Jesus Buried in Japan?!

Shingo, a remote northern town in Aomori, Japan, has a strange and unlikely tale to tell! Jesus Christ did not die on the cross, but lived there among the mountains and rice fields. His previously unknown younger brother was crucified in his stead.

After escaping the Romans, so the legend goes, He fled across Siberia to Japan. He settled near the northern end of Honshu, married a local woman and fathered three daughters before dying peacefully at the age of 106!

“I don’t exactly think it’s true,” Mr. Sawaguchi, a farmer in the area said. “But I don’t exactly think it’s false either.” His old house has a symbol resembling the Star of David carved into its wooden rain shutters!

A peculiar local belief is that making a sign of the cross on a baby’s forehead will prevent illness.
Source: Yomiuri Newspaper, 1999-07-05

We know that there are many counterfeit Christs in the world! How fantastic it is to be liberated to know the real Christ.

For we did not follow
cunningly devised fables
when we made known to you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
(2 Peter 1:16).

Christmas @ Denen 2007

We've been enjoying the opportunities the Christmas holiday provides in Japan for sharing the Gospel with Japanese. Japanese are spiritually open, but very unaware of the meaning of Christmas. It truly is remarkable to me that millions of Japanese haven't any idea that Christmas has anything to do with the birth of Christ! It is a secular holiday in Japan, completely devoid of any religious significance.

This past Sunday was our Christmas Service outreach at Denen for which we have spent some time planning. We rented a hall that holds 140 in the faith that God would fill it. Then the invitations, flyers, and emails went out to encourage our friends, acquaintances, and the surrounding neighborhood to come and be part of the day's events. It quite a contrast for a Christmas service; handbells and gospel! We also mixed in some special music by a guest soloist, and several carols. Kevin gave an evangelistic message on the meaning of Christmas according to the Bible.

Merry Christmas 2007! Meanwhile downstairs we ran a separate Kids Christmas Party with Christmas songs, games, a Max Lucado kids video, popcorn, hot chocolate and more. We really stretched our staffing resources as a tiny church.

My faith wavers between two fears when we do an event of this scale. 1) What if no one shows up? What if we've done all the planning, opened the doors, and no one walks in? (We have some of these days). I could personally get over the discouragement quickly enough, but I would feel badly for many others who have done so much to preparing and praying for the day. 2) Or, what if everyone shows up? What if among those who received the one of the 1500 flyers, many invited family, or classmates, or neighbors. After all, it is advertised as a free concert. What if 2500 or more people show up and we have no possible way to accommodate them, turn them away upset, and the reputation of our church plant in the community suffers as a result?

As it turns out, God worked things out for us just right. We had 110 adults, and 19 kids. This is about 4 times the amount of number of people that attend our Sunday Services. They all went away having heard the Gospel message, and given Christian literature to read with the church information on it. We also fed them all cake, and coffee or tea.

We appreciate many of you who were praying us through this day as a church. Now, please remain in prayer as we followup on some of these individuals in the coming days. Merry Christmas!

Caroling

Today we had a great time together as a church caroling for a nearby retirement home for their Christmas party. This is the second year that we've visited with them. The quality of care in Japan is very excellent, but it was easy to tell that many were in great need of personal touch and attention. And all of them were in need of the hope of eternal life, forgiveness and peace.

It was great to share with them the simple story of Christmas. It is also encouraging to see our church continuing to come together in ministry, particularly outside of its comfort zone. Our group of young Christians still has much to understand about its role as light in the darkness of Japan, but at least we are blinking very brightly these days.

Christmas Banner

Today at church we were thrilled to have a member bring two Christmas banners that she had handmade for us. They are gorgeous, represent many hours of work, and really liven up the front of our otherwise somewhat drab basement rental hall that we use as a sanctuary. What a great addition for the start of the Advent season! It's great to see church people stepping up and using their spiritual gifts for the church in creative ways like this.

Thanksgiving Plate 2007

Thanksgiving in Japan this year at the Laverman home included this feast (mostly Kaori's handiwork, with a little help from the local KFC). Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, cole slaw, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.

"Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." Psalm 103

"Post" Evangelism

You may have heard the term "pre-evangelism" before, but have you ever heard of "post" evangelism?

In November, our church hosted an outreach made for Japan. One of our ladies in church is a gifted calligrapher. She taught a class on how to prepare the traditional yearend POSTCARDS using Japanese brush design! This type of Japanese calligraphy is very hard to emulate, much less read, when it is done correctly. But it is a respected and beautiful part of Japanese culture and tradition.

Kaori spoke on the Biblical roots of some of these letters, giving a good gospel message that was well-received by the group. We had a good turnout: 22 people, including 14 unbelievers.

Many of the Japanese letters contain Christian ideas. For example, the Japanese character for "righteousness" pictures the symbol for lamb covering the symbol for myself. The character for "forgiveness" includes the symbol of beating and the symbol for red (blood). The character for "tree" includes a person and a cross. There's a story to be told that dovetails with the gospel message.

Why are these ideas in the language? It is thought that the Apostle Thomas brought the gospel into Asia, including parts of China. Japanese borrows heavily upon the Chinese writing system.

November Picnic

Who would have thought that late November would be a good time for a picnic? But that's exactly what we did as a church this past Sunday in a large park near us in Tokyo. The weather was a balmy 70f. Together with blue skies, lots of sunshine, and gorgeous fall leaves, it was the idyllic setting for a time of church community-building.

We were surrounded by other families enjoying the day outdoors, but our focus was on our own family today...we enjoying being together as a church. After a time of singing, message, and worship, we enjoyed a few simple games together, then a meal, then sports and more games. It was fun to interact with people in different ways (hitting some balls, kicking a soccer ball around, and games like the one shown above) and in a different setting (in the middle of God's great creation). We even had a first-time visitor, a mom with her three kids came and joined us from the worship time!

The Gulliver Complex

I'm a giant again. Well, not really. But it sure feels like it again since returning from the States.

The first sign was bumping my head in the shuttle bus from the airport. By habit, I normally duck my head through any doorway in Japan. Three weeks in the States eased the need for ducking, but now it looks like it is time to restart.

The second doubletake was the size of the streets. I found myself holding my breath as the shuttle bus wove WITHIN INCHES through pedestrians, motorcycles, and oncoming traffic. A few days later I'd no doubt find myself thinking nothing of if -- doing it myself, in fact, down our tiny-street neighborhood -- but right now it still shocks me.

The third reminder was at the hotel. The room was, well, large enough to turn around in. The bathroom shower required me to slouch in order to wash my hair. And the bathroom mirror gave me a great reflection...of my upper chest and neck. Gulliver complex.

But the final bit of convincing came the next morning. At the Denny's near the airport hotel we ordered breakfast. Pancakes served were each the size of a silver dollar, cutely piled on top of each other. The coffee was poured into mugs the size of an expresso cups. And the table came all the way up to just slightly above my knee level. Yes, I'm a giant again. But the great thing about eating in Lilliputan restaurant is that the giants don't need to leave tips -- actually even "average" size people don't need to leave tips in Japan!

So as I walked out of the restaurant smiling to myself about the money saved (spent many times over on the price of food), I forgot where I was, and bumped my head again. Good show, Gulliver!

Reverse Culture Shock?

Some lists during our Stateside stay:

Pleasant surprises:
* Being able to get out of either side when parked
* Understanding 100% of a radio or TV program
* Grass (lots of it, in front of almost every house!)
* Trees (with beautiful colored leaves to boot)
* Banana cream pie
* Clothing sizes that fit
* Parking in front of a store, instead of on top

Oddities:
* Self-checkout at the grocery store (when did that start?)
* Machines are strangely quiet (nearly everything from the gas pump to the escalator talks to you in Japan)
* Drink sizes, serving sizes and people are strangely large (possible correlation here)
* Foods are incredibly sweet, salty or fatty (much more so than I seem to remember)
* No bicycles or motopeds on the streets!
* Television programming increasingly unfit for most human life
* Thousands of choices for just about everything

Caught myself doing:
* Saying sorry to someone I bumped into...in Japanese by mistake (that got me an odd look)
* Standing in front of a store waiting for the door to open (Japan is the land of automatic doors)
* Getting in the front passenger seat and preparing to drive...and wondering why the steering wheel was gone (its on the right in Japan)
* Driving on the wrong side of the road (just briefly, mind you)
* Gaping at the aisles of cereal and snacks
* Wondering why US currency suddenly looks like monopoly money

Back "Home" Again

We've arrived back in Indiana safe and sound for a couple weeks of needed break from ministry in Japan. Kaori was able to get a stamp in her visa that maintains her permanent residence in the States. We also learned that missionaries may be exempt from needing to return every two years to make this happen. Hmmm. We'll have to research that one a little more. No matter, we are grateful for the time to be in the States together with family and supporters, and all things very familiar, yet strangely different.

It is that last point that bears emphasizing. After two years away from the States, we expect things to be different upon our return. But along with that feeling is a general sense of disconnect with things that is hard to pinpoint exactly. There is the sense of being a foreigner to your own culture that always manages to sneak up and surprise me when we return home after a period of time like this. Slight reverse culture shock is part of that, but there is more. Slowly my point of reference and identification has drifted away from the North American axis, to points east...far east. It's only upon coming back and scraping against my own home culture again that I come to realize how lengths of time in Japan have changed me.

Well, enough with the introspection for now. There are many things to do during our three week stay. Justen is going back to Lansing Christian for a week to reconnect with his school pals. Kaori and I are speaking in four different churches, and connecting with many more people. Phone calls and personal matters. Shopping and family. It all takes a bit of time. But we relish this great fall weather to experience it all in. More later.

Everything is Possible with God!

“That house is a lost cause!” I thought, and hesitated in putting a church flyer in its mailbox. The home was literally in the shadow of a powerful Buddhist temple next door. Who could have known that a couple weeks later a woman would walk into our worship service and say, “I'd been thinking about Christianity when I received a flyer from this church.” Yes, as we'd later find out, she lived in that very house! Coincidence? No! God? Yes!

Mrs. Nakamura examined Christianity with us seriously, but seemed to be troubled by things. Then one day a breakthrough: “Kevin, I've been trying to understand Christ with just my head, but I know now that I need to accept Him with my heart...by faith.” From the house I assumed was lost to the clutches of Buddhism, God had been calling His child, Mrs. Nakamura for a long time. In our living room September 2007, He welcomed her to himself as she placed her faith in Jesus!

“Humanly speaking, it [missions in Japan] is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God!” Mark 10:27 NLT

How Not to Iron Your Clothes

No, this is not a new way to press your clothes, it is a daily reality for those who commute into Tokyo from our neighborhood station.

We're sometimes asked by you, "Are the Tokyo trains as bad as we hear?" If you have a Japanese definition of personal space, then no they are not so bad. But for most Americans who are used to a wider circle of empty space about them, it is pretty hard to adjust to this part of the Japanese culture. What you do not see in the photo is what no doubt happened about 10 seconds prior to this: the white-gloved station platform attendant literally pushing, squeezing, and otherwise using force to get this man, and others into the train car.

Our train line (and neighborhood in general) is changing. They are lying new track to expand the capacity from 2 tracks to 4 tracks. In the process a lot of housing and businesses along the existing line have needed to be demolished. It looks like a war zone in our neighborhood on most days. But when it is finished it is supposed to alleviate some transit capacity problems like this. They promise that trains will only need to be packed to 150% capacity. Yikes!

Only in Japan

Here's a photo of something you're likely to only find in Japan (okay, perhaps also in another East Asian country). What do you suppose it could be? Hint: it was taken at the doorway of our mission's recent 60th Anniversary where several hundred attended. Look closely before clicking to enlarge. If you still can't figure it out, post a comment.

"Mission Impossible" Meeting

Tonight was a great church planting meeting with fellow national pastors. Seven churches in our area have a vision for starting another church. As it is never too early to think about our next church planting work, I also participated. I was encouraged to hear honest fears overwhelmed by strong faith that "God can do this thing through us if we trust Him." There are many who are overwhelmed by the challenge of church planting in Japan. It is a hard country to work in as the harvest is slow to come. But God can do exceedingly more than we ever anticipate if we will but give those challenges to him. "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27

Guess Who Came to Church on Sunday?

We celebrated our 60th anniversary as a mission this past weekend! The first church planted by our mission (then CBFMS) was in Jumonji, Japan in 1947, shortly after WWII. Since then 85 churches have been started across northern Japan, the Tokyo area, and Kyushu totaling about 3500 believers.

As part of the 60th anniversary celebration, Hans Finzel, president of of our mission, WorldVenture, came to Japan and spoke at several gatherings, including our humble church plant, Denen Grace Chapel. We were privileged to have Hans and his son, Jeremy, spend the day with us. Hans shared a message with us from Luke 5:1-11 and spoke on the "long chain of partnership" (the many missionaries to Japan from our mission since 1947) that has served as a foundation for the harvest work we are part of here. As a living example of this chain of partnership, Betty Duncan (seated next to Hans in photo), who served for many years as a WorldVenture missionary in the Fukushima area, also joined our service along with her son. Our people were thrilled to interact with both Hans and Betty. We really do have a great heritage as a mission here. Kaori and I are honored to be a part of this chain of partnership.

Hey Youth! Let's Go Camping!

We've just finished our 3-day Youth camp at Lake Yamanako. We had 4 college kids attend...and one big kid (yours truly). The first day I had some serious doubts as to how this experience was going to work out. You see, a major typhoon had its sights right on Tokyo. We drove the 100kilometers or so to the campground in what would have to be the worst weather conditions I have driven in. Sheets of rain and powerful winds nearly swept our vehicle off the road at points. I was tempted to complain to the person in charge for choosing to go anyway, but then I remembered that was me.

We arrived safely, made something to eat, had our meeting, and retired to bed to listen to the rain pound on the walls of our cabins all night. It was quite a weather experience. But the next two days were the complete opposite. After the typhoon did its worst, God showed his best. The sun and clear blue skies along with cool fall-like weather were the perfect backdrop for outdoor activities, like cycling in this picture (Mt. Fuji in the background).

Two kids (half of our group) were not believers. It was a great time for them to take some steps toward God. We had a great set of meetings and wonderful outdoor activities. Thank you, Lord, for taking care of our group! Today was Sunday and I was pretty wiped out already, but sanctuary setup, Sunday School, Worship Service, lunch, and Gospel Music Workshop people needed our full engagement. It is a good fatigue that I am feeling.

"I Choose Jesus"

Today Mrs. N. accepted Christ in our dining room. PTL! After I explained the Gospel message to her again (she had come to our home in August as well), she said she was ready to make a decision. With misty eyes she repeated the sinner's prayer after me. Kaori sitting next to me also shed a few tears...of joy. It has been a long journey for her in her life to come to this point. I will share a little more of this story in a later post. Tomorrow is our Youth Camp (in the middle of a typhoon it seems). I still have quite a bit of preparation for that and Sunday, so I will write more later.

Bicycles: the Family Car

Today Justen got a much needed new bicycle. Call it a belated birthday present. See the smile on his face? (Click the photo to enlarge)

I was reminded of how big a role the bicycle plays in Japan's "mass transit" system. In urban Japan where having a place to park a real car would be a luxury for most, the bicycle is not unlike the family car. It hauls groceries, little kids, pets, you name it! I have grown accustomed to seeing the mother taking her kids to school or preschool by bicycle with the baby seated strapped in front of her behind the handlebars, and an older child strapped in back of her in a child seat. This "bicycle-for-three" is a common sight.

What happens when it rains? The mother shelters the baby and herself with an unbrella in one hand, while steering with the other. The child in back holds his own umbrella. Add a few sacks of groceries to this situation--one in the basket in front of the baby, the other in the lap of the child behind--and the bicycle begins to look like part of a travelling caravan. Still, this is not an uncommon sight. But the other day I saw one that surprised even me: on a rainy day a mother and two children each with their own umbrella were mounted on a bicycle with groceries in their laps. Okay so far. But wait! With one hand steering the bike and the other holding an umbrella, the mother was talking on a cell phone cradled under her chin! Remember this is drippy, wet pavement weather! And there are pedestrians, cars, and scooters to contend with as well! Don't believe me? Oh how I wish I had my camera with to show you what it looked like!

You Give me a Bat; I Give you a Drink

Today we went to visit the home of one of Justen's classmates. Getting lost, we pulled into the parking lot of a small industrial business to turn around and check our directions. Apparently we didn't turn around fast enough for the gentleman who owned the business. He came out to our van with a bat, a bad attitude and a big mouth. Perhaps he saw me and suspected this foreigner was up to no good. Perhaps he was just having a bad day.

On the way back home, I decided that the "missionary thing to do" (the Christlike thing, more like), would be to show him a little grace. It was a hot day, so I bought a nice cold drink from the vending machine and, being careful to park a distance away, walked it up to his office. He froze when he saw me come in. I think he actually wondered if I came back with my own bat. It felt great to graciously apologize for using his parking lot, and place the drink on the counter in front of him. Christ's words in Romans 12:20 are always good advice.

Family Matters

Today we had a guest speaker from "Family Forum Japan" (Focus on the Family). He shared during this joint Sunday School time (phoro), as well as a message. I was reminded again of the state of the family in Japan. There are so many young Japanese that are coming out of dysfunctional or broken families these days, contributing to a lot of social problems in Japanese society. Until recently, this was not the case. There were a lot of tears in church today as sensitive areas were touched on, but heads nodded in agreement as well. God's Word crosses all languages and borders to speak to the issues of modern man. Japanese need God's design for the family!

Fruity Smiles

Our son, Justen, the young Picasso. Even food scraps in the kitchen sink become a medium. Imagine my suprise when I went to wash dishes and found this looking up at me from the sink! Did the melon peels drop this way by accident? No, this smile took intentional effort...smiles sometimes do. It did its job of making me smile (although it met its fate in the garbage can shortly after). "A glad heart makes a happy face." Proverbs 15:13

Park Stuff Here

Every once in a while Japanese English goes a little wrong and makes one smile. There are other examples of this on our blog, but one of my personal favorites is this. Kaori would be quick to point out my own bloopers in Japanese have been significantly worse, and no doubt very funny. Yet, Japanese are so polite and courteous as not to laugh.

It doesn't take long to accumulate stuff in life, but getting rid of it in Japan is not easy. You can't throw it away without paying extra fees, or breaking it down into its component pieces: plastic, glass, metal, etc. And you can rarely sell it. Having a place to park unwanted stuff would be nice.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a place like this to park the stuff of life, the baggage that weighs us down. But wait! That's what Christ came to do! No need to pay extra! "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. In other words, Jesus says to us, "Park your stuff here! On me! Your hurts and pains and sorrow. I'll take them all without cost. Then give you blessed freedom and peace in their place."

Seeing only Half the Show

This evening the three of us went to see the fireworks along the Tamagawa river near our home. What is remarkable about a Japanese firework show is the sheer size and intensity of the fireworks. They are so much larger (and lower) and greater in frequency than any Stateside version I have seen.

I found a restaurant in our neighborhood that actually serves what they call "American" hotdogs. It does indeed look like an American hotdog. The bun is a plain white one. And the dog is short, thick and juicy (not the long, skinny Japanese kind.). It even comes with packs of Heinz ketchup and mustard, unlike the Japanese mustard that is some hot Chinese dristan type that clears your sinuses.

The crowd along the river was estimated to be in the hundred thousands, so we distanced ourselves by watching from a park a half kilometer away. Lawnchairs, hotdogs and chips in tow, we watched the show. Felt just like the Fourth of July, but this was August in Japan to be sure.

This year both Kawasaki and Setagaya had their fireworks shows simultaneously along the river as part of a combined coordinated show. Unfortunately it was impossible from our viewing angle to see both parts of the show at the same time. One was immediately in front of us, the other directly behind and to our right. The couple of hundred of others in the park had the same difficulty. Some and oohhed and aaahhhed at the fantastic display in front of them, only to miss the fireworks going off behind them. Some tried flipping their attention both ways and probably went home with a very sore neck. There was no way to see the whole show at once.

This reminded me of how limited our perspective can be as humans when it comes to God's Firework Show: his fantastic work in multiple places all at once. In fact, he is at work in billions of lives at the same time around the globe, yet our focus so often is only on the one life here, or there, that we seem His hand at work, and even that is a limited perspective. How limitlessly more fantastic the show would be for us if we had a broader perspective. If, for even one moment, God were to give us a birdseye view of all He is doing, I know we would certainly join the angels in saying "Holy holy holy!" He is powerfully at work in so many places. Being a missionary has opened my eyes to just a bit of this reality.

Gospel Boom Keeps Booming

I continue to amazed by the gospel music boom in Japan. Today again we received two emails from unchurched individuals that want to start singing in our gospel workshop on Sunday afternoons. A common theme seems to be that several are struggling with depression. This is a reminder to me of the role our church needs to play as an oasis in this urban desert of Tokyo. I've loaded a video here Gospel Music Video to give you an idea of what gospel at our church looks like. Remember these are unchurched Japanese. And, yes, they are singing in English!

Watermelon Bust

Today was our Kids Festival at church, complete with Japanese watermelon bust. Kids take turns trying to strike the watermelon while blindfolded. Once the melon has been cracked open, it is cut up and served. Here in the photo Justen heads the wrong direction and nearly knocks a few people out of the ballpark by mistake. He did eventually give the melon a good smack that would make Barry Bonds proud. Although we did not have any newcomers, our church family really enjoyed this fun times of games and food together.

Dog Days of Summer

And the dog goes to church too! That's right! Every week we have at least one doggie guest in our worship service. Here in the photo one of our youth holds two regular members. They are remarkably well behaved. Occassionally they will join the singing, but mostly you wouldn't know they are there.

Japanese people love their small dogs. Pets are pampered quite well in Japan. Occassionally I will pass a young couple on the street pushing a stroller. One might expect to see a cute baby inside, but many times it is a pup that's getting the pushing! Yes, even dogs get their own transportation in Japan.

Love Sonata from Korea

Quick! What do you get when you mix a sports arena, 20,000 Japanese and Koreans, gospel and cultural music, and God's good news? Asians reaching Japanese for Christ! That's a powerful key to this country's revival. Several Korean churches in cooperation with the Japanese church are working together to conduct major evangelistic crusades in 5 large cities in Japan called "Love Sonata 2007." Last week was the crusade in Tokyo. Altogether with friends, 19 people attended from our church including 7 unbelievers who heard a powerful Gospel message.

As I attended I realized I was witnessing the future of missions. The Western church and its missionaries, while still having a critical role here, are no longer the only players in the mission movement. Actually, long-term Western missionaries are in the decline in the East. The Asian church is beginning to mature and reach itself. There was no Billy Graham in this crusade. In fact, noticeably absent were any white faces on the center platform of the packed arena. Interpretation was done from Korean into Japanese!

I was both inspired and humbled, renewed and challenged in my own role as a messenger of the Gospel here in this country. It is great to see God at work in raising up new leaders in the mission movement.

A Thorny Refuge

Our theme verse for 2007 is Nahum 1:7. "The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him" This photo of two birdies in a nest in the cactus plant amazes me. What a place to build a nest, mom! Among thorns? How painful! Yet rather than complaining, they simply trust their mother and wait and watch patiently for her return.

Yet how often God does the same for us. Though he may not spare us from the pain. He builds a place of safety and refuge in the middle of it all. A place we can find refuge and peace. We trust him. He cares for us. It seems too childish. Too simple. Yet God makes that promise to us through his prophet Nahum. While trusting, we wait and watch for Christ's return. That will be joy!

The Launch

Communication has changed. YouTube. Gmail. Blogger. SMS Messaging. Skype. Podcasts. For good or for bad, the speed of communication has certainly changed. The missionary letter is so yesterday. But why change now when it's worked so well for so, so long?

Why indeed? Why change to fit culture? And so for some time I've debated whether to create this blog. It seems a bit self-focused. It definitely is pop culture. But in my mind's eye I see a future missionary. He is no longer swayed by the old ways of communication. He is connected. He wants the personal touch, not the distant missionary in faraway lands. He wants to know and explore and sense his world in ways the old communication methods just can't satisfy any more.

I want people like this to understand our challenges, know that we are real people, and be challenged to pray, give, come or educate others about missions. And so we want to redeem this technology for just those purposes.

So here it is! The first post of our blog. We'll be writing and updating things here regularly, adding bits of culture, ministry, family life, and prayer needs. So check back frequently!