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 20, 2009 | Life in Japan, Photos
This probably isn’t technically one of my best photos, but I really like it because of the candid moment of smiles and laughter that it captures. Also: sweet view from a 5th floor window. On the left is one of my church friends, Maiko. On the right is Eric, a new friend who was visiting me in Nagoya this weekend.
The interesting thing about having someone from back in North America visit is that it gives me a fresh perspective on my life here. I’ve been in Japan long enough now that what once seemed strange now seems normal. It’s easy to forget how much I’ve learned. It’s easy to take stuff for granted. So it’s always refreshing to see it all through a newcomer’s eyes again.
This time I was reminded of just how fortunate I am to be living in such a beautiful and interesting place, and to have such a great community of Believers as my Family here. I am blessed. And I am grateful.
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 | Sep 21, 2009 | Brain Dump
It’s a new day and a new week. It’s also a holiday week here in Japan, but despite that I’m not taking any vacation time or going anywhere. I have a big test on Thursday to prepare for — the final exam for the full-time language course I’ve been in these past 6 months — and these three days off are a perfect opportunity to put in some long hours of review. As I start my day, though, my mind is full of distracting thoughts, so I decided to come online and dump them out for all of your enjoyment…
1. Last week was a pretty busy study week, too, being the last week of the full-time course and full of tests. Glad it’s over. Also, did I mention that the part-time course I’m starting kind-of overlaps with the full-time class I’m finishing? Yeah. So after my interview test the other day I attended the first class of the part-time course, and then missed Friday’s part-time class because of a unit review test in the full-time course. And this week, after the final exam on Thursday, there’s no break because of the part-time course… which I’ll be behind on because of the full-time course. I’ll be looking forward to the weekend…
2. Speaking of weekends, this one was a good one. After last week’s busyness, it was nice to have a bit of a break. Friday night I did some drawing and watched a movie at home. Saturday I got to go to a concert in Gifu. It was not my normally preferred style — of a classical/gospel mix — but it was good nonetheless, and I got the ticket for free.
3. Yesterday was a really good day at church. I played guitar on the worship team in the morning, helped out with the youth Sunday school class, and then in the afternoon did my usual English class, which was well-attended and a lot of fun. Then in the evening, our church hosted an interdenominational missions prayer meeting / worship service. It was really great to see people from various churches getting together for a common purpose and vision, praying and worshiping together. Japan needs more of these.
4. One of the presenters last night talked about New Life League’s Manga Bible series. One of the artists who worked on this project was also there, and I got chat with her for a few minutes after the service. I’m pretty sure the first thing I said when I introduced myself (in Japanese) was “My name is Robin. I’m otaku (a geek).” I think she got a kick of that, and thinking back, it may have been an odd way to start a conversation; but it was a good way to get to the point of why I was talking to her. It was cool to meet her, though, to tell her that I think this is an important ministry, and say thanks.
5. Speaking of manga (for the uninitiated, that means comics), I’ve met some friends during this two-year term in Japan who share my vision for that kind of ministry. One particular friend and I have been dreaming together and exchanging ideas for over a year now. I’m pretty excited about where this is heading, and hopefully within a few months we can share something more specific…
6. Getting back to the subject of interdenominational gatherings in Japan, this week is the 5th Japan Conference on Evangelism, up in Hokkaido. If it wasn’t for this final exam, I’d be there for sure. This a rare nation-wide interdenominational event, and a great opportunity for our leaders to learn and grow together, network, and pray. If you are a pray-er, please pray for this important event.
I’d also appreciate your prayers for my studies this week — which, now that I’ve dumped my brain out, I should get started on…
by Whitey | Sep 11, 2009 | Etc.
I’m excited for my friends at Studio Re:, whose short film “Jitensha” is an official selection being shown at this year’s Venice Film Festival — one of the top five film festivals in the world — this weekend.
From Paul, at the Worship & the Arts blog:
Jitensha grows out of the Studio Re: vision to impact Japanese culture through redemptive films. We are stunned that high up professionals in the film industry have chose our film to be part of one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.
As I have reflected on why this happened, I think it is about the power of a good story, a story with heart, along with great production values. In other words, technically it is a well crafted film that allows the story to “connect” with the audience. Every aspect of the film is strong, the cast, the music, the locations, the cinematography, the music, and the editing — which is amazing for a low budget film made by students and emerging filmmakers in Tokyo who are committed to making films with redemptive themes.
I saw this film in August, and was pretty impressed myself. These guys are doing great work, and providing an example and inspiration to those of us with our own dreams of impacting Japanese culture through the arts.
Here’s what the movie is about:
“Jitensha” (or “Bicycle”) is a story about Mamoru Amagaya, a young man struggling to find meaning in life. A co-worker confronts Mamoru on his apparent apathy toward life, and this results in Mamoru leaving his job out of humiliation.
Now alone and without work, just as it seems that things could not possibly get worse, parts of Mamoru’s bicycle begin to disappear, one by one. In frustration, Mamoru leaves a note for the thief, begging him to just take the whole thing. The note left in response is signed “God”, leaving Mamoru only more confused.
At last, when the only remaining piece of the bicycle is a lonely bell, Mamoru receives an envelope, containing addresses at which each piece of the bicycle might be retrieved.
Puzzled yet intrigued, Mamoru embarks on a journey to resurrect and reassemble his beloved possession. As he seeks out each piece of the missing whole, Mamoru begins to discover that he himself is in a healing process. As he puts his bike together piece by piece, he realizes that he himself is in the process of being reassembled in the same way, by one far greater than himself.
Intrigued? You can read the whole above-quoted article HERE, and check out the movie’s official site HERE.
by Whitey | Sep 8, 2009 | Thoughts
This is the second article I’m re-posted from my former-former blog. This one’s dated December 14, 2006, and in it I talk about one of my favourite passages of Scripture and what it meant to me at the time. It still means a lot to me now, and is a good truth to reflect on as I think about what God might have for me next year and in the years to come.
Last time I talked about the Problem With Being Creative. Now let me talk about my other problem: I’m a dreamer. The following is one of my favourite passages in all of Scripture. It encourages me to dream big dreams…
(3) Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
(4) Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
(5) Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
(6) He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
– Psalm 37:3-6 (NIV)
I believe God wants to make our dreams come true. The problem is that it can be hard to see that sometimes. We get used to being disappointed. So we stop trying. We stop dreaming.
But I think God wants to give us our dreams. And Psalm 37 tells us how… “Delight” in the Lord (v.4). Worship Him, enjoy Him, make Him Your center of attention and reason for being. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” — He’ll make Your dreams come true! This is true because as we delight in Him, we change. As we change, our priorities, our desires, our dreams change. We trust Him with our dreams. We commit those dreams to Him. We begin to pray, like Jesus did, “Your will, Father, not mine be done.”
I think our dreams can and will come true as we truly trust God, delight in Him and commit our dreams into His hands.
Before I started to sense God calling me into ministry, I had other dreams; stuff like being a rock star or a cartoonist. Obviously being a rock star was probably a pipe dream, but being a cartoonist seemed a little more likely at the time. So I was working as a graphic designer, but dreaming of “bigger things”…
When I went off to Bible college, I basically gave my own dreams to God and said “Your will, not mine, Lord.” Little did I know what that would mean. Sheesh, I never wanted to be a missionary, even after Bible college. But that’s another story. This story is about how I gave those dreams of creative occupations, and God gave them back to me; only, when I got them back, they suddenly looked a whole lot different.
I never got to be a rock star, but during and after Bible college I got to develop my musical side a lot, and had many good experiences playing and singing. Only now I was a worship leader instead of a grunge puppy rock star wannabe. I even recorded a CD. And I haven’t gotten to be a full-time, paid cartoonist, but I have been doing a webcomic for almost three years now, and finally have published my first book collecting those strips. And have I ever mentioned that I created SkitZo MaN about 13 years ago? Sometimes dreams just take longer than we’d like… That doesn’t mean we should give up on them!
And, as I briefly mentioned in my previous post, I’ve got this ongoing, evolving dream of bringing my creative side and my ministry side together into one “big thing”. What form this beast will take remains to be seen, but I’m continuing to work towards that every time I exercise my creative muscles (including writing this blog). And, as I’m preparing for ministry in Japan, I’m beginning to see how being a big comic geek (like me) could actually be an advantage!
All that to say keep dreaming…
As I said, these are good things for me to reflect on as I near another time of transition. In a future post I hope to share some more recent thoughts on knowing and doing God’s will, along with some quotes I’ve found encouraging along the way. Hopefully you can find some encouragement here as well.
by Whitey | Sep 5, 2009 | Thoughts
I did an “archive dive” of my old blog (not this one, but this one) tonight, looking for something I wrote way back when. I found two things I wrote back in 2006 (when I was still in Canada preparing to come to Japan as a missionary). I thought these were worth re-visiting because they seem to have fresh relevance as I end my first 2-year term with GP and dream about the future.
Here’s the first one, dated December 9, 2006, and titled The Problem With Being Creative:
Some of you may be wondering how a guy like me — working in retail as well as being busy doing the missionary support raising thing — has time for stuff like blogging, web design and particularly SkitZo MaN. The answer is a three-parter:
One, I think too many people kill themselves doing “good things” and then end up being no good to anyone. I don’t want to be one of those guys. And there are a lot of those guys in ministry, since it’s so easy to justify doing too much “for the Lord”. So, I may be busy, but I refuse to burn myself by not taking time out to just “be”. This includes time with God, resting, friends and of course being creative.
Secondly, I have this dream that my ministry side and my creative side will someday come together into one “big picture”. In the meantime I want to continue developing my talents. More on this in another post…
Thirdly, I can’t not be creative. If it wasn’t SkitZo MaN, it would be something else. Unless you’re some kind of artistic type yourself you’ll probably not understand. Creative people create. We must. It’s who we are.
Take tonight for example: I was trying to read but I couldn’t. My mind kept wandering. I’ve been dreaming up some new ideas and sometimes they come to the surface at the most inconvenient times. I’ve got more ideas than I know what to do with.
And that’s the problem with being creative: In a way, it’s something that can’t be controlled. And yet, you know, sometimes we actually don’t have time.
But we have to make time. God’s given all of us (not just us “artsy fartsy” types, but all of us) talents and gift. We honour Him when we use them and enjoy them and bless other people with them. We dishonour Him — and ourselves — when we waste them.
Next time: The Problem With Being a Dreamer
I still agree with most of what I said, if not how I said it. And I’m still dreaming about that “big picture” I mentioned. Not only that, but I feel as if I’m getting closer to actually getting there. And that’s encouraging.
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:
by Whitey | Aug 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
… the posts from the old one to this one. So if things get funky, please excuse the mess. I’ll clean it up soon.
