Interesting facts and information about Japan and ministry in Japan.
We are very blessed to have many ministry partners, 36 local churches and over 20 individuals. One church member said, “We do not like our missionaries being held back from their ministry” and then doubled their monthly giving to us. In the last three weeks, God has provided $340 in monthly support. Today our need is $160 per month, and when achieved we are again off to Japan. Want to join this team that accelerates…
Recently a pastor (with a doctorate) asked me a research question on marriage patterns in Japan. They quoted from Stephanie Coontz (Marriage, a History). She asserts Japan is culturally promoting sex among it young population: “Japanese pundits lament the drop in business in Japan’s rent-by-the-hour ‘love hotels’ and some are calling for the youth to not hate sex.” Is this idiosyncratic or is she truly reflecting the culture? So I researched it a bit (the Dr. John in me).…
Because of my role with Japan Church Planting Institute, my UTube videos, my website, and other ways people contact me when they are interested in planting churches in Japan. These are all people I have never met, nor are their part of our Converge Worldwide network. God is calling people to work in Japan; it is amazing considering all the ways he does this. For the past two weeks I have been receiving an unusual…
Japan is quiet and exotic and unusual place for foreigners. For the last several weeks we have been looking at some examples of things that surprise foreigners. The first week’s list at: http://www.gospelrest.com/japan-surprises-foreigners/ Japanese people really like Yahoo! GPS is automatically included in rental cars You can leave a bag to save your seat and no one will steal it A small-size drink is actually quite small There are power lines all over the place…
In the United States, Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades, they have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,304,286, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity. About 800,000 are first generations Japanese (in contrast, about 90,000 American live in Japan but only about 1,000 are missionaries). In the 2000 census, the largest Japanese American communities were found in California with 394,896, Hawaii with 296,674, Washington…
Japan is quiet and exotic and unusual place for foreigners. Here are some examples of things that surprise foreigners. Last week’s list at: http://www.gospelrest.com/japan-surprises-foreigners/ There are smoking sections in restaurants There are free samples at the supermarket There are tolls on the highways You can find absolute masterpieces of pastry at cake shops The confusing, complex layout of Tokyo There are buttons to summon a waiter at family-style restaurants Touch-screen menus at bars and restaurants…
John and Elaine will be presenting a seminar and John sharing at one church this weekend at the Quad Cities Mission Conference. Tim got a new job and begins work on Monday. Also pray for Beth’s husband, Dustin, who got a new job and also begins on Monday. Our support need has dropped from $500 per month to $397. Pray that we continue to make progress.
Thank you for praying for our Japan Disaster Relief teams. They have all had very productive times restoring homes and effective ministry with community events. John and Elaine will be off to the Quad Cities Mission Conference August 12th. John will be sharing his missionary calling to one congregation. Then John and Elaine will lead two seminars on “How Does God Lead You?” Pray for our preparation and effectiveness and for God to really use…
We have both been very encouraged with the progress of raising more funding for our church planting, training lay people, mentoring, and disaster response ministries in Japan. We arrived in the US with a significant support deficit, many churches and individuals have stepped up to strengthen our support base. After discussions with our Home Office staff we determined that we would have to delay, for the first time, our return to Japan. We still need…
Yes, we are still on touring our ministry partners and we are still in the US and for an extended period. Recently we have extended our tour in the US to raise more ministry funding. We hope to return to Japan probably before the end of October. In addition to touring our ministry partners, this will allow us to be in the US for the birth of our grandson in late September, John to do…