Back in Japan!

We arrived in Japan Tuesday night, May 24th after a very long day of travel. With jet-lag we've been getting up early (~ 3 or 4 am) and have been enjoying our long mornings :) 

It truly has been amazing how God has provided opportunities to reconnect with friends from when we lived in Oyumino, even though we don't have cell phones or a new address yet:

• Sarah met a good friend at Starbucks that she had lost touch with.  They will get together to have the kids play on Wednesday!
• I met a previous neighbor while crossing the street in Oyumino.  She had pulled up to the intersection in her car and called out "Jon-san!"  I didn't have a phone number for her to call, so I invited her and her family to come meet us at church on Sunday!

The kids have also been so excited to have Japanese food again. Just look at the smiles on these faces as they get to eat some of their old favorites!

Annabella is so happy to have her "orange bubble food" again (salmon fish egg sushi)

Calvin loving his onigiri (rice ball with cooked salmon, wrapped in seaweed paper)

Jet-lag does take its toll, though ...

Here are the kids joining "Oyumino Kids" Sunday morning outreach before Oyumino Alive worship service on the 29th.  Just like old times!  :)

3min Slideshow of Photos from our MTW Team

"Over the years I have often described

our mission in Japan as

praying and preparing for

the day of opportunity of Japan."

MTW Missionary Dr. Michael Oh

President - Christ Bible Institute - Nagoya, Japan

(All photos taken by fellow MTW Missionary Roger Lowther.)

Please give generously through MTW: Help JAPAN to equip the Japanese Church to meet the physical & spiritual needs of Japan.

Photo Overview of 1st Week of MTW Disaster Relief

It is hard to believe that it has only been a week since the tragic Earthquake & Tsunami that hit Japan on March 11. Our communication so far has primarily been through e-mail updates (March 11th & March 14th) and on Facebook.

Here is an overview of what is going on in Japan, through photos taken by fellow MTW missionaries and our Japanese partners:

First the 9.0 earthquake hit - Damage shown above in Tokyo was significant, but not disastrous.  (The little boy is an MTW missionary kids friend of Olivia & Annabella living ~6 miles from our future home in Tokyo)

The earthquake lead to a terrible fire at the Ichihara Oil Refinery in Chiba prefecture (seen on US news stations). The photo above of the raging fire was taking from the front of our Oyumino Christ Church (~ 5miles away).

The major devestation of Northern Japan, though, came because of the following tsunami.  (Photo taken near Sendai by fellow MTW missionary Roger Lowther)

Water, food, and gas shortages have hit much of the country.  Gas shortages in particular have hamstring the relief effort up north.

Our MTW Team together with Japanese Churches have been sending up 3 trucks full of supplies every night to the hard hit city of Iwaki (see map below). Our Japanese pastor in the photo has been one of the drivers.

This is a Google Satellite map - showing the relative distances.  Chiba to Iwaki City is ~120 miles.  From Iwaki to the Fukushima Power Plant is about 30 miles.  From Iwaki to Sendai is ~ 95 miles

When the community found out that the church was getting supplies up north, donation started pouring in. Great bridges for the gospel are being built through this relief effort.  Praise God!

Distribution of water (seen above) as well as fuel and other supplies to the Iwaki (and also Sendai) area.  Our team has been able to work though local Japanese churches in those areas to reach shelters that are not yet receiving government relief  aid.

PLEASE click on image above or visit mtw.org to DONATE through the local Japanese Church, which is delivering these desperately need supplies "in the name of Jesus".

In the US: Connecting with Past, Present, & Future Team members

Immediately following the MTW Global Missions Conference in Chattanooga, we were able to enjoy an afternoon of fellowship, prayer, and seeking God's direction for our MTW teams in Japan.

Sitting in a circle, we had people representing up to six different church-planting works in the Tokyo/Chiba area. Three of those church planting works have not even begun yet!

The group included 2 new families who are in the process of pursuing God's call to join our MTW Team in the Tokyo/Chiba area.  What an encouraging time together of seeing God's provision of workers for His harvest in Japan! 

Pray with us for clarity and direction for everyone in the group as we all seek God's will for us in the months and years ahead.

Catching up #3: Konishi Family

Catching up again, introducing you to the Konishi family that we met at the end of 2009. I met the Dad and his 2 girls at the park back in October. They soon started coming to Oyumino Kids bilingual kids program on Sunday mornings.

When all the kids started practicing for the Christmas program in November, the Konishi kids got excited and kept coming regularly. For Christmas worship on Dec 20, the family stayed for worship for the first time!
They have continued attending Oyumino Alive Church regularly, even after we left for America. Please pray with us that through the community of Japanese and missionary believers at Oyumino Alive, they would come to know God as their Creator and Heavenly Father!

Catching up #2: Saying Goodbye to our Church

Catching up again from our busy last week in Japan (in January) here is a photo from our last Sunday at Oyumino Alive Church that we have been working with the past 2 years. Oyumino Alive is a new church-plant of Oyumino Christ Church (PCJ) that was the first mission church established by our team over 15 years ago.
We have a diverse congregation primarily composed of Japanese, but also including Filipino, Korean, African, and American members. Our Sunday morning worship is bilingual (Japanese & English) and has attracted a number of Japanese families with overseas experience.
The last 2 Sundays in Japan, church members stayed after to make special hand-made gifts for our supporters in America. We were blessed by their efforts - plus we had lots of fun fellowshipping together.

We had a community dinner at the church building our last night and we were blessed to have some of our non-Christian Japanese friends join in - and get to know the local community of Japanese believers as well!
I had the opportunity to share about God's faithfulness to us in our trials, and the hope that we have in Christ! It was such a special night together with these dear friends. May God Continue to bless and guide Oyumino Alive Church ... for His Glory!

Jon Translating at Oyumino Alive

It has been a great blessing to work together with Dedachi-san, our Japanese Pastor. When I lead the worship service in English, he translates into Japanese, and when he leads in Japanese, I usually translate for him into English.Translating sermons takes more preparation on my part (working through the sermon script in advance) but has been good language learning and good ministry experience for me. I've done it 4 or 5 times now and each time I've felt more and more comfortable and had to rely on my notes less and less. Language learning is a life-long process!

East Tokyo Presbytery Worship & Picnic

We had a gathering of the 14 churches in our East Tokyo Presbytery at Honda Chapel.
You can see the Oyumino Gospel Choir singing, while the more traidional Choir in on deck in the front. We also had a message from a Japanese pastor encourageing us in evangelism and church-planting in our region.
We also had fun playing volleyball ... or just playing with balls in Calvin's case. :)

We wrapped up the evening with a BIG Japanese style barbecue for ~100 people.

Can you spot Calvin and I in the back, behind the smoke?
We had fun hanging out with our friends working the BBQ.

Many lingered, both inside and out, and it was a great fellowship time for our Presbytery.
Please pray that our Presbytery would continue to grow and be an influence in the East Tokyo area - for His Glory!

Oyumino Christ Church - Joint Worship

Our Church, Oyumino Christ Church (おゆみ野キリスト教会) currently meets in 3 different locations on Sunday mornings. Quarterly, we all meet together for worship (200+ people). This time we all squished together to take a photo for the church Christmas card.


Does this church seem small to you? Well, the average congregation in Japan has only 32 people, so this church is actually "quite huge" in Japan!

This photo primarily includes Japanese Christians, plus some missionaries and a number of not-yet-believing Japanese who regularly attend.

Please join us in praying for our Church.
- Pray for each location (Oyumnio, Honda, Toke) to continue to grow through conversions in each area.
- Pray for the depth and number of cell groups in the church to grow.
- Pray for more men to be raised up as Elders in the Church.
- Pray for the many members whose spouses do not yet believe.
- Pray that young families would be able to raise their children to follow the Lord, when it is so 'against the grain' of the culture.
- Pray for the one missionary and 2 Japanese pastors who are leading these 3 congregations.

Yukata day at Oyumino Alive

Yukata are a lighter version of the traditional japanese kimono. On this particular Sunday, a whole group of us came to Sunday morning worship in our yukata! Even the kids wore theirs :)

A beautiful wedding

The new ...
Mr. and Mrs. Jason and Ai Kueh

It was such a joy to celebrate the wedding of such a special couple!
This was our first wedding at Honda Chapel and such a great celebration!

The new couple

My attempt at an artsy photo at the pool-side reception

Beautiful bridesmaids and a sweet friend

The tables at the reception

We look forward to spending time this fall as couples. :)

Japanese Worship - Oyumino Alive Church

Here is a 2 min clip from a recent worship service at Oyumino Alive Church. Atsushi on drums, John on piano, Keisuke on guitar and vocals, and me on bass. :)

We lead worship bilingually, but I figured you already know the songs in English so I just posted clips of "Hosanna", "Once Again", and "Blessed Be Your Name" sung in Japanese. Enjoy!

Crossway: AliveHouse - Music Outreach Event

In early August, we had an outreach event call "Oyumino Alivehouse" for local student musicians to play. We were excited to have 5 different musical acts and a total of 14 students, in addition to missionaries and Church members who were there.


Here is a video of a new student friend named Yuka, who was amazing! This clip also shows everyone in the room, to give you an idea of the atmosphere, plus a little of John and Keisuke. Enjoy!

This is a short video of our friend Kakeru jamming out with a guitar instrumental.