Many of our partners have reached out to us asking if we were OK due to news reports of earthquakes and the warning of a potential “mega-quake”. Scientists have been saying that different areas in Japan including Tokyo are due for another “big one” for many years now, so the possibility is always there. But recently, the agency that monitors these things said the likelihood was higher than usual, and the government sent out a warning advising people to stock up on emergency supplies. If you can believe it, the shelves where rice is kept at our local supermarket have been completely bare for several weeks (don’t worry—we have rice). Thankfully there have been no big earthquakes. Thank you for praying!
Kingdom Culture
This month, Kingdom Seekers church hosted their annual international conference, with a team of about 20 people coming from Dwelling Place Church in Houston, Texas. While the conference was not open to the public, seven Japanese pastors from other churches also joined with members of their teams, so somewhere between 20~30 people from other local Japanese churches were also attending. This is the same conference that impacted us so much last year, where God gave us some very key connections and really opened the hearts of the KS family and ours to each other. Hard to believe it has only been about a year since we have really started walking together. A lot has happened since then!
A few years ago when we were launching into Tokyo, the Lord put Philippians 2:7 on my heart in a powerful way. This verse says that Jesus emptied himself and took on the role of the servant, and it made me realize I needed to make some adjustments in the attitude and posture in which I minister. To minister literally means “to serve,” yet somehow I had always envisioned ministry to be something where I “lead the charge”. But it is the church of Japan that has to receive and carry the destiny and call for the nation of Japan. They need to “lead the charge”. I am called here to stand alongside and add my faith, my strength, and my giftings to help the church of Japan contend for what is theirs in God.
It really blessed me that in this conference, I was able to express that heart to stand alongside in a very practical way. In almost every session, Pastor Bungo would invite one of the other Japanese pastors to the front, introduce them, honor them, and let them share for a few minutes. I stood next to them translating their words into English for the overseas guests. For most of them, it was the first time to be asked to speak in front of an international audience. This was more than a mere formality. It was honoring and affirming the identity and call of God on their lives. I know there was healing and restoration that the Lord was working in these pastors as they were introduced. These men and women have laid down their lives for the gospel, going against cultural norms and making sacrifices to pioneer new churches in places where there were none. From a human perspective, ministry can feel thankless at times. I think even more so in Japan. The role of a pastor carries no prestige as a vocation in Japanese society. One of my pastor friends told me his experience of applying for a housing loan from a bank and being turned down, because the bank didn’t consider “pastor“ a legitimate profession. Things like that make a person feel ostracized and alone. But what an encouragement it is to come into a family and community of faith, and be with people who carry the same values, heart, and DNA that you do. To find your own people. Not only that, but to come in and be celebrated and honored, to be treated like the work you do is valuable, to know YOU are valuable in the kingdom of God, that does something in you like nothing else. That’s what these men and women experienced, and it was powerful. But what was even more powerful was that the whole atmosphere of the conference felt like this, start to finish. I believe everyone who attended felt seen and valued. I know that this is the kind of environment and culture that God can trust to add many more to His family.