JAG's Golden Week - Mission Convention

Over what is called the “Golden Week,” the Japan Assemblies of God (JAG) has sponsored a Mission Convention which both celebrates the 60th anniversary of the JAG with popular services for all and special learning and discussion sessions for ministers focusing on church planting and evangelism. (May 4-6) The website for the convention is here.

I attended the ministers section yesterday and there was a presentation on plans for renovating the infrastructure of the JAG to enhance it's ability to plant new churches, deal with the aging problem (over 50% of JAG are over 60 years old), and assist churches in numerical & spiritual growth. Five major areas that need to be improved were identified by the executive presbytery and initial discussions were begun. It was great to hear men and women discussing freely issues of concern and at times venting their frustrations. I have great hopes in a community that is able to discuss so openly issues that leaders of lesser ability would have been threaten by. The executive presbytery received many of these initial propositions and showed us all the great future that is ahead for JAG.

The evening session that I attended highlighted 4 of the districts of the JAG and what they have been doing in evangelism. There was many interesting suggestion made by the presenter. Some that I noted were:

1. The use of lay people as church planters, especially in rural (fishing & farming communities) areas.

2. The fact that children & youth based ministries bear adult fruit in 30 to 40 years. Perseverance is necessary in Japan.

3. The topic of funerals and their evangelistic value was discussed. I will write on this topic in the future.

April - 2009: CBC & Tomakomai

Amidst the cherry blossoms, the CBC, Tokyo New Student Reception was held on April 7th with both online (7 students) and resident students (7 students) being received into the institution. I was allowed to share on Good Friday for the chapel time and I administered communion with the students and several faculty. During the communion time we opened ourselves to ministering in some spiritual gifts. I was told afterwards that this was the first time in six years that the chapel services were so opened up.


On Easter Sunday, I was in Tomakomai, Hokkaido and spoke at the Yamate-Cho Church which my father had planted about 40 years ago. The church building has been remodeled and expanded under the leadership of Pastor Osaka and his youngest son. I remembered quite a few of the old-timers and it was a great time of fellowship.

April - 2009: Online Again - The Shipment

After arriving back in Japan on March 24th, we have been without our own internet connection until this last Monday. We are now up-and-running! There have been quite a few things that have transpired. First, our shipment from the Philippines had already arrived before we were in the country. We had to scramble to find a mover that would take our things through customs and then bring it to our apartment in Takinogawa, Tokyo. I spent our first full day in Tokyo calling and waiting to be called back from several local moving companies. In desperation, I took to the net and found XPSTokyo a local moving company that is run by a very very helpful, Mike Kealy from Surrey, UK. I met him the next day and he proceeded to expedite our cause. In blazing speed, he got our shipment through customs and delivered it by March 31st. I highly recommend his company. He was great and his workers were all diligent and helpful.

March - 2009: Two Unique Issues for Japanese Christians

"The concerns of Christianity in Asia have been quite different from the problems the churches in the North faced in the past century—secularisation and modernisation. Most Asian countries went through complex and overwhelming encounters with poverty and socio-economic and political injustice, on the one hand, and the experience of being minorities in religiously pluralistic contexts on the other." [Sebastian C. H. Kim, "The Future Shape of Christianity from an Asian Perspective," in Global Christianity: Contested Claims, 72]

Although I am extremely uncomfortable with the idea that there is a unified "Asian Christianity," the fact is that the development of the Christian faith in different countries throughout Asia-Pacific has been influenced by a unique set of complex socio-economic and ideological factors. Two crucial issues that Japanese Christians face may be: 1) "the experience of being minorities in religiously pluralistic context;" and 2) the struggle to deal with westernization over against the development of an indigenous identity.

March - 2009: Spring 2009 Newsletter

Anna has just finished the Spring 2009 Newsletter. It can be downloaded here. If you are interested in earlier Newsletter, they are posted at Ministry Report which is part of my larger website called Hebrew Scriptures and More.

March - 2009: On the Move

Thursday, March 19th, we picked up our passports with are new missionary visas for Japan. We are now awaiting Monday to fly from Sea-Tac Airport to Narita. It seems that are household shipment from Baguio City, Philippines has already arrived in Japan and we are trying to get things together to move it to our new place in Takinogawa, Tokyo. The shipment cannot be released until we arrive in Japan with our new visas and an unaccompanied baggage document. We are praying that we will be settled in by the time Central Bible College, Tokyo begins its new school term in the first week of April.

March - 2009: Start & Stop

We have been visiting in the USA for a little over a month. We have visited some supporting churches, friends and family.

Anna and I have been waylaid in our return to Japan on account of Visa and Passport issues. We will receive our visas for missionary work in Japan on Thursday, March 19th so we have re-booked our flight. We will now be leaving Seattle, WA on Monday, March 23rd, arriving on the 24th. We will be living at Takinogawa, which is just 10 minutes from Central Bible College and even closer to Ikebukuro.

We are still in conversation with some of our friends in Japan about starting a church or taking over an existing one.