December Update!

Hello all!
 

Hope everyone is doing well, I wanted to send out this update before I forget. I hope everyone is having a good Christmas season so far, unfortunately though here in Japan Christmas isn't as big of a thing. Their most played Christmas songs here are "Last Christmas" and "All I want for Christmas is you", and their idea of Christmas food is cake and chicken (KFC is basically sold out here during this time). So I kind of miss being back west for the season. But it's all good, i'm happy and thankful to be where i am with the opportunity to share the real meaning of Christmas with many Japanese people who don't know.

Campus Ministry

This Month marks the end of the semester before winter break. Though i find the second school semester has us meeting less students, this semester on campus I found was very fruitful. My colleagues and I were able to bring many of the students that we meet with consistently to our events and to worship, and we've had one person confess to believe in Jesus and commit to him. As we close up the semester, we pray that we can be faithful even during their break time to share God's love with them and especially during this Christmas season to share with them Jesus and the reason for the season

Kobe/Kyoto

Both of the church plants have been doing very well! in at both plants, we have seen many consistent comers and at least 1 come to Christ and commit themselves to Jesus. This December is the first time also that we are planning a Christmas party worship for both church plants. pray that God will reveal himself to those who come.

Osaka responsibilities

Things have remained stable in my ministries at J-house Osaka. The team again has changed dramatically and will continue to change even next year. I am still in my positions as head Worship coach and Cell group leader. It has been challenging though dealing with a mix of personalities in both my responsibilities, but I thank God that we're all on the same side and part of the same body. Finding disciples are still one of my main focuses here, and though it is a difficult process, I have hope that I will continue to find and teach those seeking a relationship with God.

Personal Life:

Study study, still studying! Right now above all things, I'm trying to upgrade my Japanese. It's a difficult process because in order for me to learn it, I have to change the way I think about my words entirely! Also one thing I have been learning more recently of course is about being a good husband. it's very enlightening learning about marriage and it's purpose to parallel God's love for man, from the beginning of the courting process, to the actual marriage life and commitment. and in that, helps me understand what kind of husband I should be.

I've been engaged for about 2 1/2 months now and I have to say, things have been....rough lol, but a blessing! I guess for a little bit more information, my Fiancee's parents are not Christian, so we've been having a difficult time with them. Right now, it's a struggle to grasp that doing the right thing in God's eyes will not always go well with those who don't believe and understand. But I have to admit that with us in this position helps us hold onto God even tighter. And with 2 months left until the day, our faith is what we are holding onto the most. In terms of our planning, it's going really well in my opinion. Shes not really fickle about anything (which is good for me :D).

Prayer Requests:

- for the students that I have met and befriended this semester and the last, that God will continue to reveal Jesus to them. Pray that God will use his Spirit to lead them to Christ and Pray that God will Continue to use J-house and each member to do so.
- For My colleagues and I to continue to be faithful to our jobs as missionaries. and to grow with each other through the Spirit and grace and love of Christ
- For those members in J-house to grow spiritually, there are still a lot of baby Christians in J-house, pray for spiritual growth and maturity in the Gospel and for those to put the Gospel first over everything.
- For the church plants that we are going to do. Pray that God will lead us and help extend his church to other cities so that the Gospel will exponentially grow within Japan! We REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT! We need all the spiritual support we can get on this one, because we know we cannot do this on our own for sure! and if you are moved to want to support financially also, you make donations at the J-house website: J-House website. We want to be able to partner with all of you Spiritually and prayerfully through this!
- For a revolution in Japan! for spiritual eyes to be opened in Japan and that the 0.5% of christians will increase!
- For God's plan in my life, now that it has bee revealed that I'm planning to get married, pray that God will keep me patient and under control, to rely on him and not think negatively about my circumstances.

Again I just want to thank you all for the support you have been giving me! I have to say that without all of you I wouldn't be able to live here both spiritually and financially, seeing that Japan is very Spiritually dead and very expensive to live in. It would be very hard to live here without your prayers and financial support!  I would like to continue to ask for your support for the future i'm about to face especially financially. I do understand starting a marriage and life with someone else will mean some of my costs will go up. So I ask please continue to give and if you are compelled to give, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And before I end this update, Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year! wow My Goodness, its already the end of the year! Until next time!

September Update!!

Hello Everyone!

Hey all! This is my update for the last 2 months since i came back from Canada. Even though it was a very busy 2 weeks and I didn't get to hang out with everyone it was good being back for a little bit, also a great wedding and wedding party, Glad to be a part of it! The show has went on though since then, and there have been a few changes and updates with everything thats been going on here, I've finished 2 years here with J-house! Time flies really fast! 2013 has been a really fast year, theres only 3 months left until Christmas again and the new year! I'm thankful that God has been faithful and though this year has gone by fast, God has taught me a lot of things, given me many new experiences, and continues to bring me forward in my journey as his follower.

Campus Ministry:

We have just started to go on Campus again. a few new missionaries have arrived so our teams have changed again. I've been made leader of a campus once again so please pray that God gives me wisdom on how to lead. Also during the Sept-Jan semester, the students get busier with their club activities and studies, so it gets a little difficult meeting and befriending them. Right now, me and my colleague are in the process of creating a new system on campus in meeting students. I felt that the old way we were doing things was getting boring and unfruitful, and overall just too comfortable for us. So changing our strategies are necessary. i still have a few students though that I keep in touch with on campus, one goes to our J-house Kobe plant every Friday. Pray that God will continue to reveal himself to him as we continue to minister to him. Things on Campus are still a little new, so I will update when I have more news, please though continue to pray for our endeavors and that God will bless us while we reach out.

J-house Kobe/Kyoto

Both our church plants have been doing well recently, we're still small in both areas, but I think God has been working the hearts of the people that have been coming. We have at least 3-4 repeaters in both plants and 1 baptism through our efforts! We also have been given a grant of $20000 USD from a Christian Organization in the US to help us with one of the churches that we are planting! Praise God! Continue to pray that God will grow his church in these cities. 

J-house/Staff ministry

J-house just recently celebrated it's 14th anniversary this month, i'm thankful that God has been using this church and growing it and I'm hopeful for the future and anticipating new things coming ahead!

      Since I've been here for more then 2 years, my title has changed from J-soldier to J-house staff, but my duties stay the same lol. Pastor Katsuya wants those who stay on staff to earn a certain amount of money per month so he has put together a plan to have some of the church members sponsor us. it's still in its experimental stage right now, so we have no idea if it will work or not, hopefully though God will move some to support my colleagues and i to earn a little more then we do now. We only earn about 400 dollars a month now, so we could use extra money just encase we need to save for other endeavors or plans for the future.
     I have now been officially installed as the head of the Worship ministry in J-house. I am grateful for the privilege of leading as the new head, but at the same time, I'm still a little nervous about this new position i've been given simply because, even though i'm experienced with more then 10 years on a worship team, i'm working with new people and a different system. I want to stay humble and let God work within me to help grow the worship teams and their abilities, pray that God uses me to do so

       I am also still leading the international Cell group here in J-house. I have been challenging them to find disciples of their own and focusing on them. J-house itself has been on a theme of find their own "peter, james and john" so to speak, just like Jesus did when he was on earth. Pastor Katsuya has made it so that the cell groups in the church do not just become meetings to satisfy ourselves. But to help each other grow, not just in the word, but also in making disciples and sharing the word and passing it on which is the commission. It is a refreshing idea because far too many of us are making our own Christian "bubbles", and I didn't want the group I'm leading to become that also and my group members agree with me, so we have made ourselves accountable for each other every week in finding and discipling  at least 3 others so that they can do the same, and updating on their progress.

Personal Life

SOooo I have some big news to tell everyone. Probably most of you already know, and some of you who don't know, I have been dating someone here for more then a year and from the beginning when I started dating her, my intentions were of course, to get married. After dating her for a little over a year now, we have decided to get married next year, so with that said, I am officially engaged. We planned our date for next year February, and though its still really close to now and we still have much planning to do, I do trust God will provide during those this time of preparation. I am excited, yet nervous at the same time, but I think we're ready for the challenges that lay ahead of us, during the planning process and even after the wedding. Just pray for the both of us as we plan and also for God's provisions for us.

Prayer Requests:

- for the students that I have met and befriended this semester and the last, that God will continue to reveal Jesus to them. Pray that God will use his Spirit to lead them to Christ and Pray that God will Continue to use J-house and each member to do so.
- For My colleagues and I to continue to be faithful to our jobs as missionaries. and to grow with each other through the Spirit and grace and love of Christ
- For those members in J-house to grow spiritually, there are still a lot of baby Christians in J-house, pray for spiritual growth and maturity in the Gospel and for those to put the Gospel first over everything.
- For the church plants that we are going to do. Pray that God will lead us and help extend his church to other cities so that the Gospel will exponentially grow within Japan! We REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT! We need all the spiritual support we can get on this one, because we know we cannot do this on our own for sure! and if you are moved to want to support financially also, you make donations at the J-house website: J-House website. We want to be able to partner with all of you Spiritually and prayerfully through this!
- For a revolution in Japan! for spiritual eyes to be opened in Japan and that the 0.5% of christians will increase!
- For God's plan in my life, now that it has bee revealed that I'm planning to get married, pray that God will keep me patient and under control, to rely on him and not think negatively about my circumstances

Again I just want to thank you all for the support you have been giving me! I have to say that without all of you I wouldn't be able to live here both spiritually and financially, seeing that Japan is very Spiritually dead and very expensive to live in. It would be very hard to live here without your prayers and financial support! I would like to continue to ask for your support for the future i'm about to face. Though i'm happy, i am also still nervous and would still need your prayers. Thank you :)

February/March/April Update!

こんにちわ!!　みんな！！ or Hello everyone, in English :)

So sorry everyone for this super late update on whats been going on! I had meant to actually send it after my Birthday in March, but just forgot about it :S My Apologies! But here i am now giving you an update on everything that has been happening, and I have to tell you, I have a LOT of things to update everyone on so this might be a long one, but PLEASE read to the end, a lot of BIG things happening and I'm very excited to be apart of it!

Campus Ministry

So in February and March, the school year was ended and Spring vacation was going on. But though I was not on campus for those 2 months, surprisingly I was very busy meeting with students that I already knew. Whether it was from our planned events or just me meeting up with students to have lunch with, I was always moving each and everyday or every other day, so it was still very busy and tiring. But I'm thankful to God that he has finally revealed to me people who were interested in the Gospel, so I'm always happy and joyful to share with them even at the cost of food or even my own well being. It has also been a challenge trying to answer the questions that come at me and my colleagues, but through the grace of God and the leading of his Holy Spirit, we've never had a problem answering even the most difficult questions. I think for us here in J-house, we're always given the attitude of "Plus 1" everyday. So we want to work hard to see the plus ones happening for Jesus.

So now in April, My Colleagues and I are back on Campus, but now we only are on once a week. Reason being is that we will be busy with more things to come within our weeks, and Pastor Katsuya doesn't want us to be burnt out. But that doesn't mean we're making campus ministry less of a priority. Its actually even now more urgent for us to work hard and talk to more students since our time on campus has been changed.

J-House and J-Soldier Ministry

So our team has changed yet again. 2 of our team members have went back to their respective homes to pursue other goals and other opportunities. And as we have already bid them farewell, we have gained 2 more team members, from Korea and from Texas. Actually, the Korean person served here for a year and 7 months and only went back to Korea to finish off his schooling. But he's back now and we are thankful for his willingness and heart to stay in Japan to do ministry.

Also have entered a new season of serving, within J-house and outside of it. As I have talked about in the last email, we had plans on planting 2 new churches in the cities of Kobe and Kyoto, and everything has already been under way! We started in Kobe and we had a few Pre-worship session first to get our hearts focused and ready and now just yesterday we had a our first real worship service! and it was great! We actually go out in the streets of Kobe to do street evangelism for about an hour, then we take whoever we find (if they are willing of course) and bring them to the place we hold the worship service. Sounds simple, but in reality, still very difficult. But we trust God will bless our efforts and use his Holy Spirit to lead people to him as we proclaim his word! We also have these churches so that students that we talk to on campus that live in the areas of Kobe and Kyoto can come with no difficulties to worship. We have also just done Kyoto on Saturday too, doing the same thing and we got at least 5 new people there also! It's exciting and I'm happy to be apart of the great plan that God has in store for Japan! Please pray for these churches as we work towards leading people to Christ, that Jesus will use our efforts to build his church!

Also within J-house Osaka, my Duties have changed also, I am now the leader of a GT group (or Cell group). This particular group is the foreigners group in J-house, so Christians that have come from different countries who reside in Osaka and come to J-house. The Vision of the group is to be able to shine as Christians from different countries in Japan and evangelize and make disciples of the nation using the fact that we are foreign as a tool for that. I have just started leading this group so please pray that the Holy Spirit will lead me with a sound mind and heart.
I also am starting to work more closely with the kids groups, doing English songs, stories and games with them every Sunday, now THAT is a challenge, well maybe for me if you know me well lol. But I think i'm getting the hand if it...ALL FOR JESUS!
 I also still lead worship once a month for wednesdays worship nights, and with Kobe and Kyoto, I'm leading at least 2-3 times a week. But now and get this, and I never knew that it was possible, but I now play drums lol...on  a regular basis (maybe 2 to 3 worship sets a month). It seems that they were looking for drummers, so they asked one of the Jesus soldiers who, before she left in march, played drums to teach some of the J-Soldiers to play drums....and I was one of them. It's actually not as difficult as I perceived it to be, and I actually enjoy playing drums. Hope hearing that makes you happy Sid lol.

I am also still discipling a few members of the church, its been going well. I currently have 3 that I am discipling; 2 Japanese and one american who just recently joined the church. Pray that we will all be able to grow and move forward in our faith.

Other Activities:

As with other activities, I still have been working out. I caught a cough and cold a few weeks earlier so it kind of stifled my progress, but I have since gotten over it with a few days of rest and have gotten back in the swing of things.

The English classes that I have been leading with my colleague is still going on. the day has been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday though and my colleague and I have kind of taken a break and given the responsibility to the new  J-soldier. Not to say that I didn't like teaching the class, but we felt that it was better for him to take it because he's experienced and has english teaching credentials, so naturally it would be better.

As for learning Japanese, I just started to get back into my tutoring. I took a break for a month because all that was happening with the 2 new church plants and some other responsibilities which get priority. But since getting back into it, I hope to learn and have it stick in my brain (I hope).

Upcoming Events

We will be having a few more mission teams coming to J-house to help us out this coming summer. I think about 3? Starting this coming May, CFC from Chicago will be sending a team for about 15 days. The rest of the teams, I dont know the dates yet. Pray that God will use them in ways they never thought and that they grow a heart and compassion for the country and its lost peoples.

Also, starting next week will be my vacation. My colleagues and I will have a good weeks rest :D

Prayer Requests

- for the students that I have met and befriended this semester and the last, that God will continue to reveal Jesus to them. Pray that God will use his Spirit to lead them to Christ and Pray that God will Continue to use J-house and each member to do so.
- For My colleagues and I to continue to be faithful to our jobs as missionaries. and to grow with each other through the Spirit and grace and love of Christ
- For those members in J-house to grow spiritually, there are still a lot of baby Christians in J-house, pray for spiritual growth and maturity in the Gospel and for those to put the Gospel first over everything.
- For the church plants that we are going to do. Pray that God will lead us and help extend his church to other cities so that the Gospel will exponentially grow within Japan! We REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT! We need all the spiritual support we can get on this one, because we know we cannot do this on our own for sure! and if you are moved to want to support financially also, you make donations at the J-house website: J-House website. We want to be able to partner with all of you Spiritually and prayerfully through this!
- For a revolution in Japan! for spiritual eyes to be opened in Japan and that the 0.5% of christians will increase!
- For God's plan in my life, that things will be revealed for me in the upcoming future

Again I just want to thank you all for the support you have been giving me! I have to say that without all of you I wouldn't be able to live here both spiritually and financially, seeing that Japan is very Spiritually dead and very expensive to live in. It would be very hard to live here without your prayers and financial support! I am able to be content in all that I do and simply because God has provided me with you all. Also wanted to say thank you for all the Birthday wishes, I'm 32 years old now, but its funny. Everyone here still thinks i'm about 23 or 24 :D, I may be 32, but I'm still feeling like a 20 year old and still ready to move forward! Again please continue to pray for all that is happening here, you are a part of this also! Also I will be back in July/August for the special "it was a long time comnig" wedding! lol so I look forward to seeing everyone and updating you on my exploits in person!

December/January Update!

Greetings all!

It's been awhile I know, but here's my January update! Before I go ahead with the update, I just want to say Happy new year for anyone I had missed. It's 2013 already, time moves by soo fast, and I have already been here for more then a year! God has been doing great things in that past year and I'm very humbled to have gone through it all through his power. Makes me excited for the rest of this year coming! Part of December and January were very busy months. J-house had 2 big Christmas events and January we saw 2 short term mission teams come and go from Korea. Just now has everything kind of calmed down.

Campus Ministry

This month marked the end of the semester for the university campuses that we go to on a weekly basis. The students have 2 months of spring before the new year begins, but during that time, it is My team and I's responsibility to keep up with the students that we have befriended and are sharing the gospel with. During the last month before the spring break, we had help from the 2 Korean teams that had come to J-house, it was like mini Korea in J-house lol, but they were very helpful for us in bringing the students out to j-house with events.
Right now, I'm caring for 7 students in sharing the gospel and it seems that all 7 are doing well in wanting to understand the bible and the gospel. I'm hoping and praying that God will open their eyes to Jesus more and more. One of them said that his goal this year or new years resolution was to "become christian", it was encouraging to know that God is working in the hearts of the students, and I want to do my best to share Jesus' love as much as I can and with whatever abilities and gifts he has given me.

J-House and J-Soldier Ministry

I have suddenly become a lot busier in terms of my duties within J-house. The main part of my duties as a J-soldier still remains to be campus evangelism and discipleship, but serving within the church is also up there and it prepares me for what I will face out there. I have been leading worship now monthly, and even the past Christmas/New years holiday, I have led 3 times in 2 weeks :S. Not that I mind of course, I still like to lead worship, and even though its a challenge having to lead worship in sometimes 70% Japanese, its a good experience. Also a lot of things will be changing within J-House which has my team and I more busier then usual. 2 J-Soldiers will be finishing up their term in March and one will be coming during that time also from Texas. Our leader also will be moving out to live with his in-laws, so there will be a lot of transitioning on the way we do things. I hope everything is smooth though.
Also, remember how I was talking about a J-house Extension back in my last update? it was just supposed to be a kind of extending ourselves to people in we know in other cities without being planted because they couldn't come to J-house on Sundays or Wednesdays? Well, Pastor Katsuya has changed his mind, he decided that if we're going to do this, we will go all in! So it is now an official church plant! The first place we will be focusing on is Kobe. Pastor Katsuya and some of the J-Soldiers and I have scouted the city to look for a venue, and God showed us the perfect place on the first place we have scouted! It's not too far from the train stations, its big enough to hold about 30-40 people and it has a sound system we can use, so we don't have to get our own lol, all for the price of about 40-50 dollars an hour. We're still planning other logistics, but as of now, we are starting this March 22nd. I'm excited and nervous at the same time, but I'm very happy to be apart of this and I have faith God will use this for his glory and bless it! and if it goes well in Kobe, we will also start one in Kyoto as soon as we find a place to hold it in. That one will probably start in June, so basically 2 church plants this year lol. Please pray for these 2 plans that God will really bless and use it all for his glory!

Other Activities

I am still learning Japanese and trying to use it when I find that I can. The possibility of me staying here for a very long period of time is highly inevitable (at least right now that's what I'm seeing) so I want to be able to speak as much Japanese as I can.
My english classes on Tuesdays are going really well, they have now changed into an english/bible study/evangelism tool class lol. Many of the church members that have become my english students bring in their friends and colleagues, so my colleague and I have decided to use it to teach the gospel to the new ones that come in, and to teach biblical values and reading to the church members when there aren't new people. I'm happy to see that God has been evolving the class to glorify Him in the end.
I have still been discipling some church members. I do admit, it is a little frustration. Japanese tend to prioritize their work and other "important" things first. So I kind of get the short end of the stick sometimes. I've been learning patience and humility ever since I have started here, so its my responsibility to exercise them. I do have hope still that those who are being discipled will be strong committed christians though. So I will continue to be faithful to them just as God is.

Upcoming events:

February will be a month of many events, the next weekend from the 8-10 we will be having a retreat for the students. we're hoping that we'll get a good amount of students that weekend. Also another Korean team will be coming to J-house for short term missions. Upcoming in March, I will be going to Korea from the 1st to the 4th on a special missions trip for the J-Soldiers and members. We will be scouting for new recruits to be a J-soldier lol.

Prayer Requests

- for the students that I have met and befriended the last semester, that God will continue to reveal Jesus to them. Pray that God will use his Spirit to lead them to Christ and Pray that God will Continue to use J-house and each member to do so.
- For My colleagues and I to continue to be faithful to our jobs as missionaries. and to grow with each other through the Spirit and grace and love of Christ
- For those members in J-house to grow spiritually, there are still a lot of baby Christians in J-house, pray for spiritual growth and maturity in the Gospel and for those to put the Gospel first over everything.
- For the church plants that we are going to do. Pray that God will lead us and help extend his church to other cities so that the Gospel will exponentially grow within Japan! We REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT! We need all the spiritual support we can get on this one, because we know we cannot do this on our own for sure! and if you are moved to want to support financially also, you make donations at the J-house website: J-House website. We want to be able to partner with all of you Spiritually and prayerfully through this!
- For a revolution in Japan! for spiritual eyes to be opened in Japan and that the 0.5% of christians will increase!
- For God's plan in my life, that things will be revealed for me in the upcoming future

I think that is all for now. Also J-house is always looking for missionaries, workers that are willing to give their lives to evangelism and discipleship for a year or 2 (preferably 2 lol). So if you like to joint us here (or know anyone that would be interested) please check out the J-house missionary application site: http://www.comejapan.org/ if u have any questions, or interest, also let me know so I can put in a good word


Thank you again for all of your support! I am really thankful for having a supporting church in missions with me on this. Please continue to pray for me and my colleagues as we work here, We are continually always feeling the urgency and the need of the Gospel and the Love of Jesus for the Japanese people.

ありがとうございます！！！　
私たちはイエス様に礼拝をささげましょう！！！