Ministry Updates and News from the Mehns
You have been faithful in praying. God has opened the gates of blessings on our lives in September. There are so many blessings we have to stop and think about how many. We also are not sure which was a greater miracle. Tim got a tremendous job working as an interpreter in the welding department of a Japanese firm building passenger train cars. He is doing extremely well. We got the green light from the…
Japan is mysterious and strange place for foreigners. Here are some examples of things that surprise foreigners. The first week’s list at: http://www.gospelrest.com/japan-surprises-foreigners/ The Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system on the highways There are hot springs just for your feet There are women-only cars on the trains It’s so safe you can go walking around in the middle of the night with no problem Japanese squat-style toilets The incredible variety of KitKat flavors There are…
One of my missionary heroes is C.T. Studd. The other day I quoted him while sharing my call to missions with a church congregation. ” “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” This video shows his manly heart for God and his Kingdom. Enjoy. Pray that we would all “be strong in the Lord.”
Another way you can partner with us is interceding before God on our behalf. Prayer requests: Ask God for strength in the personal and church visits throughout September especially September 30th at West Hills Community Church west of St. Louis. Continue to pray for our plans to return to Japan including our financial support (above). Besides normal ministries, there is much personal business and work projects to be completed. Ask God for a speedy processing…
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…
Elaine and I were honored to participate in the Second Quad Cities Missions Conference on Sunday August 12th. This very unique network includes six local churches in Illinois and Iowa and extends into two Converge regions. These churches are locking arms and aligning their budgets with the vision to send more local people out as missionaries to the nations. The six pastors had a pulpit exchange all preaching from Psalm 67, a mission Psalm. At…
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…