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Over the past six months we’ve seen an  unprecedented number of people from outside the church coming to various outreaches. Through your prayers and partnership God is beginning to lead people to Himself. I want to share two really encouraging stories with you.

“I want to be a Christian”

This past Summer with the help of two interns from the US our church hosted a Summer English program, and gave English lessons to people in the community, using a curriculum based on the JESUS Film. After the seven week program ended one of the ladies who had attended started to show up at other Church events. She came to English Cafe, and then to our Fall Food Festival, where she was invited to come and attend Sunday service as well. None of us really expected her to come, as it’s pretty unusual for non-believers to attend a Christian worship service, but we were really excited that she did!

Our pastor was surprised as well, and at first feared that his planned sermon from the book of Genesis about the covenant of circumcision wouldn’t really connect with her, and he thought about changing it. But as he explained about the difficult things that God sometimes expects of us, like commanding Abraham to circumcise all the males in his household, he mentioned that Christians too are given difficult commands, and quoted Jesus words in Matthew 5:44

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

He explained that only Christ can enable us to love in such a powerful way. The next day after our pastor received a call from the lady. She said she never heard of such kind of love, and that she wanted to be able to love her enemies enough to pray for God to bless them.  She then said, “I want to become a Christian!” That very week she began studying the Bible with our Pastor to learn what it means to be a Christian as she considers giving her life to God.

Our neighbors getting more connected with Church

We’ve also been really encouraged to see God working in the lives of our neighbors as well. They have become wonderful friends who have been very loving and welcoming to our family and especially our kids who go to play at their house often. Over the past year they’ve been coming more and more to different church events. And have expressed much interest in the teachings of Christianity. I’ve been able to give them a copy of the JESUS Film, which they watched as a family, and they have come to English Cafe on numerous occasions.

They also came to the Fall Festival last month, and were invited to join a Korean class that a missionary at our church is teaching. The mother, who has a great interest in other cultures decided to join and attended the first class this week and plans to continue coming to the church each week over the next ten weeks. We are so glad to see that relationship continue even as we will be moving away in a few weeks, and look forward to keeping in touch with them.

It’s been so encouraging to see God working in so many ways. It’s an exciting time at our church, and in some ways we wish we didn’t have to go. But seeing the Church develop a vision to expand this outreach into other cities through Church planting is incredibly exciting as well, and we are filled with joy and praise to God for the work He is doing.

Homeward Bound

We’re finally able to move forward with our plans to return back to the US for home service, after being delayed waiting for Tomo’s visa to be approved. We had previously hoped to be able to leave later this month, but were unable to do so. We just received an interview date for Tomo’s visa, which will be October 23rd. If she is accepted we’ll know that day, and then have to wait a few weeks for the actual visa to arrive. We anticipate flying home during the second week of November.

Our plan is to be back for about six months, during which time we’ll be visiting our supporting churches, and updating you all about the amazing work that you have been involved in through your prayers and giving. We’ll also try to get Tomo’s US citizenship during that time. As the time gets closer we’ll keep you posted, and also let you know the dates of when we’ll be visiting each of our supporting churches!

Miyako Church Plant Update

As I mentioned in last month’s update, our church is investigating the possibility of planting a new church in Miyako city on the coast. We have been supporting disaster relief work in the city for the past six years, in partnership with Catherine “Cat” Porter as well as many teams from Singapore. Through this many relationships have been built, and it’s becoming apparent that there is a need for a new church to be planted in the city.

We went to visit Cat along with some members of our church to see the city first hand. We had a good time meeting some of the people who live in Miyako, and saw first hand the reality that they are facing as they struggle to rebuild, not only the physical buildings but also a sense of community between those who are moving back after losing houses and those who’s homes were built on hills in the same neighborhood and thus were left untouched.

Miyako is one of the largest cities in Iwate with a population of 54,573 people, but only two, very small protestant churches. We are planning to move there after home service next year to begin the work of planting a new church in that city. We appreciate your prayers and continued partnership as we follow God’s leading into this new and exciting ministry!

Summer Kids English Special

Last month a team from Orange Coast Free Methodist Church in Southern California came to help us put on a Summer VBS at our church. This is the first time that we were able to host a team from one of our supporting churches, and we were blown away by the amazing work they did, and God’s grace in drawing kids to the event. About half of the kids who came had never been to the church before, so it was amazing to God bringing new people to us, and to have the opportunity to share God’s love through songs, games, crafts and lessons from His Word.

UPDATED 9/7/2017: After a long delay we finally got an interview date for Tomo’s visa, which will be on October 23rd, 2017. This means our departure date for the US in now estimated to be in the second week of November.

It’s been two years since our last visit to the States, and as our internship at Morioka Bible Baptist Church draws to a finish, we’re gearing up for the next phase of ministry here in Japan, so we’ll be returning for 6 months. Read on for answers to the questions I’m sure many of you may have.

What will you do in the US?

Our main purpose for returning is to report back to our supporting churches and individual supporters about all that God has done and continues to do here in Iwate, and to raise support for the next phase of ministry. In addition to that Tomo is intending to go through the process of obtaining US citizenship, which will hopefully make these sorts of trips easier in the future.

When will you be in the US?

We’re planning on back from September 2017 through March 2018. However it’s possible those dates may change due to the immigration and citizenship process. We’re waiting for Tomo’s green card approval, which even though we started more than 6 months ago, is still a ways from being approved, and may not be approved before September. Obtaining citizenship while in the US may also take longer than 6 months, which would delay our return to Japan.

As mentioned above, our plans did indeed change, we now anticipate being in the US from mid November, 2017 till at least mid May, 2018.

What is will you do after you return to Japan?

This is the exciting part, God has been opening more doors than we anticipated since arriving here, particularly within our partner church here in Morioka. We came with the hope of partnering with Japanese churches to plant new churches. In the last four years God has been greatly accelerating this work. Right now, in our prefecture there are 5 church plants in various stages of ministry that our church is either partnering with directly, or supporting as part of the 3.11 Iwate Church Network. Additionally there are two sister churches that struggling without a pastor, and are in need of essentially being replanted. Prior to the Tsunami, virtually none of this was happening, and so there’s also a need for training and ministry within the supporting mother churches who have been in a sense pulled into church planting ministry very rapidly over the last few years.

We’re still in the process of evaluating how we can best support and participate in this work that God is obviously doing. It is both very exciting, but also filled with many challenges and difficult decisions. However we hope to have a solid plan formed in the coming months.

What are your needs?

The biggest one is prayer for wisdom in regards to discerning how and where God wants us to serve in the near future. Additionally we continue to be in need of additional monthly financial support, so we are praying that through this trip God will raise up additional churches and ministry partners to join us in the work He is doing here. We are also looking for a vehicle that we can use for the time that we are in the US.

Thank you for your prayers and support over the years that we’ve been here. We hope that we’ll be able to see you in person when we come back to the US!

New Baby

We’re praising God for the safe delivery of our third child, Silas 新(Arata) Robison. He’s named after the apostle Paul’s partner in his second missionary journey and his middle name, Arata, means “New” in Japanese, and reminds of us the new life that we have through Christ.

The delivery was very smooth, and very quick, Silas was born less than three hours after we arrived at the hospital. Tomo has been recovering well, but we’re all adjusting to having three little kids in the house, and new sleep schedules (all of us are getting less of it). Thankfully I was able to take about two weeks off to help Tomo around the house and watch the kids. Titus and Felicity seem to be quite taken with their baby brother and fight over who gets to hold him every day.

Ministry

Last month I started meeting with a new believer at our church to study the Bible together one on one. This is my first time being able to do something like this in Japanese, and while it’s difficult, we both seem to be benefiting from the fellowship and the chance to talk about God’s word as we read through the book of Romans.

Recently our church has been having more English speaking visitors, and the Monthly English Bible Study has been growing. Many of the participants are English teachers who are in Japan for a period of one to three years, and are eager to serve and help out in the church, and have been a large source of blessing.

I’m preparing to preach again on April 30th, and as usual this requires a lot of time. I need to study the passage, outline and summarize my sermon in English, and then write it in Japanese. After that’s done I’ll get someone to check it and correct the inevitable mountain of grammatical errors, and then spend at least a week practicing it so I don’t stumble over the words. Please pray that I can prepare well, and that the sermon will be an encouragement to those who hear. I’ll be preaching from Philippians 2:1-11, focusing on the first two verses:

 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

The rainy season is just about over, schools are out for Summer vacation, and a lot of exciting things are happening at church. The most joyful news is that two college students will be baptized shortly, one this coming Sunday and the other in the fall. Both of them come from non Christian homes, and both had strong opposition from their parents when they became Christians. They are both from neighboring prefectures, and came to our city for to go to college. One of them was told by his father before he left “Don’t join a religion, or the Yakuza!” Yakuza is essentially the Japanese mafia. However after seeing his life change and hearing his testimony his parents relented and gave their blessing for him to be baptized as a Christian. Please keep both these students in prayer as they grow in their new faith.

Summer Ministries

During the Summer while kids are on vacation our church takes the opportunity to reach out to the community. This year we hosted our seconds annual Natsu Matsuri. Matsuri means festival in Japanese, and they have many Matsuri’s throughout the year. Most of them are hosted by Shinto shrines. The picture at the top of this email is of a local highschool practicing for our city’s biggest Matsuri of the year, the Sansa Oodori, which is celebrated with a huge parade of Taiko drummers and dancers. Many children from the local elementary school who don’t normally come to church, attended our little Matsuri. We’re starting to see some of the same kids coming back to different events (two families at the Matsuri also came to an English Cafe in May). Please be praying that God will lead these kids and their families closer to Him, through the little snippets of the gospel that are shared at these events, and through a deepening relationship with our church.

We’re now in the process of preparing for kids Summer camp, which starts this Sunday after church. It’s common for many Japanese to start their day with a light aerobic style exercise, and while this is slightly out of my comfort zone, I was asked to be the morning exercise leader at the camp. Still working out my program (if anyone out there has any tips, I’m all ears.)

Preaching and Speaking

It’s been a real blessing not only serving at our home church but serving in a church with a good relationship with other churches in the area. There are so few churches, and many of the churches are very small, so having the support and cooperation of other similarly minded churches is an incredible blessing. I’ve been attending a monthly pastors meeting this year and been really encouraged by the other pastors serving throughout the prefecture. This past Monday I had the opportunity to share a short message and lead a discussion time about church ministry. Given that this was all in Japanese it was very difficult, yet it went really well, and led to some really good times of sharing and focus. Thank you to all who prayed for this meeting.

I am also scheduled to preach three more times over the next three months at three different churches. In August I will preach at a sister church in Kitakami, in September I’ll preach at our home church in Morioka and in October I’ll preach at an independent church. In the midst of all these opportunities I feel like we’re getting a better grasp of the issues facing the churches here in Japan, and how we can encourage them towards a greater involvement in spreading the Gospel throughout Japan. As we look out at the daunting task of reaching the other 99.8% of the population with good news of Salvation, I can’t help but feel that the Japanese church, small in numbers as it may be, will play a huge role in God’s plan for this country. It’s a privilege to serve alongside these Japanese believers and churches, partnering together with them in our common hope to see the gospel spread, and believers grow in Christian maturity.

Recently it feels a little hard to process all that’s going on around us. We’ve been blessed with an abundance of opportunities to serve our church, community and prefecture. At the same time we’ve felt the burden of church ministry as our church has wrestled through difficult situations requiring more wisdom and discernment than we possess. Through it all we rely on God’s direction, confident not in our own decisions, but always confident in His power to lead. Thank you for supporting us and the ministry here through your prayers and financial partnership. Below are some of the things that happened in March!

5 Year Anniversary of the 3/11 Earthquake and Tsunami

It’s been five years since the Tsunami devastated nearly all the coastal towns in three of Japan’s prefectures. Most of these cities still have a long way to go before their recovery is complete. If you drive a long the coast line here you will see construction happening everywhere. There are still tens of thousands of people living in “temporary” residences waiting for the chance to move into a real home.

In the midst of all this Christians continue to minister to the residents of these towns through temporary housing visits, after school programs for children, and hosting community events. Teams from Singapore, Germany, the US and Japan are a constant presence in this prefecture that previously did not have a single missionary serving within it’s borders. We continue to prepare for long term service in coastal areas, and as such I’ve been slowly increasing my trips down to the coast, while at the same time continuing my training through interning at Morioka Bible Baptist Church.

Tomo’s Many Ministries

Tomo is a lot more useful than I am right now. As I struggle to simply comprehend the language and what is going on around me, she not only speaks Japanese but is gifted in many other areas as well. This has not gone unnoticed at church – they’ve been putting her to work!

Currently Tomo is leading a monthly pound cake making ministry, a bi-weekly young mothers outreach, and on occasion plays piano. This year she was also asked to chair the evangelism committee and quickly came up with an ambitious plan to shift the focus from hosting two or three big events a year, to encouraging and equipping everyone in the church to engage in personal, relational evangelism to their friends and family.

We’ve been especially encouraged at what God is doing through the young mother’s group. What started as an informal get together with a few of the stay at home mom’s from the church has grown to include a number non-christian friends of these mothers, who are now gathering at the church on a regular basis for fellowship.

Dave Prepping for his First Japanese Sermon

I’ll be preaching for the first time in Japanese this coming Sunday, May 1st. However I’ve been preparing for this sermon for the last 4 months. It’s been a painstakingly slow process compared to how much easier it is prepare for a sermon in English. For my first time I’ll be relying heavily on notes, which requires that I write the sermon out in Japanese in advance. In March I finished the translation. I’ll be preaching on the parable of the Unmerciful Servant. I want to highlight how God’s great forgiveness to us both frees us and compels us to forgive those who have wronged us.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please keep us, our church and our prefecture in prayer, as we commit to building God’s Kingdom.

In contrast to the  hectic December holiday season, we had a much slower pace of ministry in January. While we enjoyed the opportunity to catch our breath a bit, the month turned out to be a challenging one on multiple fronts. Despite this we are seeing God working, and learning valuable lessons about life and ministry which we trust will prove useful as God continues to prepare us for long term ministry in Japan.

As a church we have been wrestling with a difficult issue. It’s been a privilege to observe and pray along side the leadership of our church as they seek God’s wisdom and work for reconciliation to take place. This has also been a valuable lesson, as in Japan family issues are rarely talked about, and often it is not until significant problems arise that they come to light. As a church we are beginning to look to the future to see how we can better encourage and help strengthen families before such problems occur. We hope to put a greater focus on discerning the unspoken needs of church members, and helping to meet them as we move forward.

We’ve also seen God give us further direction for our future, in regards to where we will serve after my internship here in Morioka is completed. Sadly through more difficulty we’ve seen God apparently close one door of future ministry partnership while at the same time advancing and paving the way for what looks like a very promising opportunity for the gospel to be proclaimed and the church to be built up in another area we were considering. Right now there seems to be a lot in motion, much of which we’re not at liberty to share openly quite yet, so we ask that you continue to pray for God’s direction and wisdom as we begin to look more closely at this particular opportunity and speak with those involved.

I was also asked to begin preparing my first sermon in Japanese. Our pastor will be out of town one Sunday in May, so I will be filling in for him. This is a big step for me, and I’m grateful for having much advance notice to begin preparing. I have already begun writing the sermon in English, and once finished will be working with Tomo and my Japanese teacher to translate it into Japanese. After the translation is done I’ll spend a lot of time practicing it to make sure that I can deliver it in a clear and understandable way. Likely (hopefully!) this will be the most difficult sermon I will ever give. Please pray that I can prepare well and clearly explain and teach from God’s word the message that He wants the congregation to hear. As many of you know there are a shortage of preachers in Japan, and I’ve already been asked to give the sermon a second time at a different church, and will likely have opportunities to give it in other churches as well.

It’s a few months since the start of my internship at Morioka Bible Baptist Church, and it’s quickly become apparent that ministry in Japan is fast paced, exciting and quite a bit different from being a full time language student, or working 9 – 5 as an IT professional (my previous day job). We’re still in the process of adjusting to this new pace, learning to take time to breathe when things are a little slower so that we can dive right into the long days, late nights and long hours on the road that characterize ministry in Morioka and throughout rural Iwate.

It’s been both a challenge and a blessing to be able to experience many different aspects of ministry in December. As seems to be the case in most places, Christmas is one of the busiest times at our Church.

At the beginning of the month we hosted a team of four gentlemen from Texas. For me it was my first chance being on the receiving end of a short term missions trip. With the help of the team we were able to host an English Cafe at the local community center. We also spent a day down on the coast working with Tomo’s dad to minister to survivors still living in temporary housing, as well as help with an afternoon children’s program for kids living in temporary housing. We had a wonderful time and are looking forward to hosting more teams from their church in the future. For me in particular it was a lot of fun being able to hang out with a group of guys who understood (and were quite proficient) in American sarcasm, which rarely translates well into Japanese.

As we said goodbye to our new friends from Texas, a large team from Singapore arrived the same day and helped to host another English Cafe at the church before we sent them off to various locations on the coast to help with Christmas outreaches.

Tomo and I were put in charge of our church’s Christmas Service this year, where we came up with a program to explain who Christ is, by using Japanese calligraphy. I produced a series of videos of Church members writing about Jesus, while Tomo coordinated and enlisted nearly every member of the church to help with various aspects of the service, from reading scripture, to singing in the choir, to making snacks and cleaning the church. It was an exhausting ordeal but in the end everything came together, and we were encouraged to see a number of new people attend, as well as some friends and family of church members.

The Japanese calligraphy created by church members. Watch video.
The next day our family drove 2 hours down to Ofunato to spend Christmas Eve with Ofunato Church, where we celebrated Christ’s coming with one of the only two members of the church. We were pleasently surprised to see one new beleiver and two non Christians who had been ministered to by 3.11 staff members also attend the service.

Throughout December God gave us many opportunities to share about the coming of His Son, and through all these experiences we’re begining to get a better understanding of the needs here, and how God can use us to meet those needs as we look towards many years of future ministry here in Iwate. We still have much to learn, but God is faithfully teaching and preparing us to serve Him here.