I'm tired.
So, here's my day. Woke up, got ready, surfed for directions to a few places, headed out.
I ate breakfast at McDonalds (yeah...I know) and went looking for a coin laundry I saw on a map about a 15 minute walk from here. I found it and made a mental note of how to get there. From there, I went to Christian Academy in Japan and happened to meet the athletic director on the street who gave me a quick tour. The campus is nice. They have less than 500 students, but they have a large gym, 2 libraries, computer rooms, an auditorium, a huge playground, a cafeteria, wood shop, art class (with potter's wheel), band, choir, etc. All the classes are in English and around half the students are missionary kids.
After that, I headed over to St. Mary's Chathedral for a quick look. Quite an impressive building. But I just can't get over all the 'graven images' in the church. There is a section to the side that consists of a few rows of pews for prayer all facing a statue of Mary. I know there are true Christians in the catholic church, but I just can't ignore the blatant error in the whole Mary thing. From a pamphlet they gave me today: "Through Mary we come to Christ and through Christ, to God the Father." Wow.
So the question is, just how much grace does God give to his people? We all sin. I'm sure we all have some belief that we've picked up along the way that is wrong. But if we believe in Christ and, say, we believe the basic Nicene Creed (OMG...there are even many versions of that), if we believe in that, how far off base can we be other places and still walk with Christ? Does God give his grace if we trust in Jesus but pray to Mary occasionally? Are all things truly permissible? I'm not advocating greasy grace (just do anything), but if the person or group doesn't know or hasn't been told, are they under grace until they are shown their error? Let's say a new Christian joins a Catholic church...hasn't read much bible, has no history of Christian influence but heard the gospel and joined a church. The leaders teach their traditions and leads the new believer into praying to Mary. I'm guessing that the sin is on the head of the leader and not the new believer until the Holy Spirit leads them into that particular truth.
Anyway, my question is what do we do when we see error in a church body or other believers? I think we have to listen to the Holy Spirit to find out what to do in the situation. We can't just go to a new believer and point out everything wrong...God will work things in them in due time...plus we probably have a plank in our own eye. But once we get it out, we should help them with their problem if God is leading us. But it should be out of humility, knowing that the only reason we aren't in the same situation is through the grace of God. What happens when we look at each other as just brothers and sisters whose righteousness is only from the grace of God and that God is still working out grace in different areas of our lives? I may see a brother who has a shortcoming in one area that I don't have, but it is only God's grace that I don't, so why should I boast or be proud or think myself more mature or in tune with God? Clearly there are some things that should be nipped in the bud, liken drunkenness or sexual immorality or stealing or whatever. But what about the fruit of the Spirit...something that takes time? What if a brother is lacking in, say, gentleness? We must admonish them in humility, but not in a way that would cause them to stumble. If anything we would say would cause them to stumble, then we should think about whether it should be said or not. We must always keep in mind that God is their father...not us. Only if God is leading us should we say anything.
What should we say to the Catholic church as a whole? Should the entire Protestant World stand up and make a decree that there is one mediator between us and God and it is Jesus Christ and call the Catholic church on the carpet (so to speak)? I guess that's been done before and the whole reason we have Protestant churches. :) Maybe we could nail something to the Vatican door and carbon copy CNN. ;)
Anyway, I'm rambling. If you know me, you know I do that. I'm just putting some questions out there of what God is leading me through at the moment.
So, after visiting the cathedral, I headed back to Shinagawa and ate at TGI Fridays. It was a late lunch/early dinner around 3:30. I had some new Buffalo chicken tacos. Kind of tasty. So from 9:30 to about 3:30, I was on my feet and doing lots of walking. I came back to the hotel and crashed and read for a bit. After that, I decided it was time for laundry, so I packed up all my dirty laundry and headed out for the coin laundry. Sounds like an exciting Friday evening, eh? BTW, the same thing happens in Japan as it does in the US, I had one sock that didn't have its mate. :)
I think I'll mainly rest tomorrow and figure out where to worship on Sunday. Of course, church services in Japan should be in Japanese, so I have to find a transplanted English church to go to. :) I might try one I haven't been to before...we'll see where God leads.
--David
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Head
And now for something completely different...
While I was in the states, God led me to an article about a guitarist for a metal group Korn. The guitarist's name is Brian "Head" Welch. He was saved a couple of years ago and wrote a book about his life. I just bought the book this afternoon and read the whole thing cover to cover. Wow. What an awesome testimony. If you know anyone in the pit of despair...enslaved to alcohol, drugs, etc., they should read this book. Jesus was his rehab.
Save Me from Myself
While I was in the states, God led me to an article about a guitarist for a metal group Korn. The guitarist's name is Brian "Head" Welch. He was saved a couple of years ago and wrote a book about his life. I just bought the book this afternoon and read the whole thing cover to cover. Wow. What an awesome testimony. If you know anyone in the pit of despair...enslaved to alcohol, drugs, etc., they should read this book. Jesus was his rehab.
Save Me from Myself
Krispy Kreme
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Sunday meeting in Sendai
Yes...that's a sheepdog in the meeting. A big, fluffy sheepdog. The white haired gentleman in the next to last picture is Dave Broman who came to Japan back in the 50's.
Some Pictures from SecondHarvest
These pictures are from SecondHarvest, the organization that feeds some homeless and provides some groceries. The vans were loaded up with some soup and rice and taken to Ueno Park where there are a good number of homeless. I went to a different place that hands out some breads/veggies/etc...groceries for folks. Everything is orderly at the distribution. About 5 guys would come down the stairs at a time (as directed by one of the SecondHarvest guys at the top) and we would hand out the groceries. My job was handing out the bread. (pronounced Pan in Japanese)
Stories & Thoughts
When I first traveled to meet the group, I was wondering what I was getting into. It was like going back 100 years in American history. Here are some descriptions to give you a feel for it. At dinner, the men ate at a separate table from the women. Most women wore their hair up in a net/bun. In the meeting on Sunday, we sang a few hymns (old hymns...some of which I knew), some of the men, starting with the older men, got up and read some scripture and/or shared what they had been doing. There was a section for men and a section for women generally speaking, but there were some who mixed in a third section. We had communion afterwards, followed by lunch. The women took care of all the food and children, while the men had other meetings.
The style of many things this group does is from what would be called in America "The Brethren" or something like that.
They don't seem to be overly legalistic about things like hair, or dress, or seating. There are no titles, no membership. When they preach the gospel, they don't ask for money or for anyone to join a church. They feel that God will draw the Christians together. Those who hear the gospel and contact them, they will send them a free bible.
They definitely believe Jesus is the son of God and died for our sins and was raised on the third day. I never heard anything contrary to scripture...and I heard quite a bit. Everyone liked to talk about sharing the gospel and what the gospel was.
I heard a story of a lady who walked by one of their signs every day (the sign said something like "Jesus is the bread of life") and the Holy Spirit drew her to Christ.
The folks have a few businesses and have a good reputation in the business community. They have many banks wanting to lend them money. They have a profitable software business, and have recently started some sort of a film/sound/animation production house.
If you read this MorningStar word of the week (which happened to come out while I was visiting) it talks about different phases of disaster relief and how the first (but not only) phase is simple rescue and how this relates to the church. The group I visited seems to be focused (dare I say stuck?) on the first phase. Are they simply walking in phase 1 as God has told them? Is that their calling? Is this just a center for evangelism that God has raised up and those who should be sheparding have failed to come? Should shepards come from this group as well? Is it just not the right timing? I have lots of questions, but I dare not judge them. They are getting the gospel out much more than I. Do we truly believe that folks around us are going to hell? Do we truly want to see them come to know Jesus and have eternal life?
Can the "American" life of "stuff" and running around busy doing everything but ministering to those around us be good? These folks own a school for non-christians that they keep up nicely...a new building and a very nice campus, so they can charge good money and put that money for evangelism, while their own kids are meeting in a old hospital that was built before the war. Would we do anything like that in the US? Their kids are not suffering...they are being taught and are learning quite well. They are learning that stuff doesn't matter and that we should be laying treasures up in heaven.
These folks work together...have problems together...find solutions together. They eat together, play together, learn together, and spread the gospel together. Do we do anything together anymore? Do we have strong relationships with other families? In the Sunday school class that Kerri and I taught last year, none of the kids went to the same school during the week and they just didn't know each other. We rarely work with someone we worship with. Wouldn't it be nice to work with brothers and sisters, share in problems, and minister to each other? What have we become? Are we so caught up in the ways of this world that we are dying due to our lack of being connected to the body of Christ? Not that the church is our source of strength...God alone should be our strength, but God does use us to help each other and bear each others burdens. We are His body...all interconnected and linked to the head, which is Christ. He is the vine, we are the branches.
Let us strive to love one another as Christ commanded. Let us consider our lives and ask God to work out our selfishness and love for things of this world and concentrate more on eternal things...the lives of those around us.
--David
The style of many things this group does is from what would be called in America "The Brethren" or something like that.
They don't seem to be overly legalistic about things like hair, or dress, or seating. There are no titles, no membership. When they preach the gospel, they don't ask for money or for anyone to join a church. They feel that God will draw the Christians together. Those who hear the gospel and contact them, they will send them a free bible.
They definitely believe Jesus is the son of God and died for our sins and was raised on the third day. I never heard anything contrary to scripture...and I heard quite a bit. Everyone liked to talk about sharing the gospel and what the gospel was.
I heard a story of a lady who walked by one of their signs every day (the sign said something like "Jesus is the bread of life") and the Holy Spirit drew her to Christ.
The folks have a few businesses and have a good reputation in the business community. They have many banks wanting to lend them money. They have a profitable software business, and have recently started some sort of a film/sound/animation production house.
If you read this MorningStar word of the week (which happened to come out while I was visiting) it talks about different phases of disaster relief and how the first (but not only) phase is simple rescue and how this relates to the church. The group I visited seems to be focused (dare I say stuck?) on the first phase. Are they simply walking in phase 1 as God has told them? Is that their calling? Is this just a center for evangelism that God has raised up and those who should be sheparding have failed to come? Should shepards come from this group as well? Is it just not the right timing? I have lots of questions, but I dare not judge them. They are getting the gospel out much more than I. Do we truly believe that folks around us are going to hell? Do we truly want to see them come to know Jesus and have eternal life?
Can the "American" life of "stuff" and running around busy doing everything but ministering to those around us be good? These folks own a school for non-christians that they keep up nicely...a new building and a very nice campus, so they can charge good money and put that money for evangelism, while their own kids are meeting in a old hospital that was built before the war. Would we do anything like that in the US? Their kids are not suffering...they are being taught and are learning quite well. They are learning that stuff doesn't matter and that we should be laying treasures up in heaven.
These folks work together...have problems together...find solutions together. They eat together, play together, learn together, and spread the gospel together. Do we do anything together anymore? Do we have strong relationships with other families? In the Sunday school class that Kerri and I taught last year, none of the kids went to the same school during the week and they just didn't know each other. We rarely work with someone we worship with. Wouldn't it be nice to work with brothers and sisters, share in problems, and minister to each other? What have we become? Are we so caught up in the ways of this world that we are dying due to our lack of being connected to the body of Christ? Not that the church is our source of strength...God alone should be our strength, but God does use us to help each other and bear each others burdens. We are His body...all interconnected and linked to the head, which is Christ. He is the vine, we are the branches.
Let us strive to love one another as Christ commanded. Let us consider our lives and ask God to work out our selfishness and love for things of this world and concentrate more on eternal things...the lives of those around us.
--David
People
Some of the people I met are:
Philip, Dave, and Paul Broman - three brothers who ended up in Japan after the war. They are all around 80 years old now, but still have a heart for getting the gospel out. If I remember correctly, Paul married a Japanese woman, Dave married an American, and Philip never married.
Nathan - a son of one of the 3 Broman brothers who came to Japan in the 50's. When I first spoke to him on the phone Sunday night about possibly coming to visit, he offered to pay half of my round trip ticket, so about $90. He helped introduce me to folks and seems to be one of the main leaders. They don't have titles...most things are decided by consensus of the elders.
James - he was my interpreter for a lot of the time. He spent a lot of time making signs that they put up all around Japan. He also let me have some tracts I could give out.
Tomono - also known as Tom, he was probably in his 70's. His parents were Japanese who moved to Hawaii before the war. After the war, he moved back to Japan. He still drives one of the vans and drives all around spreading the gospel. He has a small kitchen in the van and sleeps in the van as well. When I say 'van'...this isn't an RV or big van...it is actually smaller than most 'minivans' in the US. Here he is in his van reading in Romans. He was waiting for a tail light to be fixed so he could hit the road.
Janet - an American who has been teaching English at the school for about 4 years. She left her kids and grandkids in California to come to Japan and teach. She let me sit in on a couple of classes...the kids are precious.
I briefly met other folks from India, Brazil, Cambodia, Korea, Taiwan, and other southeast Asian countries. Which country doesn't belong in the list above? If you said Brazil, you are correct. :) After the war, many Japanese were welcomed to Brazil to start a new life since things were destroyed and food was scarce in Japan. There is a fairly large Japanese (or formerly Japanese) community there from what I hear.
There are other folks who I chatted with for a long time who I don't remember their names. My next post will (hopefully) be some of the stories and observations while I was there. Time to take a shower and head to McDonald's for breakfast. :)
--David
Philip, Dave, and Paul Broman - three brothers who ended up in Japan after the war. They are all around 80 years old now, but still have a heart for getting the gospel out. If I remember correctly, Paul married a Japanese woman, Dave married an American, and Philip never married.
Nathan - a son of one of the 3 Broman brothers who came to Japan in the 50's. When I first spoke to him on the phone Sunday night about possibly coming to visit, he offered to pay half of my round trip ticket, so about $90. He helped introduce me to folks and seems to be one of the main leaders. They don't have titles...most things are decided by consensus of the elders.
James - he was my interpreter for a lot of the time. He spent a lot of time making signs that they put up all around Japan. He also let me have some tracts I could give out.
Tomono - also known as Tom, he was probably in his 70's. His parents were Japanese who moved to Hawaii before the war. After the war, he moved back to Japan. He still drives one of the vans and drives all around spreading the gospel. He has a small kitchen in the van and sleeps in the van as well. When I say 'van'...this isn't an RV or big van...it is actually smaller than most 'minivans' in the US. Here he is in his van reading in Romans. He was waiting for a tail light to be fixed so he could hit the road.
Janet - an American who has been teaching English at the school for about 4 years. She left her kids and grandkids in California to come to Japan and teach. She let me sit in on a couple of classes...the kids are precious.
I briefly met other folks from India, Brazil, Cambodia, Korea, Taiwan, and other southeast Asian countries. Which country doesn't belong in the list above? If you said Brazil, you are correct. :) After the war, many Japanese were welcomed to Brazil to start a new life since things were destroyed and food was scarce in Japan. There is a fairly large Japanese (or formerly Japanese) community there from what I hear.
There are other folks who I chatted with for a long time who I don't remember their names. My next post will (hopefully) be some of the stories and observations while I was there. Time to take a shower and head to McDonald's for breakfast. :)
--David
English!
Woohoo! I finally found out how to get blogger.com to show me English pages...luckily the help system was in English. :)
Adventure
So, the last couple of days I have been staying with a group of Christians who live about 2 hours north of Tokyo via the shinkansen (bullet train). I was in a small town of around 10,000 or less people.
The group of folks I stayed with have one purpose in life: get the gospel message out to the world. That is what their whole lives are devoted to. They see it as dying to themselves and doing what God wants them to do. They are basically a group of large, extended families, who the patriarchs (if you will) are men from the US who came there in the 50's after the war.
Their ministry -
Their whole ministry (at least in Japan) is getting the gospel message out the following 3 ways:
1. Handing out tracts on the streets or putting them in mailboxes
2. Putting up signs around the country. They have put up *hundreds of thousands* of tin signs all over Japan.
3. Driving around the whole country with vans that have speakers on top that continuously play spoken messages explaining the gospel. Some background is needed for this one. In Japanese society, it is common for folks to drive around in vans and giving out messages via loudspeakers. Mainly this is done by political groups. These folks get maps of areas and drive around and play the messages. They have been everywhere possible in Japan north of Tokyo and now they are also working in the south. They have a large fleet of vans with speakers on top, and support RVs that contain kitchens, showers, and bunks. I went out this morning for about a half an hour while they were testing out some new speakers and recordings. They drive slowly through the town and crank up the volume. We went by a kindergarten and some of the kids ran to the fence to listen and see the van. While I was with them, they even drove into a rice paddy and turned up the volume full blast so the farmers could hear for a half a mile all around.
Their property -
They have 5 or 6 main buildings. 2 or 3 are apartments or dorms. Very modest accomodations. 2 buildings are the school for the kids. 1 building is the meeting hall where meals are served for the older folks, guests, and others. The families cook their own meals. 1 building is a warehouse/garage.
Their economy -
The group runs a private kindergarten in another town, as well as other businesses, and funnels all the monies from those to spreading the gospel.
Their school -
The school for their kids teaches English for 2 hours, Japanese for 2 hours, and Chinese for 2 hours every day. Every kid becomes fluent in all 3 languages.
So, that's the basics of the mechanics of how things work there. I'll write more later about some of the people I met and some of the stories I heard.
--David
The group of folks I stayed with have one purpose in life: get the gospel message out to the world. That is what their whole lives are devoted to. They see it as dying to themselves and doing what God wants them to do. They are basically a group of large, extended families, who the patriarchs (if you will) are men from the US who came there in the 50's after the war.
Their ministry -
Their whole ministry (at least in Japan) is getting the gospel message out the following 3 ways:
1. Handing out tracts on the streets or putting them in mailboxes
2. Putting up signs around the country. They have put up *hundreds of thousands* of tin signs all over Japan.
3. Driving around the whole country with vans that have speakers on top that continuously play spoken messages explaining the gospel. Some background is needed for this one. In Japanese society, it is common for folks to drive around in vans and giving out messages via loudspeakers. Mainly this is done by political groups. These folks get maps of areas and drive around and play the messages. They have been everywhere possible in Japan north of Tokyo and now they are also working in the south. They have a large fleet of vans with speakers on top, and support RVs that contain kitchens, showers, and bunks. I went out this morning for about a half an hour while they were testing out some new speakers and recordings. They drive slowly through the town and crank up the volume. We went by a kindergarten and some of the kids ran to the fence to listen and see the van. While I was with them, they even drove into a rice paddy and turned up the volume full blast so the farmers could hear for a half a mile all around.
Their property -
They have 5 or 6 main buildings. 2 or 3 are apartments or dorms. Very modest accomodations. 2 buildings are the school for the kids. 1 building is the meeting hall where meals are served for the older folks, guests, and others. The families cook their own meals. 1 building is a warehouse/garage.
Their economy -
The group runs a private kindergarten in another town, as well as other businesses, and funnels all the monies from those to spreading the gospel.
Their school -
The school for their kids teaches English for 2 hours, Japanese for 2 hours, and Chinese for 2 hours every day. Every kid becomes fluent in all 3 languages.
So, that's the basics of the mechanics of how things work there. I'll write more later about some of the people I met and some of the stories I heard.
--David
Back in Tokyo
I'm back in Tokyo now...and back to internet access. I did have internet access for the last few days on my phone, but it is difficult to post a decent message. Also, blogger.com thinks it is smart and can see that I'm behind a proxy in Japan, so the whole site is in Japanese...which makes it fun to figure out the buttons since I'm not familiar with it. I don't see a button to switch to English either.
I'm here for at least a week: http://www.princehotelsjapan.com/shinagawaprincehotel/
This is where Kerri, Christopher, and I stayed when we came a few years ago. Fairly inexpensive (< $100 a night), but I have to pay 1050 yen (about $9) per day for internet access. :( I forgot about that part.
More about my last few days adventures later.
I'm here for at least a week: http://www.princehotelsjapan.com/shinagawaprincehotel/
This is where Kerri, Christopher, and I stayed when we came a few years ago. Fairly inexpensive (< $100 a night), but I have to pay 1050 yen (about $9) per day for internet access. :( I forgot about that part.
More about my last few days adventures later.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Sunday
On Sunday, I took the shinkansen (bullet train) up to Sendai to visit some Christians there. It was amazing. Quite an eye opener. They truly understand that Christ wants none to perish, but have eternal life.
This is not a western church. There are no buildings with steeples or crosses on them. This is a church made up of like minded people who are working every day to get the gospel message out. I can't give you an address of the church...it doesn't exist. It is a group of families that own businesses. The businesses support the evangelism. There is a kindergarten/english school, a computer software company and a sound/film/animation studio...maybe more. Each country/area they go to, once the group of Christians there grows big enough, they start a business to help fund their evangelism. They have teams in just about every south east Asia country except for North Korea. For the last 20 years, they have given out the gospel message to every student in the Thailand school system...they are very open there. To keep Christians in China, they have started an exporting company there. When the government catches someone preaching the gospel there, they can say that they work at the company and after a few hours interrogation, they are let go.
Three brothers from America came to Japan after the war and are what you might call elders of the group. There are other patriarchs as well from various places. Their families are amazing. Most folks in the group know at least 3 languages. Most of the children were taught Japanese, English, and Chinese. They travel all over Japan and Asia sharing the gospel. Some will travel, others will work to support them. It is a very fluid group and they go where God leads. In the meeting Sunday, a brother from Brazil said they were having problems there, so the group was going to send a family there for a few years to help out. One of the guys at the church was my interpreter for the whole meeting, which went from 9:30 to 12:30ish. There was singing (old hymns...it was interesting to hear the singing in many languages at one time), speaking, communion, and then lunch...followed by fellowshipping.
There's no formal training these folks go through, but then again neither did Paul or Peter or any other apostles. There's no earthly organization that ordains them. They are simply living out the great commission...going and sharing the good news. They don't plant churches per se, they believe that God will gather the believers together in each area they visit and that God will provide. That is something I heard back in the US from a respected teacher recently...the church should be helping Christians rely on God more and more...Christians shouldn't be relying on the church more and more.
I will be leaving Tokyo today and heading back up toward Sendai to an area where some of the Christians are working and preparing to go back out. I don't know what I'll be doing yet, but that keeps it interesting. :)
--David
This is not a western church. There are no buildings with steeples or crosses on them. This is a church made up of like minded people who are working every day to get the gospel message out. I can't give you an address of the church...it doesn't exist. It is a group of families that own businesses. The businesses support the evangelism. There is a kindergarten/english school, a computer software company and a sound/film/animation studio...maybe more. Each country/area they go to, once the group of Christians there grows big enough, they start a business to help fund their evangelism. They have teams in just about every south east Asia country except for North Korea. For the last 20 years, they have given out the gospel message to every student in the Thailand school system...they are very open there. To keep Christians in China, they have started an exporting company there. When the government catches someone preaching the gospel there, they can say that they work at the company and after a few hours interrogation, they are let go.
Three brothers from America came to Japan after the war and are what you might call elders of the group. There are other patriarchs as well from various places. Their families are amazing. Most folks in the group know at least 3 languages. Most of the children were taught Japanese, English, and Chinese. They travel all over Japan and Asia sharing the gospel. Some will travel, others will work to support them. It is a very fluid group and they go where God leads. In the meeting Sunday, a brother from Brazil said they were having problems there, so the group was going to send a family there for a few years to help out. One of the guys at the church was my interpreter for the whole meeting, which went from 9:30 to 12:30ish. There was singing (old hymns...it was interesting to hear the singing in many languages at one time), speaking, communion, and then lunch...followed by fellowshipping.
There's no formal training these folks go through, but then again neither did Paul or Peter or any other apostles. There's no earthly organization that ordains them. They are simply living out the great commission...going and sharing the good news. They don't plant churches per se, they believe that God will gather the believers together in each area they visit and that God will provide. That is something I heard back in the US from a respected teacher recently...the church should be helping Christians rely on God more and more...Christians shouldn't be relying on the church more and more.
I will be leaving Tokyo today and heading back up toward Sendai to an area where some of the Christians are working and preparing to go back out. I don't know what I'll be doing yet, but that keeps it interesting. :)
--David
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Second Harvest
First, thanks to everyone who has posted comments and/or sent emails. I read them all, but haven't had time to respond. It is good to hear from everyone.
Now...to my day. I'm cutting and pasting from an email to my wife...we'll see how the formatting looks when I post it.
I got to SecondHarvest around 10am and worked until about 3pm...it is very hot and
humid and I was sweating about the whole time. I opened around 60 big cans of campbell's soup as
my first job. Next I did some cleaning/organizing of the pantry and spent some time taking
labels off donated water bottles (not sure why, but they remove the labels from things they give away).
Then I helped load a truck with supplies and we headed down to the river for food distribution.
Most folks gave out the soup and other food at Ueno park, while I went with one of the full time
guys (Yusuke) to hand out other foodstuffs to homeless down by the river near Asakusa. I helped
hand out the bread, the other guy organized the line of folks, and about 6 homeless guys helped
hand out the rest. Afterwards, we took the leftovers to Ueno park and then went back to the warehouse
where we started and did some cleaning and sorting the garbage for recycling.
One of the guys helping was an American who has lived here for over 10 years. His name is Huntley.
He's a Buddhist and quite a character. Another guy I met is a guy by the name of Conrad. He works in
Tokyo but does evangelizing in his spare time. He has a heart for just preaching the gospel. He said I should hook up with some guys up in
Sendai (about 1.5 hours north of here via the shinkansen (bullet train). I called a guy and I'm
heading out bright and early in the morning. The guy's name is Nathan Broman and he is the son of
Paul Broman:
http://www.grapecity.com/About/ExecutiveManagement/MessageFromTheChairman.aspx
Paul came to Japan with no money and a desire to preach the gospel. I'll find out more about the
ministry tomorrow. Tomorrow's meeting is some sort of big meeting with folks from all over Asia
who are out preaching the gospel. It should be interesting. A one way ticket is about $95...and
he offered to pay half for me...which I thought was interesting.
And so, my adventure continues. Please keep me in your prayers...and especially pray for Kerri while she is at home.
Now...to my day. I'm cutting and pasting from an email to my wife...we'll see how the formatting looks when I post it.
I got to SecondHarvest around 10am and worked until about 3pm...it is very hot and
humid and I was sweating about the whole time. I opened around 60 big cans of campbell's soup as
my first job. Next I did some cleaning/organizing of the pantry and spent some time taking
labels off donated water bottles (not sure why, but they remove the labels from things they give away).
Then I helped load a truck with supplies and we headed down to the river for food distribution.
Most folks gave out the soup and other food at Ueno park, while I went with one of the full time
guys (Yusuke) to hand out other foodstuffs to homeless down by the river near Asakusa. I helped
hand out the bread, the other guy organized the line of folks, and about 6 homeless guys helped
hand out the rest. Afterwards, we took the leftovers to Ueno park and then went back to the warehouse
where we started and did some cleaning and sorting the garbage for recycling.
One of the guys helping was an American who has lived here for over 10 years. His name is Huntley.
He's a Buddhist and quite a character. Another guy I met is a guy by the name of Conrad. He works in
Tokyo but does evangelizing in his spare time. He has a heart for just preaching the gospel. He said I should hook up with some guys up in
Sendai (about 1.5 hours north of here via the shinkansen (bullet train). I called a guy and I'm
heading out bright and early in the morning. The guy's name is Nathan Broman and he is the son of
Paul Broman:
http://www.grapecity.com/About/ExecutiveManagement/MessageFromTheChairman.aspx
Paul came to Japan with no money and a desire to preach the gospel. I'll find out more about the
ministry tomorrow. Tomorrow's meeting is some sort of big meeting with folks from all over Asia
who are out preaching the gospel. It should be interesting. A one way ticket is about $95...and
he offered to pay half for me...which I thought was interesting.
And so, my adventure continues. Please keep me in your prayers...and especially pray for Kerri while she is at home.
Friday, August 24, 2007
I made it!
After a 13 hour flight, I made it and I'm in the hotel. Fairly uneventful, except for sitting beside a lady on the airplane who had some *serious* mental issues...she keeps hearing voices that speak to her and tell her weird things. I gave her some scripture and prayed with her. I told her that God would show her the truth if she looked for it and He would quiet the voices in her head. I gave her my email address in hopes she'll send an email. Her name is Myint...a Burmese woman who live in Singapore.
Of course, I forgot my travel adapter for my laptop, so I had to go to Akihabara (luckily only one stop away) and buy a new one. I think this is the 3rd one I've bought over the years. I even remember the store to go to. :) If you go to the small shops near the train station, they try to rip off the tourists, so you have to go back a block or two. I saved 5 bucks.
Anyway, my day tomorrow is helping these folks: http://www.secondharvestjapan.org/index.php/eng_home
They help feed the homeless in the area. It should be interesting.
Thanks for all the prayers.
--David
Of course, I forgot my travel adapter for my laptop, so I had to go to Akihabara (luckily only one stop away) and buy a new one. I think this is the 3rd one I've bought over the years. I even remember the store to go to. :) If you go to the small shops near the train station, they try to rip off the tourists, so you have to go back a block or two. I saved 5 bucks.
Anyway, my day tomorrow is helping these folks: http://www.secondharvestjapan.org/index.php/eng_home
They help feed the homeless in the area. It should be interesting.
Thanks for all the prayers.
--David
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The Story So Far
God has continually been steering me to Japan. It all started when I was working at Ziff-Davis. A Japanese company, SoftBank, bought Ziff-Davis and I was fascinated by the stories of the Japanese owner. I actually at that time bought a Japanese dictionary so I could try and translate some Japanese on some web sites. (This was before the modern translation services.)
I was unhappy at Ziff-Davis (mainly due to immaturity, and seeing all the big raises everyone was getting my switching jobs in the dot com boom) and started interviewing. I interviewed at Juki (a Japanese company) and Alphatronix, a former employer. I accepted a job offer from Alphatronix and soon after received an offer from Juki. At that time, I felt like I should have taken the Juki offer, but it was too late. 3 weeks later, I was laid off from Alphatronix. :) I then started to work at Juki.
I worked at Juki for a couple of years, but I was traveling to Japan way too much and my son Christopher was very young at the time and it was hard on the family. So a friend of mine had me interview at LongBoard. I asked if there was any travel involved, and they said maybe domestically, but not internationally. Durning the time I worked there, they sent me to Belgium and of course Japan. :) Later, I was laid off from LongBoard.
At that time, I did a short contract with Juki, and also tried to start my own business. This was a good time learning more about myself. It was also good in that I controlled my schedule and this was a time my mom was going through her final battle with cancer, so I got to be with her for the last few weeks of her life here on this earth.
After that, I started looking and God sent me to WingSwept. It was all in His timing. While at WingSwept, I went on a mission trip to Japan with my wife and Christopher. While there, we met with a couple of missionaries and I remember one (Mr. Williams) asking if we had considered being missionaries. I said maybe in the future. I thought in the back of my mind, "maybe when you retire years down the road we would be ready."
Anyway, I worked at WingSwept for a while and was trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grow up, and I thought that I wanted to do more software engineering than consulting work. So I found Trident Systems. It was hard leaving WingSwept, and I question my decision, but life goes on.
At Trident, God was trying to teach me patience, trying to teach me to be a positive influence to those around me, and submitting to authority, even when it was difficult. I didn't do to well learning that. I was fired due to mainly my questioning management about the legality of some of the things they were doing. But the final straw was when I disrespected my boss in front of my coworkers. I was right in standing up for what I thought was right, but I was wrong in disrespecting the authority I had submitted myself to. All authorities on this earth are established by God. We should obey that authority, as long as it isn't in direct opposition to God.
So, the week after I lost my job, I found out that Mr. Williams was returning to the states permanently from Japan. Hmmmmm. Over the next few weeks, God continually shut doors and was saying that it wasn't time for me to find a job yet. He wanted me to go to Japan. One of the things He used was that one day, I received in the mail 3 free tickets to the USA vs. Japan baseball game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. I have no idea why we got them. When we were there, on the big display board, one of the silly graphics they showed to get the crowd cheering was a centurion looking guy who was pointing and saying "Go!" and the whole crowd was saying "Go!". I had just read in Matthew about the centurion who told Jesus that he too was a man under authority and when he told his servent go he would go.
So, here I am with a plane ticket to Japan. I just recently found a hotel to stay in for the first three nights. It is the Hilltop Hotel in Tokyo and is supposedly on the highest hill in Tokyo. I think there's a spiritual significance to that. Anyway, I plan on being in Tokyo for 4 weeks, but all I know is that the first 3 days I'll be at the hotel, and on that Saturday I'll be helping with a homeless ministry. Other than that, I don't know. I know God's heart is with the poor, needy, and defenseless, so that's what led me to the homeless ministry. I also feel like I am to visit various ministries while I am there.
My wife is a great support for me...always giving me a word of encouragement, and agreeing that this is what God has for me right now. God uses her to complete some things he only shows me part of. Please pray for her strength while I'm away.
In the world's view, being out of a job and deciding to leave my family (when there is much craziness going on) and go to Japan for 4 weeks doesn't make much sense. But I'm being faithful for what I think God wants me to do. I'm sure God will provide for me, and I'm sure He has something big planned for me, but I don't know what it is. Could it be short term ministry there? Could it be long term ministry? Could it be a software job? Could it be to only water a seed he desperately needs watering there? Please pray for me to be open to whatever He has for me there and that I will be faithful to Him.
Truly, God alone is worthy of our praise. He grants us mercy (He's not in our lives to punish us for our sins) and grace (He likes doing cool things for us, even though we don't deserve them), and allows us to have a true relationship with Him. I cannot do anything but follow Him.
--David
I was unhappy at Ziff-Davis (mainly due to immaturity, and seeing all the big raises everyone was getting my switching jobs in the dot com boom) and started interviewing. I interviewed at Juki (a Japanese company) and Alphatronix, a former employer. I accepted a job offer from Alphatronix and soon after received an offer from Juki. At that time, I felt like I should have taken the Juki offer, but it was too late. 3 weeks later, I was laid off from Alphatronix. :) I then started to work at Juki.
I worked at Juki for a couple of years, but I was traveling to Japan way too much and my son Christopher was very young at the time and it was hard on the family. So a friend of mine had me interview at LongBoard. I asked if there was any travel involved, and they said maybe domestically, but not internationally. Durning the time I worked there, they sent me to Belgium and of course Japan. :) Later, I was laid off from LongBoard.
At that time, I did a short contract with Juki, and also tried to start my own business. This was a good time learning more about myself. It was also good in that I controlled my schedule and this was a time my mom was going through her final battle with cancer, so I got to be with her for the last few weeks of her life here on this earth.
After that, I started looking and God sent me to WingSwept. It was all in His timing. While at WingSwept, I went on a mission trip to Japan with my wife and Christopher. While there, we met with a couple of missionaries and I remember one (Mr. Williams) asking if we had considered being missionaries. I said maybe in the future. I thought in the back of my mind, "maybe when you retire years down the road we would be ready."
Anyway, I worked at WingSwept for a while and was trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grow up, and I thought that I wanted to do more software engineering than consulting work. So I found Trident Systems. It was hard leaving WingSwept, and I question my decision, but life goes on.
At Trident, God was trying to teach me patience, trying to teach me to be a positive influence to those around me, and submitting to authority, even when it was difficult. I didn't do to well learning that. I was fired due to mainly my questioning management about the legality of some of the things they were doing. But the final straw was when I disrespected my boss in front of my coworkers. I was right in standing up for what I thought was right, but I was wrong in disrespecting the authority I had submitted myself to. All authorities on this earth are established by God. We should obey that authority, as long as it isn't in direct opposition to God.
So, the week after I lost my job, I found out that Mr. Williams was returning to the states permanently from Japan. Hmmmmm. Over the next few weeks, God continually shut doors and was saying that it wasn't time for me to find a job yet. He wanted me to go to Japan. One of the things He used was that one day, I received in the mail 3 free tickets to the USA vs. Japan baseball game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. I have no idea why we got them. When we were there, on the big display board, one of the silly graphics they showed to get the crowd cheering was a centurion looking guy who was pointing and saying "Go!" and the whole crowd was saying "Go!". I had just read in Matthew about the centurion who told Jesus that he too was a man under authority and when he told his servent go he would go.
So, here I am with a plane ticket to Japan. I just recently found a hotel to stay in for the first three nights. It is the Hilltop Hotel in Tokyo and is supposedly on the highest hill in Tokyo. I think there's a spiritual significance to that. Anyway, I plan on being in Tokyo for 4 weeks, but all I know is that the first 3 days I'll be at the hotel, and on that Saturday I'll be helping with a homeless ministry. Other than that, I don't know. I know God's heart is with the poor, needy, and defenseless, so that's what led me to the homeless ministry. I also feel like I am to visit various ministries while I am there.
My wife is a great support for me...always giving me a word of encouragement, and agreeing that this is what God has for me right now. God uses her to complete some things he only shows me part of. Please pray for her strength while I'm away.
In the world's view, being out of a job and deciding to leave my family (when there is much craziness going on) and go to Japan for 4 weeks doesn't make much sense. But I'm being faithful for what I think God wants me to do. I'm sure God will provide for me, and I'm sure He has something big planned for me, but I don't know what it is. Could it be short term ministry there? Could it be long term ministry? Could it be a software job? Could it be to only water a seed he desperately needs watering there? Please pray for me to be open to whatever He has for me there and that I will be faithful to Him.
Truly, God alone is worthy of our praise. He grants us mercy (He's not in our lives to punish us for our sins) and grace (He likes doing cool things for us, even though we don't deserve them), and allows us to have a true relationship with Him. I cannot do anything but follow Him.
--David
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Japan
God is calling me to Japan for a few weeks. I'm not sure why. I've bought a plane ticket and I have a hotel for the first three nights, but other than that, I don't have a clue. I'm stepping out on faith. I'll post things here as I find out more.
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