Dear Friends and Family,
I WONDER if you are as excited as we are at this time in our lives serving in Japan as reported in this UPDATE! While we have lost a significant supporter to younger missionary prospects, we are enjoying one of our most effective times in Japan!
Our annual report most usually said we would continue to do as we had always done—Japan is known to be a most
resistant culture to the Gospel, with few results and expensive. God has always provided through times of significant loss of support and has been doing so again. We have been called to faithfulness and not “success”; those who support us must be of the same mind to sustain us and they will be blessed for seeing the CALL’ing with us to the end as He Himself promises!
We grieve for those who find it reasonable to “prayerfully” stop their support “expecting God to, hopefully, bless us through others,” when it is a time of our apparent increased effectiveness and at a time a New-Japan is open to the Gospel as she never has been before: just stating the facts.
OBS has become a significant influence for the Kingdom across Japan as never before—a real Restoration-UNITY-Movement. President Kishimoto has seen over thirty young people into ministry during his long KKK ministry (Inter Varsity-like college campus ministry) before becoming OBS president, and he continues to see a growing student body—and students into ministry. Through seminars on campus, at our Shinshu Christian Camp, at congregations around Japan with presenters addressing needs of leadership, open attendance to all, we are serving the Church in Japan as never before. Known for our commitment to the Scriptures (the other real’RM Hallmark) our diversified adjunct staff and student body also is and will have an increasing impact for the Gospel in Japan!
Our KCS ministry continues to impact Japan for the Kingdom and this recent drama production was a shouting success, preceded by some of the best acapella choral music receiving a nice loud, “AMEN!” We are having an impact on family after family through our being open to any who can meet our English requirements and sign off on their children receiving daily instruction from God’s WORD!
Our International Nights dovetail significantly with KCS families (Believers AND Seekers). The mother who made all the costumes for STAR QUEST and the father who did video recording are seekers and regulars at our International Nights—just one of the couples whom we are reaching. Another, whose daughter (who had been a “hikikomori”–refused to go out or to school) was the star performer in the production, just wrote us, “Thank you for coming to Japan as missionaries. We would not know about God without you. We love God and you!!”
What a JOY to serve in the congregation begun with my working with Mrs.Exie Fultz as a teenager in the Kobe area with Bro’Motobayashi, third generation CEO of a family import-export business, who became a Christian as a teenager in this congregation, sharing ministry by my side. Today attendance runs from 25 to 40 (an older audience) and a dozen of these are at most unconfessed believers. We saw a lady in her 80s confess her faith in Jesus Christ from her hospice wheelchair and the same week Sis’Naomi had her memorial service. Only a few weeks later her husband confessed his faith, was baptized and shortly we had his memorial service. Then in Ishinomaki , where Chad and Jennifer moved their family from Osaka in 2011 to minister after the devastating TSUNAMI, one whom we have worked with from our own first visit, joined the Heavenly Throng waiting us with his memorial service just held this last weekend. He and his wife were both just recently baptized! Seeing these older Japanese confess faith and being baptized are remarkable victories indeed!
Right now a WONDER’ful time is happening with our Centurions Ministry in Mongolia. A major three weeks of high level English ministry, including the military Chief of Staff, is happening among major military staff with major retired US Military teaching!! Our CM continues to explode across the country!!
As with the First Century Church of the Apostle Paul’ era, no different today, his world was just as pluralistic and closed as ours today! An effective witness remains three-fold. I call it, WWW.WITNESS.COM