"Hurry Up and Wait On the Lord"

Thank you, Petra, for that great turn of phrase (from their song "More Power to Ya"). It's something I am learning to appreciate as it loses its humor in the matter of our team's visas.

Right now, my two least-favorite questions in the world are:

"So when are you leaving?"

"Any news on your visa yet?"

There are two main reasons why I dislike them. I hear them constantly, in almost every conversation, and I know in my head that friends ask because they care. However, when coupled with reason #2--my utter lack of knowledge and mild resulting frustration with the whole situation--I am put in the position of having no easy answer besides a shrug or head-shake on something that is clearly important to me. Feeling powerless, even when I know the reasons are bureaucratic and clearly out of my hands, still stinks.

I also don't like these questions because they suggest that my life and my trip are inextricable. The undertone, which I realize is only in my head, is that my time in the current liminal state is being wasted or at least not worth similar inquiry.

I wonder if other missionaries struggle with this problem: people from their home area only asking about ministry business instead of interacting with them as they would with friends back home and also asking a few questions to draw them out about their specialized role in the Body of Christ. Perhaps that kind of situation is simply another way we overly elevate those in full-time ministry work above 'regular' folk even though God clearly states through Paul that leadership in different areas is to equip all the saints to do ministry together, with no status differentiation (Ephesians 4:7-16).

Thank God for those of you who have encouraged me to take things step by step and invest this time in spiritual preparation balanced with physical & psychological rest. I have been able to do so, if with fewer immediate results than I might wish.

And don't worry; when I know the answers I will share them loud & clear. Our social networking technologies, while a Godsend for long-distance communication, have accustomed us (at least me) to thinking about people more as tidbits of data and factoids than whole beings created in the image of our Creator. In this respect, then, they curse us by trivializing authentic relationships--or at the very least carry the threat of doing so.

Yet while I realize this and don't like it, I know that personal data is important. I also know that I don't know squat about the current visa progress and that in God's timing that's quite all right.

"Many seek the ruler's favor,

But justice for man comes from the Lord."

(Proverbs 29:27)

If that's the case, then let's ask Him for it!

Prayer for Japan: Sins of Saul (Feb. 2011)

Dear prayer family,

Thank you for your continued prayer support and concern regarding my calling to Japan! Not only am I blessed by your care, but it's a critical part of the spiritual battle for the glory of God there in the souls of Japanese--the "air war," as my pastor once called it.

In keeping with the pattern of providing topical prayer needs, this month we'll focus on perhaps the two greatest obstacles in the Japanese heart to true repentance & faith. Both are exemplified in the pitiful life of Israel's first king Saul.

The first sin is pride, which is linked to the second: witchcraft/demonic involvement.

--

...Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”

And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

So Samuel said:

"Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king." (1 Samuel 15:17-23)

--

So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But he did not inquire of the LORD; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. (1 Chronicles 10:13-14)

--

1. Please pray that the Lord would break down the national pride of the Japanese. Not only must every material import, from McDonald's to electronics, be adapted to their tastes, but outside ideas and beliefs must also 'fit' with what already exists rather than be accepted on their own merits. In addition, there has been no apologizing for the war crimes and imperialism of the 20th century. May Japanese believers lead their country and people in humility, especially in seeking to bless other Asian people groups.

2. Please pray that individual pride would be brought low. There is considerable personal cost to truly follow Christ in this society; believers are often alone in their families and religion that goes beyond annual rituals is frowned upon as abnormal. May the gospel be preached and listeners humbled to repent & believe!

3. Please pray that fleshly pride would be confessed and repented of in the church. Japan is in desperate need of bold, holy and pure groups of believers...but the few congregations are more known for division and legalism than heart transformation by the Holy Spirit and submission to the Lord's revealed will in Scripture. May love and unity in the truth prevail.

4. Please pray against the rampant spiritual deception. Fortune-tellers and palm-readers at street stands near train stations in the evening are perhaps the most obvious indicator, but the enemy of souls is having a real field day deluding this land. From Western cults (Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons) to a slew of so-called "new religions" mixing a bit of 'Christianity' into Buddhist and New Age techniques, there are thousands of counterfeits. Pray that those bound by these lies would be freed by the truth of the true Jesus--just as in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6.

5. Please pray for Christians to renounce all ways of darkness. In a land where most can still think "To be Japanese is to go to a [Buddhist] temple on New Year's Day," compromise is a daily temptation. This--not marriage, as commonly supposed--is the actual context for 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, good verses to pray for the Body here as well.

6. Please pray for Jesus's victory over all demonic powers in the cross (Colossians 2:15) to be powerfully displayed.

7. Please pray for me to give up my attempts to earn God's or man's approval and rest in the grace given through Christ's life, death and resurrection--that as I do so, He would open up doors in the Nagoya area for ministry soon.


Your brother in Jesus ("humble in heart"--Matthew 11:29 NIV),

Kylan

Prayer for Japan #2: Children (January 2011)

Dear sinners made sons of the Most High in His only Son,

May a deeper sense of His mercy (Exodus 33:15-19) stir your heart to think of and praise our Lord today.

Thank you for your prayers! God has been showing answers in many ways, and one which some have heard is that while at a friend's wedding in the country town of Turlock, I made the acquaintance of a minister involved in training church planters. I told him that I was passionate about raising up new churches, was asked where and replied "Japan."

"Where in Japan?"

"Nagoya," I said, preparing to explain its location.

He then told me that he is training several pastors there already! Our God is so faithful to bring about His will before we even know what's going on.

Now as to my prayer requests:

1. The greater Nagoya area has over 8.7 million people (denser than 3500/square mile) and, as I mentioned last letter, the highest concentration of cities & large towns without churches in all Japan. Please continue to pray for not only more believers but holy and bold believers to be multiplied in this area, then gathered into worshipping congregations that are taught the rightly-divided Word of truth.

2. For the low number of Japanese children. The nation is at a crisis point given that its birthrate is one of the world's lowest, some factors being the prevalence of abortion (no Godly understanding of life's worth), the rising age of marriage (lack of family cohesion) and the tendency to see kids as a burden on time and finances (materialism and selfishness). Please pray that these spiritual barriers, so contrary to Genesis 1:25-31, would be broken down and the hearts of parents turned toward their children.

3. For the great opportunity afforded by children's ministry. Many of us know about the "10/40 window" of unreached people groups, but a new buzzword is the "10-14 window": the age range in which most believers either first believed or truly believed with understanding (myself included). Salvation is of the Lord and His grace alone, so please beg Him to have mercy on the current generation of Japanese kids: that they would be in contact with believers and hear the gospel; that many, hearing, would believe; that the enemy's strongholds of worldly pleasures, peer approval and despair (suicides by middle-schoolers sadden but no longer shock) would be broken; that new young believers would be effectively discipled.

4. For the kids of missionaries and believers. Many pastor's kids are more influenced by the school clubs where they spend the majority of their time and cultural values than the Word. Pray for them to repent and have their own faith in Jesus, as well as for their witness to and example among their peers. Pray for their parents to be filled with His love, wisdom and Godly counsel, and for many kids to spend their lives serving the Lord in Japan.

5. For orphans and kids from broken families. There is a near-total lack of cultural altruism, as the people you help belong to your club or social circle, and as a result adoption and care of neglected children is rare. There is apparently only one orphanage in the entire country with entirely Christian staff, as the others don't have enough believers (or those with the desired qualifications) to fill positions. Cults and social groups have stepped into the void, so please pray for the salvation of these kids as well as the church to truly serve the orphan & widow (James 1:27).

6. For my further preparation in repentance and faith, deepening in real love of the Lord and mortification of the flesh daily.

Your brother in Jesus,

Kylan

Prayer for Japan #1 (December 2010)

Dear spiritual family,

Greetings from east Oakland! I pray that you are growing in obedient separation to Jesus and wonder at our Triune God.

It’s been over 3 months since I finished my church internship at ReGeneration, during which the Lord confirmed my calling as a missionary to Japan. It grieves me to know that over 400,000 Japanese live in 20 towns in or around the city of Nagoya—none of which has believers gathering in it! (Last I heard, there were more Jehovah's Witnesses--a mission field!--nationwide than professing evangelical Christians.)

Through the Perspectives course on world missions, I caught the vision for local church planting: trusting God to save [Japanese] people, training them in simple and reproducible Christian living, then appointing elders and departing in order to let them be sustained by the Holy Spirit. My heart is to become part of a mostly national team devoted to such work in this least-churched region of Japan in or shortly after July 2011.

What will it take? Being broken of my own pride and cowardice in personal witness—how else can I minister to a people who have yet to apologize for their actions in greater Asia during World War II and do not see themselves as needing to repent & find forgiveness? Being placed in a team—how else can the fullness of Christ’s body be seen and the Biblical model for sowing together ( ) be replicated?

And, most germane to you, dear reader: it will take being lifted up in prayer—only God can do these things, and when He answers it will be clear that His is the glory for accomplishing them!

1) Please pray for me to be broken in humility at my own sinfulness and totally dependent on the will & grace of the Lord—which will as a side effect produce boldness, I think

2) Please ask that God would be glorified in and Christ preached to the greater Nagoya area’s 400,000+ people in towns & cities without a church body

3) Please ask God to provide laborers, especially from within Japan, for this region and task

4) Please ask the Lord to give me wisdom for obtaining necessary or helpful personal things: a visa, contact with church planting mentor(s), experience in evangelism and other ministries, understanding of the Japanese language & culture

If you have any Scripture, advice, or questions, please let me know! I am so grateful I can send this to you and appreciate in advance your faithful prayers. Feel free to forward it to others who will also pray.


Your brother in Him Who was broken for us,

Kylan

Heart-Level Healing

To sum up the trip, I'd like to talk about. I learned a lot through the six-week ministry experience in Tokyo, as I'd hoped, but this was the biggest inadvertant lesson.

I am prone to dismiss psychological talk. Yes, the Bible has much to say in terms of comfort and encouragement, and I realize the value of such edification, but seeing in childhood pain the root of today's actions seemed to avoid responsibility. That was before project debriefing.

A dear friend of mine, who was very honest about his personal struggles while in Tokyo, has long battled depression. If he feels down or excluded, sometimes voices inside his head tell him that he deserves what he's going through, leading him to further isolate himself. I noticed that while our team was getting ready to head back to the U.S. in high spirits, he was present for games (Nertz, Settlers of Catan) but otherwise shying away from group activity. Tried to encourage him in pursuing interaction--without success.

Back in LA, Campus Crusade had scheduled a two-hour period where we as a team could air any remaining concerns or apologize to one another. Though I knew I had some selfishness/isolation tendencies of my own to confess, I wasn't anticipating what came next. My friend had a panic attack! Another friend treated his hyperventilation by having him breathe into a paper bag, but then the struggle began.

We asked him what was going on; he began saying that he was "rotten to the core" and always ruining everything. The latter, as several of us pointed out, was not true at all--he had actually been a huge source of joy and strength by unashamedly sharing his weaknesses and growing in love for us & the Japanese students. The former was a lie of the devil, given that my friend is fully redeemed with the blood of Jesus and thus given His perfect character! We prayed truth from the Bible over him, but it was heartbreaking to hear him sob that we should be spending our time on someone else. Several people, including myself, were able to share deeper sins than expected because of his public struggle.

At the next day's encouragement session, he had retreated inward and kept silent while we shared what we each loved about every team member. When the time was over, his team leader came up and gave him a big, unreciprocated hug. I left while the embrace was still in progress. A few others stayed behind and read him Scripture, particularly Romans 5 & 8, as they prayed over him again. When confronted directly with the fact that Christ has already seen us at our worst and borne our every sin, requiring us only to have faith in [trust & obey] Him, my friend finally accepted healing--and I saw him next with a ridiculous grin all across his face. God restored his joy!

What did I learn from this?

1) The Word of God is true: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:8-10) We must acknowledge our sins, even to one another.

2) The truth of God's Word, not even seemingly sound advice, is what we need to effectively combat our & other's problems.

3) God is still healing people, and this is something nonbelievers as well as Christians need from Him. Past hurts matter to Him Who has already dealt with them, and I trust that my brother will be specially equipped for ministry through this process of growth.

4) Perseverance in relationships & prayer bear real Spiritual fruit as God gives the increase.

5) God is merciful!

Deep Encouragement

Rest is critical to our lives, as we have been given eternal freedom from our work through trust in Jesus and His voluntary sacrifice in our place. In addition, God has created the Sabbath for man so that we remember our limitations and have time to specifically acknowledge His Lordship over our lives. This weekend, I was able to enjoy my necessary rest by visiting my old church (Horizon Chapel) for Saturday night & Sunday morning services.

The first time I came out to church, each completely unfamiliar Japanese station name only furthered fears of missing the station; the half-hour train ride seemed endless. This time, it felt like I barely had time to continue reading the Japanese novel Freezing Point (an exploration of original sin) before stepping off the platform at Machida and working my way through streets crowded with Sunday shoppers. As soon as I saw the church building, I started running with excitement, eager to rejoin my Spiritual family!

Reaction of the night: Hide-kun, my closest Japanese friend. I snuck into the sanctuary without catching his eye and tapped him on the shoulder. He was so surprised that all he could say for a minute was my name! I was super-glad to see my pastor Jeremiah and former boss Kevin as well as several other familiar faces.

The message was focused applying Jesus's model prayer when on our knees (though Jeremiah stressed that only the position of our hearts is important to God). I was particularly reminded to be directly praising the Lord and giving specific thanks to Him--things we tend to omit when coming to prayer solely to receive from God. This is one of the reasons why Jesus placed worship and requests for the Father's kingdom before our personal requests.

Went over to "Auntie" Shigeko-san's house for a delicious feast, over which Michiko-san and I got to share about grace and true religion with Shigeko-san's husband. Kevin also persuaded two college students from Texas, also visiting for campus ministry, to try natto for the first time. I ended up scarfing down their "interesting"-tasting portions and thus tainting all my further cultural suggestions in their eyes. Those to whom it is given to enjoy tastefully decomposing food should accept it, right?

Today, I enjoyed breakfast at the Boeks just like old times (though I missed meeting their daughter, who's away at a summer camp). The two little dudes had a soccer tournament and took off as soon as Geigy finished making their Japanese-style boxed lunches. She then shared that she thinks Christians could be much more effective witnesses in Japan if church was moved to, say, Saturday evening and Sunday was a free day to develop loving relationships with the shoppers and resting businessmen.

The second service also focused on prayer, this time from James 5. Going to God in every circumstance with faith is clearly the key, but the verses on healing received unexpected emphasis when Scott shared about his wife's miraculous physical recovery (still awaiting doctor confirmation) last week in response to corporate prayer & oil anointing.

Finally, I was taken out to lunch (eel over rice--my favorite) by brother Stephen, a dear friend who continually shows love by Scripturally encouraging & exhorting me onward in Christlikeness. He specifically charged me with Isaiah 50:4, which speaks of the faithfulness of the prophecied Servant of Israel, to take time in the mornings to study the Word and hear from Him Who came as that Servant in order to strengthen myself and others. That's true education. May we also continue speaking the Word to one another and grow up together in all things into Christ our Head. Thankfully, that growth will develop through times of rest.

Ministry in Motion

It's been three weeks on campus so far and the weather is slowly getting summery, a nice mirror of how our team has been growing together and slowly seeing the Lord work among our new Japanese friends. One thing that has been personally difficult is that few of the students I've met have become friends--I'm not used to slowly building relationships, and my desire to move things to a Spiritual level may have alienated some of the guys I've talked with thus far. That said, one person in Gakugei University's wind ensemble with whom I had a long chat came out to our English lunch, which was exciting.

To balance this out, I am learning to rejoice with those on my team who are rejoicing, sharing in their triumphs. My co-leader Jess, for instance, struck up a near-instant friendship with a girl who works at our local bread shop; after several brief conversations while she was on the job, they met and talked for 4 hours! Jack & Kyle met someone who could speak English well and had such a great conversation that their new friend skipped work to come to our "Discover Friends" party last night!

Yes, it's frustrating to spend an afternoon walking around campus (especially on a bright, sunny day) and find no one willing to talk--partially because class schedules are more like American high schools and lounging around isn't popular. However, I can take joy in the special things God lets me do, like serving as a translator when the language barrier is high or directly addressing Spiritual things in Japanese with other teammate's friends.

While we have gotten to share about who God is and why He sent Jesus with several people, it's awesome to know that two have definitely accepted Christ as their Savior and others are seriously considering it! Considering that the Japanese culture is generally apathetic to Jesus and hostile to religion, this is amazing. The other team has been barred from returning to one of their campuses, in part because the administration thinks that we are out to recruit their students. They are wrong--God is doing the work, and He cannot be stopped!