Tokyo 2012 Debreif

This year's trip to Japan was different than anything I have done overseas in the past. The team consisted of my family. Also, the trip was geared not only towards making disciples within the Japanese people, but also making leaders of my team. God was so faithful to guide each of us to meet Japanese people to build relationships with. He even opened doors within those new friendships to talk about Jesus and His salvation.

God was also faithful to have us work with missionaries who were gracious and intentional about sharing their lives with us for the short amount of time we had with them! In ten days, my family and I heard the hearts of:

Gary and Lynn Fujino- IMB missionary couple ministering to Japanese in Tokyo and all over the world while raising their kids to love the Lord
Kuni Sano- A Japanese Christian who owns and runs an international cafe in a very famous part of Tokyo in order to share the gospel and start house churches
David and Yuka Mills- A couple working with a cafe in the Yokohama area and teaching English in order to share the gospel with their students, coworkers, and neighbors
Yumi and Kano- two Japanese believers who run the cafe that David Mills works with. We were able to spend wonderful time with Yumi before she went to Korea for a family visit.
Luis and Nicola Ramirez- A Peruvian man and his British wife working on staff of a church in Fussa, Tokyo in order to share the gospel through music and Bible study while raising three little boys
Adam and Hannah Sharick- A young American family going through language study with the IMB to be career missionaries, planting their lives in Tokyo for the next three years and raising two small children
Will Thompson- A former team mate of mine who has recently moved to Tokyo as the first intl. staff in Japan with the Fellowship of Christian Atheletes to work with Christian pro players and share the gospel through sports
Josh and Nikki Hipps- An American couple who have lived in Tokyo for two years with the IMB and got to return to study international law
Li Ang- A Chinese believer living in Japan whom I met in 2007, and now has a beautiful wife and daughter!
Michiko- A beautiful Japanese woman who has recently trusted Christ as her Savior and has faced opposition from her family, but clings to the joy of Jesus as her strength

More debriefing to come after work!


The team in Shinjuku Station, one of the largest train stations in the world.

Ministry Day

Today:
*We went to Shibuya and prayer walked the area after a short orientation on the area with Gary. Amy and I paired up and prayer walked through the major intersection of Shibuya, around the outside of Shibuya 109 (a famous nine-story shopping mall), and into the red light district. This area is full of "love hotels." It was very oppressive to walk through this area. We found a small Shinto shrine at the end of the main stretch, and decided to pray to Jesus inside of it. While praying in the Shrine, we noticed a man crouched down on the steps of the main alter-of-sorts. So we talked to him and were able to share the gospel with him. Amy and I had been praying that God would lead us to a Japanese person who knew some English, and He was faithful- because this Japanese man was very good at English!

*Met back at Hachiko and went back to the Government Towers since it was clear and sunny today. We had a much better view of Tokyo than the other day, and were able to get a better idea of how vast Tokyo really is. I even met some Congolese people!

*We decided to split up into groups- one to go back to the hotel area, and another to go around Yoyogi park (think the 'central park' of our area of Tokyo)and Harajuku. So Andrew, Gary and I were the latter group. We had a great time walking around, and in Yoyogi park we met a man playing volleyball with his dog. Yep. We had a wonderful conversation, played volleyball and ran around with the dog, and were able to give him a DVD of a Christian baseball player, Matt Murton! The man said that he would play the DVD on a projector at his work. How awesome! Andrew gave him his email address, and we hope to talk to the man again. His name was Kenji, so please pray that the Lord will work in him! We also met a young guy named Yuuske and had a good conversation with him about his neat tattoos, baseball (gave him a Murton DVD as well), and exchanged contact info. It was a great evening! Got lost on the way home, but had fun in the process of finding our way.

God is working and guiding us! Today was an encouraging day. There are many details left out because it's going to be an early start tomorrow, and I should get a shower and some sleep. Matane!(See you soon!)

Konbanwa

Konbanwa (Good evening) from Tokyo! It has been a full three days to say the least. All is well, and the team is doing great. The missionaries have been faithfully pouring wisdom into each team member. We arrived in Tokyo on Friday with no problem or delays. Our missionary contact, Gary-san, met us at the hostel for an early dinner. The team was in a post-flight stupor, but Gary was still able to get to know every one and even begin telling us about ministry in Japan.

Woke up at 3:30 am with a start, thinking it was 8:30 am. Ha, oh jet lag.

Government Towers
On Saturday, Gary met us at the hotel after the team had a brief devotional out of Psalm 96. We went to his area of Tokyo, Shibuya, and had an orientation to meet and greet some more, brief the team on Japanese culture, go over our schedule, pray together, etc. We then ate lunch and headed to the Tokyo Government Towers in Shinjuku to get a 46th floor view of the city. This is a view that shows how expansive Tokyo really is. There is no horizon where the buildings end- a never-ending sea of people. On a clear day people can even see Mt. Fuji sixty miles away through the windows of the tower. It was pretty cloudy when we went, but the view was still overwhelming to see as a Christian trying to minister in this city. Out of the 34 million or so people in this city, only about 0.3% proclaim to be Christians. Less than half of one percent. Looking out on the thousands of buildings, one team mate mentioned how many people each of the tiny windows must represent, and how many of those are living apart from Jesus. It's a sobering view. Seeing my team (literally my family) have their eyes open and hearts broken for the need in Tokyo was very special to me.

Thanks, Sister Act!
After the Government towers, we got the unique priviledge to attend a (get ready for this one) Japanese Black Gospel Concert. You read it right. Apparently, Japan goes through periods of interest in a certain fad called "booms." About twenty years ago, the boom became black Gospel music after "Sister Act" reached Japan. Japanese Buddhists were loading their mp3 players with southern gospel songs and singing lyrics like, "This is the day that the Lord has made!" without knowing what the song was talking about. Of course, with this came a very interesting ministry opportunity. A missionary/jazz musician in Tokyo decided to use his musical talent to share the gospel. So he organized and invited Japanese people to be a part of gospel choirs! He started with a couple choirs and conducted practices and performances. It was a hit, and today this man manages over fifty Japanese gospel choirs! The choirs performed alongside well known African-American gospel singers who fly in and coach them in workshops. The performance was phenomenal! My favorite part was when traditional Japanese drummers walked down the aisles and joined the choir onstage to join the song! There were at least fifteen to twenty large drums used. Seeing such a traditional Japanese instrument used in a song praising the Lord was an amazing sight and sound. A Japanese man even shared his testimony of becoming paralyzed, trying to commit suicide (very common in Japan), but then hearing about the hope of Jesus through the choir. It was amazing to hear his message as Gary translated to us from where we were sitting.

Japanese-style Church
Today we met with K-san, the owner of an English Cafe, and was able to meet and greet, hear his testimony of becoming a Christian, and have "house church" in his cafe. We sang, read Scripture, and prayed together. It was very simple, and we loved it.

Mejii Shrine Gary took us to one of the most famous Shinto Shrines in Tokyo, the Mejii Shrine. It is said to enshrine the spirit of Emporer Mejii and his Empress. Historically, this man was very important to Japan because he was instrumental in opening Japan to the West. This time period in history can be seen as what has made Japan the superpower it is today due to its modern western ties and technology. While this was interesting, the temple itself had an eerie hollowness to it. More on this later. It's late.

Oyasuminasai! (Goodnight!)

Some updates on what I asked you to pray for:
-Becca is doing very well physically. She's not a whiner. Please keep praying though, as walking in the humidity and climbing staircases in the train stations has its toll on her.
-The missionaries, Gary and his wife Lynn, are pouring wisdom into us about what it's like to be a leader in ministry overseas. Pray that we can remember, journal, and retain it!
-Team family dynamics have been great. Pray that our focus remains strong.

Returning to Tokyo

Good morning! Today I get to lead a team of my own family members to Tokyo, Japan. This trip is the answer to many prayers from within my own heart that God would use my family to make Himself famous in other nations. He has been so faithful. The team consists of my parents (Rick and Ruth), one of my brothers (Andrew), his wife (Becca), and a dear family friend (Amy).

This will be a mission trip with two layers. The first layer will be a mission trip in the more common sense of the term: crossing cultural barriers in order to share the news of Jesus' salvation to Japanese people. We will do extensive prayer walking, encourage Japanese believers, and be a brief but significant part in helping missionaries make disciples within Tokyo. Our leaders are consist of families who have planted their lives and raised their children in Japan in order to serve in Christian ministry positions.

This will also be a leadership-training trip. Each member of the team wants to be involved in international missions for the rest of their lives, whether long-term or in short-term seasons. So, I am going to work at providing each team member various opportunities to learn about being an overseas "mission leader."

If you are committed to pray for this trip, here are some specific points to pray for:

*Pray that the words of each of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts will be pleasing to God.
*Pray for God to bring us to meet Japanese people who are searching for truth.
*Pray for family dynamics within the team to be focused and unified on glorifying God.
*Pray that we will have boldness and love in telling others about Jesus.
*Pray for my sister-in-law, Becca's, health and stamina. She is four months pregnant.
*Pray for the team to deeply benefit from the missionaries' wisdom.
*Pray for the protection and pursual our individual time in the Word throughout the trip.
*Pray for the missionaries and Japanese believers to be encouraged in their ministry.

Thank you, friends. Love y'all.