Surgery News - February 24, 2006

Throughout the gospels, the miracles of Jesus affirm and balance his teaching ministry. To present a Jesus without the demonstration of spiritual power is to reveal an incomplete view of the Jesus who continues to minister healing and grace today.

I stand among the many who can attest to God's provision for me in this area of physical restoration.

Thanks to the many of you who have been praying for me over the last two weeks, and apologies to those who were not aware of my situation. I've just returned home and am in contact with many of you for the first time in two weeks.

Thanks most of all to God for his provision and intervention on my behalf, sustaining me through quadruple bypass surgery last Friday, February 17th.

As an update for those who may not know the general information: I went into the emergency room on Saturday, February 11th with chest pains radiating to my left arm and jaw. I was admitted and the next morning confirmed that I had suffered a mild heart attack. Further tests and procedures would reveal that I had 4 blockages to my heart with the worst being @ 90%.

On Friday, February 17th, I underwent open-heart surgery where I had four bypasses performed. I've remained in recovery until my discharge this morning.

There are many who have shared with me the "close call" nature of these last weeks' events. I'm grateful that God has given me the opportunity to continue in life and in his work.

The leadership of the Japanese American Christian Chapel is generously providing me with a month of convalescence to be restored completely. I look forward to being back in ministry by the first of April.

Blessings to you all,
Pastor John

Early 2006 Prayer Letter

New Members
I'm pleased to share that we welcomed ten members (2 full members, 2 associate members, 6 youth members) into the fellowship of the church in December. Two young people were received by baptism and the additional eight by affirmation of faith. Please pray with me that others in our community may be introduced to the church and to the good news of the Savior, Jesus Christ!

Holding Down the Fort
The Japanese language pastor, Rev. Yamamoto, is traveling in February. He is a missionary from Japan working with JACC. Like all missionaries, he is required to deputate (raise financial support) and return periodically to Japan to share updates with his supporting churches. Pray for Rev. Yamamoto, his ministry to the Japanese speaking both here and in Santa Barbara, where he also pastors the Bethany Congregational Church - Japanese Division. Pray for me as I cover pastoral responsibilities for both departments.

Change in status
In a somewhat surprising, and faith-inspired decision, the Board of Elders of Japanese American Christian Chapel voted in their November 2005 meeting to increase my hours to 30 hours/week. The change to 3/4 time status helps to meet my current financial needs.

JACC Annual Report
For an abridged, electronic version of Japanese American Christian Chapel's Annual Report, please request your copy by emailing me here. Accessibility to the Annual Report is subject to JACC pastoral discretion.

Church Name Change
In my very first prayer letter (sent in August), I indicated that the congregation would soon be voting on a proposed name change study. In early November, by unanimous congregational vote in both the English and Japanese language departments, the decision was made to pursue the study of a name change for JACC with possible names being presented to the congregation by mid-2006. Please pray for wisdom and some savvy regarding this process.

Intersections
The opportunities we have to share our personal experience with Jesus come and go very quickly. There are moments when a door in conversation surprisingly opens, giving us an opportunity to share a bit about our relationship with Jesus.

A testimony workshop called "Intersections" was developed during my time away from professional ministry. It is based on the reality that we aren't always given a chance to share our faith. What happens is that we're either unprepared for the moment (and spend the next year kicking ourselves), or we dive in and talk non-stop for an hour (and spend the next year kicking ourselves).

Sharing with friends and family about Christ is a certainly a mandate, but it is also an art. "Intersections" recognizes that the moments God may give us to share are sometimes only minutes or seconds long. How do we share within that window?

This workshop is being offered to our congregation as a training tool for evangelism. Pray that we can learn to utilize the principles of "Intersection" as God gives us the opportunities.

A gospel presentation workshop has been scheduled for February.

Personally . . . .
I was delighted by the opportunity to celebrate my birthday with my children this past week. With Tracey home from Harvard Law School for semester break, together with Brandon and their significant others, we enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant.

2006 will be an exciting year as I look ahead to my son, Brandon's marriage to Alyssa in July. Please pray for them as they make wedding plans.

Financial Support
If you would like to support the ministry of JACC in its outreach to the Ventura County community, please email me here to request a support package. I'll be pleased to send you information on how you can invest prayerfully and financially in the work to which God has called us.

Fall 2005 Prayer Letter

Thank you for your prayers for and financial support of the ministry of the Japanese American Christian Chapel.

Takamiyama

Takamiyama is a name familiar to those who followed the Japanese sport of sumo in the 1970's. Takamiyama was a Maui-born sumotori - the first American to enter the ranks of Japanese professional sumo.

In the 1980's, "Takamiyama" was a name adopted by a group of young sansei (third-generation, Japanese American) pastors (myself among them) whose physical dimensions, while not at a sumotori level, were not insubstantial. The name Takamiyama was not chosen because of our physiques - well, maybe partly - but because of what we sansei pastors saw in the name itself.

In our unabashedly poor understanding of Japanese, we took the name apart: taka, to mean "high"; mi, meaning "to see"; and yama meaning "mountain." That combination of linguistic license led us to create the idea of "seeing from a high mountain." It was to express our desire to have a mountain-top perspective, a long-range view. We wanted to be people of vision who dreamed big dreams.

Though the group remained together only briefly, most of them are still in ministry today. I have resurrected the name here because I understand that now more than ever, we need people who will have a greater vision for the work of God's kingdom. Too often, the church becomes a place focused on petty details, politics and power games. And when it does so, the vision of the church becomes muddied and inwardly focused. We struggle to fix the unfixable while at the same time, the commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples of all nations remains unfinished.

Here in Camarillo, and perhaps at your own church, there is a need to examine the seemingly inconsequential matters that seem to occupy our time and energy. Are they really worth the effort in comparison to that to which Jesus has called us? Is there a need to again climb to the top of the mountain to get that grander perspective, to recapture that vision for the work of God's kingdom?

Bill Easum, church futurist and author, states that "Church members who see their church as the focus of their mission have missed the entire point of Christianity." We have a way to go in Camarillo. But our dream is to enable each person to understand that they are sent by God to engage our culture and community by incarnationally displaying and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and making disciples beginning where they are!

Please pray for us as we move in this direction.

Pastor Emeritus

It is wonderful to have Pastor Takaya and his wife, Miyeko in our congregation. Pastor Roy has been a stalwart leader and administrator for JACC over the years. My welcome reception coincided with the church conferring upon Pastor Takaya the status of Pastor Emeritus. For my part, I'm blessed to have such a wise and godly man in the congregation. He has been there for me to give encouragement and guidance.

Worship Service!
We're just finishing a five-month series on the book of Ephesians. It's a foundational book about our standing in Christ, grace, faith, ministry, relationships and challenges for personal growth. November will begin a four-week series on stewardship. Pray for me as I consider my message themes for the beginning of 2006.

Pluses and Minuses

Our worship service attendance has fluctuated in the last five months as new faces come and stay, while others move on due to schooling, family changes or face health issues. While we have seen eight or nine new people begin attending, we've also seen about seven make transitions elsewhere. I'd like to ask your prayers for consistent attendance as the preaching and leadership of the church is characterized by greater continuity. Pray that there will be growth in numbers as well as an interest in greater commitment to Christ and to the ministry we desire to have within our community and beyond.

New Members
December will see additions to the church family as two have requested baptism and eight have expressed interest in membership and are going through classes with me now.

Answered Prayer: Worship Leader

Remember my first prayer letter? I indicated that we were searching for a worship leader. We're very blessed by Peter's decision to take time away from his home church to fellowship with JACC. Though he lives almost an hour away, he has made the commitment to provide leadership to our young worship team. He works with them, not simply on the music, but helping the team understand the heart of worship. We are blessed to have Peter with us!

"A second congregation?"
Our Tuesday night Bible Study is really an interesting experience. Almost half of those coming out don't attend the church's Sunday services. But it's a group that is eager to learn from the Word and seem to like the approach we take to our studies (interactive and fun). My goal is not to mainstream them, but to provide a place where our lives can intersect.

One of our church members commented the other night, "This is almost like a second congregation!" I had to nod in agreement, and at the same time, thank the Lord for the opportunity he is giving us to minister to them.

Youth Ministry --

The letters "KFC" can stand for that chicken place. But it's the name of our youth ministry. The acronym means "Kids for Christ." The young people recently voted on a name and KFC was the winner! We're meeting twice a month for Bible Study. One Sunday afternoon a month has been set aside for an outreach event.

Miracles
Church member, Aiko, suffered major head trauma after a fall after church in September and was taken to via ambulance to the local ER. The hospital staff informed the family and me that afternoon that she would not survive the night.

But God had other plans. Aiko not only recovered but is now at home convalescing. When I last visited her, she was very clear that church should work hard to reach as many as possible for Christ! Her recovery has been a great encouragement to the church as they have seen God's power!

Leadership Retreat Held September 25th

[pictured: Nichigo Elders]
The Board of Elders held a half-day planning retreat to look preliminarily at goals for 2006. We examined the church's strengths as well as the areas yet needing development.

[pictured: English Elders]

1. Resolve past hurts/conflicts, ask for/extend forgiveness. Find resolution and then move forward.

2. Teaching on the Holy Spirit and training on spiritual gifts

3. Learning to manage our time and personal resources in order that members may express their love and service to the Lord Jesus in vibrant ministry.
4. Train leaders and members to reach out incarnationally to family, friends and community.
5. Stewardship – specifically develop funding strategies to bring pastor to full-time status.

6. Resist every temptation to settle for the status quo.

A lot of things happening for 20 hours a week, yeah?

Your prayer and financial support on behalf of JACC is welcomed.

Please click here to inquire about how you can be involved in this ministry.


About names: Please note that I am not using people's full names out of respect for their privacy and because the internet is what it is. PJ

Photos: All photos (excepting the initial montage) may be enlarged by clicking on the photo itself.

Working around the language

This is a screencap of a video shot in Colonia Iguassu, a Japanese farming colony in Paraguay, on the border of Argentina and Brazil. The year was 1993 and Portuguese is still a struggle for me. My mentor, nikkei Brazilian Pastor Kiyohiko Amakawa (to my right), is such a gracious person. As I speak in Portuguese, he is doing the Japanese interpretation and correcting all the grammatical flaws.

The reason that my early attempts to speak Portuguese here weren't so critical is because the people in this Paraguayan colony speak Japanese as their first language and Spanish as their second. Since Pastor Amakawa didn't speak English and I didn't speak Japanese or Spanish, this was the only way we could configure the languages so that I could present this Bible study. This configuration would be repeated throughout our work in Argentina and Paraguay that summer.

Pastor Amakawa is currently serving the nikkei Brazilian community in Chiba-ken, Ishihara-shi, Japan.

The Brazilian bus

The bus ride. My record has to be the summer I spent over 160 hours traveling by bus through Brazil. It's not a particularly auspicious record, but it's one that may be the reason for the back aches and pains that I have now. In Brazil there are basically three ways to travel by bus. Or maybe five if you split hairs.

The top of the line bus is the first class bus or leito. The leito carried around 24-26 passengers. It was roomy. The leito had fully reclining seats - fully reclining, as in becoming almost like a bed. You were provided with blankets and a pillow, and each window had drapes or thick curtains to block out those annoying lights in the middle of the night. The leito even had a bus steward who served Coca-cola or Guarana Antartica before you went to sleep, and woke you up with a hot demitasse of coffee in the morning before you arrived at your destination. The cost of a leito was easily double the price of the conventional bus and was considered luxurious. I was astounded to discover that the leito was actually more comfortable than any plane I had ever flown on. The leitos were equipped with air conditioning and heating.

Pastor John and Pastor Barry Deguchi on a Brazilian leito (Jan 1999)

Pr Barry enjoying the fully reclining feature

The second level of bus was the executivo or executive bus. The executivo didn't have quite the amenities offered by the leito. I only rode the executivo between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. I'm sure that it was offered on other routes, but this is the one I'm familiar with. There were no blankets or drinks served. It was not as roomy as the leito. I suspect that for business travelers going back and forth from Rio to Sao Paulo, an eight hour ride, that this bus separated them from the general traveler. By paying a few dollars more, which most would probably not choose to do, you didn't ride with the "riff-raff." This is just a theory, by the way, and not substantiated by anything in particular. For sure the leito (above) did not seem to have anything close to riff-raff, because it was the way that the middle-class traveled in Brazil.

The third class of bus was called "convencional" or conventional bus. It was your basic 40 seater. A sizable portion of the population rode the conventional bus. This bus had no amenities, but it did have a toilet in the back (as did the previous two types). That was a godsend at times, believe me! The trick was to make sure your seat wasn't in the back.

I had traveled many miles and many nights by conventional bus early in my ministry before one pastor friend of mine convinced me that I needed to travel by leito. He insisted that if I continued to ride conventional buses, I would kill my body - or something like that. The conventional bus had seats that reclined about two feet. Not bad compared to the airlines that give you about six inches. But without air conditioning or heating, the overnight bus ride could be a test of endurance and an even greater test of your resistance to possible airborne virii.

Overall, I rode the conventional bus a good two-thirds of the time I was in Brazil. There was this sense in me that being a missionary, I shouldn't probably be so extravagant by riding leitos. That pastor helped me overcome the tendency to think I had to "suffer." Okay, maybe it wasn't just that. Sometimes the rural routes that I traveled didn't have a leito option. But may I say that had I not switched to riding the leito when I did, my back and shoulders would be in a worse mess than they are now. Much of the aches that I have today I attribute to my hours and hours on the conventional bus.

The fourth type of bus is what I call the chicken bus. I rode the chicken bus a couple of times. One very memorable trip was from Presidente Prudente and I think I was traveling with Nicole. The chicken bus is so named (by me) because of the propensity of rural people to bring livestock on the bus. Principally chickens. I'm still not sure why chickens needed to travel. I'm not sure either if they had to pay for a seat.

El Salvador bus.  Credit:  http://breakawaybackpacker.com/

Nicaraguan bus photo.  Credit:  http://quodcerno.files.wordpress.com/

The chicken bus from Prudente was the bus ride from hell. Nic and I bought reserved seats toward the front. Normally with the three previous types of buses, there are no passengers added along the route. With the chicken bus came a surprise! The chicken bus stopped for EVERYBODY on the side of the highway who waved their hand! Suddenly the bus is full, with passengers in the aisle, invading your personal space, stepping into the area where your feet would be on the floor. I think I switched seats with Nic because she was on the aisle, and some guy was leaning on her (and maybe drooling). Add to this the sound of what I can only describe as Brazilian country music. That twangy country sound that sounded a bit like something I've heard in Tijuana, being played on the bus' sound system at full blast.

There's the opening scene from "Out of Africa" in which the train stops in the middle of the Kenyan countryside to pick up two ivory tusks being carried by Denis Finch-Hatten. Karin (the baroness Blixen) asks, "Are you quite famous? They stopped the train for you." To which Finch-Hatten replies, "Well, it's rude not to here." I guess that my American-ness in trying to get to my destination completely overlooked these people, who were in the middle of nowhere in the hinterlands of Sao Paulo state. For us not to have stopped would have been rude.

Coincidentally, one of the music pieces I listen to while on those twelve-hour bus rides through São Paulo state is the main theme from "Out of Africa."  The music is so expansive and grand.  It matches well the vision of the countryside outside of my bus window.  Youtube link

Oh, and that fifth type of bus. No, not a school bus. I never rode one of those. The fifth bus I rode only once on an excursion with a group of friends to the southern state of Santa Catarina. This was on a double-decker tour bus. Think of a cruise ship. It was exceptionally comfortable and designed clearly for well-to-do people. The excursion was a trip to Florianopolis in Santa Catarina and included the bus, hotel stay and guided tours within the state of Santa Catarina.

I may be mistaken because I took that trip when the economy was in it's worst state of hyperinflation. I paid cash at the travel agency and had to carry a stack of bills (novo cruzados?) three inches thick! This seems almost impossible, but for that trip, I think I paid the princely sum of $70. Seventy dollars for a first class bus trip with three nights in hotel and a tour of the state. That's why I remember that bus. It was the one and only time I rode one.

The most memorable part of any overnight (or long distance) bus trip has to be the rodoviarias. These were bus stations along the highway that served as your bathroom break and twenty minute refreshment stop. Some of these places were gorgeous (okay, I have to think of a better word, but really they were!) They were a combination of gift store, restaurant, smoothie bar, ice cream parlor, newstand, barber shop. Incredible! The restrooms had easily 50 toilets, and some had showers as well.

But the food! Coxinha de galinha, pastel, suco de morango com leite, cafe com leite, pao de queijo! It was worth it to wake up in the middle of an overnight bus trip just to eat that wonderful food. And there was this drinkable yogurt stuff by Danone called "Danup" that I have not found here in the states yet. mmmmmmmmmmm.

You didn't eat to get filled up. Only to make your taste buds happy! It was just enough to fill that empty spot so that you could go back to sleep for the remaining six hours of the trip.

One hundred sixty hours of bus travel in two months one summer. I think those trips were mostly by conventional bus. My back still remembers.