Excitement In Japan

This summer I had the privilege of taking my wife along with me on a teaching trip to Japan. Actually, she taught pastor’s wives in one of the venues.

We taught in a nationwide Pastor’s Convention and at Jesus Life House in Tokyo. Along the way we got to hang out for a long lunch with our Tokyo area pastors and hook up with two of our church summer missions teams.

Tokyo Pastors And Young Missionaries

Our first day in Japan found us attending the monthly meeting of our Tokyo area pastors. 

During that visit two young missionaries from our own church joined us for lunch. They were in Japan for three months to follow up on ten years of labor in one congregation.

They were to harvest the effort of a decade of teams to this church, evangelizing young kids hanging out in the park across the street. Over the years we’ve developed a sizeable group but one always short on leadership.  

Three intense months with a couple of strong young leaders from our church has helped move that congregation to a position which will allow for a fruitful, ongoing, ministry.

Later we got to meet up with another team from our own church. They were setting up do do street evangelism outside a train station in Shonandai outside of Yokohama.

I was blessed to see our people bravely approaching strangers with gospel booklets and an invitation to a “Hawaii Party at a nearby church plant. 

Jesus Life House

We spent Sunday at Jesus Life House in the Harajuku section of Tokyo. At 1500+ people it is the largest church in Japan’s history.

And, they are not alone. We now hear that an unprecedented five churches are larger than 1,000 people.

I preached twice that Sunday and we met with a challenge. They asked our congregation, in Hawaii, to host 12 young people who lost family members and homes to the earthquake/radiation in Sendai last March.

Three of the twelve accepted Christ in Hawaii and one was baptized. 

Upon returning to Sendai they were invited, along with 200+ other young people who had been hosted in Western countries, to a barbeque and kickoff for a new church in Sendai. Of the 60 who attended the barbeque, ten were from our church. We are excited about a successful missionary effort made by generous people opening their homes right here in Oahu.

Japan Pastors Convention

We then went west to Hammamatsu to speak at a Pastor’s Convention for three days.

While we were there something unusual and wonderful happened to my wife. 

A Japanese pastor’s wife asked Ruby for prayer at a time when Ruby wasn’t feeling well herself. She felt impressed to simply pray in tongues over the lady. This was partly out of her own exhaustion.

When she finished praying, the woman asked her if she spoke Japanese…. 

Ruby doesn’t know a word of Japanese, but it turns out she was praying in that language. The miracle that occurred blessed the pastor’s wife perhaps more than the answered prayer. We were all blessed.

The convention went well. I didn’t get as much time to teach as I might have liked but the responses were strong and healthy—We’ll get new churches out of this one! 

This is a group I’ve worked with, off-and-on, over the years. They have grown partly from their own planting efforts, partly from our own new churches in their midst, and partly due to an influx of Brazilians who have moved to Japan in search of work. When I first met with them there were only 14 people, today the group numbers over 100 pastors and leaders. God is moving in Japan.

It was exciting to teach in three languages. I spoke in English. The translator would address everyone in Japanese over the loudspeakers. Meanwhile another translator was speaking in Portugese to the large number of Brazilians wearing headsets so they could hear the message in their own language.

Because I always think it is important for local pastors to work off of one another I had them operating in small groups for much of the time. Of course we had to build the groups around three languages for the sake of communication. It was noisy and exciting!

As always—thanks for your prayers and financial support,

Why I Keep Traveling...

As I write, I am off to Singapore for a five days of teaching.

I’ll speak in a church that has already launched more than 70 others, mostly in Muslim nations. I’ll also spend two days with a large group of potential church planters.

The pastor there has hopes that those 70 churches might turn into 1,000 during his lifetime. This is a wonderful time in my life. To be able to share our church multiplication experience with others greatly magnifies the effect of the 700+ churches we’ve planted over the years.

We just agreed to house a dozen young people who have lost family members and lost their homes during the Japan tsunami disaster. I am overwhelmed at the generosity or our church—people are really stepping up to the plate to help these kids.

In a year when expensive airfares severely curtailed our teams going into Japan it seems that the Lord is bringing Japan to us. That is wonderful.

Good News From The Middle East

But, none of that is the primary purpose behind this newsletter. I’m really writing to pass along some good news from the Middle East.

I was in Turkey a couple of months ago speaking with missionaries and pastors from several Middle Eastern countries. One of them was particularly inspired and we have stayed in communication since. He just sent me the following information in an email. I’ve shortened names to protect identities. Also, this story did NOT take place in Sudan, though the people are from there.

Salvation #1

On Wednesday, July 6, 2011, we prayed for Ma..., a Sudanese woman who was a Muslim from Juba mountain. A week earlier she had showed up at our prayer meeting in full Heijab (head covering) and stayed for only five minutes then left. But this last Wednesday she came back. She was very unhappy, crying a lot, and was very lonely. Her husband, a Muslim from Darfur, had abandoned her and she had no one, not even any children. She said she had no friends nor any hope in this world.

Also, she had suffered with a bleeding problem for more than a month. Ta..., one of our Sudanese believers, read the Bible story to Ma... about the woman who had an issue of blood (who reached out and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed).

Afterwards, Mar... agreed for us to pray for her healing. We laid hands upon her and prayed fervently in English, Arabic, and in tongues. At one point, Ma... became limp, and we felt that the power of the Holy Spirit had touched her. After we finished praying for her healing, we talked to her about Jesus. She agreed that she needed and wanted to receive Jesus as her Savior.  We prayed for her salvation and she received Christ. Glory to God!

The next day, Ta… said that Ma...’s bleeding had stopped, and that she was a lot happier. We saw her at the celebration of the South Sudan Independence Day. She was very happy and was even dancing.  All praise and glory to God!

Salvation #2

On Saturday, July 9, 2011, Mo..., a Muslim man from Darfur, came to our house to watch a movie about testimony of Kh..., a former Muslim terrorist from Egypt (who eventually had an encounter with Jesus and became His follower).

At the end of last year, we had prayed with him about his job problems, and God answered our prayers the very next day and gave him a new and better job. Since that time, after seeing the power of prayer and the love of God through our team members, Mo... started to pray to God on a regular basis.

In recent weeks, Mo... has attended regular Bible readings and has been very interested in Bible stories and discussions about God with our team members. However, he had never prayed the prayer of salvation. After he watched the movie, he was very excited and kept asking if we had more. He said that he wanted to know more about God.

He also kept repeating, “Wow, wow, wow, so Quran tells you to kill, and the Bible tells you to love!” We asked him if he had prayed the prayer of salvation offered at the end of the movie, and he said that he did! We were very excited and explained to him God’s plan of salvation. Mo... said that he wanted to have a Bible. We asked him where was the Bible that we had given him before, and he told us that he had given it to another Darfurian Muslim friend who was currently reading it. That is soooo awesome! We gave Mo... another Bible.

It Was An Answer To Prayer!

Later that night, our friend from Germany...came and told an amazing story. She said that a week before… there was a visitor to their church...from the Sudan, a former Muslim who is now a pastor of a church in Germany. He shared with her that they had been praying for one particular tribe in the Sudan, Zagawa, which is very strict Muslim, and there had never been any person from that tribe who had received Jesus... They are a totally unreached Muslim people group.

When he named the tribe, our friend told him that Mo... is a member of the Zagawa! As far as we know, he is the first ever in his tribe who received Jesus! That evening, after Mo... prayed the prayer of salvation, they Skyped that Pastor who explained to Mo... God’s plan of salvation in Arabic and prayed with him one more time to make sure that our brother really understood what he was doing. Praise the Lord! Mo... looked at us, giving a huge sigh of relief from the burdens gone, and with a smile as wide as the sunrise, said, “Wow! God really loves me!”

We are now following up through close friendship and discipleship with these new believers and reaching out to many more unreached Muslim friends. It is a process that takes much time and great patience, daily building friendships and proving our love through practical, visible, and genuine love.

Stories Like These…

It is because of stories like these that I keep traveling. Making disciples and multiplying churches is slowly winning the world to Christ.

Contrary to common belief, many Muslims are accepting Christ all around the world. You may not know that there are more than 1200 mosques in the United States and an estimated 7 million Muslims in our country.

Islam is divided into several rival sects. That rivalry can be bloody. Many American Muslims came here to escape inter-faith persecution in their own countries. We must pray that these people find Christ in the same manner as those whose stories I wrote about.

Remember that evangelism and disciplemaking are mostly about building friendships. If we do that well, we can change the world... Thanks for your help.

South Africa--Spring 2011

I recently returned from a teaching trip to Johannesburg, where I met with strategically chosen leaders from across the vast continent. They were strategically chosen from 9 African nations.

A Little History

Christianity in Africa initially grew westward from Egypt across the northern part of the continent (north of the Sahara Desert). Tradition has John Mark evangelizing the Egypt and the West.

Ethiopia was also brought into Christianity, presumably by the efforts of the Ethiopian eunuch mentioned in Acts, chapter eight.

Christianity prevailed in Northern Africa until the second century when Islam began to dominate through its policies of conquest and forced conversion. A milder form of coercion is still visible in modern Tanzania where public education is limited to children whose families convert to Islam and assume Islamic names. Nastier persecution is consistent in the North where militant Islamic attacks against believers are common events. Much of the bad news coming out of Sudan, Somalia and The Ivory Coast is religious persecution, though the Western media refuse to disclose that side of the menace. 

The 19^th Century brought missionaries to the African continent. By 1900 there were nine million Christians in Africa. Today, 52 percent of the population, or 417 million people are Christians. This compares to 412 million Muslims, though Christianity is growing at a much faster pace than Islam—in fact the gospel is growing faster in the African Continent than anywhere else in the world. The geographic center of Christianity, today, is located in Africa. It is estimated that by 2025 there will be 633 million Christians living on the continent.

A Very Positive Future

There are an estimated 552,000 churches in 11,500 denominations. Most are heavily invested in the works of the Holy Spirit with miracles seen as commonplace. 

An African average income is 5 percent that of an average American. The continent is more impoverished than it was 50 years ago.  Of the world’s 40 poorest nations,  33 of them are in Africa. But this is changing. The gospel brings a hunger for truth and integrity, both antidotes to the corruption that has locked Africans in poverty. 

While there are more than 2,100 languages spoken across the continent, English has become common allowing the gospel to travel faster. As a result Africans are both receiving and sending missionaries. Modern Africa is home to 96,000 Western missionaries, but now supports 18,400 missionaries outside the continent. About six years ago I met a man who is a missionary from a church in Africa to the United States. He is attracting a very multi-cultural congregation in Washington, D.C. The future hope of the gospel may well lay in Africa, especially as Africans rise from poverty to power.

My Task In Africa

My time in Africa was spent with pastors of churches far larger than the one I pastor. One man heads a group of more than 300 churches. So you might ask, “Why did I need to go in the first place?” Or, “What could I possibly teach these people?”

It seems that the African church operates in Jesus’ example when it comes to preaching to crowds and to healing and demonic deliverance. But, for some reason they never ‘got’ the part about spending quality time with a few disciples. 

This is a little odd because scripture devotes more space to his time with the few than to his time spent with crowds. It also depicts the Apostle Paul as having made close disciples in parallel with his public preaching. Paul also appointed those disciples as pastors in the churches he planted everywhere he went. 

For the Africans to pick up on intentional disciplemaking, they are working on one problem and one opportunity. The problem is that of young people leaving the church once they leave their parent’s home. The opportunity is to make Christianity’s hot spot even hotter. 

One pastor of 8,000 people spent two meals trying to pick up on how disciplemaking could keep his own children in the Lord after high school—of course what he learned would apply to the rest of the church. And the motherload of opportunity becomes reality as intentional disciplemaking always produces more pastors and churches than is possible by depending on seminaries to train leaders.

The trip was a success. I am returning next year to speak with a different group of pastors. The travel is grueling—it took 50 hours to travel home. It is 12 hours of flying between Johannesburg and Frankfurt, even longer next year as I travel to Cape Town. Next time, I’ll stop for a night’s rest each way.

Once again thanks for making this possible. We are able to give books to every pastor, thus extending the seminar. And there is no way that those leaders could have scraped together the money for my airfare—your continued generosity helps expand the church across the world. 

I posted a few photos on the photos page--the group was small (strategically so), and I saw only the hotel, airport and a shopping mall; so their aren't many pics. Be sure to sign up for the snailmail newsletter if you are interested...

April 2011 Turkey & The Middle East

In April, I had the opportunity to teach disciplemaking and church multiplication in Istanbul, Turkey. The audience included leaders from more than 15 countries, including Israel and several of the Islamic nations that used to belong to the Soviet Union.

One man was from Tajikistan. I remember speaking to him in the elevator—he told me that he was buying a large supply of light bulbs in Turkey because they are simply not available in his country 

Another man panicked when I tried to take his picture. He told me that if it went out on the internet he could lose his life. I later heard this from several of the leaders.

I met two young women who recently moved from America to a large Islamic nation to get jobs and begin an underground church.

I discovered that even Israel is fairly hostile to Christian churches and believers.

A Little History Lesson

It is important to remember that Christianity was born in the Middle East. 

The gospel initially spread outwards from Israel to Syria, Lebanon, the lands that make modern Turkey and Greece. All of this is covered in the Book of Acts. 

You might be surprised to know that though Islam dominates the Middle East, there are 20-30 million Christians living among their Muslim neighbors.

Christianity was the dominating force in the region by the end of the 3rd century. Entire cultures reflected belief in Jesus and the morals and hope that the gospel brings. This lasted until the violent rise of Islam beginning in the 7th century. 

Whereas Christians conquered hearts with words and miracles, Islam conquered through war and fear. After the Islam gained control, Christians were tolerated as long as they did not try to convert their neighbors. This tentative balance lasted until European Crusaders fought to regain a foothold in the Middle East from the 11th through 13th centuries.

The Crusades were largely a reaction toward the Arabic conquest and control of Spain from the 8th through 15th centuries. Christian Europe also lost Constantinople, the ancient center of Eastern Christianity which became modern Istanbul. During this time the Islamic warriors got as far as Vienna in Austria. 

The Crusaders were violent and did much damage. After the Crusades, tolerance toward Christianity grew into the spotty situation we see today. In some nations it is legal, but barely tolerated. In others there is open hostility from both government and people.

Persecution

Sadly, there is much persecution directed toward followers of Christ in these countries. The violence in some places is sponsored by governments that outlaw churches. In other places, like Turkey, the governments allow freedom of religion. However that freedom doesn’t protect against radicals bombing churches or stoning believers.

Even religious freedom has its limitations. In Turkey no government worker can do ministry in a church, or even a mosque. They can attend but not participate.  In Palestine there are nearly 200,000 Christians but to meet publicly is to endanger your life. We often hear of churches being bombed from Egypt, to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and even in Turkey.

I was told of one Palestinian policeman who pastors about 40 people. All meetings involve no more than three people.

Sadly, the gospel is unwelcome in Israel. I met people who describe living as outcasts among their neighbors because of their faith. I met an American who lost his Israeli visa because he was involved in evangelism. He has since moved to Detroit to reach into the large Islamic population there.

Opportunity And Sacrifice

The good news is that in nearly every Middle Eastern nation, the gospel is growing. Churches may be forced underground but they are thriving. What I know to be true is that persecution forces leaders to make disciples, and strong disciples beget more disciples, who often launch churches.

One man I met works in Israel with people from Tunisia. He holds a Ph.D in ancient Middle Eastern languages. He teaches in a university and operates a Laundromat in order to support his family. 

His ministry is small and he mostly works with a few close disciples who he trusts to reach their own people. When I met him he was questioning whether his ministry was worth the sacrifices he makes. 

At the end of our time together, he told me that the seminar restored his confidence—that doing what Jesus did is alright and that God is not holding it against him that he ministers relationally rather than to a large crowd. 

He came away from the seminar with a sense of his own value to the kingdom and a renewed vision to persevere. Stories like his make this worth all the time and travel. 

Thank you for helping make them possible. Your prayers are being answered and your gifts are much appreciated.

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March 2011 Shanghai & Bangkok

Recently visited ‘friends’ in China and did my usual seminars in Bangkok, Thailand. Then I got stuck living in Narita airport for 60+ hours.

China

The time in China was productive, though we needed to fly under the radar to accomplish our goals. Best not to even mention the large city where we met.

We couldn’t draw attention to the fact that foreigners were meeting with locals. Even had to regularly change baseball caps, not speak to each other in taxis and walk a dozen paces apart in train stations and on sidewalks. Every inch of the place is watched through security cameras. 

Can’t say too much about those few days other than that I connected with one of my disciples from back in Hermosa Beach. 

My friend from those early days is leading a strong group of ‘friends’ in a major city and even publishing materials very useful to our cause.

Bangkok, Thailand

In Thailand I had the privilege of working with Kelly and Angie Hilderbrand who started ministry in our church, moved on to plant Hope Chapel Honolulu. From that church they began reaching into Thailand. Today they are missionaries there and have launched multiple churches 

I met one man who they partner with. Though he’s had no formal education he’s planted 47 churches. He thanked me for the seminar because it made “a nobody” like him feel validated. When I hear heroes like him feeling bad because of lack of an education it makes my travels worthwhile. This entire thing is about equipping leaders through local churches to take the gospel to places it has yet to reach 

We know that a new church is the most effective tool for evangelism that exists and yet so many slow the process of planting churches. The reason I travel is to accelerate the process.

Thailand is a study in contrasts. Bangkok is as modern as most cities in the world and its people are quite sophisticated. There is a fair measure of wealth in that capital city. The mountain people live a life in stark contrast to the cities. Most subsist at, or near, poverty levels. Sanitation and water are important issues to them. The interesting thing to me is that people living in both situations are deciding to follow Christ in a country that is a stronghold of Buddhism.

Thailand has suffered a major earthquake in the days since I was there and one pastor lost his life. Please pray for this country as the people are very open to the gospel from the poverty-stricken hill tribes to sophisticated university students, the harvest is ripe and productive.

Japan Earthquake Disaster

Thanks for the gifts and prayers you’ve sent to Japan. This is a trying time for our friends there. The good news is that the churches we’ve planted are all stepping up to help with this tremendous disaster. There is a healthy sense that, “This is our problem.” They are not waiting for Americans to step in to resolve it. Coupled with a recent missions vision, our Japanese churches are coming into a new maturity.

On my return flight from Bangkok I experienced the second large earthquake that hit Japan. We were sitting on the runway at Tokyo’s Narita airport. In fact we sat there for nine hours, feeling sorry for ourselves. Turned out we were the lucky ones. Ours was the last plane to land that day and the people in the terminal were shunted out to the sidewalk in very cold weather for those nine hours. 

I slept for an hour-and-a-half the first night and about four hours the second night. The first night saw 1400 people sleeping in the airport (Most were issued blue sleeping bags, but I could never find one). The second night was worse as most flights were still canceled and more people were trying to get out of Japan.

I ultimately spent more than 60 hours living in the airport and when I was finally able to brush and floss my teeth, shave and change my socks I began to understand the plight of the homeless. Then I realized just how good I had it living in a nice warm airport while a couple of hundred thousand were living in tents with over twenty thousand deaths.

Please pray for Japan. We have experienced a radical new openness to Christianity in the past couple of years. Pray that this horrid tragedy further opens the door to the gospel as churches help people re-build their lives.

Thanks Again…

Finally, thanks again for your love and support. This ministry is about ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things for our Lord. And, it is entirely supported by ordinary people with a vision for God’s Kingdom—people like you. Thank you!

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