Japan via South America

We are pleased to welcome again the Okada family who will be serving the Lord in Japan.  As mentioned in earlier posts, the South America Missions Department has been working to cultivate relationships with the Japanese church in Japan.  There are particular churches working with the Brazilian Nikkei community there.  Pastor John brokered a meeting between Pastor Adriano Kuroki and Mark Okada in Tokyo to determine if a ministry opportunity could be pursued this summer.

JEMS is delighted that God opened all the doors and that the Okadas are responding with such good hearts.  They will be serving in a camp ministry outside of Tokyo.  Please pray for (L-R) Mark, Lilly, Leighton, Lauren, Luke, Lindsey, Pam.  (Click photo to expand).

Good stuff!

There's so much good stuff going on ministry-wise.  I'm grateful for your prayers as God is opening doors on several fronts.  

Armed with brochures and my notes in Portuguese, I am sharing at the Brazilian Baptist Church in Los Angeles (below).  

  

Arranging for meetings in Tokyo with a Brazilian Nikkei pastor in order that a possible team ministry might be created there for this August.

Preparing our North American young adults for short-term service.  

Praying with JEMS SoAm alumni who will be serving in Brazil this summer with another agency that deals with human trafficking.

Traveling to San Diego to meet with potential supporters and to express appreciation to the SD Japanese Christian Church for their many years of financial and prayer support.  

My schedule is delightfully full these days.  Thank you for allowing me to serve with JEMS through your prayers and financial support!

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Forgetting how to engage

In a series of messages that I am preparing, I share the idea that we are living in perhaps the loneliest generation.

We are perhaps the most social media savvy generation in the history of mankind.  Email, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Line, Kakaotalk, Periscope, text, telephone and separately, air travel.  All of these resources are available on a device as small as our cellphones.  At the same time despite having all of these things at our fingertips, we are also one of the loneliest generations in the history of mankind. 

With our thumbs and our keyboards, we've lost the ability to interact with others.  To have a conversation.  To engage people in meaningful dialogue.  And without that ability, families and the church are lost. 

Cultivating connections to our friends, family and community is key to having healthy relationships and to the growth of the church.  - From Pastor John's message on "building bridges."

Really though, this guy explains it far better and more eloquently than me:

In an article entitled, "How to Talk to a Brazilian," the author, Regina Scharf makes this observation as it relates to cross-cultural ministry:

Question: What new global trends are likely to impact the way short-term missions is done in the future?

Answer: Probably the most significant trend would be technology, and it’s both a positive and negative influence. Positively speaking, short-term teams today come back with more ability to stay in touch with the people they served alongside of.

Unfortunately, technology can also have a negative impact. It’s getting increasingly difficult for Westerners to be emotionally present where they’re serving. Rather than becoming culturally immersed, they go out during the day and do ministry, but come back at night to check their Facebook pages and update their blogs. They don’t become part of the local culture because technology is keeping them connected to home.

JEMS is not opposed to using technology (websites, blogs, etc.) for the cause of missions, but articles like these can help us to stop and consider how we use the technological resources that are available to us. Do not let them distract from your primary purpose.  And consider if the technology is being used for God’s glory.  

This is food for thought.

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