Prayer Letter & Video Update

by | Sep 5, 2019 | Ministry News

Hi everyone,

Thank you for praying for Yoko and I over the past month! We’ve been doing lots of traveling, sharing about our ministry in Japan with current and potential partners. God has really blessed us with encouraging conversations, divine appointments and new connections. It has been great to (re)connect with so many of you!

This month’s main update is in video form, so please check it out below! And feel free to share it at your church, especially if we haven’t gotten the chance to schedule a visit with you yet, or if you want to use it as a “preview” before we do. Here it is:

And just in case that doesn’t work for some of you, here’s a direct link to the video: https://vimeo.com/354906797

As most of you know, a big part of our reason for being in Canada right now is to raise funds for our next ministry term in Japan. Here’s an update on where we’re at:

Our current fundraising goal is $8,067 per month (USD) and as of today (2019/9/4) we are at about 43%. Would you consider partnering with us to help us get to 100? Please click HERE to make a Faith Promise. Or, for more info, click HERE.

We truly appreciate all of you who are already partnering with us though your giving. If you’re not already partnering with us in this way, we would really appreciate your consideration.

Meanwhile, we really need your prayers too! Here are some prayer and praise points for us and our partners in Japan:

  1. Please pray for God’s continuing protection and favour as we continue our Partnership Development travels.

  2. Please pray for our church in Japan, Nagoya Immanuel, as they finish their building project and move in in October.

     

  3. Pray for our fellow GP Japan missionary Andrea Swarthout as she returns to the US next week for tongue cancer surgery on September 12.

     

  4. Lastly, some good news! One of my former English students is being baptized on September 15! Praise God for her salvation, and please pray for her as she takes this next, public, step of faith.

Thank you again for your partnership in our ministry in Japan!

– Robin (and Yoko)

Website Update

by | Aug 30, 2019 | Etc.

Apologies if the website looks a little messy or bland for a few days. I’m in the middle of some updates and lost some design elements and functions along the way. Hopefully things will be back to normal — or better — soon.

The Father of Mountaineering in Japan (photo of the week and thoughts)

by | Aug 27, 2019 | Photos, Thoughts

Rev. Walter Weston memorial plaque at Kamikochi in the Japanese Alps, June 2017

It’s interesting what some missionaries are remembered for.

Walter Weston was an Anglican missionary from England who helped popularize mountain climbing in Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His legacy is so strong in Kamikochi that there are memorials to him, like the one pictured here, and there is even a festival in his name as well. You can read up on him HERE and HERE, or even read/download his book (Mountaineering and the Japanese Alps) for free HERE.

I find it interesting and inspiring to see missionaries throughout history not only sharing the Gospel but also having a positive influence in other areas of society as a whole. I wonder if some in Weston’s time might have seen his mountaineering and “secular” writing as a distraction from his mission. But I think it’s good for missionaries to engage with the culture of the places they are called to, and that it ultimately opens up more doors to share Jesus with people.

I don’t know what my legacy will be, or if I’ll be remembered in Japan at all. But I pray I’ll be faithful in all areas of life and ministry, and that what I leave behind be positive and lasting.