Japan Newsletter- May 28, 2009

Dear Friends,
I praise God to be writing you on the other side of a amazing month. It is so true that within the kingdom of God, all things are possible. The further I go into Japanese society, the more amazed I am with it's intricacy and depth. I have said many times that Japan is a country of masks. A country that can never be taken at face value. But the truth of all these things goes far deeper than I could imagine. I have been hear eight months and have learned so much, but I know that I have not even scratched the surface of the heart of Japan. And the more time I spend here the more I realize that this is not a place that one can simply walk into and walk out of casually. At least not if you want to be used to make a difference. This is a life time. A lifetime of patiently learning, patiently loving, and patiently revealing the wonder and glory of Jesus to the Japanese people. Tenderly and carefully ministering to hearts as if caring for a precious plant. Not with a spirit of timidity mind you, for God did not call us to such things. But with a meekness. With a strength controlled. Just like Jesus ^_^! It is like being a farmer, planting seed many seeds and being used by God to patiently tend the crop as He does beautiful and amazing things. And when He gives harvest, it is sweet.

I want to start with the praises. Firstly I thank you for your continuing prayer for my unsaved friends who God has brought into the church. I am filled with joy to say that one of my friends came to Jesus two weeks ago at the end of a sunday service. Praise God from whom al mercies flow ^_^!!! Continue to keep him in your prayers as he currently takes his first newborn steps in his new life with Jesus. Also please continue to pray for the miraculous to happen in the hearts of the rest of my unsaved friends in the church. I see so clearly now that everything is possible for the children of God. He is good and truly a lover of souls. Pray that my other friends would draw near to Him soon.

Also thank you for praying for the homeless ministry. I guess it is just God pouring out His blessings, because one of my friends that I talk with at the homeless ministry also was saved one week ago. He was baptised last wednesday in a fountain at the park ^_^. It is great news. Please be praying for him as he follows Jesus. He is also looking for a job, so pray for that too. But there is also some bad news in this area as well. In tokyo's effort to be the sight for the next olympic games (it is a candidate), the Japanese government is cracking down hard on the asthetics of public areas. This includes parks. They have begun sytematically getting the homeless out of public parks. This coming at a time when homeless numbers are greater than ever before due to the current economic downturn. This is really effecting the homeless ministry and it is entirely possible that we will be shut down in Yoyogi like we were in Shinjuku. Please pray against this happening and that we will be able to continue this ministry.

Great things have been happening in Japanese as well. The Sunday school lesson that I asked you to pray for went really well and I have done a couple more since. Lessons are getting easier and easier and my teaching in Japanese is becoming alot more fluid, praises to God. I did my testimony again with hardly any notes and God really blessed it as well. He's awesome. But one of the main things I have to ask you all to pray for is in my listening abilities. I can speak fairly quickly and my vocabulary is increasing daily. However, it is still very small compared to all that I need to know. Also, my vocabulary is very specialized in some areas and laking in others because of what I usually talk about. I know words like covenent, born again, and substitutiary death, but fumble over words like street, office, and duck simply because I don't use them in most of my conversation. Also in Japan, there are casual words you use with friends that indicate closeness, and formal words that you use to show respect. Because I never like distance in relationships, I rarely use the polite words and often go with more informal speach. While this works to my advantage in some cases, it also limits my listening skills when people are trying to be formal. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late), I just want God to pour out his knowledge upon me so I can be a better tool.

Anway I better be on my way, I have more Japanese to study. I love you guys and as always want to say that my door is open to anyone who wants to come and serve. I pray for blessings on you all. OH, and there is another missionary about my age who is working in southern Japan. He wrote a really great post recently about Japanese religion and culture and how it affects our ministry here. Really great writing. Check it out at http://allkaiser.blogspot.com/. Talk to you all soon hopefully.

Yours in our Lord,
Alex J. Robinson ><>

Japan Newletter May 2, 2009

Hello Dear Friends,
This morning finds me well and very joyful. Things are have been really good recently and God’s mercies are just leaving me in amazement. I opened up my bible this morning and found a really amazing verse. I have been reading through Isaiah recently and today made it to the end. There it was talking about the people to whom He has shown his glory going out to the nations. Then it said in 66:19 that they would be sent "to the distant islands that have not heard of My fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim My glory among the nations". I thought about it for a bit and I was like, "Dude, that’s Japan!" And I was given a sense of God’s grace once more. Even in the time of Isaiah, God had a plan to save all of us and even in the time of Isaiah, God loved Japan. And in His grace, He made me a part of that plan. He made me a part of His love story with this world that is older than time itself. You just have to be blown away by that. God is amazing. His love is truly an inclusive love and not an exclusive one. He never loves somebody and dismisses somebody else. When we accept His love, it doesn’t stop there but instead it is the beginning of Him loving others through that person. He loved me and then because of His love, He sent me to Japan that through me He could love Japan. And the grace of Him using a dork like me to do that… it couldn’t be more clear if it was a baseball bat upside my head. It’s just so cool and I am really excited about it. Thank you to those who have been praying for direction and perspective on all I am doing. I really needed it.

Lots has happened lately. Thank you for your continued prayer about my language abilities. This last Sunday I shared my testimony in its entirety for this first time in Japanese. Before this I have talked about my testimony in Japanese in conversation, but this is the first time I made a continuous speech for an extended period of time. About twenty minutes! But it went really great and God really blessed my words and everything flowed very smoothly. I thank God for the progress He has given me in language. Continue to pray for me. Next week I am going to be leading my first bible lesson in Japanese to the Japanese Fellowship’s Sunday School. I am going to be teaching on Moses. Pray that in the months to come, God would continue to add to my language ability and make me into a better tool for His ministry here.

Shine Kids continues on. But I never imagined what doing multiple lessons in two locations would be like. I ping pong back and forth between the Setagaya fellowship and here so much I wish they had something like frequent flier miles for the train systems. Of course the work is good. I love the kids I am teaching and I love the time I get to spend talking with their parents. My time is just a little fuller than I am used to. Perhaps it is Gods way of stretching me, it has helped me to grow a lot, but it would still be so great if I could get some more help with the classes (HINT HINT! NUDGE NUDGE! COME AND VISIT ME!!!! Please!). But anyway, praises to God for blessing the ministries so much. Please continue to pray for growth and that God would use them to touch as many lives as possible. But also please pray that God would continue to give me a sense of clarity about everything. The more full one’s time gets, the easier it is to loose track of God’s will and purpose in all that He is having one do. Please pray that God would give me His eyes during my time here.

Also thank you for praying about my involvement in the Horizon Language School. I have been doing the training for becoming a teacher and a few snags aside, things have going well. Lately I have had so much access to students of HLS and the opportunities have been so many. I look forward to the future of my time in the school and to the face time I will get with even more students at the school. Also, please pray for students of my own.

Anyway, I have to be going. I love you and I pray that all is well with you. Please feel free to write me, or call, or skype, or email, or use carrier pigeon, smoke signals, or whatever ^_^. Eager to hear from you, talk with you, and sharpen one another in the faith. My door is always open to anyone who the Lord has called.

Yours lovingly and affectionately in the grace God has given us,
Alex J. Robinson ><>

Japan Newsletter- April 2, 2009

Dearest friends,
I thank you so much for praying for me. I thank you so much for being patient with me. And I thank you for loving me. The mercy of God is beautiful. That He has put me where I do not deserve to be, doing a work I am unfit to do, and that He has made it that I would be prayed for and loved by you... It is beyond my understanding. But He is good. I understand that. And I will keep working from this undertanding. Things with me have been good. This week has been a bit quieter than most with the shine kids programs being on break along with the Bible College, and Jeremiah being out of town. So have mostly been studying the bible, studying language and catching up on my writings. So let me talk about what has been happening recently.

Firstly, thank you very much for your prayer about the Shinekids program in Setagaya. God has been blessing the ministry with new students and a lot of good relationships. In the next semester we will be having about 9 students both of kindergarten and elementary age students with a seperate classes in advanced reading and writing which a couple families in the community have asked me to do. Please be praying for direction and guidance in this ministry for me. For wisdom in loving these children and their families and sharing Jesus with them. It is always very difficult for me to act in patience. As I have said before I love Japan and I love Japanese people and I want them know the love of Jesus right now. But God continues to teach me that out of my love for Him and them I need to be patient and continue to unceasingly share and love. Jesus said in Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." That those who submit their power to His authority will be blessed and will be given this world. I always said that I believed this, but I have come to realize that I rarely lived it because it made me feel weak. And in truth, I do feel powerless in this patient love, but I realize now that I was never supposed to have the power to begin with. That it is God who I am serving and nothing is done of myself. Please pray for my eyes to continue to open in these areas as God patiently teaches me as well.

Also, I want to talk a bit about Funky Friday. I haven't written about it in a while as there was not alot to write. But the group of believers and non believers that meets there has become very close to one another. But know the group will be taking a new direction. We will be hitting the streets. Daichi and I have been praying about how best to outreach more effectively to the youth in the area. We thought about flyers for funky firday and that sort of thing. But I think God brought us to the understanding that the best thing would to be just to take Funky Friday to them. We'll be hanging out in Parks which is one of the most popular places for teenagers to hang out and we'll do everything there. I am really looking forward to it. We saw a pretty popular basket ball court last week so we'll be going there this friday. Be praying for the new style of this outreach and be praying that God would bring good conversations and the people He wants us to talk to.

Also, I spoke briefly in previous letters about the Horizon Language School. It is a kind of a tent making ministry functioning out of the church where people from the church teach students english one on one. It is really a great opportunity to have access to Japanese people and talk with them face to face. Of course it is not exactly straight evangelism but more by a relationship like most evangelism here. I will going with the school to the cherry blossom viewing this Saturday. Please be praying about my time in the school and that God would make it fruitful. Also, please be praying about the possibility of a home stay involving students from the school to Sonora. We all have been kicking the idea of it around and think it would be a great way to further minister to the students. But we need to pray about it a bit more.

Anyway, I should probably be letting you go. But as a last prayer request to you all. Pray about Japan. Pray about it's people, it's ways and culture. Pray that the country would come to know Jesus. Pray about those who are spreading His word and love here. And pray as to whether it is something you also are called to. I thank you for your prayers and encouragement. I love you all
and look forward to seeing you all again someday soon. But not too soon ^_^.

Because He lives and because He loves,
Alex J. Robinson ><>

Japan Newsletter - Feb 17, 2009

Hello and many greeting to you all.
I thank you for being patient for the coming of this letter. I haven't been able to really have some quality writing time in a while and am glad to finally be able to do so. Again, I am at a loss for words to describe the glories of God in the country of Japan. However, I want to tell you about a few things that happened since I spoke to you all last.

One exciting thing that happened this month was being able to go to a Japanese orphanage for the first time. A couple weeks ago about seven members of the church and I spent time in a Catholic orphanage about and hour away from here. We spent hours playing with the children, talking with them, and teaching them. It was truly an amazing time for me and for the people who went. Also, in speaking to the staff there, they were very interested in having us return. Keep us in your prayers about this. Jeremiah and I have talked about making this a monthly event for the congregation here. I think it is a great idea and a great way to reach out to the kids, so please be praying that this would all come together in God's timing and in God's way and that it would be a blessing to all involved.

This was also the month which marks the start of our Shine Kids Program over in Setagaya. While we have been running the Shine Kids Winter Semester since last month here in Machida, I really felt lead to start another Shine Kids Class in our sister church in Setagaya. So, I prepared all the materials and started on the friday of last week. To my surprise, the children that came to this new program were far younger than those that came to Machida. While the youngest here in Machida are of a kindergarten age, the children in Setagaya where all about three years old. But, with a few quick alterations and the grace of God, the class still went very well and both the children and the mothers had a really good time. It was not exactly how I pictured things working out, but then again I have really come to love God's beautiful little surprises. They make life so much richer. Please be praying that the school would continue to grow and flourish in God's time and by His will. And that He would use this contact with the families and children to bring more people into His saving Grace and love.

Also, there have been some new developements at the Homeless ministry in Yoyogi Park. Because of the current financial crisis, the numbers of homeless people have increased at a alarming rate. When I first arrived here, the Homeless ministry served about 100 people. In this last month alone, this number has tripled. Evertime I go to the homless ministry, I am seeing many new faces. And unfortunately, because of the large numbers of people, it is fairly difficult to find people you have talked with previously which is essential to the ministry, consistant contact. Naturally, I can see how God is using the current economy for good in that more people are having a chance to be exposed to the gospel. But I have a feeling we are going to have to change the way in which we minister to these men and women a bit in order to meet the need and feed hearts as well as stomachs. Please be praying for direction in this ministry.

Lastly, please be praying for the unsaved that attend church services and ministries. There are now serveral people who are coming to the English services here to practice there English. I have been blessed by being able to spend time with these people, talking with them, and being able to share the gospel with them. I have become good friends with most of them and love them very much. But please pray for wisdom and discernment in my relationships with them. With my love for them naturally comes also great concern and great passion for them to come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus. But, indeed I must be careful that this passion does not turn into a zealousness that could damage what God is seeking to do through this relationship. I want to minister to them and indeed share the gospel with them, but with the loving patience that God has given to me. Please pray that God would continue to work in me this loving patience and of course please pray that these people would run to the arms of Jesus soon if not right now.

I love you all and miss you all and wish you were here with me. Please write me if you find you have the time. I would love to hear from you.

Yours lovingly in our merciful Lord,
Alex J. Robinson ><>

Japan Newsletter - Jan 8, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Happy new year!!! I pray that all of you are well and that your Christmas season was truly a joyful one. My December was quite an eventful time for me, full of Christmas outreaches, wonderful ministries, and of course so many blessings from God. Truly, His faithfulness just leaves me awestruck sometimes. Were should I start?
Well firstly, I would like to thank you all for your prayers about my language abilities. I think God has brought me to a bit of a "clicking" point when it comes to Japanese. It is hard to describe it, but some of my Japanese friends who learned English had similar experiences. It's kind of like it just flows out you without having to translate what you are saying into English in your head. Like you are talking from another part of your brain. Anyway, it's pretty cool and I am grateful to God for getting me this far.
Also, thank you for praying for the big outreaches that I mentioned in the last letter. The Women's Christmas Outreach, the Christmas Program. The Christmas Eve Candle Light Service all went very well. All were great and everyone had opportunities to invite unsaved family and friends. And surprisingly, a lot of those invited came. We had a packed house every time. Some have even visited services after the fact which is always a blessing. Please pray for the unsaved currently attending services, pray for good relationships to be formed and for the spirit to be working in their hearts. But I think my favorite outreach in the last month would have to be the Children's English Christmas program in Saitama. Saitama Horizon has a English school functioning out of it and they invited me to put on a Christmas Program for their students. It was an amazing time. We sang Christmas carols, made cloth angels, and I was able to share about gospel to them through talking about the meaning of Christmas. The kids enjoyed themselves and all of them wanted me to come back soon and I hope to be much more involved in this ministry in the future.
Anyway, as for prayer requests, naturally I have quite a few. But the mainstay of them are about the ministries in this new year. Please be praying for the next semester of Shine Kids that will be coming up soon and also for the Shine Kids Program that I am feeling led to start in our sister church in Setagaya. Please be praying for lots of kids, great relationships with families, and that God's will would be done. Also be praying about my possible involvement in the Horizon Language School in this next year. It would be a great opportunity to come in contact with Japanese people I wouldn't ordinarily meet. However, my involvement still remains in question. Also please be praying for Funky Friday. There have been some difficulties in the ministry lately.
God bless you all. I will be praying for you. Please drop me a line if you have the time.
Yours in our Lord,
Alex J. Robinson

Japan Newsletter- Dec 3, 2008

Dear brothers and sisters,
Hello and many greetings to you. I am sorry to have taken so much time to write you again. My days have been full lately and God continues to move and work in this land. But not a day has gone by that my heart hasn't found you one way or another. I have so very much to tell you. Firstly, thank you for praying for the events that were coming up the last time I wrote you. The Classical Concert, The Horizon Café, The Setagaya Fall festival all went better than we had hoped and many from the surrounding communities came. Please pray that the strengthening of these relationships would continue and the church would grow to be more and more a place of safety and love in the eyes of the community.
The Homeless Ministry continues on and has been going well. Recently we held the Homeless Thanksgiving in Yoyogi Park not far from where we usually do ministry. We brought a lot of food and clothing and praised be to God, over a hundred and fifty homeless people came for it. Unfortunately, even though the goods we gave to the people there were very much needed (especially with the winter coming upon us so quickly here), we did not have time to talk with anyone as we had to pack everything up quickly before the police arrived. You see, before we had the homeless ministry in Yoyogi, there was another ministry in Shinjuku that was very good and that I was able to serve at in previous trips. However it got very big. And after a while the police shut it down under the heading of park health. They don't like the homeless congregating in large groups because it doesn't make the park look good. And they have started to eyeball us over in Yoyogi as well. So we have to make a fast exit when the police are about to go on patrol. Please be praying about this situation. I have just started to develop relationships with the people that hang out in Yoyogi and know many by name and know their stories. I don't want to have to loose that and start over somewhere else.
The other ministries have been good. Funky Friday, the youth and co-worker outreach over in Setagaya is about to have a big launching event to get us into the community and church eye again. Pray that it will go well. We continue to hope and pray that it will be a way to speak to the large youth community in Setagaya, a place lacking many other churches to do so. The English class over in Setagaya that we teach through the bible hasn't grown, but relationships are being made stronger. Pray for the unsaved within the class. Also, since pastor Jeremiah left, I have been put in charge of leading the International Wednesday Night Bible Study. Things have been going well and God continues to work in the hearts of people in it. Pray for the unsaved that have started attending recently. Pray that they would see God through this study and through the saved that they now spend time with. Please continue to pray for all the ministries, that God would bless them.
And lastly, please be praying for me. Pray for wisdom and that God would continue to grow me into who he wants me to be. Sometimes I step back from the work that I am involved in and say to myself "I am probably the worst choice for this work". My youth and my inexperience in these things often cross my mind. But, God is good and merciful. He uses the least of us to work His wonders. So I am not really worried. Just grateful. But still, growing is good and I still have a long way to go.
Thank you again for your prayer in all this. Come and join me any time you like. The workers are few here.

Lovingly and Gratefully yours,
Alex J. Robinson
P.S. Photos and hopefully video of Shine Kids Club to come.

Japan Newsletter Oct 14, 2008

Hello and many greetings to you my spiritual family!
This is Alex Robinson again writing from Tokyo and pleased as punch to be doing so ^_^. Things here have been going very well but very fast. It seems as soon as I get my head out of the water to catch my breath, another two weeks has gone by and I am writing you again. Sometimes it is hard to believe how busy it can get over here. Everybody on staff is going all out all the time and it seems as though I am doing the same ^_^. You see, because there are so few people really a part of ministry here, everyone has to take on many different roles. Pastors are counselors, teachers, administrators, janitors, repairmen, cooks, English teachers, worship leaders, garbage men, and everything in between. And the rest of staff fills in the gaps as best they can. Sometimes stepping back from the whole situation, it's weird to see how uneven everything is. There is so much opportunity for ministry and evangelism here, so many places that even I, with my limited perspective of this place, can see such need. But there are almost no workers for this harvest… I guess it's the same in every ministry. But here, with the heart God has given me for Japan, it hurts so much. I want to do so much more than I am, but I don't think I can… not at the same time. Please pray for me in this. Pray that God would give me perspective and guidance as to which ministries He wants me to take part in now, which ones he wants me to take part in later, and which ones he doesn't want me to be in at all. Also, please pray for the church here. Pray that more workers would come and that God would begin to work His wonders through them. I thank you for your prayers already in these things and for me. Please know that even now, I have been truly blessed by the prayer cover from the saints there. God has been working all around me, through me, and within me to make me into the man and servant I should be for this mission. And has even been giving me more patience when it comes to missions work here, which is essential for missionary survival in Japan ^_^!
Speaking of ministry opportunities, there are a few in particular that I would really like you to pray about. Recently, my schedule changed a little bit. I am now spending the entirety of my Fridays over in Setagaya. If you don't remember from my last letter, Setagaya Horizon Chapel is our small sister church that was started a little less than two years ago in a very unreached area about thirty minutes by train from here. Not too much has been happening in the way of outreach there so far, but the church there has been growing in both the English and the Japanese Fellowships. Fortunately for me, there are two outreaches there that just are just starting or are about to start that I am can be a part of. The First is an Bible English Class.
Now you may be thinking "Al, you got it wrong. It's an English Bible Class." But they are a bit different. A Bible English class is one in which we offer an English Class to those that want to learn. But instead of using some kind of text book we use the bible. We read the bible, translate the bible, discuss the bible, and then teach English through the bible. We simply talk about what words mean and how sentences in English work, and don't directly evangelize because it might scare off students. However, as we all know, "the Word of God is living and active… Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow." (Hebrews 4:12) Eventually the students have questions about what they are reading. And this gives great opportunity to share the love of Jesus with them. The class is just starting, so it is a bit small still. Please be praying for this ministry, that God will open up more and more opportunities through this class. But the other outreach, which God Has on my mind most often, is a ministry called Funky Friday.
When I came here last year, Funky Friday was already in full swing. I believe they have this outreach back in the states somewhere. But here, it was sort of just a night of fun things to do where people could invite their co-workers and friends. It was really a awesome night and God used me in it a lot the last time I was here. However, the Bible College student who was running it, Sho San, left and is now a pastor in Los Angeles. This left my friend Daichi in charge of it. However, he didn't understand the concept that well and soon it turned into a small Christian Fellowship time. This is fine, but Daichi has told me that he wants to re-make Funky Friday to be an outreach again. So we prayed about it a lot and think we know a bit more what it should look like. We are going to be starting it all up in November and I will keep you up to date with everything that is happening there.
Anyway, there is a lot happening in children's ministries and Shine Kids here. But I'll have to save that for another time. I pray that you are all well and hope to hear from you when you get the chance that I may know what to pray for there.

Yours in our Lord with all sincerity,
Alex J. Robinson ><>
P.S. Also, we have several big outreach events coming up this month. It is amazing how many people in our church are classically trained in music. So we are having two concerts that are coming up fast. Also we are having a horizon Café. It's going to be kind of like a festival in the Church and everyone in the Community is invited. And Lastly we are having a masquerade party for kids in the area at the end of the month. Please bathe these events in prayer that the Lord would use them how He wishes for His kingdom. Thank you.