Urawa Lutheran School Festival

Hey Everyone,

I know it's been a while since I last wrote. For a long time I have been going through a lot of spiritual growth. In many ways, God has used circumstances to help me develop in faith and maturity, keeping my focus centered around the mission at hand. I thank God for all those experiences no matter how trying the were.

Anyways, on Saturday, I went to Urawa Lutheran School, where my fiance works, for a School festival. It was a great experience to be able to meet many students who worked diligently to put together this event. One of my students from Omiya Lutheran Church English School was there with the 10th graders working at a cafe which they created for the festival. The Cafe was called "Made in Alice." I had the wonderful opportunity to meet many faculty, parents, and students, all of whom where excited to meet me. I hope to continue to attend events at Urawa Lutheran School in the future, the even was a great time.

I will be writing more about what's going on in my life here soon. God Bless you all!

The Time is Now!

As sad as it may be, a common occurrence in Japan are the train suicides. The anticipation that something like that might happen leaves many of us many on the edges of our seats afraid of what we could expect as we board the train. And sadly these frightening sites are becoming much more common in a world that some many believe is crumbling. Viewing the world in an economic spectrum and placing sole trust in government and finances, we can see that as people put their hope in currency. But when the dollar crumbles, hope then crumbles along side it. Perhaps that's why in the Gospel of John, Jesus makes the distinction between the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God not being of this world. Hope then is not founded in a world that crucifies and savior, hope is found in the Savior that came to be crucified for the worlds behalf.

One thing that made me interested in the mission of Japan was the history of the Christian Church. When Buddhism first came to here around 552AD, Japan was in a tough time from my understanding making it easier for Buddhism to intertwine itself into a culture trying to find identity. When St. Francis Xavier and the Jesuit first came with the Christian-Catholic faith to Japan during the mid 1500's, they found themselves entering a country of civil strife resulting in the rapid growth of Christianity. Following WWII Japan was the second highest purchasers of the Bible, second to the United States. From my understanding, Christianity had a temporary rapid growth in Christian converts following the second world war as well. This came at a time when the emperor who promised victory showed the people of his country defeat. This came at a time when the emperor who told his country that he was a god showed that he was merely a man through his empty promises and defeat. Today, the world suffers through complete reliance on something that is crumbling and now hard to obtain. More recently as I have thought about the time in which we are living now, I have come to understand that God is the provider but the devil turns our minds to focus on the material things which we have or desire to have then to the provider God, the Father himself.

Now is the time however. We are at a moment where Christianity has the ability to blossom. We see now, similar characteristics to periods in the past was Christianity did flourish in Japan. Now is the time to embrace the opportunity of proclaiming hope to a country and to a world that relied on things which have been hopeless. The identity of the world seems to be changing. Lets use this as an opportunity direct people to a sincere and loving hope that radiates from faith in Christ Jesus.