Monthly support raised so far: $1,052.50 (needed: $3,095.62/month)
Initial start-up fees: $7,967.50 (needed: around $10,000)
Wohoo!!! We're past the $1,000 marker!!! God continues to be so faithful!
So, today is May 31st. Tomorrow is June 1st. Let's see what a new month brings!!!!
I will be traveling to OH to speak to some college students about Asian Access. Pray for this time! Perhaps God will use me to share the vision for Japan with some future missionaries!!!
I will be heading to NY after that time for visiting with some old friends (not old-old, just old as in the duration of the friendship, hehe). Pray for this time also--that God will bring some new supporters my way and renewed friendship. And some new found energy would be nice!!!
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
31%
Monthly support raised so far: $957.50 (needed: $3,095.62/month)
initial start-up fees: $7426.50 (needed: around $10,000)
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
30%
Monthly support raised so far: $932.50 (needed: $3,095.62/month)
initial start-up fees: $6,826.50 (needed: around $10,000)
initial start-up fees: $6,826.50 (needed: around $10,000)
Monday, May 15, 2006
the magic number
Monthly support raised so far: $812.50 (needed: $3,095.62/month)
initial start-up fees: $6,826.50 (needed: around $10,000)
In order for me to leave in September, I have to have 85% of my monthly support committed to me. I have around 30% now. Please pray that I would talk to the people that God has prepared to be on my support team. Pray that I would have no fear in sharing my needs. Pray that I will have energy to "put myself out there" for a couple more months. This is exhausting!!
This month has been a roller coaster of emotions--walking by faith and crying out in my fear and doubt in the same breath.
I heard a Jeremy Camp song on the radio today called "Walk by faith." It describes the condition of my heart pretty well right now.
Would I believe you when you would say Your hand will guide my every way
Will I receive the words You say every moment of every day
Well I will walk by faith even when I cannot see
Because this broken road prepares Your will for me
Help me to win my endless fears
You've been so faithful for all my years
With one breath You make me new
Your grace covers all I do
Well I'm broken, but I still see Your face
You've spoken, pouring Your words of grace
Hallelujah, hallelu
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Have you "googled" lately?
Last week an old friend from high school found me through Google. I was curious just what came up when my name was put in the search box and I came up with the following website. It's pretty evident what I'm passionate about, isn't it!?
www.asianaccess.org/headlines/index.html
Check it out! Look at the bottom, left-hand side of the page.
www.asianaccess.org/headlines/index.html
Check it out! Look at the bottom, left-hand side of the page.
Friday, April 21, 2006
the call from Japan
A couple of nights ago I got a call from Okinawa, Japan. Mike Wilson who is a career missionary there with Asian Access called me to encourage me and to give me an update of what's happening. I'm compelled more than ever to be there!
Asian Access helps Japanese pastors and churches plant new Japanese churches by using a "reproduction" strategy. Without going into all the details, churches in a region are put together in "Networks." Recently 7 pastors in Okinawa met with Asian Access missionaries to say that they were ready to plant new churches of their own!!! This is the official beginning of the Okinawa Network II. Mike also told me that there are only 2 missionary units available at this point to help those 7 pastors. Japan needs missionaries!! There are some amazing stories of the Faithful in Japan rising up, but they need help.
Something else that is compelling me is from the Joshua Project ministry. This is a ministry dedicated to praying for the salvation of the world. They have a lot of information on their website, lots of numbers and stats that make my head spin. BUT, what I did take away from a quick perusal is this:
Japan is the highest populated nation with the most unreached people in the world!!!
Here's the link if you want to take a look yourself:
http://www.joshuaproject.net/unreached.php
Even when I have a discouraging day of learning the Japanese language, I can not ignore this call!
Asian Access helps Japanese pastors and churches plant new Japanese churches by using a "reproduction" strategy. Without going into all the details, churches in a region are put together in "Networks." Recently 7 pastors in Okinawa met with Asian Access missionaries to say that they were ready to plant new churches of their own!!! This is the official beginning of the Okinawa Network II. Mike also told me that there are only 2 missionary units available at this point to help those 7 pastors. Japan needs missionaries!! There are some amazing stories of the Faithful in Japan rising up, but they need help.
Something else that is compelling me is from the Joshua Project ministry. This is a ministry dedicated to praying for the salvation of the world. They have a lot of information on their website, lots of numbers and stats that make my head spin. BUT, what I did take away from a quick perusal is this:
Japan is the highest populated nation with the most unreached people in the world!!!
Here's the link if you want to take a look yourself:
http://www.joshuaproject.net/unreached.php
Even when I have a discouraging day of learning the Japanese language, I can not ignore this call!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Spirited Away
In an attempt to experience some Japanese culture last weekend, I watched a couple of Japanese movies. Spirited Away is an anime movie (Japanese animation) written and directed by a pretty famous Japanese man named Miyazaki. I thought is was great! The main character is a little girl that finds herself in a new world of spirits that come to a bath house run by a scrooge of a woman. Along the way she makes friends that help her to return back to her world and to free her parents from a curse that has turned them into pigs. One scene that I thought was particularly intriguing involved a spirit. This gentle and helpful spirit came to the bathhouse and somehow became greedy and cruel. It began eating everything in sight--including some of the "people" there. Despite the spirit's disagreeable behavior, the little girl attends to him and explains that something in this place is making him bad. All of this "bad" stuff ends up being purged (you can guess what that means) as he leaves the place and returns to his original form.
It made me think of the sin in my life--how greedy and gluttonous I can be--taking in things that I think I need that are harming me. And how I must purge them from my life and leave those things behind me as I walk away from what is dragging me down. Jesus makes us New Creatures, doesn't he?
Check out the movie if you are curious. Maybe you'll get something out of it too. Enjoy!
It made me think of the sin in my life--how greedy and gluttonous I can be--taking in things that I think I need that are harming me. And how I must purge them from my life and leave those things behind me as I walk away from what is dragging me down. Jesus makes us New Creatures, doesn't he?
Check out the movie if you are curious. Maybe you'll get something out of it too. Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
singing in the rain
I am convinced that God kept my stomach to the minimal state of queasiness for Nicole and Neile's wedding on Saturday. I felt yucky all day, but I did not throw up all over the piano!!! I woke up early that morning and prayed, "Lord, please heal me!!!" I was able to sing and play, and to do it at my best. All I can attribute it to is God's GRACE!
I have found myself returning to this desire to serve God with my voice in the last year. For so long I avoided using this gift because I had allowed pride to come in and muddy-up my motives. But, I feel like there's a piece of me missing when I don't sing and play.
I'm putting my neck out there and taking the opportunities that I can to use my voice--even when my motives aren't 100% pure. I'm asking that God redeem these gifts so that I can serve Him with ALL of myself.
exciting to think of what possibilities await in Japan...
I have found myself returning to this desire to serve God with my voice in the last year. For so long I avoided using this gift because I had allowed pride to come in and muddy-up my motives. But, I feel like there's a piece of me missing when I don't sing and play.
I'm putting my neck out there and taking the opportunities that I can to use my voice--even when my motives aren't 100% pure. I'm asking that God redeem these gifts so that I can serve Him with ALL of myself.
exciting to think of what possibilities await in Japan...
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
a new % of Christians in Japan?
I heard a blip about this new Gallup poll completed in Japan and then had this article sent to me today. Stats are not my favorite thing--they don't seem to really capture the true HEART of people, but I thought I would share this with you all anyway.
Christianity on upswing in Japan
Gallup poll: Traditional religions show decline among teens
Posted: March 18, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Michael Ireland ©?2006?Assist News Service LOS ANGELES, Calif.
"A poll conducted by the Gallup Organization has yielded some surprising statistics on Japanese attitudes toward religion, morality and spirituality. According to a media advisory obtained by ANS, among the findings from one of the most extensive surveys of the country ever taken was a Christian population of 6 percent, a number much higher than reported in previous surveys. Researchers were also surprised by high numbers of teens who claimed the Christian faith, while the traditionally dominant religions, Buddhism and Shintoism, though still claimed by many adults, suffered declines among teenagers. Some respondents answered that they belonged to more than one religion. Of the 30 percent of adults surveyed who claimed to have a religion, 75 percent considered themselves Buddhists, 19 percent Shintoists, while 12 percent considered themselves to be Christians. Researchers were especially surprised at the large number of Japanese youth who claimed the Christian faith. Of the 20 percent who professed to have a religion, 60 percent called themselves Buddhists, 36 percent Christians and followers of the traditionally dominant Japanese religion, Shinto. Calling the numbers "stunning," George Gallup Jr. who assisted with the poll, noted of teenagers: "These projections mean that seven percent of the total teenage population say they are Christians." The poll was conducted in association with American Trademark Research and MJM Group in 2001 for use in a documentary that is expected to be released later this year. "According to the social scientists in Japan, this was the single largest study ever attempted," said Bill McKay, one of the documentary's producers and project research director. "The entire study examined preteens, teens, young adults, adults and seniors." "In my 50 years of polling, there has been no study that I would consider as important as this one, because it provides insight into a fascinating culture," added Gallup. "When they saw the design of the questionnaire, Japanese experts argued that the Japanese would never answer the socially delicate and/or the highly personal questions," observed McKay. "However, it was our professional hunch that the Japanese were ready to talk and when they did they told us more than we had asked for. The data is the most revealing look behind the face of Japan and shatters many WWII myths of the Japanese culture." The poll also delved into popular attitudes toward a variety of subjects related to morality, spirituality and general views about life "Most Japanese, judging by their responses to scales on happiness, are neither 'very happy,' nor 'very unhappy,' noted Gallup. "There is a degree of fatalism in their somber mood. Teen's perspectives on life tend to a sense of nihilism to an alarming degree. A note of hopelessness is found in the responses to a number of questions. And there is little evidence of eternal hope, although a considerable number do believe in some form of life after life." On matters of morality, Gallup noted a strong relativistic streak: "Like much of the rest of the world, the Japanese tend to take relativistic views on ethical matters. There is little belief in 'absolutes,' and this is true across the all-generational groups. In the 'hierarchy of crimes,' those related to economic and family matters far outweigh those related to sexual activity." Researchers were also surprised by teen attitudes which reflected an especially pessimistic outlook on life. While 22 percent of U.S. teens in previous Gallup surveys often wondered why they existed, the number for Japanese teens was 85 percent. Similarly, while 76 percent of U.S. teens always see a reason for their being on Earth, only 13 percent of Japanese teens agreed with the statement. A surprisingly high 11 percent of Japanese teens wished they had never been born, a figure that comes in at 3 percent for U.S. teens."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49337
Christianity on upswing in Japan
Gallup poll: Traditional religions show decline among teens
Posted: March 18, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Michael Ireland ©?2006?Assist News Service LOS ANGELES, Calif.
"A poll conducted by the Gallup Organization has yielded some surprising statistics on Japanese attitudes toward religion, morality and spirituality. According to a media advisory obtained by ANS, among the findings from one of the most extensive surveys of the country ever taken was a Christian population of 6 percent, a number much higher than reported in previous surveys. Researchers were also surprised by high numbers of teens who claimed the Christian faith, while the traditionally dominant religions, Buddhism and Shintoism, though still claimed by many adults, suffered declines among teenagers. Some respondents answered that they belonged to more than one religion. Of the 30 percent of adults surveyed who claimed to have a religion, 75 percent considered themselves Buddhists, 19 percent Shintoists, while 12 percent considered themselves to be Christians. Researchers were especially surprised at the large number of Japanese youth who claimed the Christian faith. Of the 20 percent who professed to have a religion, 60 percent called themselves Buddhists, 36 percent Christians and followers of the traditionally dominant Japanese religion, Shinto. Calling the numbers "stunning," George Gallup Jr. who assisted with the poll, noted of teenagers: "These projections mean that seven percent of the total teenage population say they are Christians." The poll was conducted in association with American Trademark Research and MJM Group in 2001 for use in a documentary that is expected to be released later this year. "According to the social scientists in Japan, this was the single largest study ever attempted," said Bill McKay, one of the documentary's producers and project research director. "The entire study examined preteens, teens, young adults, adults and seniors." "In my 50 years of polling, there has been no study that I would consider as important as this one, because it provides insight into a fascinating culture," added Gallup. "When they saw the design of the questionnaire, Japanese experts argued that the Japanese would never answer the socially delicate and/or the highly personal questions," observed McKay. "However, it was our professional hunch that the Japanese were ready to talk and when they did they told us more than we had asked for. The data is the most revealing look behind the face of Japan and shatters many WWII myths of the Japanese culture." The poll also delved into popular attitudes toward a variety of subjects related to morality, spirituality and general views about life "Most Japanese, judging by their responses to scales on happiness, are neither 'very happy,' nor 'very unhappy,' noted Gallup. "There is a degree of fatalism in their somber mood. Teen's perspectives on life tend to a sense of nihilism to an alarming degree. A note of hopelessness is found in the responses to a number of questions. And there is little evidence of eternal hope, although a considerable number do believe in some form of life after life." On matters of morality, Gallup noted a strong relativistic streak: "Like much of the rest of the world, the Japanese tend to take relativistic views on ethical matters. There is little belief in 'absolutes,' and this is true across the all-generational groups. In the 'hierarchy of crimes,' those related to economic and family matters far outweigh those related to sexual activity." Researchers were also surprised by teen attitudes which reflected an especially pessimistic outlook on life. While 22 percent of U.S. teens in previous Gallup surveys often wondered why they existed, the number for Japanese teens was 85 percent. Similarly, while 76 percent of U.S. teens always see a reason for their being on Earth, only 13 percent of Japanese teens agreed with the statement. A surprisingly high 11 percent of Japanese teens wished they had never been born, a figure that comes in at 3 percent for U.S. teens."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49337
Monday, March 13, 2006
a new friend
I love the way God brings people together!!
I met a young woman at the Body Builders seminar named Shannon. I went over to introduce myself because her name tag said that she would be serving in Japan. Our introductions quickly revealed that she was a recent graduate of Wheaton Grad School and that she knew someone serving with Asian Access!! She will be in Japan hopefully in October of this year. We were able to go to dinner together and to share about our callings and hopes for Japan. So amazing!! I anticipate Shannon being one of those people who God uses to strenghten me, and hopefully someone that I can pour into as well!
God is awesome!
I met a young woman at the Body Builders seminar named Shannon. I went over to introduce myself because her name tag said that she would be serving in Japan. Our introductions quickly revealed that she was a recent graduate of Wheaton Grad School and that she knew someone serving with Asian Access!! She will be in Japan hopefully in October of this year. We were able to go to dinner together and to share about our callings and hopes for Japan. So amazing!! I anticipate Shannon being one of those people who God uses to strenghten me, and hopefully someone that I can pour into as well!
God is awesome!
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