Missions in Japan

First of all I'd like to apologize for not having posted anything on here in almost a month. It's been an incredibly difficult month, to be honest. Satan has been attacking my spirit. But I take comfort knowing that Christ is the victor ultimately despite my weak character.
Secondly I would encourage everyone to listen to this sermon by John Piper. Here is the link-

Message by Pastor Piper


I may not die doing missions here in Japan, but sometimes I wonder if it will take people dying for here for Christ's name to spread. Piper was right. Satan did win a big battle here in Japan all those years ago, however that was just a tiny battle compared to the eternal victory Christ already has. It makes me sad to think about the many lost people here. The only thing I can do for them is share what I know and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. A person's salvation does not rest on my shoulders, but relies on God's grace.

I am having some guys over on Tuesday night for dinner. They all want to see this huge stinkin' apartment that the IMB got for me. I went into one of their apartment's the other day and I have to admit that I feel rather lame in this huge place. His apartment was the size of two of my closets. I can tell that we're going to have a lot of fun on Tuesday, so please pray that I have a spirit of Joy and compassion that is contegeous, and also that my guests wonder what it is that I have and desire it too (besides the huge apartment).

Earthquakes and Ghosts

Many of you saw my facebook post about the earthquake. I was laying in bed and at one twenty in the morning the building started to shake and there was a low rumbling noise. I thought at first that this was merely the train yard next to my apartment building, which makes constant noise all night long, but then I began to think, "The train yard has never shaken my bed before." It steadily got more and more intense and my bed shook across the room. Needless to say I suddenly realized that it was an earthquake. I ran outside of the apartment to see what the other people would say. However I soon realized that no one else was leaving their apartments.
The only indication that we had an earthquake was a little message scrolling across the bottom of the television screen. No special news report or anything. The next day my friend from Taiwan told me "Welcome to the islands. Last week my family and I drank tea and watched television during and earthquake and no one batted an eye."
The night of the 'minor' earthquake though I lay awake wondering how I would have reacted if it had been "the big one". I had to give my life to God again that night after having thought I had already done this! I was afraid to be sure.
Also last week I met with this awesome kid, whom we'll call Will. We had lunch and did some language exchange. He is an English language major at his school. I told him that I respected the challenge of learning a new language because I was going through the same thing. He knows far better English than I do Japanese though.
Near the end of our lunch time we started talking about things that we were interested in. He said that he was interested in Ghosts and then asked me if I beleived in ghosts. I told him that I believe in ghosts whole-heartedly and then told him that I have a lot of ghost stories! For one thing we as Christians worship the Holy Ghost! So I told Will that since I had a meeting that afternoon I wouldn't be able to tell him all of the ghost stories and we would have to wait until this week. So all week long he has been sending me texts reminding me that we are meeting again today and are going to share ghost stories. So please pray that the Lord speaks through me with my meeting.

Rambling

So these past three weeks have been pretty busy. But busy is good. I haven't had time to think about much else. We have been meeting new university students and making new friends. Of course this only makes me wonder more about all of the lost people in Japan. The more friends I make the more I long to see them come to Christ. Can you imagine your friends burning forever in Hell? Sometimes these are the nightmares that race through my mind. They don't even know what's in store for them after they die. A lot of people here are only concerned with what is happening in the moment and very few think too far ahead into the future. One of the questions that I like to ask them is what do they want to be doing in the next ten years. Of course this even gets me thinking.
The weather has been hot here. And getting hotter. When the volunteer team was here we went to many places that I had not visited yet. We climbed part way up a mountain too. That was really awesome. Sometime I'd like to get back there and finish climbing it.
I've been helping all of my friends study English. At this point I know that this is the main draw to any kind of friendship with me, but if I can use that to glorify God then I don't mind at all. All I can do is keep praying for them and hope that somehow their eyes are opened up to the truths of Christ and the need for grace.
Sometimes it's overwhelming looking at hundreds of people everyday that are going to go to hell. The amount of lostness is great. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few, and that is not any more apparent than here in Fukuoka.
I have surprised myself in the past few weeks with language. God has blessed me often with understanding and the right words in Japanese in a way that could only be from Him. For example I tried to explain the concept of House Church to a friend, and I basically was able to do it completely in broken Japanese. ha ha. It probably made no sense to him grammatically but he still understood what I was trying to tell him.
So this post is kind of just rambling. However I felt it was necessary to write something because it has been so long since my last post. My next one should be more clear. Thank you all for your prayers. It's been a hard weekend and a lot has been on my mind.

The right words

God knows how to put the words in my mouth, even when I don't know what to say! I have had some opportunities these past couple of weeks to share my testimony with some people and it was at these times that I worried most about how to verbalize my faith. But it was always after I was done witnessing to a friend here, that God reminded me that all I have to do is share what I know and He will do the rest. After I have done my part it is up to the Holy Spirit to work in the listeners heart. Only God can make a dead soul alive! Not me.
So this is one of the big encouragements to me. Not having to worry about my foolish words.
Please pray for the young man that I am spending time with now. He shows interest and understanding in the ideas of Jesus, but I am praying that he also sees the necessity of grace. We will call him Jim for the sake of a name.
I gave Jim one of the comic book Bibles last week which he read quickly. He told me that "some of the ideas are well thought out." Which I suppose means he has been thinking of them after the fact. This is encouraging for me to hear.
Thank you all for your prayers.
The weather has been a bit rainy here, but the locals say that it will only get rainier as the summer progresses. It's the wet season. Next week our team is going to be receiving some volunteers for the month. Two of the guys will be staying in my apartment with me. So that will be nice to have some company for June. We will be playing ultimate frisbee with students and trying to develop relationships with them that I will be able to continue even after the volunteer team leaves.
Pray for the team to be encouraged about missions while they stay here. Ask the Spirit to work in their hearts and break them for the Japanese people while they are here.

Random encounter #1

Last Friday I went to Starbucks here which is unusual because I never go to Starbucks. IN fact I have no idea why I even went there, I suddenly had an urge to go. After I had ordered some coffee and sat down I opened the book I was reading. But, not ten seconds later, a young man two tables away made direct eye contact with me and started to show me the book that he was reading. It was a bit odd, but felt totally natural. So then I introduced myself and he introduced himself. After a while we found that we were sitting at the same table and had been talking for almost an hour. His English was very good, having spent eight months in America and attending an English cram school. In fact this was why he was in Fukuoka. His cram school was only a few blocks away. We exchanged numbers and information and planned on meeting again. The young man has stated that he believes God exists for those who believe in Him. Whatever that means. I am to meet him again tonight so if you catch this sooner than later keep our meeting in your prayers. First and foremost I want to remain natural and real. I don't want to seem as if I have some ulterior motive when we meet because I don't. If being a friend is also sharing Jesus with a person than I will share Jesus with them.

Fifth Post

Sorry that it has been so long since I have posted on here. Not much has happened worth noting in the past couple of weeks.
Yesterday was very awesome. The entire time I have been here so far, it has been very difficult to make any friends among the university students. They are nice to me and helpful, but if there is a difference between nice and friendly, then Japanese students are not friendly.
It takes something to be included in any groups.
Since I have been here I have been taking lessons from my Japanese tutor. She is a very sweet middle aged woman and doesn't speak any English. She's given me many things including an old bicycle of her husbands. The bicycle has been very helpful and even fun to go around on. Yesterday, however, my teacher did something very incredible and I don't even think she realizes how incredible it was.
She took me on a school campus that she used to teach at so I could meet some girls that she knows. These girls in turn introduced me to some guys they knew. This was very awesome and an answer to prayer because being introduced by another Japanese person is exactly what I needed. Now they were interested in me as more than just some weird foreigner hanging around.
One of the students even raced back to the train station after I had left to get my phone's e-mail address so he could text me. That has never happened to me before at all! I've never experienced any students so eager to befriend me.
My teacher is very Shinto. Shinto being the Japanese religion. It just goes to show who God can use. The rest is up to Him now.

Thank you

I have been here a month so far. Thank you all very much for your prayers. They have meant a lot to me and I KNOW they have been effective. While I have not made any definite friendships yet God has granted me peace knowing I am in His will. I am going to live victoriously and try my best to not let the situations I'm confronted with, or the cultural differences tear down my faith. As we know, Christ already has the victory and as Romans 8:37 reminds us "...we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." I am going to claim this verse as I go out into this land filled with witchcraft, spirit worship, and despair.
This past weekend the largest festival in Japan was held here in Fukuoka city. Over two million people came. It was very exciting and maybe some of you have seen the pictures from it that I posted on Facebook. We handed out Bibles and tried to talk to people. I tried to make connections with the young working people we met. Some young people can't get into college so they go directly into the work force.
Thank you all again for your prayers. I'll keep you updated as God moves in Fukuoka!