Some thoughts

It may take some time to fully understand the reasons for this trip and the events that it has put in motion. Let me mention some of the interesting things we have seen and experienced.

One of the more significant places we visited was a medium sized Shinto shrine near our hotel. Jonathan and I were walking back from church on Sunday when I felt like we should go visit. We walked around a bit, but didn't find anything in English to tell us about it. Once we got back to the hotel and researched it, we found that it houses a deity that is the protector of Tokyo, and maybe the Imperial Palace. On Monday, before we went and prayed at the Imperial Palace, we stopped by this shrine and prayed. We didn't pray *to* the shrine like folks normally do there, but we walked around and prayed to God. I feel that this was significant.


Among other things, we have been reading a lot about the history of Japan. I believe a lot of the history has spiritual significance. I think that by knowing this history and praying accordingly, God's kingdom can be grown more effectively here in Japan.


We had the privilege of hearing the general director of New Life League who spoke about a Christ-centered Manga (Japanese comic book) that they have published. In Japan, teens as well as adults read Manga. The top seller is a 486 page weekly magazine which sells 3.2 million copies every week. This organization has published a couple of Manga which they hope to reach folks who might not otherwise hear the gospel. Manga is also popular in most Asian and many Western countries, so they are distributing them overseas too.

We also heard about mobile phone ministry opportunities. Some stats: 69 million Japanese access the internet on their mobile phones...more than the number of regular PC internet users. The average high school student uses their mobile for 2 hours a day...a lot of it is mobile email use. It is their primary communication tool. Churches are starting to create mobile web sites which will probably end up being used much more than normal web sites.

It has been a good trip. God is good. It was a great blessing to have Jonathan with me. I hope that we will be able to return together sometime in the future. We have many things to pray about for the future of Japan and our role in that. Thank you for all your prayers and your financial support as well.