by Whitey | Jun 29, 2008 | Ministry News
Hi everyone,
I know it’s not July yet, but it’s Sunday night and I thought I’d get the prayer letter sent out before another busy week begins. So here it is…
First of all, a big thank you to all of you who prayed for my ministry in Gifu last weekend! Several people emailed before I left to let me know they were praying, which was really encouraging, so thanks for that as well.
I had a great time in Gifu, where I participated in an outreach service through music and testimony. I had a great time, and was really made to feel welcome too. There were 27 people in attendance, 10 of whom were visitors, and 6-8 of whom were non-Believers! Meanwhile, back here in Nagoya, my own church was having an outreach of their own, and reported 83 in attendance, of which 16 were seekers and 5 were first-time visitors! Praise God for newcomers and for the opportunity they had to hear the Gospel!
Here are some things you can be praying for in the coming weeks…
1. Pray that God will continue to work in the hearts of those who came to both outreach services.
2. Pray for my English/Bible student, with whom I’m still meeting semi-regularly.
3. I’m planning to travel to Tokyo in a couple of weeks for a planning meeting for this summer’s national youth camp. Please pray for safe travel, as well as that I would learn something from the experience, and be able to contribute.
4. And, as always, I’d appreciate your prayers for my language studies. I have to confess that lately I’ve really been struggling to stay on top of things. PLEASE pray that God will help me to understand, to stay focused and disciplined, and to succeed!
I’m beginning to understand the wisdom in taking a whole 2-year missionary term to focus on language studies. And I’m learning to see language school as my “full-time job”. Any ministry opportunities I have on top of that are just icing on the cake — but not my main focus right now. It’s all about a long-term investment that will pay off in the years to come.
As always, your prayers and thoughts are much appreciated! THANK YOU! Hope you all have a happy Canada Day and/or Independence Day this week!
Blessings,
– robin
by Whitey | Jun 27, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
I had a good time in Gifu last weekend. Did a testimony and played/sang some tunes. Thanks to everyone who prayed. There were a bunch of unchurched folks at the service, and everyone made me feel really welcome and like the guest of honour.
Meanwhile, back here in Nagoya, my own church’s outreach service was going down Sunday afternoon. Apparently there were a good bunch of visitors here too.
I got back to Nagoya later in the afternoon, and the outreach was over, but lots of people were still lingering. Some of the kids ran to greet me as I approached the building, and I stuck around to chat with a few people before going to my room. It really felt like “coming home”, which is a good feeling, considering I’m so far from my “home-home”.
Studies continue to get more difficult, and I’ve really got to buckle down over the next few weeks. Still got some catching up to do. It’s been a tiring week, and I’m looking forward to getting some rest over the weekend — as well doing housecleaning and stuff that’s piled up from being away (woohoo).
That’s a wrap.
by Whitey | Jun 20, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
But first: Hey, check out the podcast survey below!
And… I just sent out an email to my prayer partners and got about 22 failure notices. This is after I deleted a bunch of dead email addresses from the list a few months ago. So if you signed up for the list but haven’t gotten anything lately, and you’d still like to, please CLICK HERE to sign up again. Then make sure your spam blockers are set to receive stuff from my address (japancanada [at] gmail.com). Thanks.
Now, on with the re-cap…
This week was a busy week of mostly studies. As I said last week, I needed to back up and work on developing some good study habits. Well, I’m definitely improving in this area, though I’m sure I have a ways to go too. I’ve been getting up early (around 6 most days) so that I can spend about an hour before class studying; this helps. In the afternoon or evening I spend about 2 hours doing homework and reviewing/previewing stuff. The new stuff is sinking in a little better, I think. On the other hand, I had a Kanji reading test yesterday that didn’t go so well. Still some catching up to do in that area.
Monday’s big grammer/reading/listening test (yes, yet another one already) will be a good… well, “test” of how far I’ve come and how far I have to go.
This weekend I’m off to nearby Gifu, where I’ll be doing ministry Sunday morning. I’m doing a short testimony and a couple of songs in an evangelistic service. Meanwhile, back here in Nagoya, my own church is having a musical outreach event of their own. If you think of it, please pray for these meetings.
That’s it for this week here at JapanLog. Next week I’ll try to bring an update from the weekend doin’s, along with some other fun stuff. In the meantime, I hope you all have a great weekend, wherever you are.
by Whitey | Jun 13, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
This week…
1. I found out how I did on last week’s big test. It was pass, but not nearly as good as I’d have liked. I’m also kind of weak on my kanji and vocabulary. It was a bit of a wake-up call — I need to take it up a notch, and put in some extra time studying. So this week I’ve been working on building some good study habits. I need to study about 3 hours a day just to keep up. To catch up, maybe more. I’ve put some other stuff on the back burner, at least until I get caught up.
2. For some reason, after Wednesday night prayer meeting this week it struck me afresh just how much I love my church. Have I ever mentioned that? The people here just really enjoy being together, and that makes me enjoy being around them. Though the church is on the conservative side, I don’t get the impression that it’s legalistic. And these people really love the Lord and want to reach others with His love.
3. It’s the rainy season, but today’s weather has been beautiful. So much so, in fact, that I may just go back out for a while, and take my camera, before it gets dark. I love the weekend…
And that’s a wrap for this week.
by Whitey | Jun 6, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
Thoughts on the week…
1. Too many tests! I had a big one yesterday, and lots of not-so big ones literally every day. We’ve come to the end of the first textbook, which means it’s all-new stuff from here. Which means I should add about an hour to my daily study routine.
2. We have a late-night prayer meeting tonight from 10 till midnight, focusing on an upcoming outreach event.
3. Youth thing tomorrow afternoon: a planning, praying thing.
4. The weather’s been pretty yucky most of the week — it’s the rainy season, after all — but today’s super nice.
5. I don’t have much to say today, and should get some other stuff done. So… meh.
by Whitey | Jun 1, 2008 | Ministry News
I just emailed this to my supporters, but for those of you not on the list, here’s my latest prayer letter:
Hi everyone,
It’s been a beautiful spring here in Nagoya, and we’re fast approaching that magical time of year known as “rainy season”. And since it’s the first of the month, it’s time for another prayer letter. I’ll be brief and just give you some quick prayer points. If you want to know more about what I’ve been up to, please visit my blog (www.japanlog.wordpress.com).
Prayer Points:
1. My Japanese studies — I’m making progress, but definitely have a long way to go, and we’re getting into some unfamiliar territory.
2. My English/Bible student — Pray for wisdom and discernment for me, and an open and receptive heart for him.
3. My classmates — Pray that I’ll build good relationships at school, too, and that I’ll be able to be a witness.
4. Pray for me as I continue to figure out what God wants to do in and through me in Japan — both this term and in the future.
5. On June 22 (a Sunday) I’ll be visiting the Immanuel Church in Gifu, about an hour from here. I’ll be participating in an outreach service through music and testimony. Please pray for Pastor Oda and the Gifu church as they prepare for and promote this event. Pray for me as I prepare as well.
As always, thank you for your prayers, financial support and encouragement!
Hugs,
– robin
by Whitey | May 30, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
It seems like it was a pretty quiet week, but here’s a look at school and life here this week, such as it was…
School is moving along quickly, though. In fact, we’re getting into stuff I don’t really know that well and by the end of the week will be starting a new textbook.
This week we learned the “plain form” of Japanese speech — what you would use in daily, casual conversations with family and friends. You’d think that the plain form would be easy, but no, this is Japanese, so of course not. The plain form actually uses bits and pieces from various tenses and forms and so it’s not so simple after all.
Yesterday I almost missed my English Bible class. I was sitting in a cafe with some school friends, having just finished lunch, when I received a text message on my phone: it was from my student, telling me he was running late. Ironically, I’d completely forgotten we were meeting and had to rush out of the cafe and catch the train from Sakae Station to Nagoya Station, probably about 10 minutes later than my student. In spite of my forgetfulness and lateness — and thus unpreparedness — we had a good time together anyway.
Today my class — actually all 3 full-time classes — had a day out instead of a Japanese lesson. We went to the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum to do pottery. It was fun, and I made a HUGE coffee mug, which will come in very handy on many early mornings.
And now it’s the weekend. And I’m glad. And that’s a wrap for this week.
by Whitey | May 29, 2008 | Thoughts
I didn’t begin pursuing a life of ministry in Japan because I thought I would fit in here. I fell in love with Japan because of having lived here. I also didn’t have a great sense that my personality or talents would lend themselves to ministry in Japan specifically. But, having already decided to follow God’s leading back to Japan, I had a lot of time to think about the future and where I might fit. And though I’m still figuring out the specifics, there are some things I’ve realized about myself that lend themselves to ministry in Japan.
In some ways, my personality lends itself to acculturation in Japan: I think I’m pretty flexible and willing to change, as would be needed if I moved to any foreign culture. But I also share some personality traits with what’s considered the “norm” here in Japan, such as my dislike of confrontation, or my friendly but generally-quiet and not-pushy personality.
I also have a desire to focus my ministry on youth and young adults — which, as it turns out, is a particular area of need in Japan. My talents and interests in comics are an asset, too — or could be in the future — because comics (manga) are such a big part of pop culture here (where the highest selling comic sells as many copies in a week as the highest-selling US comic does in a year). I also think the Japanese church is in need of some new ideas, and being a creative person in general could be useful.
On the other hand, there are sides of my personality that could be a problem (for me or others) sometimes. I’m a non-traditional, non-conformist person in a 4,000-year old, highly-conformist culture. I’m also working with a very traditional, conservative national church here in Japan. Will my new ideas be heard? Will I be able to use my talents and gifts to their fullest potential? Will I rub people the wrong way if I’m unwilling — or unable, or unsure of how to — adapt?
The potential is definitely there for me to feel squeezed into a mold that doesn’t fit me. The potential’s also there for me to offend or damage relationships if I don’t handle differences appropriately or adapt where I should.
But there is also a lot of positive potential if I’m willing to learn and adapt in the ways that I need to.
by Whitey | May 28, 2008 | Thoughts on Missions
I just realized that as of yesterday I’ve been back in Japan for FIVE months now! Time flies… Remember when you were a kid and you thought adults were weird when they talked about how time speeds up the older you get? Now that I’m grown-up I know what they meant…
I think about the future a lot. This is partly because my current missionary term is as an “intern”, meaning I’m here to learn and figure out where I fit so that I can have a more effective ministry in the long run. Recently, when thinking about the future I’ve come to realize something about my vision for ministry in Japan:
My vision is now both clearer and less clear at the same time.
I know that seems like a contradiction. Or at least paradox. So let me explain. My vision seems clearer in that I feel very strongly that I will be in Japan for the long-haul. There is such a great need, as well as so much opportunity, that how could I ever think of leaving? On the other hand, my vision is less clear in the specifics. There are so many different directions my life and ministry could take, so many opportunities to pursue and needs to address, that the questions of “what’s next?” and “what’s my role in Japan?” don’t have answers yet.
Funny how the same reasons — the needs and opportunity — lead to both clarity and lack of clarity.
by Whitey | May 24, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
It’s Saturday morning, and I’m taking it slow and easy. It’s been a full week, and it seems I’ve not spent a lot of time at home. Or when I was home I was studying. So today I’m staying in. All day. It’ll be nice to relax, but I’ve also got housecleaning and blogging to do. So here’s the blogging — a look back at some of what kept me so busy this week:
1. School — We’re getting into the stuff I’m not as familiar with. I also have some catching up to do on my vocabulary. You can say a lot with just basic grammar, but you need the vocabulary to plug into it.
2. English Bible study — Monday I met with my student this week for the first time in a while. We’ll be making some minor changes to the structure of our lessons to help him get more out of it. And to help me get more out of it, too, as he’s paying me by helping me with my Japanese. We’re planning to each do some writing (journaling) in the target language and then go over it when we get together. We’ll still be working our way through the book of Mark, too.
3. Tuesday the Watoto Children’s Choir was in town. Wow.
4. Wednesday I finally met my “boss” — GP Asia area director Romy Caringal. I took the day off of school to host him, show him around, introduce him to people, and get him to the airport on time. It was a good but busy day.
5. Thursday I had to stay late after class to take the test I’d missed on Wednesday. I think I did okay. I also had extra homework, of course.
6. Yesterday afternoon I met up with a friend to go see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian. I thought it was pretty good, and overall a good adaptation of the book. I didn’t think it was as good as the first movie, though, and it felt like they changed more from the book while at the same time not explaining a few things as well.
7. After the movie my friend and I went to the home of a family from our church, where several of us gathered for a dinner party. It was a good time, but with so much Japanese it was tiring too, and of course I missed a lot of the conversation. Still, it’s good to be building relationships here and being made to feel a part of things.
And that’s a wrap for another week. Happy weekend, wherever you are.
