...work is the expenditure of energy (whether manual or mental or both) in the service of others, which brings fulfillment to the worker, benefit to the community, and glory to God. - John Stott
Saturday, January 27, 2007
What is God's definition of work?
I ran across this great quote in the book called "God is at Work", which is one of the books I am reading for my EQUIP training now.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Praying for a path to Japan
Since about halfway through my last two week trip to Japan in September 2006, I have been sensing that God has work for me to do by serving him in Japan. At first, I thought it was in the rural beach community of Ichinomiya Beach (Chiba), where I first had this feeling. This is home of some new and dear Christian friends, as well as, Christian Surfers Japan. As I continued to pray about this idea during the fall, I started to consider some potential options in Chiba, which was my first choice of an area to consider serving.
I also started to explore the concept of "Business As Ministry" (BAM), and began to think more about my spiritual gifts, heart/passions, abilities, personality, and experience (SHAPE). The more I considered my SHAPE, the more I started to think that God might want to use me in Tokyo in a BAM capacity. In November, I revisited EQUIP, which teaches a BAM framework and then deploys it in context of a consulting venture with small to medium companies. More than a handful of friends and former work colleagues have taken the EQUIP path, something I've thought about for years now. I guess it wasn't the right season for me before to consider EQUIP seriously. However now in the context of seeking the Lord's plan for my life and occupation/calling, especially in relation to my desire to serve him in Japan, it really makes sense for me to take the EQUIP training. This training has been opening my mind to how often business and ministry are viewed by Christians as separate things, which don't need integration. The EQUIP training is reorienting my thinking about the purpose of being in business and it seems like great preparation to working in an intense business culture like Tokyo.
In December, after attending the "Open for Business" track at Urbana 06 and talking to a variety of people at the conference who are doing ministry (many in Japan), I felt further confirmation that there is a GREAT need for people to serve within the city of Tokyo in the context of the business environment. The work culture of Tokyo has a reputation of being very intense with long hours. There are two evening rush hours on the Tokyo train system, roughly about 6:00p and 11:00p. It's very common for men to commute into the city from the suburbs, going to work very early and returning home very late. Some men keep an apartment in Tokyo to avoid the long commute, but this separates them from their families during the week. Often they really only see their families on the weekends, and then the dads are so tired they want to sleep most of the weekend to rest. In Tokyo, there's also a bustling singles or young professionals culture that thrives after work. It's not uncommon for people to go out with coworkers and friends most nights after work until the wee hours when the bars close. Sometimes they go to an Internet cafe to catch a few hours sleep if they miss their last train and can't get home before the next work day.
Two themes kept coming to mind, as I have talked to people who work in or are familiar with the Tokyo work culture. First, people often still follow the post-WWII work model of working long hours, which was necessary after the war to rebuild the country. But the country is rebuilt and most Japanese don't really have any physical needs like the rest of Asia or the developing world. Perhaps it's time to back the throttle off now folks! You've built the country, now learn to relax a little and recharge in healthy ways. I really sense there isn't much life work balance in Tokyo, especially when I compare it to San Francisco's and Silicon Valley's "work hard / play hard" culture. I have become so accustom to the work culture of the technology sector, where flex hours and working at home or at the office are all fluid variables. A culture that values getting things done over "face time" in the office. It's still common in Tokyo for staff to be in the office until their manager leaves for the evening.
Second, the suicide rate in Japan has skyrocket over the years, which has started to include young children. 2005 marked the eighth consecutive year that suicides in Japan topped 30,000 people, as well as the eighth consecutive year that the suicide rate exceeded 24 per 100,000. Two recent trends which have received extensive coverage in the media are suicides by youths attributed to schoolyard bullying, and "netto shinju" or group suicides arranged on Internet websites.
Japanese tradition and society have wonderful qualities, but on a whole people seem to sense there must be more to life than working so hard at school or work. People are looking for a true purpose. Often people ask me, "Why are you so interested in ministry in Japan?" Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how Japan is a culture that doesn't really have any material poverty, but their spiritual poverty is great! This fact really greaves my heart, and as I walked around the exhibit booths in Urbana 06 and saw all the opportunities to go to places with such great needs: Africa, China, South East Asia, to name a few. I thought most people seem to be overlooking Japan, which is the one place I really feel called to make an impact for the Lord's kingdom. I think most people don't think about Japan and the true spiritual poverty that exists there.
I have been encouraged by my new friend Bob (who I met at Urbana 06) to pray about what sort of mission God would use me for in Japan. Even to pray about how many Japanese could come to know Christ within a given time frame. Recently, I was praying early in the morning about this and I thought "Perhaps God would create the same number of Christians that are now in South Korea in Japan too within the next 8 years." That number seems really big to me in such a short time period, but God doesn't do things small, so let's aim high! :) After I finished praying, I checked my email and I had one from Bob. Here's the sentence that really woke me up that morning. "Richard...I believe the bare minimum would be to ask for at least what He has accomplished in South Korea, except that in this current acceleration of peoples being harvested into the Kingdom, a much shorter time period, possibly as little as 8 years, using II Timothy 2:2 Faithful Men ... and the ability He will give you and your teams to quickly find and disciple them as disciplers of disciplers of disciplers ..." When I read this only minutes after I had a similar thought in prayer, I was really awake!
As I consider this huge idea and the potential of moving to Tokyo in 2007, I will continue to dive into the Word, my Equip training, and boldly seek the Lord's plans for service in Japan. Please pray that I will have clarity on this. Domo arigato gozaimasu!
I also started to explore the concept of "Business As Ministry" (BAM), and began to think more about my spiritual gifts, heart/passions, abilities, personality, and experience (SHAPE). The more I considered my SHAPE, the more I started to think that God might want to use me in Tokyo in a BAM capacity. In November, I revisited EQUIP, which teaches a BAM framework and then deploys it in context of a consulting venture with small to medium companies. More than a handful of friends and former work colleagues have taken the EQUIP path, something I've thought about for years now. I guess it wasn't the right season for me before to consider EQUIP seriously. However now in the context of seeking the Lord's plan for my life and occupation/calling, especially in relation to my desire to serve him in Japan, it really makes sense for me to take the EQUIP training. This training has been opening my mind to how often business and ministry are viewed by Christians as separate things, which don't need integration. The EQUIP training is reorienting my thinking about the purpose of being in business and it seems like great preparation to working in an intense business culture like Tokyo.
In December, after attending the "Open for Business" track at Urbana 06 and talking to a variety of people at the conference who are doing ministry (many in Japan), I felt further confirmation that there is a GREAT need for people to serve within the city of Tokyo in the context of the business environment. The work culture of Tokyo has a reputation of being very intense with long hours. There are two evening rush hours on the Tokyo train system, roughly about 6:00p and 11:00p. It's very common for men to commute into the city from the suburbs, going to work very early and returning home very late. Some men keep an apartment in Tokyo to avoid the long commute, but this separates them from their families during the week. Often they really only see their families on the weekends, and then the dads are so tired they want to sleep most of the weekend to rest. In Tokyo, there's also a bustling singles or young professionals culture that thrives after work. It's not uncommon for people to go out with coworkers and friends most nights after work until the wee hours when the bars close. Sometimes they go to an Internet cafe to catch a few hours sleep if they miss their last train and can't get home before the next work day.
Two themes kept coming to mind, as I have talked to people who work in or are familiar with the Tokyo work culture. First, people often still follow the post-WWII work model of working long hours, which was necessary after the war to rebuild the country. But the country is rebuilt and most Japanese don't really have any physical needs like the rest of Asia or the developing world. Perhaps it's time to back the throttle off now folks! You've built the country, now learn to relax a little and recharge in healthy ways. I really sense there isn't much life work balance in Tokyo, especially when I compare it to San Francisco's and Silicon Valley's "work hard / play hard" culture. I have become so accustom to the work culture of the technology sector, where flex hours and working at home or at the office are all fluid variables. A culture that values getting things done over "face time" in the office. It's still common in Tokyo for staff to be in the office until their manager leaves for the evening.
Second, the suicide rate in Japan has skyrocket over the years, which has started to include young children. 2005 marked the eighth consecutive year that suicides in Japan topped 30,000 people, as well as the eighth consecutive year that the suicide rate exceeded 24 per 100,000. Two recent trends which have received extensive coverage in the media are suicides by youths attributed to schoolyard bullying, and "netto shinju" or group suicides arranged on Internet websites.
Japanese tradition and society have wonderful qualities, but on a whole people seem to sense there must be more to life than working so hard at school or work. People are looking for a true purpose. Often people ask me, "Why are you so interested in ministry in Japan?" Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how Japan is a culture that doesn't really have any material poverty, but their spiritual poverty is great! This fact really greaves my heart, and as I walked around the exhibit booths in Urbana 06 and saw all the opportunities to go to places with such great needs: Africa, China, South East Asia, to name a few. I thought most people seem to be overlooking Japan, which is the one place I really feel called to make an impact for the Lord's kingdom. I think most people don't think about Japan and the true spiritual poverty that exists there.
I have been encouraged by my new friend Bob (who I met at Urbana 06) to pray about what sort of mission God would use me for in Japan. Even to pray about how many Japanese could come to know Christ within a given time frame. Recently, I was praying early in the morning about this and I thought "Perhaps God would create the same number of Christians that are now in South Korea in Japan too within the next 8 years." That number seems really big to me in such a short time period, but God doesn't do things small, so let's aim high! :) After I finished praying, I checked my email and I had one from Bob. Here's the sentence that really woke me up that morning. "Richard...I believe the bare minimum would be to ask for at least what He has accomplished in South Korea, except that in this current acceleration of peoples being harvested into the Kingdom, a much shorter time period, possibly as little as 8 years, using II Timothy 2:2 Faithful Men ... and the ability He will give you and your teams to quickly find and disciple them as disciplers of disciplers of disciplers ..." When I read this only minutes after I had a similar thought in prayer, I was really awake!
As I consider this huge idea and the potential of moving to Tokyo in 2007, I will continue to dive into the Word, my Equip training, and boldly seek the Lord's plans for service in Japan. Please pray that I will have clarity on this. Domo arigato gozaimasu!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
The pleasure and pain of starting Equip
My Equip training started yesterday (Sat 01/13), and something odd happened to me too. I woke up Saturday morning with some pain in abdomen (stomach & back) area. It wasn't too strong, but painful. I ate breakfast at home in San Franicsco and went to my Equip training at 9:15a down in the peninsula. Once at the training, I didn't feel like eating anything else. Most of the people there were talking and eating fruit, bagels, muffins, and having coffee, tea or juice. The pain in my abdomen started to increase, but then went away completely. About 1:00p, I ate lunch and felt fine. Then at 3:00p I had some hot tea and a couple cookies. As soon as I ate the first bite of the cookie my abdomen area started to feel bad again, then it faded. This seemed odd to me, since I had a moderate size lunch without feeling any pain. We had a time of sharing from 4:00p to 6:30p. During this time I felt normal.
Then it was my turn to go up in front of the group for my seven minutes of testimony. I shared about my background and the history of my relationship with Christ. Once I started talking about Japan, I became very emotional. I was trying so hard not to cry. As I looked out into the 40 + people in the room, I could see some other people were starting to cry now. That really got me choked up. I could barely talk and was really getting embarrassed, but it felt good to share what is on my heart about Japan with my new Equip family. Lynn Johnson (co-founder of Equip) randomly asked a man named Paul to come up and pray for me with her. They both laid their hands on me and prayed for a while. After they prayed for me, a women from South Africa (family friend of the Johnson's) spoke out. She said that she had two words for me that she believes God gave her to her to tell me. She said, "Wild Warrior...Richard, you are a WILD WARRIOR for God in Japan." Another person came forward, her name is Kim (another co-founder of Equip) and said after hearing me talk, this scripture came to her mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Then she said, "He will sustain you. You are an overcomer." I felt very encouraged by the support I was receiving and more convicted to seek God's plan for Japan and how I can serve him there. When Lynn chose Paul to come up and pray for me, she said she didn't realize that Paul daughter has a heart for Japan too. It's amazing how God weaves the tapestry of our lives together. It was a pretty amazing experience, and I really needed some tissues after that.
Within the hour my abdomen pains came back with a vengeance. I skipped dinner and went into the media room and laid down on a couch. After an hour of trying to ignore the increasing pain, I decided to leave the Johnson's home and drive back to San Francisco. The pain grew more intense and climbed to a level that made me think about going to the hospital. While laying in bed that night, I tried to endure the pain by praying and thinking of other things. At some point close to 3 or 4 AM I fell asleep for a couple hours. Many times during the night I thought that I might be under some sort of spiritual attack. I am not a doctor, but the circumstances surrounding the pain and how it came and went several times, seemed so random to me. As I write this, it's 2:30p on the following Sunday and I can eat soup and toast now, my first food in about 24 hours. WOW! What a way to start the Equip training. I have a feeling this is going to be a wild ride. :)
Update: One of my friends in Japan became sick with stomach pains too at the same time I was beginning to feel the intense pain on Saturday PM. I told her earlier in the day that I was going to the Equip training and she had prayed for me, but she didn't know I was feeling so poorly at the time of the evening pains.
Then it was my turn to go up in front of the group for my seven minutes of testimony. I shared about my background and the history of my relationship with Christ. Once I started talking about Japan, I became very emotional. I was trying so hard not to cry. As I looked out into the 40 + people in the room, I could see some other people were starting to cry now. That really got me choked up. I could barely talk and was really getting embarrassed, but it felt good to share what is on my heart about Japan with my new Equip family. Lynn Johnson (co-founder of Equip) randomly asked a man named Paul to come up and pray for me with her. They both laid their hands on me and prayed for a while. After they prayed for me, a women from South Africa (family friend of the Johnson's) spoke out. She said that she had two words for me that she believes God gave her to her to tell me. She said, "Wild Warrior...Richard, you are a WILD WARRIOR for God in Japan." Another person came forward, her name is Kim (another co-founder of Equip) and said after hearing me talk, this scripture came to her mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Then she said, "He will sustain you. You are an overcomer." I felt very encouraged by the support I was receiving and more convicted to seek God's plan for Japan and how I can serve him there. When Lynn chose Paul to come up and pray for me, she said she didn't realize that Paul daughter has a heart for Japan too. It's amazing how God weaves the tapestry of our lives together. It was a pretty amazing experience, and I really needed some tissues after that.
Within the hour my abdomen pains came back with a vengeance. I skipped dinner and went into the media room and laid down on a couch. After an hour of trying to ignore the increasing pain, I decided to leave the Johnson's home and drive back to San Francisco. The pain grew more intense and climbed to a level that made me think about going to the hospital. While laying in bed that night, I tried to endure the pain by praying and thinking of other things. At some point close to 3 or 4 AM I fell asleep for a couple hours. Many times during the night I thought that I might be under some sort of spiritual attack. I am not a doctor, but the circumstances surrounding the pain and how it came and went several times, seemed so random to me. As I write this, it's 2:30p on the following Sunday and I can eat soup and toast now, my first food in about 24 hours. WOW! What a way to start the Equip training. I have a feeling this is going to be a wild ride. :)
Update: One of my friends in Japan became sick with stomach pains too at the same time I was beginning to feel the intense pain on Saturday PM. I told her earlier in the day that I was going to the Equip training and she had prayed for me, but she didn't know I was feeling so poorly at the time of the evening pains.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Power For Living
Prayer Requested for Media Campaign in Japan Barring sudden media restrictions, most Japanese Christians will be just as surprised as anyone to see a nationwide media campaign offering a free gospel book during the month of January. The following is an urgent prayer request JEMA received recently regarding this project.
..................................
Greetings in the name of our Lord! As we begin 2007, I have an urgent prayer request. A huge nationwide evangelism campaign will start on January 6 and last for one month. I have never seen an evangelism campaign of this scope ever held by churches in Japan. Please pray!
The project is as follows...
Name: Power for Living
Plan: Distribute a free gospel book called "Power For Living" that Christian celebrities will endorse through various media. People will be able to order the book by telephone, through the internet, by mail, etc.
Advertising venues: Television commercials, newpaper inserts, magazines, train stations, billboards, etc.
Christians in the commercials: Trey Hillman (manager of Nippon Ham Fighters), Sayuri Kume (former Saki Kubota), Verbal (m-flo rapper), Janet Lynn (figure skater).
..................................
Greetings in the name of our Lord! As we begin 2007, I have an urgent prayer request. A huge nationwide evangelism campaign will start on January 6 and last for one month. I have never seen an evangelism campaign of this scope ever held by churches in Japan. Please pray!
The project is as follows...
Name: Power for Living
Plan: Distribute a free gospel book called "Power For Living" that Christian celebrities will endorse through various media. People will be able to order the book by telephone, through the internet, by mail, etc.
Advertising venues: Television commercials, newpaper inserts, magazines, train stations, billboards, etc.
Christians in the commercials: Trey Hillman (manager of Nippon Ham Fighters), Sayuri Kume (former Saki Kubota), Verbal (m-flo rapper), Janet Lynn (figure skater).
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Urbana 06 - Final Thoughts
The fifth and final day of Urbana 06 ended the conference and 2006 with a bang. There were a variety of sessions during the day and the evening grand finale ran from 7:30p to 12:15a. It was fun to ring in the new year with 22,000 people all praising God. It was a really energizing experience!
As I reflect on my first Urbana, a few things come to mind. I was amazed at how courteous and thoughtful most people I met at the conference seemed to be and how deliberate and serious people were in their faith. This was really encouraging to me and quite contagious! The exhibitor / booth area at the America's Center contained hundreds of missions agencies and Christian (mostly seminaries) schools. It was amazing to see how many different groups are focused on spreading the Gospel. The big focus seemed to be Africa and AIDS this year. Bono delivered a very thoughtful speech to the conference and really encouraged the attendees to make a difference in the world and to take action now. The issues of extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa are our generations mega issues, and he challenged us to address these issues now and make a global change. I also felt really encouraged by all the great music, theatrical performances and sermons. I thought Rick and Kay Warren's talks on the "Challenge to Hear God's Call" was perfect for this conference too and it really spoke to me during this phase of my life.
All and all, I feel really encouraged as I consider a transition in 2007 to Japan with my company (Motorola), which will give me the chance to explore BAM in Tokyo. Please pray that I'll see God's plan for me in Japan as I consider the fact that less than half of one percent of the Japanese population have placed their faith in Jesus Christ.
Matthew 9:37-38
37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
As I reflect on my first Urbana, a few things come to mind. I was amazed at how courteous and thoughtful most people I met at the conference seemed to be and how deliberate and serious people were in their faith. This was really encouraging to me and quite contagious! The exhibitor / booth area at the America's Center contained hundreds of missions agencies and Christian (mostly seminaries) schools. It was amazing to see how many different groups are focused on spreading the Gospel. The big focus seemed to be Africa and AIDS this year. Bono delivered a very thoughtful speech to the conference and really encouraged the attendees to make a difference in the world and to take action now. The issues of extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa are our generations mega issues, and he challenged us to address these issues now and make a global change. I also felt really encouraged by all the great music, theatrical performances and sermons. I thought Rick and Kay Warren's talks on the "Challenge to Hear God's Call" was perfect for this conference too and it really spoke to me during this phase of my life.
All and all, I feel really encouraged as I consider a transition in 2007 to Japan with my company (Motorola), which will give me the chance to explore BAM in Tokyo. Please pray that I'll see God's plan for me in Japan as I consider the fact that less than half of one percent of the Japanese population have placed their faith in Jesus Christ.
Matthew 9:37-38
37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
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