Greetings from Tokyo!

Even more than before we were married, Mariko and I have discovered the joy of dating. It is a good thing to make time for you and your spouse to just be alone together outside. This is especially important for those who have little kids. Get that wonderful Grandma or Grandpa to watch those kids for a few hours.

The other day, Mariko and I met for a lunch date in the Ginza area of Tokyo. Ginza is known as a shopping area and has a lot of restaurants to choose from. We enjoyed a nice meal and time together. After lunch we made a brief stop at one of the department stores for Mariko to pick up a blouse. It is amazing how God makes divine appointments.

As we talked with the young woman who was helping us as our sales clerk, she asked what we were doing in Japan. We mentioned that we had started a Gospel Choir as a part of Hallelujah Gospel Family (HGF) choirs (More on this later). She shared with us how she was spending 9,000 yen a month (about $90 USD) to be taught gospel music by a Japanese woman in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Black gospel music and Hula are popular in Japan right now. We opted for Gospel because we have pretty good music sense (and besides I wouldn't look good in a skirt).

We are praying James 1:5 for wisdom on how to reach out to more Japanese in our area. God makes the opportunities all the time just like he did for us with the department store clerk. We have to be ready. The Japanese have been very complacent about spiritual things. However God is opening up door as He loves them so much. Gospel music is a good example. Now, good things are happening. The fields are truly white and ready for harvest but the workers in Japan are currently few.

The Importance of Japan
In June, Mariko and I gave a report at the AFCM Family Reunion on Japan. Just as the economists and business people of our day, many ministers and churches have been focused on China as the market or mission field. It seemed like they have forgotten about Japan and even Korea for that matter.

Although China is a rising industrial economy in the region, is it still considerably small compared to Japan. Breaking through Japan spiritually is key to bringing this region into the knowledge of God. As we break though the powers of darkness with the light of the Gospel in Japan, not only will many people come into a strong relationship with God, but the financial strength of the world?s second largest economy (the US is the largest economy) will be engaged in bringing people into the kingdom all over the region.

Printing Bibles, beaming the Word through video and radio?there will be no stopping the wealth of the wicked that is laid up for the righteous. Just to give you a feel for the strength, Japan is second only to the US in its financial contribution to the United Nations annually. The Japanese government is already giving a lot of cash for development programs around the world. It is very exciting to see how God is going to use this nation spiritually to reach others.

Outreach
Japan is a very homogonous country. To minister to the Japanese it is very necessary to build relationships by showing who you are, and what you do. Since we have opened our church facility in July we have demonstrated our commitment to the area by getting a place.

Since then, we have been praying for ways to reach our community. Victory began a Gospel music program in October. We are a part of a group called Hallelujah Gospel Family founded by another missionary, Mr. Ken Taylor. We had a joint concert on December 17 with a special guest gospel singer professional from Los Angeles, Mr. Ray Sydney. VWC will be putting our choir, Victory Singers, into this 200 person strong choir. The majority of the participants are not saved yet.

God also gave us a vision to start a weeknight group called English Chat. The vision is to give Japanese a chance to use the English and develop the English that they know. This has been a hit and a great way to reach people we have not even met before. We take a topic and run a discussion group. This month we will have concluded our fourth meeting. Each meeting we get more and more people. Over ninety-five percent of the participants are unbelievers.

Victory Kids is growing as well. We lost a few kids when we moved from Saturday to Sunday as well as into our new facility. But God has not only brought new kids, but we are expecting to have over 140 kids. Our challenge is making sure that we have the people to cover them.

Prayer of Agreement
Please pray with us for an assistant pastor for Victory church. We are praying about this very important position and will putting out the job description shortly as we are carefully considering those who want to minister in Japan.

We need more long and short time missionaries to help with the ministries of the church. Especially, English teachers (missionaries) are needed to teach the local children. There is a high demand for teaching elementary-aged kids that we are not able to fill right now.

We also are looking for a worship minister to help us in leading worship and running weekly meetings ministering to the Father. Thank you for your prayers.