs the Gospel. Lord willing you will join us in meeting those needs in the coming year.

First off thank you all so much for your prayers. It’s been pretty amazing to see God answer them each day the last three. But we need to ask you to pray for something a little bigger.

Due to a miscommunication in the SEND office, we were given the wrong amount to shoot for. In order to qualify to go to MOP we need to reach 50% by July 10. In other words we have a new deadline, and a higher target. If we don’t get an additional 16.5% (previously we were trying to raise an additional 8%) of our support by July10, we’ll almost certainly have to push back our departure to Summer 2012. More on that in a minute, but first, the good news.

Praises

1. Each day of the last three, God has provided one new supporter comitting $40/month. As you recall in the last Prayer update I mentioned that we needed to get one new $40/month supporter each day until the end of June, and asked that you pray for God to provide. That was Tuesday, three days ago, and sure enough, each day someone has decided to start supporting us at $40/month, or increase their support. I have been blown away to see God answer so clearly thus far. Now however, I need to ask you to pray that God provides two supporters each day for the next three weeks.

2. Due to God’s provision if we qualify for SEND’s Member Oriencation (by getting up to 50% by July 10), we will be able to afford to take the three weeks off of work needed to attend. I meant to ask you to pray about this, but forgot. It’s something we’ve been praying about for awile. When we started planning on going to MOP this Summer we realized that we wouldn’t be able to afford to take three weeks off of work. Technically to avoid having to push back our departure date we needed God to work two miracles: providing the supporters, and providing the finances to enable us to take time off of our jobs. As of this morning it looks like He has taken care of the second one, and that if we do get enough support to qualify to attend MOP we will be able to take the time off of work as well. So this was a huge answer to prayer.

3. Tomo is mostly over her cough. But still suffering from morning sickness :-(.

Prayer Request

1. That God provides an additional 16.5% of our support by July 10. Previously we set a goal of one new supporter a day for the next two weeks. Now it looks more like we will need 2 new supporters a day over the next three weeks. 1 Corinthians 4:8 comes to mind: “We are… perplexed, but not driven to despair.” I got two phone calls today while I was in a meeting. One was the call to let me know that we were accidentally told the wrong amount and that we needed to raise more than double what we thought. The other was a person calling to let us know that they wanted to increase their support by an additional $40/month. We aren’t sure what God is doing. But He is clearly doing something. If July 10th comes and goes and we have to push back our departure date till next year, then we trust that’s part of God’s perfect plan. But if it comes and we are at 50% we’ll know He worked a miracle. There could be no other logical explanation. This would not be the first time God has made a situation seem hopeless in order to demonstrate His ability to overcome obstacles that we cannot.

Judges 7:2-7

The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.'” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water.

And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.

And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”

2Corinthians 1:9
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Thank you all, and God Bless!

Dave and Tomo

I was reading Luke last night when I came across some verses that reminded me why we’re raising support.

Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. – Luke 8:1-3

As I was reading this I was struck by how Christ allowed His earthly ministry of proclaiming the gospel to be supported by the finances of a number of well off women who provided the for Him and the disciples out of their own means. It seemed to me that Christ would be the last person who would rely on the gifts of others to provide for Him. Indeed Christ demonstrated that there were no needs He could not meet Himself. Christ did not need anyone to give him food for He could multiply loaves to feed thousands. He had no need of shelter for He could command the wind and the weather. He had no need for money for He could pull coins out of the mouths of fishes. Yet as He went out preaching, He chose to rely on the generosity of these women. Why?

A better question would be why not? What better thing could these women possibly put their money towards? If God had blessed them with the ability to give, why should He withhold from them the opportunity? Undoubtedly the very reason God had gifted them with these finances was so that they could use them to further the kingdom of God.

We will be going to Japan to participate in the fulfillment of Christ’s last command to His people before leaving the earth. We will go to be involved in a similar ministry to His; proclaiming the gospel, making disciples and starting churches. And we will go with a similar support structure, relying upon the generosity of saints who realize that the very reason God has blessed them with finances is so that they can fund Christ’s work, for the glory of God.

So to all of our supporters, thank you for joining us in this ministry. Thank you for faithfully supporting the work of ministry as God has enabled and called you to do. Thank you for your partnership and prayers. Even as we are still on the early stages of embarking upon this particular ministry, I can’t wait to see what the end of it will be like, and what great things our Lord will do through the work of His people.

60% by January

In order to get to Japan by next summer, we set a mid-term goal of reaching 60% of our monthly support by the end of January. Once we reach 60%, SEND will permit us to begin taking a partial salary from the support that we have raised. This will allow us to dedicate far more time to partner development, and freedom to travel and visit friends and churches outside of Southern California, in order to raise the full amount of our support by July. … read more

Other Things…

David has been recently appointed one of the elders of Crossroad Church. He is thankful for this appointment not only as an opportunity to serve our church in the U.S., but also as a training to prepare for our future church-planting ministry in Japan. Tomo is enjoying working at a Japanese-speaking daycare three times a week. The joy of seeing children grow in different areas makes it a rewarding experience. … read more

In this edition Tomo’s church in Japan teams up with some high school students at our church (including Dave’s little brother Sam) to host a summer English camp, and fellow missionaries and family Jon (Dave’s brother) and his wife Maki (Tomo’s sister) come to the US for home service.

Joy English Club!

by David Robison

One of the most difficult problems the Japanese church faces in growing is simply getting people through the front door. Japanese people tend to look at Christianity with suspicion, seeing it as a foreign or western institution. Very few would be comfortable visiting a church. However when Tomo’s church, and the team my younger brother was a part of partnered together to host a “Joy English Club” at the church, the result was that dozens of children and their parents came into the church and heard about Christ.Read more…

Jon, Maki and Baby Aquila

by Tomo Robison

As many of you already know,David’s younger brother, Jon is married to Tomo’s older sister, Maki. We all met at the same time when David and Jon came to Japan for the first time in 2003 and stayed at Maki and Tomo’s house for 6 weeks. Jon and Maki got married about a year before we did. Now we’re all part of the Robison clan and we’re all very happy about it. Read More…