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.
It seems that God had orchestrated a “dream team” of church leaders for interviews for his field research on reproducing churches. The group of leaders is a very good cross-section of leaders from around the country and various organizations. John is nearly done with the Interview part of the FIeld Research. Now he moves into the phase of analyzing all the information he has collected. Ask God to grant strength and wisdom to John as…
Even though Japan is an advanced and prosperous nation there are the hidden human costs of progress. The image of Japan, and one that the Japanese would love to project, is that this is a society with everything put together right. One area that has been growing since the 1980’s is the number of people who are working but are just above the poverty line. An article with a good example can be found in…