Tokyo was our third move since Jeremy and I started ministering as a team (we just celebrated our 19th anniversary this month!) Neither of us are small detail, practical kind of people. We both see the big picture. We both enjoy taking on change and risk. But of course that also comes with many challenges and uncertainty, doubts and fears.
When God showed us Tokyo three years ago, we sold our house in rural Tochigi, and gave away our car and about half our furniture and appliances so we could move into a small apartment in Shibuya. We had just left the ministry network we had served in since before we were married, so it felt a much bigger jump than ever. But we felt strongly that we needed to do ministry different than how we had before.
The strategy for coming into Tokyo was simple: to get into central Tokyo and pray, then evangelism, then discipleship. (But you can imagine, going with it and especially telling people was not so simple!) We actually wondered if we would end up launching and pastoring another church as a result, but our desire was to see the authentic expression and call of God for this nation rather than have another church pastored by a foreigner (Jeremy's words). We wanted to participate in what God was already doing in Tokyo. So we intentionally set aside what we knew about doing ministry or church, and determined to let God lead us on this scavenger hunt.
Still, it was a surprise to find a group that was ready for us to walk and work together with. To me, they felt like a prophetic representation of the future of this nation: a people who know how to rightly honor God. I know I sound dramatic but that is the level of surprise it was for me. This connection is allowing us to give our strength to what we need to be doing. Pioneering a church from zero you often have to run and manage everything yourself, especially in the beginning.
And I'd like to add a bit about evangelism here. We knew Japan needed the gift of the evangelist, and we had been looking for the authentic expression of it in our culture. I have been involved in doing conferences with many dynamic evangelists from abroad and interpreted for them, but often felt a dilemma as I sensed the gap between what was being released and what people were actually receiving in their lives. But I believe God is doing something new in the midst of us, and things are unfolding before our eyes that we had seen only in our hearts. It is such an exciting thing for us!
So now God is pushing us to step further into unexplored territory. We see groups of people being reached with the gospel that until now would have never considered having anything to do with Christianity. God is giving us inspirations about new ways and approaches.
For this season, we felt the Lord leading us to go on full support, that He would fully provide for us by inviting others to respond to Him as we go after His plan for this city and nation. It has literally been like walking on water daily. Outwardly, there are no guarantees. We have had hundreds of dollars given to us at once, and also hundreds of dollars suddenly drop off. We have been challenged and grown in faith and trust in God to a new level. We have pressed on believing our supporter base would continue to grow, and it has. But now I feel like we are at a crossroads.
That is why I wanted to give you a more realistic and honest image of where we are at, voice our determination to press forward, and ask you to believe with us for the next level of provision. We want to keep pouring out our time and energy in seeing the name of Jesus lifted up in this nation. So we trust God as He promised:
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11
-Kumi