Ministry Updates and News from the Mehns
Since the beginning of the year we have been on Home Assignment in the US touring 20 of our partnering churches in the six months from January to June. Home Assignment is always a good time to look back over the years of ministry and to look ahead to the years to come. While visiting one of our partnering churches we were asked how our view of missions had changed over our 23 years of…
We have worked in Japan for a long time continually learning Japanese. We have gotten pretty effective in the language doing public speaking (sermons, devotions), leading group discussions (Bible studies), and various person conversations including the telephone. We freely admit that Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn. The other day someone asked how long did it take you to learn it. My response was 50 years! It may take 100 years! Recently…
Yesterday Elaine was on Moody Radio in Chicago. A recording of her sharing during a sermon was played as part of the show Chris Fabry Live! Here is a link to listen to a recording of this 54 minute program. Several people call in to the show to discuss the topic that Elaine introduces on spiritual renewal. There is also a description on Elaine and the program at the Chris Fabry Live! website. You can…
Elaine completed her first devotional book several years ago. Many people are still unaware of this collection of 52 weekly devotions. They are indexed by Scripture and Topic. If you would like to purchase a copy drop us a comment here or click Contact US. We have some available in Japan and the US.
Thanks for praying for the Retool Kit training (church mobilization and renewal) in San Francisco last week. It seems the Rengo Japanese pastors and the Japan Ministry Team in the US will be locking arms to further training for churches in the future. We will see. I learned a few things about California last week which I thought I would pass on to you. Japan is roughly the same size as California, but Japan has…
In 2008 we developed two video pieces: One on our general ministry One on the CPI Ministry There are other CPI minisry videos by others most to recruit volunteer workers for the CPI Conference. http://japancpi.com/video.php
Hikikomori (pron. He-key-koh-moh-ree) literally means “pulling away, confinement” or an acute social withdrawal. Hikikomori is a relatively new social phenomenon that the Japanese government defines as individuals who isolate themselves from the rest of society in their parents’ homes for at least 6 months. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands possibly upwards of 1,200,000 people (or 1% of the population) struggle with this social anxiety.
As we return to the States, we will be responsible to make up deficits in our financial support situation. After being fully supported for many years, our support has been waning this year. The Home Office has calculated that we are $648 per month behind which we are expected to make up before we return to Japan next July. We would encourage you to pray and consider contributing to our monthly support sometime in the…
We are often asked what a typical day is for us. Well, we are still out searching for one. But sometimes we have very untypical days. John was recently on a 4 day trip to 4 locations, 3 cities, 3 prefectures, 1421.7 km (883.4 miles) mainly by bullet train, 2 interviews, a sermon on forgiveness, sermon training for lay people, an ad hoc mission Executive Committee mtg., the Rengo Mission Liaison committee meeting, the Rengo…
This year our November brought our yearly ministry planning for the mission and a fun time of celebrating Thanksgiving together. This year it was earlier than the traditional US date (but later than Canadian Thanksgiving Day). We are so thankful to have our new missionary, Lori Harms with us. Also the Asian Director and his wife were also able to celebrate with us. We are looking for more people to join our Japan Field Team.