Posted January 10, 2010

Tomohisa had reached a coveted status in Japan’s vertically-ordered society: medical doctor. Along with the status came wealth, which he used to buy the affection of women…and lots of booze. His selfishness blinded... [Read More]

Posted December 2, 2011

When the warning sirens went off, residents in a south Sendai neighborhood fled to the local school. Together with panicked children still in class they climbed to the rooftop. Some 600 altogether... [Read More]

Japanese Get "Bach" Hope

Posted September 21, 2011

Who would have thought Bach would be involved in 21st century mission work in Japan? I have frequently read with interest of the strong connection between classical music (particularly J.S. Bach) and Japanese interest... [Read More]

Tsunami Ground Zero

Posted April 7, 2011

I still haven't returned from tsunami ground zero. That is to say, although I've been back several days already, the reality of the scene is still with me. The incredible amounts of mud in once beautiful homes... [Read More]

"Nice Try, Kevin" File

Posted February 9, 2011

This one goes into the "Nice try, Kevin" file. I just thought it was a nice-looking bunch of flowers in the storefront and, on the spur of the moment, decided Kaori deserved to enjoy them. Chrysanthemums, however, are... [Read More]

The Gulliver Complex

Posted November 9, 2007

I'm a giant again. Well, not really. But it sure feels like it again since returning from the States. The first sign was bumping my head in the shuttle bus from the airport. By habit, I normally duck my head through any... [Read More]

Foreigners Don't Get the Point

Posted January 31, 2010

I'm standing in line at a drugstore with other shoppers. The woman in front of me has just pulled out a business card file. Hurriedly she flips through at least a hundred or more cards searching for the right one. It's a... [Read More]

More Powerful than Bombs

Posted July 5, 2008

Fuchida grew up loving his native Japan and hating the United States, which treated Asian immigrants harshly in the first half of the twentieth century. Fuchida attended a military academy, joined Japan's... [Read More]

Ready?

Posted September 14, 2010

I'd been putting it off. Although I knew it was important, taking inventory of our earthquake and disaster gear just wasn't getting done. Japan rests along the "ring of fire" in the Pacific ocean, a stretch of area that is... [Read More]

150 Years Later

Posted March 17, 2009

This spring marks the 150th anniversary of Protestant Christianity in Japan. The first protestant missionaries set foot in the port of Yokohama back in 1859. Now they were real church planters -- overcoming all... [Read More]

Rambling Notes from Japan

Here are some blog posts that we hope will make you feel a part of things, and help you understand how to pray better for us and Japan. Please see our external blog in Blogger, if this page does not display correctly.

Flyer or Fryer?

July 20, 2009 02:20 | Flyer, Outreach, Summer | Permalink

We appreciated the effort of several young people who braved the summer heat to pass out flyers for our Kids English Outreach next week. The group came from various church backgrounds in Japan, but the leader, Satoshi, shared common CB roots with us.

The group put some 3000 flyers into mailboxes in our community. Along the way, we stopped to pray at some key locations for Japan, the outreach activity of the church, and the spiritual battle we are engaged in here.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of the day was bearing the oppressive heat and humidity of Japan this time of year. This was a FRYER of a flyer distribution! After 3 hours of walking about outdoors, we were ALL very well done! We ended the time together with a victory prayer meeting and time of worship.

Censored...again

July 16, 2009 06:48 | Chounaikai, Church Planting, Flyer | Permalink

I've mentioned before that I was thrilled to get the blessing of the local chounaikai (community group) to place our church flyers on their numerous bulletin boards around the neighborhood. This gives us more exposure, and perhaps a little more credibility, in the neighborhood.

There are some twenty bulletin boards in a 3 or 4 kilometer radius around our house. I make the rounds and tack up our letter-sized flyer relating to a specific event: English, Gospel, concert, Kids, etc. The church address and telephone number is always listed at the bottom.

I've been saddened, however, to find on numerous occasions that my flyers have been either obviously torn off the board, cut to shreds, or mangled in some other way. In spite of this, I continue to replace the destroyed flyers and go on.

With our Kids English outreach (7/28-8/2) just around the corner, I once again put up flyers this past week. This time at each and every location someone deliberately moved another item tacked on the board to cover mine. Here's a photo (above). I moved my flyer to a new spot, only to have it recovered. Someone is obviously not happy with my flyers.

And so the spiritual battle for the hearts of Japanese continues. It is frustrating at times to lose little fights like this along the way, but we know God will bring the ultimate victory in the war.

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