News

We’ve been back in the states for a few days now and are going through the entirely normal but exhausting process of overcoming jet lag. Last night Titus was up till 1am, I couldn’t sleep till 3am, and Tomo couldn’t sleep past 4am. Despite that, each day we feel a little more adjusted and refreshed. This is good because God has given us a lot of good direction over the course of the last three months, and now it’s time to get to work!

Over the last three months we’ve spoken to many of our supporters, and Pastors of supporting churches here in the states. We’ve spoken with people from SEND, and people from JEMS. We’ve emailed back and forth with people in Japan, and the last three weeks we went all over Japan to talk to people in person. There are many questions that we’ve been asking through this, some of which I talked in our last update, and some of which I’ll talk about in our next one. But the biggest question that launched us on this little journey was whether or not God was leading us to switch missions organizations from SEND to JEMS. We believe that He is. We have not switched yet, in fact we have not yet been accepted with JEMS. This is something to be praying for, the last step in the process. We have applied, JEMS is currently waiting to receive all of our references. The next step after that will be an interview at their headquarters in LA, and then we’ll see if we are accepted.

Many of you are have been sending financial support into SEND. That support has gone into a fund that will be used to cover our outgoing expenses, and we have been assured by SEND that should we change organizations that the funds you have given will be transfer ed along with us. We are incredibly grateful for all of our financial partners, through your generosity we have raised nearly 100% of our needed outgoing costs. We ask that you continue giving to SEND until we have officially transfer ed to JEMS, and they have an account set up to receive donations on our behalf. Unlike SEND, JEMS does not operate on a pool system. Once in Japan our living expenses will be directly provided by our supporters. Because of this we hope to build up a small reserve fund in our account before leaving, so that should we receive less support in a particular month we’ll be able to continue ministering in Japan unhindered, rather than immediately consider the possibility of returning to the states for more support raising. Thus any funds that are donated beyond what is needed for our outgoing expenses will be put into this reserve fund.

Though we are changing missions, our ministry will not change. In fact it is because we feel such a burden for Japan, and because we believe God is doing an unprecedented work there right now in Tohoku, because there is an urgent, immediate need, and because He is opening doors for us to be involved that we believe God is leading us to change to change missions. By switching to JEMS we anticipate reducing our monthly support requirements from $10,300 to around $6,500. This means that we will go from having to raise an additional $6,300/month to $2,500/month. Also once we have switched to JEMS we hope to be able to start receiving a salary almost immediately. This will allow me to be able to stop working full time at my current job and instead begin support raising full time, in preparation for an anticipated departure of March, 2013. At the bottom of this email is a time line with a series of goals which we invite you to pray for God to bring about. We are incredibly excited, and have never before felt so close to seeing God bring us to Japan to serve Him there.

Nevertheless this was a bittersweet decision. SEND, it’s staff and missionaries have been incredibly supportive and encouraging over the last five years I have been a part of it. Tomo’s home church in Tokyo was planted by SEND, and she has known SEND missionaries her entire life, some of whom taught her English when she was a child. SEND has played a significant role in both our lives, and we have made many friends. It is our sincere hope and prayer that as we move to Japan we will be able to keep in touch with our friends from SEND, and that our paths will cross often, that we will be able to pray for each other, support each other, and work together toward the common goal of taking the gospel to every corner of Japan.

This is going to be a difficult trip to process. We have seen the remains of so much devastation, now a year overgrown with weeds and grass. We have seen where the people who lost their homes and family members a year and a half ago are still living in temporary housing units, essentially homeless with little idea how to rebuild their lives. We’ve seen Christians coming from Hong Kong, Texas, Canada, and all over Japan to continue to minister to these people, trying to share their burdens and brighten their days. We’ve seen glimpses of what lies ahead, plans and visions of what is in store for us, for this region, for Japan, and for the Church. In this moment, the most we can do is pray. Before we left, we made a list of goals we had for this trip, questions we needed to have answered so that we could proceed in the direction God desires us to go. In this update, and the following two updates, I’d like to share how God has been giving us these answers.

1. Evaluate the current need for full time missionaries in Tohoku, by speaking with missionaries and Pastors serving in the area. After talking with a number of Pastors and missionaries serving in this region, and seeing the ministries that are happening first hand, we’ve learned that the current needs are immense. Furthermore, these needs are both immediate and ongoing. Many missionaries and missions have only short term plans, and will be leaving within the year. However Japanese Pastors have a long term vision for ongoing ministry, however overseas donations have largely dried up, and they are having difficulty hiring staff to continue the work. In the near future there will be a great need for supported missionaries to come and serve alongside them. There is a transition that is nearing completion right now.

During the first year or so after the disaster, Christians focused on meeting the physical needs of the people; delivering food and supplies, clearing out debris from flooded homes and business, and rebuilding. That work is largely done, and now Christians are focusing on meeting the emotional needs of the survivors. They are organizing teams to go in and visit the temporary housing areas to talk with people, set up “mobile cafe’s,” run children’s programs and try to bring some measure of hope and joy into people’s lives. As relationships are being built, many people are being drawn to learn more about these Christians, and the God they serve. At this point many Christian groups are refraining from being openly evangelistic in their programs, for fear of making people feel exploited. Instead they are drawing people out through relationships, letting them ask questions and in response, gently sharing the hope that they have in Christ. There is a sense that at some point in the future, perhaps in a year or two, a new ministry focus will emerge, as new believers need to be discipled, and Lord willing churches will be planted. It is this third phase of ministry that we feel God is equipping us to participate in. However in order to do so, I will need to have a very good grasp of the Japanese language by the time this phase starts.

2. Checkout language schools and housing in the area. We have only found one language school in the area. It is located two hours inland from the coastal cities which we hope to minister in. That is perhaps less than ideal, or perhaps it is exactly what God wants. Over and over again I have heard from both missionaries and Japanese Christians, how essential Japanese language ability is to long term ministry here. I have also heard numerous stories of missionaries who have struggled greatly in learning the language, often in large part because they are so eager to begin serving that they neglect language learning. So, perhaps having a little distance between where I will be learning Japanese and where we will be serving long term could be beneficial. Numerous Japanese pastors and missionaries have encouraged me to stay focused on the language learning until I have a firm grasp on it.

The good news is that the Language school looks like it will be an extremely good fit, and there are two churches in the city that are actively involved in coastal ministry, and whose pastors we met and have already begun to develop a friendship with. Two hours is still close enough to be able to reach the coast on weekends, and to be able to keep an eye on the ministry needs and opportunities that develop. Housing is also much easier to find inland, as there is obviously, still thousands of people who are living in temporary housing, many of whom are waiting for a permanent place to live to be built or to become available. Most coastal cities have long waiting lists for housing, however inland housing is cheap and easily found. Language learning is a slow process, and every person seems to learn at a different pace. However 1.5 – 2 years of dedicated language study seems to be a sort of minimum that is needed. This further increases the urgency of getting to Japan soon, as it will likely be 2 years AFTER our arrival that we’ll be ready to engage in full time ministry. It is interesting, and I believe another sign of God’s hand in this, that if we can get to Japan within the next six months, I will likely finish the language learning portion of our ministry right around the time that Pastors here for see an increased need for discipleship and church planting.

3. Determine how much monthly support we would need to serve effectively in the region. We’re still working this one out, but we’re getting a pretty good sense of cost out here. Most things are much more expensive than in the states. Groceries, gasoline, car insurance, and electricity are all roughly double what they are in the US. Also, this area has an average winter temperature below freezing, and we’re told that heating costs during the cold months can easily exceed $300 per month. Taxes are also significantly higher here. About the only thing that is cheaper here than in California is housing. $700 a month can get you a nice little three bedroom apartment (although the square footage would be comparable to that of a one bedroom in California). We’re still working out a budget, but we feel that, if we had the freedom to set our own support requirements, we could make a permanent long term move here with around $6,000 – $6,500 a month in financial giving. Please continue to pray for God’s direction. We feel that so far this trip has been extremely fruitful, we have a much clearer picture of the ministry needs and trajectory than we did before, and are more excited than ever to see God begin to maneuver us into the place He has for us.

Last week we spent time in the Tokyo area, meeting with missionaries, visiting Tomo’s home church, and also spending time introducing Titus to his family over here in Japan. Tomo’s home church is one of our supporting churches, and we shared an update about the direction God is taking us.

It is Obon season in Japan, a time when it is believed that the spirits of dead ancestors return to the homes of the living for a visit. It is traditional for people to return to their family homes and pay a visit to the graves and family alters of their deceased relatives. This presents a difficult situation for Christians in Japan who are challenged to find a way to remain involved in the family without compromising their faith.

The picture above is of a large graveyard. In Japan nearly all graveyards are affiliated with a Buddhist temple. Rather than burying their dead, Japanese traditionally practice cremation, and the ashes of the deceased are stored within a hallow compartment of the gravestone, which is actually a small tomb. A single tomb may hold the remains of many generations of a persons ancestors. Rituals performed when visiting one’s family grave are in many ways similar to practices in the west. The visitor will place flowers in a vase built into the tomb, wash it and clear away any old debris, burn some incense and spend time talking with the deceased. However each of these acts is a highly ritualized religious act which is expected of all visitors to a tomb. This again presents difficulty for Christians. One might wonder if a Christian bringing flowers to a grave, keeping it clean and saying a few words to a deceased relative constitutes an act of practicing another religion; many Christians in the states would do similar things without much of a second thought when visiting the grave of a loved one, but here it is far more difficult to define what is appropriate for a Christian and what is not. Be praying for discernment for Christians here, to know how to appropriately show love and respect to their family, and how to lovingly, yet boldly be a witness for Christ to lead them into a true and right relationship with their Creator.

Thursday we traveled north, taking the bullet train through Fukushima, Sendai, and finally to Hanamashi in Iwate, where Tomo’s parents picked us up and drove us two hours east to their home in Kamaishi, one of the coastal towns severely devastated by the tsunami. Friday we got our first glimpse of the area hit by the tsunami. It has been a year and a half since it hit, and by now almost all the debris has been removed and placed into large piles on the city outskirts. Where there used to be houses and shops and roads there are now only empty lots, overgrown with green grass and flowers. At first glance it looks as though there was simply nothing ever built in this area, but closer inspection reveals the foundations of houses.

This area is far more mountainous than I realized. Most of the Iwate coastline is mountains with cliffs leading right up to the water. Where there beaches and flat land, there the cities and towns were built, and there they were largely washed away. However because there are so many hills, in many places there are structures right on the coast that were untouched because they were built on a hill. There was a three story school situated directly on the coast line, about 100 yards from the water, the waters rose over the roof of the school, yet all the students and teachers escaped unharmed simply by climbing a little ways up the mountain on the opposite side of the school.

As we begin investigating the ministry opportunities in the area, one concern has come up, do to the difficulty in traveling between these isolated cities. The only language school is located two hours inland from the nearest coastal city, and up to 3 hours away from some of the others where there are ministry needs. For the first two years, language acquisition will be my primary goal, because without a solid grasp of Japanese I will be severely limited in my ability to minister long term in the area. However at the same time there are a great many needs in the coastal cities immediately. It is our hope and prayer that God will provide some way for me to both learn Japanese and begin building relationships and partnerships with other Christians serving in the coastal cities. Please be praying that God shows provides such an opportunity. Thus far the only options we have found involve choosing between language acquisition and relationship/partnership building. Be praying that if God wills He will provide an opportunity for us to live close to the areas where He wants us to serve long term, and still be able to have good language acquisition opportunities.

We moved! Our land lady needed to sell the condo we were living in, so we decided to move in with my parents until we can leave for Japan permenantly, which Lord willing will be in a little over six months. We’re down to living in one room, and essentially can be ready to leave for Japan at any time; we’ve gotten rid of everything that we don’t intend to take with us, or leave with my parents. In a way it’s exciting that we’re ready for “deployment” at a moments notice!

Also, as many of you know, my younger brother and his family are also going to Japan as missionaries, and recently they applied, and were accepted to go with JEMS (formerly they were with SEND), and are hoping to depart for Japan this December to work in Tohoku. If this sounds familiar, it’s because we are prayerfully considering following an very similar path to Japan. It’s seems likely that we’ll be serving in the same geographic area, which will be very beneficial as we’ll be able to support one another, and perhaps even partner together.

We’re leaving for Japan the day after tomorrow (Aug. 9), and upon returning will be deciding whether to proceed to Japan through JEMS or continue with SEND. Regardless of which mission we go with our goal will remain the same: to partner with Japanese churches and believers to establish new, reproducing churches in the Trunami raveaged region of Tohoku.

For this trip we’ll start by flying into Tokyo and staying with Tomo’s grandfather for one week. We’ll spend the time meeting with SEND missionaries, visiting Tomo’s home church, which is one of our supporting churches, and also taking Titus around to meet his great grand parents, and uncle. From there we’ll head north to Iwate, the northern most prefecture of the three struck by the Tsunami. There we’ll be staying with Tomo’s parents who are already actively involved in missions work in the region. We plan to spend two weeks there, meeting with Pastors, visiting the coastal cities, checking out language school, housing, and cost of living in the area.

This will be my first time visiting the area. Tomo has been before, but not since the Tsunami. It is our prayer that after visiting the area first hand God will show us clearly how He intends to use us to minister to the people affected by the disaster on a long term basis.

May 31st was the deadline for us to be at 50% of our monthly financial support in order to attend SEND’s Member Orientation this Summer. God brought us up to 40%. Missing the deadline affords us with a good opportunity to step back, look at what God has provided, look at the current needs in Japan and see how might be leading us as we go forward.

This August we’re planning to visit Tokyo and Tohoku to talk with SEND missionaries, Japanese Pastors and lay leaders, in order to seek God’s will and try to learn how we can make the greatest overall impact for the Gospel in Japan. Every report we have heard from the field indicates that there is an unprecedented opening for the Gospel to be shared in the Tohoku region of Japan.

Not since the end of WWII has such an opening been seen. In a region that previously had virtually no exposure to the gospel, thousands of Christians from around the world have poured in to partner with Japanese believers to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the survivors of last years Tsunami. We feel that it is crucial for long term missionaries to go and live in these communities, before the door closes, to carry on the work begun by the short term missionaries and partner with Japanese believers to establish new Japanese churches which can continue to minister to people for many years to come. Since we are not going to be going to Member Orientation this Summer, we decided to take the opportunity to go and evaluate the needs first hand to get a better grasp of how God might use us to help meet them.

Going forward it seems that God has given us three different paths to get to Japan:

1. Remain as Career Status Missionaries with SEND. This was the path we were on, and as of now, still are. To go as career missionaries means that we will need to raise an additional $6,200/ month, but will be able to dedicate full time to ministry, and have all the support and resources SEND offers to help ensure our effectiveness.

2. Change to Affiliate Status Missionaries with SEND. This is SEND’s “tent making,” option. It would mean that we could go to Japan with SEND with less support raised, but that I would have to get a part time job to help make up the difference. We’d need to raise somewhere between $3,000 – $4,000 in additional monthly support and likely find a part time job before departing.

3. Transition out of SEND to a JEMS, a much smaller organization that allows greater flexibility in setting our support requirements, and has lower administrative overhead. The Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society is based in L.A. and offers tremendous flexibility and incredibly low administrative overhead for missionaries serving in Japan. However once in Japan we would have to operate largely on our own, as they have a much smaller presence in Japan than SEND. With them we would likely only need to raise an additional $2,000 – $3,000 and still be able to dedicate full time to ministry (and have the option to work part time if it could open doors for meeting people in the community).

Again, the possibility of transitioning out of SEND is not something we are taking lightly. We love SEND International, and many of the SEND missionaries and personnel have made tremendous investments into our lives. However we feel that if we are able to effectively contribute to the ministry in Tohoku before the door closes, that we will need to follow that course, even if it means being unable to work with SEND.

On the trip we hope to accomplish the following:

• Evaluate the current need for full time missionaries in Tohoku, by speaking with missionaries and Pastors serving in the area.
• Evaluate the feasibility of engaging in a “tent-making” type of ministry.
• Determine how much monthly support we would need to serve effectively in the region.
• Discover how we can best serve and assist the pastors and churches that are working towards planting churches in Tohoku.
• Determine which missions organization would enable us to be the most effective at reaching Japan with the gospel.
• Seek out potential ministry partners.
• Checkout language schools and housing in the area.

We’re praising God that He has already provided the funds for this three week trip. But if you’d like to pray for us join us in this ministry, please consider becoming one of our prayer partners! Click here.

For the last 150 years Christians have been laboring in Japan and seen very little fruit; Christians comprise less than 1% of the Japanese population. This means that the vast majority of people in Japan do not know a single Christian who can tell them about Jesus, or even the location of a single Christian church. However, over the last decade there have been little signs here and there that many pastors and missionaries have been picking up on, which lead them to think that God may be about to bring about a harvest in Japan. Then, last year the coast of the Tohoku region of Japan was struck by a massive tsunami that laid waste to hundreds of miles of coast. In the aftermath of that devestation, thousands of Christians from Japan and around the world flooded into the region, and demonstrated the love of Christ in the most practical ways. In the wake of this tradjedy, God has opened a door for the people of Tohoku to hear about His love for them, and the promise of an eternal hope, secure in heaven that can never be destroyed.

This is an unprecedented event in Japanese church history, one which we beleive God may be using to establish a a foothold in Japan. We pray that many new churches will be planted in the towns and villages struck by last year’s tsunami, that these churches will minister in love to the hundreds of thousands who are suffering and in despair. But this open door will not last forever. If the church does not come along side to help meet the spiritual and emotional needs of the survivors, they will look elsewhere for healing and satisfaction, and miss the opportunity to find a new life in Christ. As the short term Christian aide workers begin to withdraw from the region, it is crucial that long term Christian missionaries move in to fill that gap, partner with Japanese churches and believers, and plant new, reproducing churches that will have an impact for the gospel for years after the cities have been rebuilt.

It is to this mission that we believe God is directing us. We are seeking to find the remaining monthly financial partners who will send us to Tohoku to partner with Japanese churches and pastors to plant these churches. But we must get over there before it is too late. Our goal is to be in Japan by the end of this year, or early next year at the latest. We are currently coming up on another deadline, in order to attend SEND’s Member Orientation Program, we need to be at 50% of our monthly support by May 31, just one week away. Currently we are at 38%. We ask that you prayerfully consider comitting to becoming a regular financial partner so that we can remain on target for a departure within the next 7 – 10 months.

If God is calling you to join us in this unprecedented ministry opportunity, please click here, or reply to this email. If you would like to learn more, we’d love to come share with you. Just reply, or give me a call and we’ll set up a time.

Dear friends, prayer partners and supporters,

Last Sunday we attended the missions fair at Calvary Chapel Mission Viejo, and got a chance to talk with a lot of people who came, by, and have five people to follow up with who were interested in our ministry. Praise God for that!

Right now we’re in Crowley, Texas, staying with some good friends that we haven’t seen in a few years. So far we have had a wonderful time reconnecting with old friends, and sharing with people here about the needs in Japan. On Wednesday we flew into Dallas, and then immediately drove four hours up to Oklahoma to visit with old friends. We’re praising God for safe travels, especially since we discovered that my drivers license expired last month, and I was therefore not allowed to drive the rental car. Instead Tomo has had to do all the driving, which is a little outside her comfort zone as she grew up in Tokyo taking public transportation, and just got her license a few years ago after moving to the US.  In Oklahoma we were able to share with two families, and also pass on 4 support packets which these families agreed to give to interested friends and their churches.

On Friday Tomo drove us back down to Texas to stay with our friends who live in Crowley. We’ve gotten to share with them quite a bit about the things that God is calling us to in Japan, and they helped arrange for us to speak at their Sunday school this morning, and also meet with their pastor tomorrow afternoon. So far on the trip God has blessed us with one new financial partner, and nine new prayer partners. Titus has also held up pretty well

Tuesday morning we’ll be flying out to Chicago to spend the night with some good friends of Tomo’s parents before finally flying home on Wednesday. Thank you all for your prayers so far and please keep the following in prayer as we finish up the trip:

1. Pray that we’ll be able to follow up with the people we met at the Missions Fair and get an opportunity to share with them individually.
2. Pray that God will put a burden on the hearts of those who receive our information packets to help support the work that He is doing in Tohoku.
3. Pray for the people that we have shared with that are still considering whether or not they will partner with us financially, that God will give them wisdom, and faith in His provision in their lives.
4. Pray for our meeting with the Pastor of Hallmark Baptist church tomorrow at 2PM, that we would have a good time of fellowship and that if they are able, God would lead them to support us.
5. We have a few other friends in the Texas area that we’re trying to get in touch with if they have time. Pray that we’ll be able to.
6. Pray that we will have a good time of fellowship and sharing with our friends in Chicago, and that God will give them wisdom to know how and if they should partner with us.
7. Pray for safe travels the rest of the way.
8. Pray that God will provide 50% of our monthly support by the end of May so that we can stay on track for a departure within the next year to serve with SEND in Japan.

Thank you for all your prayers, we’re excited to be out here on the road seeking God’s will and giving people the opportunity to share with us in reaching the people of Tohoku with the hope and love of Christ during their time of need.