Newsletter april 17, 2011

Dear friends,
It is good to be writing you again. I am only sorry that time has flown by so quickly since the last time I wrote you and time continues to fly by me even as a I write this letter. Firstly, I want to thank all of you that sent care packages to Tokyo for both the support of the church there and for outreach.

Much has happened since that time and God has been opening doors for ministry all over Japan. Currently, my friend Jeremiah Boek, with whom I worked and did ministry during my time in Tokyo, has been working with the crash team and has to my understanding been put in a position to minister to the Tohoku region of Japan. They have been on many relief trips there and have been ministering to multiple areas there.

Soon I will be joining him in ministry to that region. There have been many teams that have come from this area to minister to people on the mainland. As I did not know the Lord's will for me during this time, I restrained myself from going, though I desperately wanted to. Also the opportunity came up to go to Hokkaido and minster at the church that this church planted there. However I was given the strong impression in my heart that I was not supposed to go on this trip either, though I didn't really know why at the time. I even wrestled with God a bit about it, but that is neither here nor there. But, within the last week, the doors have opened up for us to go and minister to a small village in the Tohoku region for about four days and I believe God is directing me to go with them. I understand now why I was kept from all these opportunities, it was for this time now. Pray for protection for the team going. Radiation is still an issue in the area, however I am confident in the hand of God to protect us as we follow His leading.

When we get to the village, we will be doing outreaching to the children as well as food outreach and relational ministry. The village we are going to was not badly damaged by the earthquake, but was heavily effected by the tsunami. Most of their houses have been flooded, but as they are still standing, they are not top priority to government relief right now as there are areas far more damaged. So we are going to go up, speng time with them, put on a BBQ for them, play and encourage the children, and help clean out their houses. Essentially, just love on them and share his love with them.

I have already completed all my studies a week in advance and will be leaving tomorrow. I am very excited.

I wish I could go on, however, my time is short. I will be making this a two part letter this month and will be giving a full report of my time in the tohoku upon my return.

Thank you so much for reading and for your prayers. God bless you all.

Yours in our Lord,
Alex Robinson

Pictures!

Hey guys!

Sorry I haven't posted any new pictures in a while on my flickr account. I reached the picture limit there and didn't want to pay to have more space. So I made a photobucket account instead and uploaded some recent pictures there for those of you who don't use facebook. Hope you enjoy them.


http://s1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/servantsamurai123/


-Alex

Care Package Outreach

Dear friends,

I have a update concerning care packages to Japan. More than just people in the church and those we minister to normally, my church in Tokyo is going on the offensive and outreaching to nearby Fukushima prefecture hit very hard by the earth quake. They are renting dump truck and hauling supplies out there to distribute to people along with the good news of Jesus. They have given me a list of items that they are in need of. They are heading out this friday. But as this is going to be a ongoing Endeavor, these supplies would be most appreciated if you are lead to send them.

Needed supplies:
Non perishable food, instant foods, snacks, canned goods
RICE
Igloo containers to fill up with water
First aid supplies: band aids, feminine sanitary pads (Japanese women usually use only pads not tampons)
Clean blankets
Warm clothing, please put in a bag, sorted to size
BAtteries, radios, flash lights, paper plates, paper cups, disposable chopsticks
Saran Wrap, or any plastic wrap
Plastic garbage bags
WEt wipes
Work gloves
Diapers.

This outreach will be based out of the sister church in Setagaya. As such, those interested in giving to this outreach, please send your packages to this address.

Tokyo Horizon Chapel
5-21-7 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya - Ku, Tokyo, 156-0054.

Thank you all for your heart for this country and your prayers.

Alex Robinson

Aid to Japan...

Dear friends,

In the aftermath of the earthquake an tsunami's, many of you have asked as to how you can aid Japan in this time. Many of your have asked if I know of Christian Relief organizations that are at work in japan now and also about the possibility of care packages. Also you have asked about the specific prayer needs of Japan in this time. I will do my best in this letter to answer these questions for you.

Firstly, lets talk about Christian organizations at work in this country. The one I know the best is the organization CRASH. This stands for Christian Relief, Assitance, Support, and Hope. It is run by one of the missionaries that I have worked with in the past. He loves the Lord, has a heart for Japan, and has served here for the last 25 years. They have served in disaster areas throughout asia and have been prepared for serving in the relief effort for a Japanese disaster for quite some time. They are responding to this crisis even as we speak. If you are lead to give financial support or wish to volunteer in the Relief effort, I would like to direct you to there website which is http://crashjapan.com/.

Some have spoken about sending care packages here to aid those I know in the disaster area. I have spoke with my church in tokyo and they have said they would be most grateful if such care packages were sent. Currently, they have said they are in need of non perishable items such as Toilet paper, Cans of meat and vegetables, Rice, lighters, batteries, candles, flashlights... the bare essentials. They have said that they would distribute the items to those in need in the church and the people they minister to there, including the Horizon Language school and Shine kids classes of which I have previously spoken to you about. For those of you interested please send any packages to

Tokyo Horizon Chapel
C/O Kevin Song
4-19-5 Haramachida
Machida, Tokyo 194-0013

Lastly, many of you have asked about prayer needs during this time. People here have composed a prayer list that I think is suitable for a base guide to go through as you pray for Japan. But before I give you the list, I want to ask most of all that you pray for God to reveal himself to Japan through this. We have been praying for a revival to come to Japan for a long time now. And I believe that God has spoken to me that this Revival would come before the day of the Lord. If this is His time for this, pray that this would be and that anything in its way would crumble. And please pray for me, as God has not yet revealed what role I am to play in all this. Thank you for you prayers and love. I pray that this day would find you enjoying the presence of God, sharing fellowship with your Savior and Lord. Because one thing we can learn from all this is that we are not promised tomorrow.

Prayer List for Japan:

Trapped Victims - Even now, they are working around the clock to unearth those trapped under the rubble.

Relief Efforts - That insight, wisdom, and strength would be given to the Relief Workers.

Government Workers - That they would be able to organize the rescue efforts and rebuilding.

American Military - Many members of the churches here, soldiers stationed in Okinawa, have left to help in the relief.

Food - Many don't have it.

Elderly - This is a difficult time for them.

Children - Many have been orphaned. Many are scared and need God's comfort.

Damaged Buildings - Many of the structures have been compromised.

Refuge shelters - Difficult to maintain enough of them and workers to manage them.

Blankets

Electricity Restored - There are going to be scheduled blackouts all throughout tokyo, and many areas in Japan don't have any power.

Contact with families - Communications are down in most areas. And in the destruction, many cannot locate their families.

Warmth from the Cold - Japan even now is still very cold.

Aftershocks - My friends have told me they are still experiencing them.

Rebuilding - That once this crisis is over, they would be able to rebuild, that the whole nation could have a foundation not only of bricks and concrete, but of a belief in Jesus.

Clean up

Hospitals

Boldness For Believers - That they could outreach to the survivors and give them the only surety anyone can have. Jesus.

Translators for emergency workers

Financial Aid

Fearful People

Travel availability - many planes and trains are intermittently out of service. Some permanently.

Nuclear power plants - That they will stabilize, there is a unstable plant within contamination radius of my church in Tokyo.

I am o.k...

Dear friends,
I know that there are many of you who have been concerned about my safety. I want to let you know that I am O.K. The earthquake was horrible on the mainland of Japan. Upon hearing the news of the earthquake there, I began to pray. The phones went down during that time and the hours afterward. I could not get in contact with anybody there. We spent much of the afternoon and the evening praying with my Japanese brothers and sisters here who also had family on the mainland and could not make contact with either. We did not know much, but we comforted one another in the fact that God was in control. I began to try to make contact with people via email and facebook due to the phones being down. In addition to the phones, the trains were also down there. Many could not locate there families and loved ones when I first began to contact them. Fortunately, apart from cuts, bruises, and damage to the buldings and property, everyone I know there seems to be o.k. Praise the God who by His right hand protects his children. Please keep praying for Japan, the damage is extensive and many have lost there lives. Pray for those in ministry here. for the wisdom in how to minister to the grieving and injured.

Japan Newsletter, Feb 27, 2011

Hey friends!

It's hard to believe only a month has gone by since I spoke to you last. My first month here has been a very eventful one. My schoolwork load has been a lot larger than I remember college being. It is very rarely that I have had any time to myself. I spoke with those who are coming from the Murrita campus have said that the work load in the states is a lot less, that this is a extremely intensely training oriented campus. This makes me very excited for my two years that I am going to spend here. Intense training is exactly what I am looking for here. I can't wait for what lies ahead of me.

However, don't let my description mislead you. My activities here are not confined to study alone. As I have said previously, there are four different churches connected with the college here. They placed us into teams of four people and will be rotating us to a new church every month to serve in anyway we can. For this month I was placed in Calvary Chapel Okinawa. This church, for the most part, is for the most part consistent of military personnel and their families. Very close to the church, there is a fairly large army base and as such, most believers from that army base come to CCO. Funny how God works, I come all the way to Okinawa and end up ministering to Americans ^_~. But, one thing I have learned here so far is that you have to let God define your ministry. If you go into His work with a bunch of expectations, things you feel are your ministry and close yourself off to other areas, you can miss what God is trying to do. It's kind of like Elijah. He comes on the scene out of no where, right in to the presence of the King, telling him the word of God. But then, God tells him to sit by a river and be fed by birds, and after that he was sent to the house of one widow to work the miracle of the oil and flour... From working with the King, to chilling by a river, to ministering to one widow... The work God wants us to do can change dramatically in a very short time, and we have to keep up with it without letting our own preconceptions get in the way. And this is true, because half way through the month, after not using a word of Japanese at that church, suddenly a whole English class of non-christian Japanese students walk in to practice their english and my ministry changed again. God is awesome in that way.

Actually there are quite a few non christian Japanese people at both the church there and here in Calvary Chapel Ginowan (the church attached to this bible college). But here in Ginowan, they are of a slightly different variety. The unsaved that come here are mostly from TEEN CHALLENGE. It is a christian organization that was started in America, and, unbeknownst to me, is very active in Japan as well that works with rehabilitating alcoholics, drug users, and ex cons. Most of them are from the mainland. And actually, most lived very close to were I lived in Tokyo before they came here to be put into rehabilitation. They are interesting to talk to, and we have had some good conversations so far. Please pray for the work of the organization and my and my fellow students role in ministering to them.

Thank you all for praying for my culture shock as well. It took me a bit of time to get used to the culture here, but God has been helping me quite a bit. One thing that really helped is that most of the Japanese bible college students here are from the mainland. Nobody from Tokyo, but there are people from the Kanagawa prefecture and from Osaka. Being able to talk and be with them along with the Okinawan Japanese at the same time helped me to better understand the difference in language and culture by comparison. It helped me to understand how they differ in there interactions with people. One thing I learned quickly when comparing them is that Okinawan Japanese are so very upfront with there feelings, opinions, and emotional states. In fact, I don't think I have run into a culture more predisposed to wearing their heart on their sleeve. Coming from the mainland Japanese culture were everything is subtext and implied meaning behind what is actually said, I understand completely why I was so dumbfounded when I first got here. I was expecting to be interacting with Japanese people. But this is so different. The more time I spend here the more I realize that this is not really Japan. This is Okinawa. Though this is all considered Japan, these are two different peoples sharing a common language. As different as America and England connected only by words. And the history I have been able to see so far is supportive of this idea. During the war, Japan saw this as a place to control, a good access point for the rest of Asia, but not their own country. They saw the okinawans as less than themselves. And truthfully the okinawans saw the Japanese as much as a invader as a ally by the end of the war and welcomed the liberation the Americans provided for a time. Anyway, I don't want to go all history nerd on you. I am just saying that through the history God gave me insight into the culture I will now be serving in ^_^. Praise Him all the earth.

Anyway, great talking with you guys. Miss you a bunch and am praying for you. I am going to keep trying with the video Blog. I haven't had time to shoot much video so far, but I will try to get into the pace of doing so. Sorry for that.

Much love,

Alex

japan Newsletter, Jan 2011 part 2

Hey guys, I am back.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes! Okinawan culture. Anyway, during my time in Tokyo, there was always a certain pace I had when I was speaking with people in Japanese. I guess I could equate it to the sound of a machine gun. Always very quick, few breaks in speaking, and all with very similar intonation. RATATATTTTATTTATATA. But here it is totally different. It is ironic that Okinawa is a small island surrounded by water, because Okinawan Japanese sounds a lot like waves to me. Slow, broken pace, with intonation going up and down. UP UP UP... UP DOWN DOWN ... DOWN UP UP... It really throws me off. And along with the pace of speech, the pace of life seems to follow a similar pattern. I very used to the go go go of Tokyo. My ministry, my time with friends, everything seemed very fast, always a ton of things to do and get done. At first it was a little challenging but at some point I came to like it. But here, things are ssssoooooooo sssslllloooooooowwwwwwwwww. It's kinda frustrating some times. I wanna be doing and running but we often are waiting and strolling. But, then again, the reason I came here was to grow. And patience is a quality that will be forced to grow here.

Oh, and please don't miss understand my description of Okinawa. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far. The students and teachers here seem like really great people. The presence of the holy spirit is very strong here and very moving. I am very much looking forward to my schooling and ministry here. I have been begun to study and learn about 1,2,3 Peter lately. In 2 Peter 1, he speaks a lot about the knowledge of God and growth. "Grace and peace be yours through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord." (1:2) "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness." (1:3) "... make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you posses these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1: 5-8)

It was very convicting for me. I realized how desperately I need to grow in my knowledge of God. That my grace and peace, everything I need for life and godliness comes through this knowledge. That I desire to serve Him in this country as effectively and productively as I possibly can. So I need to run after knowing more of him and growing to be like Jesus by grace.

I truly believe that this will occur in my time here and I am so excited to see how He will change me in this time. It is so exciting!!!

Anyway, I love you all and pray that you would be blessed and that you would grow in your knowledge of Him and through it grace and peace would be yours in abundance.

Much love through Him,

Alex ><>