by Whitey | Dec 1, 2009 | Ministry News
Hi everyone,
Happy December! I know this will sound cliche, but can you believe it’s that time of year already?! This month’s email will be short and to the point, because like most of you, these days are busy for me too!
Thank you for your prayers over the past month. Ministry has been going really well, and plans are coming together nicely for both home ministries and my next term in Japan.
I’d appreciate your continuing prayers these next two weeks as I finish up this term and begin the transition back to life in Canada. I’d ask you to especially remember the Bi-Lingual Christmas Party I’m hosting at my church this coming Sunday. Pray that our church members will invite their un-churched friends, and that God will use this to begin to draw some of them to Himself.
Thanks as always, and God bless!
– robin
PS — Just a head’s up: Posting on this blog may be scarce over the next month, for obvious reasons.
by Whitey | Nov 4, 2009 | Ministry News
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your prayers for me during this season of ministry. The young adults retreat in October went really well, and I had a good time ministering in music and testimony in Japanese at the Immanuel Toyota Church a couple of weeks ago, too.
This past weekend I visited the town of Hikone, about 1 1/2 hours by car from here, to do some preaching and music ministry at the Immanuel Church there. The former assistant pastor of the Nagoya Church is now pastoring there, so it was great to have the excuse to visit and catch up with him one last time before I return to Canada next month.
The message I preached on Sunday was called “The Heart of Worship”, and was about what true, authentic worship looks like. We didn’t plan it this way, but Pastor Hirase told me that this message was really well-timed, and that it went along with the series of messages he has been preaching there.
It was well-timed for me, personally, as well. It can be so easy to go through the motions on a Sunday morning, especially since my church is Japanese and I only understand half of what is said. It can be easy, too, in the busyness of life, to rush through my devotional time and not really worship God on my own. So preparing for and preaching this message was a good reminder for me to stay focused on God and really worship Him, both on Sundays and in my daily life.
So I’m thankful this week for the way God is using me, and for the things He’s teaching me along the way. And I’m thankful for you, my supporters, for helping to make this possible.
Please pray with me for the following:
– For my ministry: I’m preaching & singing again this coming Sunday (Nov. 8) in Gifu City. The following week (Nov. 15) I’m doing a testimony & song in Japanese at my own church in Nagoya.
– For my language studies & daily communication in Japanese.
– For the planning I’m doing now for home ministries & my next term in Japan.
On a related note, I need to start booking dates to speak at churches back in North America in the new year. If you are a pastor or missions director and interested in having me visit, please let me know.
Again, as always, thank you praying and giving! And remember, “Prayer is not preparation for the work. Prayer is the work.” (Oswald Chambers)
– robin
Note: The above photo was taken at Atzuchi Castle near Hikone. See the previous next post for more photos from recent events and travels.
by Whitey | Oct 26, 2009 | Life in Japan, Ministry News, Uncategorized
With less than two months left of my first term in Japan, and a lot to keep me busy these days, it feels like time is getting away from me.
Yesterday I visited the Immanuel Church in Toyota (about an hour’s journey by train) to do some ministry. The next two Sundays I’ll be away too, in Hikone and then Gifu, again on ministry. In the meantime I’ve got messages to prepare for those two Sundays. I’m trying to decide what message(s) to use. Probably I will be doing an edited version of something I’ve already written, simply because of the time factor; I need to send a manuscript to my interpreters ASAP.
At any rate, I love having these ministry opportunities. But I kind of wish they weren’t happening all at once. I don’t like being away from my own church for so many consecutive weeks, especially with so few Sundays left between now and December 14th, the day of my flight home.
So I’ve got a lot to keep me busy these next few weeks, between ministry preparation, actual ministry, language studies, and home ministry planning. Somewhere in there I need to squeeze in time for spending with all the fine people I’ll be leaving behind in December. And drawing, too, of course.
I just want to finish strong: in studies, ministry and relationships. “Seize the day” and all that… I pray time won’t get away from me.
by Whitey | Oct 7, 2009 | Ministry News
My latest newsletter (#12 – Late 2009), wherein I talk about being a dreamer as well as my ministry at last week’s prayer meeting (which are related), is now available and can be viewed or downloaded in PDF form HERE. It also features a list of upcoming events that I’d appreciate prayers for. Thanks.
by Whitey | Aug 30, 2009 | Ministry News, Photos
Today’s photo is of a retreat centre in nearby Konan, where we stayed during Chukyo Seikai on August 13-14 (the week before the Tonicam).
Chukyo Seikai is the name of this area’s annual retreat (Chukyo is the name of the area and Seikai basically means “holiness meeting”) for the denomination. I had the opportunity — and challenge — to give a short testimony in Japanese, as well as sing a couple of songs, during one of the worship services. Thanks in large part to the help of some Japanese friends who checked/corrected my Japanese manuscript, it went pretty well, I think. It was definitely a step further than last year, anyway, when I did the same thing, but in English and with an interpreter. And more importantly, I think God used me to encourage some people.
by Whitey | Aug 25, 2009 | Ministry News, Photos
Tonicam is the name of our Japanese denomination’s youth camp. This summer’s event was held last week in Nagano, as mentioned in the previous entry. Our group from Nagoya was pretty small; there were nine of us, but only four were campers while the rest of us were staff. I had the opportunity to play guitar on the worship team all week, which was a challenge — it’s hard enough to read sheet music in English, let alone in Japanese — but a good challenge and a lot of fun. Leading worship through music is one of my passions, and in Japan I haven’t had the chance to do much of it, so it felt good to get to work with the worship band the whole four days of camp.
The stage is also a great place to watch the crowd from. It gets me excited to see Japanese teens getting excited about worshiping Jesus and letting Him work in their lives. And God definitely was at work in people’s lives during Tonicam. I’m thankful I got to be there to see it.
Below are some of the photos I didn’t accidentally delete after camp. You can click on the first one to see it close-up, and then use the arrows to navigate through the slideshow and see the rest:
