Things Are Looking Up!

Wow! Am I ever excited. Just got back from Japan where things are better than they’ve ever been.

   The Bible speaks of people who go to the fields to sow seed—they weep as they go, apparently because the ground is so unready to receive the seed. However when they go out to reap they go with great joy. The harvest is better than anyone expected.

REAPING AFTER MANY YEARS OF SOWING

   Those scriptures speak to my heart. I’ve been traveling and teaching in Japan for 26 years. Have been in the country more than 60 times (actually counted the stamps in my passports). Many of those trips were highly UN-rewarding.

   In the early days I became fairly famous as a speaker “on the evangelical circuit.” Trouble is it seemed that few were taking the message to heart. I often returned home deeply discouraged. The one thing that kept me going was the growing band of disciples we were building throughout the nation. They were young people who actually started churches and they currently number more than 40 churches including “house churches.”

  But, things are changing. I’ve taught at the same seminar in January for each of the last three years. The first time I went there I nearly froze—the snow was over 12 feet deep. But I also felt that the people weren’t exactly receiving the message. Few could name even three people they were discipling. However, this year everyone had disciples and several are in the process of multiplying new churches.

   And it’s not just those people who are launching churches. The tragedy in Sendai and Tohoku have motivated the churches to get involved with outsiders in ways they never dreamt of before. Christians are doing more relief work than any other segment of the population. And...as they help people they are bringing Jesus into the equation. Several established churches have planted house-churches in the area. The spillover from Sendai is that churches are beginning to gain vision for multiplying disciples and congregations in their own vicinity. God is at work.

   To top it off churches are finally growing larger. Many now number over 100 and there are five congregations of more than 1,000 in the Tokyo area. This has never happened in the history of the country.

THE PAST DID BEAR FRUIT

I am enclosing an excerpt from an email we received from a middle-aged pastor in Japan. He writes about our recent trip but also about teaching I did 17 years ago. He writes:

   “Thank you for going to Japan last month and teaching us. After coming back from Manza retreat, I have shared with my church about the retreat, and everyone was agreeing with the vision of Hope Chapel.

   In 1995, we started our church Grace Home at my house. In the same year, we...participated in a retreat with Pastor Ralph at a hotel in Waikiki. ... I could see that Pastor Ralph was pursuing for nothing but building a biblical church. I also saw that his heart was devoted to obey Jesus' commands to disciple people, meeting in houses, and building up a loving church. We have the same vision in our church. do not feel like Hope Chapel as just another church in a foreign country. Though we have learned much from churches in South Korea, Singapore, and United States, I find that the vision, values, and faith of our church most agree with those of Hope Chapel. , the growth rate of our church is not as fast as that of Hope Chapel. We still much to learn from your church.

   After Manza retreat, I have informed my church about a retreat to Hope Chapel, and 39 people including children responded. Those 39 people have desires to see how God is blessing hope chapel and learn from your church just like the group of people Queen of Sheba brought to see the wisdom of Solomon.”

A BUSY TRIP

   On the trip I spoke at two seminars, one in Tokyo and one in the Japan Alps at Manza. Carl went with me. We participated in an impromptu party with the converts of many years of youth mission teams in Machida. We layed strategy for another Japanese language church in Honolulu. We met with all of our Tokyo area pastors for a time of encouragement and fellowship.

   Later we moved to Kansai where we met with pastors and leaders from three movements in three separate meetings. Carl spoke at Hope Chapel Osaka and I spoke at Kobe Bible Fellowship, our largest church in Japan.

EVERYONE IS UP TO SOMETHING

   We found that our own disciples are doing lots of ministry in the earthquake damaged area. They are also maturing into missionary sending churches with work going on in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

   One congregation that was once fairly hostile to young people is now crawling with them. More importantly the older people are very happy about it.

   Two of our churches are at the point where they have standing room only. This, too, has never happened before.

   Please don’t mistake my enthusiasm for victory. The road in Japan is long and the seeds of spiritual awakening are only just beginning to sprout. This is like early spring—there are little green shoots coming out of the ground everywhere you look and some trees are in full leaf. It seems that summer is finally arriving to this nation that has been so difficult to reach for many centuries.

Thank You For Prayer And Financial Support

Finally I want to say “thank you" to those who pray for me. This trip taught me something of the importance of your prayers. We were freezing everywhere we went, but rides appeared out of nowhere and appointments were in warmer places than ever before. Japan in January is hard on Hawaii people but this was a most rewarding trip…

My next journey takes me around the African Continent. I would really value your prayers during that time. I head out tonight around midnight. Will take four days to get to Cape Town. After Cape Town I head for Cote d’Ivoire where they are in the aftermath of a civil war.

To get a full-color newsletter including my teaching trips and lots of pictures click on the link at the top of the page that says, "Mission Hope International." Sorry but I have to use snailmail for the photos as this site does funny things to pictures in articles...