Hello friends!
Very excited that our international fellowship in Setagaya now has been given access to a new camera and now we are able to record video for the Sunday message! Praise God!
Here is the video from last Sunday’s message.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gYmDjGiVlQA
The Many Graces of God
Dear friends,
With all that is going on around us, I am in prayer daily that as Ephesians 6 says, as shoes for our feet, we would put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. That God would use us at all times and in various ways to speak the true peace found in Jesus Christ to a world that has none right now and to one another that we would not let each other forget all that we have been given in Him. That which can never be taken away from us.
In Japan, as everywhere else, these last months have been very different and have brought us different struggles than we have ever faced before. However, though many programs had to be suspended for a time, by the grace of God, during all that went on, the church in Japan was allowed to continue meeting for worship (with great care and sanitation). This included the Setagaya International Fellowship which I am pastoring and the Machida International Service where I am associate Pastor. And in all the times we met, the Lord has had his hand of protection over us, in that no one in the church got sick in either the Machida or Setagaya campuses.
In addition, in the midst of all this, the graces of God have been evident.
Because of the virus, the English school attendance decreased dramatically and the kids club had to be canceled. However with the time that was afforded me by this, I was able to make a website for Machida and Setagaya International Fellowship which we have not had for years. Please give it a look when you have the time. It is kept up to date with all messages preached and bible study notes. Lord willing, we will start posting devotional videos as well soon.
Here is the link:
Here is the link:
Also, with the English programs closed down, we wanted to keep contact with the students. So my kids and I made a little video English lesson for them. The students have been asking for more of them, so this will probably be the first of more to come.
Here is the link:
Here is the link:
Due to restrictions placed on people working on the U.S. military base, we had to stop meeting for our international Wednesday night bible study. So we switched over to Webex meetings. Now before, due to strenuous work conditions in Japan and how late people come home, it was usually only two or three people that had been able to attend the Bible study. However, moving the Bible study later in the evening and doing it online, we now have 10-14 people attending the Bible study every Wednesday. And we have had people attending the meeting from both Setagaya and Machida now which has never happened before. Also, because people leading the Bible study have to prepare a presentation for the web meeting, we have been able to post all the presentations on the church website as well.
When it came to Funky Friday Night, our college group, at first we didn’t know what to do. Though technically people could meet at the church, colleges required their students to stay home. So we started a weekly broadcast for them. Though it was one way video, they could text in messages to us while we gave a message, took prayer requests, gave praise reports, and even played games together. It was a lot of fun. At the same time, while I was leading Funky, I had really been feeling the leading of the Spirit to focus my efforts on pastoring the international fellowship. So, though I loved the time I spent leading the Funky Friday Night group, I believed a new season was starting for both the group and I. So, I had been praying for someone who could take over leadership there. And though this is a crazy season, God is faithful. And in His own way, He has provided a Japanese National who He had been preparing for this time. And so, by the Grace of God, he will be taking leadership of Funky starting from next month. We have also agreed to continue joint efforts between the Internationals and Funky that have opened up during my time of leadership, which is huge benefit within a Japanese Church.
And as if this were not enough, God decided to give us an even bigger blessing and grace. And I am proud to announce that Tomoko is pregnant!. In September, our good Lord will be adding one more to our family. A baby girl!
We thank you for your prayer and support. We love you and will continue to keep you in prayer.
Alex, Tomoko, Daisy, Caleb, Hazel, and Baby Robinson.
P.S. The kids are doing great. We had been preparing to switch over to homeschooling right before everything started and we were able to go right into it. We are still trying to find the balance in homeschooling, so please pray for us and them.
Overflow
Hello Dear Friends,
As it says in Luke 6:38 "Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
This year, I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of God. How he has continued to go above and beyond the measure that I have used. The amount of opportunity that has been poured into my lap that surpasses what I am deserving of continues to leave me in awe of His mercy and grace towards me. There have been times when the hustle of everything has made me forget to be grateful and forget how good He has been to me. And I have grumbled against Him and lost my way a few times since I wrote you all last. But as I have had to look back at all that has happened in writing to you, I am brought back to a renewed thankfulness. God is good. He gives us a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, poured into our laps. And yeah, sometimes that can get messy, but it is always beautiful.
We just finished with our Summer VBS "Superhero City". This year was a very special VBS for us. We started out the event with several complications when it came to school schedules and did not think many children would be able to come. But as we brought it to God in prayer, we started seeing miracles happen and this ended up being the largest turnout we have ever had for a VBS. Altogether we had 67 children in attendance, with a cancelation waiting list of 9 more due the small size of our facility. This year was also the fastest that a VBS has ever filled up, with registration closing 2 weeks before the event. Also what amazed us is where God brought children from. Almost all the children that attended came from families outside the church and many of those had never stepped foot inside a church before. Many came in timidly, but all the kids left singing and dancing with big smiles on their face, many asking when they could come to church again. Many of the moms also were able to sit in on parts of the VBS including the messages, which all stated clearly how Jesus is the greatest hero of all. In addition to the children, we were blessed to
In addition to leading the VBS program, Second Level Ministry also held two reunion parties for students they had ministered to in Atlanta that have returned to Japan. Between the two events, I believe we had about 45 or more students in attendance right here at Tokyo Horizon Chapel. We were able to talk and share with them, invite them to Funky Friday Night , our college group, and also invite them to services on Sunday. Some have been attending our English services ever since. Please pray for God to continue to work in the heart of the students and draw them towards Himself.
Thank you for your prayers for Funky Friday Night as well. As we entered into the summer months, in order to minister to the new members that have been coming, we shifted our format from a bible study to a youth group setting. Every week, we prepare a meal, have a message and sharing time, games, and fellowship. The response has been blessed and we have seen God breath new life into the group. Please pray for us as we are going to be having a big summer get together for Funky on Aug 10. Please pray for new connections to be made and also for God to continue to draw Funky together in unity.
Thank you for your continued prayers for the Shine English Language school. Honestly, God keeps filling us up. The parents over in Setagaya started showing interest in having adult classes over in Setagaya and so from the beginning of this year we began adult classes over there. Now we have six Shine Kids Parents taking classes in Setagaya weekly. Also, though it declined for a while, Shine Kids Setagaya is being filled up again recently and now we have 27 kids coming to classes as well. The classes in Machida continue and we have now 38 students taking classes every month. I thank God that he is giving me opportunity to share with so many people every week through these English classes. But honestly, at least when it comes to Machida, I am starting to have to turn people away. I am full to max capacity when it comes to my teaching schedule, especially after school. If you could, please pray for someone like me, who can teach English and has a heart for ministry that I could partner with to minister to this overflow.
Finally, please keep the International service here at Horizon in prayer. Recently, we have had a suddenly surge of attendance from children outside the church who want to learn English. So much so, that I started a whole new Sunday school class for them that teaches English through the Bible. Please pray for the new kids, that this interest in English would be the stepping stone that would lead to a lifetime relationship with Jesus. Also, in the International service, we are about to go through a very big transition. Our pastor, Rich Chang, who has been serving here at Horizon for over 8 years is going to be heading back to the U.S. very soon. Naturally this is going to be a big change for our church and it has not yet been decided what is going to done in his absence. Of course, it is going to be difficult to loose such an amazing pastor and fellow worker here, especially when fellow workers are so few. But God is good and I know He has a perfect plan for this. Please pray for peace for the congregation and for clarity as we seek His will for the next season.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. We really miss you all and pray for God to open up a window of opportunity to be with you all again soon.
Alex, Tomoko, Daisy, Caleb, and Hazel Robinson
P.S. Our kids are doing great. Daisy is going to starting Elementary School next year. Please pray for us as we are praying about homeschooling her. Caleb is doing well, always finding ways to make everyone laugh. And Hazel is toddling around and starting to say her first words.
Christmas Greetings
Merry Christmas to you all! May we all count ourselves blessed during this season as we remember that God himself, in love, set aside His glory and chose to live among us that we might experience the light of life. I miss you all and think about you often, especially during this time of year. I want to thank all of you who have reached out recently to us as it has been a huge encouragement to me and my family. I was also very excited to hear about plans to bring a team from Calvary Chapel Sonora to work alongside us here next October! I can't wait to receive all of you who are able to come and to minister with us here! Your help is very needed and deeply appreciated!
We are still in the full rush of the Christmas season. In Japan, Christmas is an extremely popular holiday, though the meaning is unknown. And a lot of opportunities have been afforded to us to share and reach out. As I write you, I am preparing for Funky Friday Nights kids program this Saturday at the Myanmar church in central Tokyo(which looks to have about 40~50 children in attendance) and also the Horizon Christmas Program/Outreach that is coming up on Sunday. Please pray for both of these events.
We kicked off on the first of December with our Sunday School Christmas. I want to thank
you for continuing to pray for God to open hearts here, because the response for this year was bigger than ever before. Because of VBS this summer, word spread through many of the mothers in the Shine program and also at Daisy and Caleb's Kindergarten. Also church members invited their non christian family and we ended up having 46 children come to the event. More than came to Machida VBS this summer. We are praying of about making the event as big as our VBS program next year.
Thank you all for praying about the Funky Friday Night College Group. Taking leadership of this group has been a very stretching experience for me. In all honesty it has revealed more areas where I need repent and grow than I care to count. But God has been faithful in walking me through the process. As it says in 2 Corinthians 4:16 "we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." I am starting to understand that verse better and better. And God, in his mercy, has been blessing the ministry. We continue our study through Hebrews and have just started working through chapter 11. The conversations have been very good and have been getting deeper as time goes on. We also have kept up having a dinner night with guest Testimony every month. Last month we had a big Thanksgiving dinner night with both the Funky Friday Night and the old Alive members and had 42 people come. And a week ago, we had a street ministry night with the international members that was awesome. In addition, last summer we were visited by Second Level Ministry, a group who is doing ministry to Japanese exchange students in Atlanta. And in the mysterious way that God works, we are now in planning with them for their mission trip next year as they are seeking to connect the students they have ministered to in the past with our church. So please pray for the group as we are going into this new season. Please pray for some of our members who are just starting out their walk with Jesus and some who are still seeking who have been visiting us frequently.
As for the Shine English Language School, we continue in patient ministry to our 37 students in Machida and our 23 students in Setagaya. We are starting to see some changes as some of our adult students recently visited Sunday Service for the first time, but it is still one small step at a time. Please pray for a patient and unselfish heart for us as we love on them and serve them.
Thank you also for your prayers about my new role teaching at the Horizon Bible College (HBC). This semester went very well and even though everything was all in English, I think the class was a powerful time for the students and myself as well. I am now preparing for my class next semester on the book of Ezra which will be a 7 week course.
Lastly, please pray for my wife and family. More and more, my wife Tomoko has been given opportunities to minister to the mothers at our kids kindergarten. They have come over to our house multiple times and are always full of questions about our faith. They even came to the international service a few weeks back. She also is continuing on with her mother's group here at the church and God has been blessing the time powerfully.
We thank you very much for all your prayers and support! We love you all and can't wait to welcome all who come with the team next October!
Grace and Peace,
Alex, Tomoko, Daisy, Caleb, and Hazel Robinson
P.S. The kids are doing great. Daisy and Caleb love their school and though we were a bit worried at first, Caleb is taking to his all Japanese school like a fish to water. Hazel is a very happy girl, and though she is not crawling yet, she has been dragging herself around the house at quite a fast pace.
As The Winds Blow
Dear Friends,
I hope this letter finds you all safe and well. We continue to pray for you all who have been affected by the wildfires. Praying for protection and that the Lord would keep you all in his good grace. I miss you all and look forward to the day when I can see you again.
John 3:8 says “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Many times the Spirit takes us on quite a ride. We don’t know where it is all going or even where some of the opportunities he presents us with have come from. All we can do is remain flexible and go with the wind. This last summer was a lot like that for me
It started during our annual VBS in July. The last time I wrote to
you all, I asked for prayer for a softening of heart for all those we minister to through our English outreach. And yours prayers impacted. I did nothing different, but the flood gates opened up and we had more kids from Shine outreaches come than ever before. But it was more than that, because suddenly people we never even invited started showing up. Shine kids we haven’t talked to in years suddenly started contacting us out of the blue and asking if there were any summer events this year. We mentioned it to one of the mothers at Daisy’s Kindergarten, and suddenly she is inviting all of her friends to come. And even though Daisy’s Kindergarten is a Christian school, most of the people who came to VBS where not christian and had never set foot inside a church before. Even a government worker who was assigned to check up on our youngest, Hazel, ended sending both of her kids as well. Never saw it coming. Between the two VBS events we had around 65 kids show up. And some kids had such a great time at the Machida VBS that they went all the way to Setagaya the following Saturday to attend VBS there too. 
Soon after, the pastors of our church came to me and asked me to take over leadership of Horizon’s college group, Funky Friday Night. I never saw it coming. Now, I had never written about this before, but the reason this is so amazing is that this group had been on my heart for years and actually (and Zach Wise can attest to this) I had been praying for a way to minister to this group for quite some time now. However, I could not due to certain cultural issues that had kept me at a respectful distance. But suddenly the wind blew in a new direction and now I am leading the group. I still can’t believe it. We have been studying through the book of Hebrews and are up to chapter 5 now in our bible study. The discussions that are going on are awesome to hear. And a week ago we had our second dinner night with guest testimony from my friend Hide who shared about how the word of God saved him out of depression and changed his life. So amazing to see. Pray for me as this is the first time I have lead a group entirely in Japanese and am still getting used to it. I have been feeling the limits of my Japanese especially, so please pray for my continued growth to meet the needs of the group. Also pray for the continued spiritual growth of the group itself.
Please pray for Shine Kids as this Fall semester will be starting from this week with around 27 students in Setagaya. The Shine English language school started already from last week with 36 regular students. And pray for more children to come to the program in Setagaya and deeper relationships with those who are return students.
Thank you all always for your continued prayers and support.
Grace and Peace,
Alex, Tomoko, Daisy, Caleb, and Hazel Robinson
A New Thing
Dear friends,
It is good to be writing you all again. In Isaiah 43:18-19, it says “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” On January 1st of this year, God brought me to this verse and has brought me back to it many times afterwards. And through this year, what I have seen time and time again is that He works in ways that I am not going to expect, just as I don’t expect a way in the wilderness and a river in a desert. And as He is moving in these unexpected ways, I need to be laying down what he has done yesterday to see what he is doing today.
As many of you know, two years ago I began leading a bilingual Saturday night service here at Horizon. And this year, we as a fellowship started praying fervently for God to start a new work in the service. Then just over a month ago, the 21st century church, a church we have been working together with for some time now, came to us asking to start a new joint service between our two churches on Saturday nights over at their church in Central Tokyo. Now, because of the history of Japan, there is not honestly a lot of connectivity between different churches. And the idea of two different churches working together, sharing a fellowship is, to my understanding, a historic idea. At first I struggled with it, asking God why our fellowship couldn't just stay as it was. But as he worked in my heart, he kept me bringing me back to the same thought, “You prayed for a new movement, Alex. And this is new. Unexpected for you maybe, but I am moving. Follow me.” And so we as a church started fellowshipping with the 21st century church on Saturdays a month ago. The fellowship time there has been refreshing and it has opened doors to people we would have never talked to before. Also, because of our involvement there, the doors are opening to other areas in Central Tokyo to reach out. They have come to us asking to do a children’s program there once a month as well and I have been asked to head it up. Please pray that God would continue to use this new service to open up new doors in central Tokyo for us to minister and reach new people. And though it is a very specific request, pray that God would open doors for me to be a part of the translation ministry there.
Doors also started opening up to our neighbors. We moved into our new house last October in a new area about 20 minutes drive from Machida. Before we moved, I remember we were sad to say goodbye to our old neighbors that we had been sharing with and ministering to. It had taken a long to build these relationships. But interestingly, as soon as we got into the new neighborhood, it felt like God is drawing people to us. The man next door to us loves trying out his English on me and we often get to talk. The neighborhood kids seem drawn to us also. As we played in the yard, some of our next door neighbors kids had been watching us from the windows. So we invited them out to play with us. Then some other kids from across the street that we say “hi” to every morning came right up and rung our doorbell the other day and asked if we could play with them. They ended up hanging out at our house for a quite some time. There are international families that have been walking by and have invited us to their house. Lots of opportunities which are usually so rare in Tokyo. Pray God would continue to use us in our community and show us how to minister to these people. 
God also has been doing some new things with the Sunday school here at Horizon. Recently I was invited to help out with the Setagaya Sunday school kids camp at the base of mount Fuji. One of the girls who comes to Sunday School invited 6 of her non christian friends to come. All the kids had a blast. I made the mistake of carrying one of them on my shoulders, and once they saw I could do it, they took turns having me carry them everywhere. Most of them were in upper elementary school, and honestly usually Tokyo kids at that age start to get so serious and kind of hard to bring out of their shell. But they were all playing with us like they were little kids and listened so intently when we shared the bible with them. All of them said they want to come to the next camp. Over here in Machida Sunday school kids continue to bring their non christian friends. Though many of them were very wild kids when they first came to us, I have seen a lot of changes in their hearts. They have started to like singing and worshiping with us. They listen very well to the bible stories and remember so much of what we have taught them and the memory verses as well. They always ask for our prayers for many things. It is beautiful to see. Pray God would continue to use the Sunday school to minister to church kids and their friends as well as continue to work through events like the Sunday School Easter outreach seen here. Also pleas pray for our Sunday School BBQ this Saturday and it looks like 55 people are coming including some from our Shine English Language school. Pray God would use it to minister to the kids and their parents.
As for the Shine English Language school, God is continuing to bless it and open doors through it. The Language school in Machida has around 36 students and the Setagaya school has around 24 students now. God continues to give sharing opportunities in the class conversation time, but it seems recently to take longer to build relationships and trust in the school. Harder to get people to come to events at church. We will of course keep making opportunities, times, and places for people to come, but pray that God would open up hearts at the school. And pray for leading as we plan out events at the Setagaya English school.
And lastly, the newest work that God has done for us is adding to our family. Our daughter, Hazel Annora Robinson was born on April 20, weighing 8.5 pounds and measuring at 21.3 inches. Her big brother and sister are crazy about her, always running to check on her if she cries. Please pray for this new season of our family life as well.
We thank you all for your prayers and support. We are praying for you all and love you.
Grace and Peace,
Alex, Tomoko, Daisy, Caleb, and Hazel Robinson
Here we come!
Well, the cold of the Tokyo winter is just starting to melt away and we are beginning to feel the first warm breezes of spring. And as we are heading into a new season, it is a blessing to stop and reflect on God's faithfulness this last winter.
Last time I wrote you all I told you about the new Bilingual fellowship "ALIVE" that we had started up on Saturdays. I want to thank you so much for your prayers. We have now reached the half year mark since we started the service and it has been a very blessed time. Last year we started the service studying in the book of James. By God's grace, we have finished James and and we are about to finish the book of Jonah. We have recently made a blog for this service and have started to post the messages from the service as well. Please give it a look when you have the time.
http://horizonalive.blogspot.jp
Also thank you for praying for the fellowship time for this service. It has been a amazing time for us and I look forward to it every week. It has been great to hear some of the conversations that have been going on in the fellowship and to see new friendships made with members of the different services. Pray that God would continue his work of unity in the service. Also please pray for the next
steps of this service. Now that we have started the service, we want it to more and more become a welcoming space for Non christians who are wanting to study English as well. And while we have had a couple of my English students attend the service since we started, please pray for wisdom in inviting people and ways to open doors to minister to those we are teaching English too through the ALIVE service. Also please continue to pray for our translators and worship leader as they grow in their service.God has also opened a new door for the ministry here at Tokyo Horizon Chapel. A pastor from central Tokyo has recently opened up his church for us to use on Sunday nights in the city of Hiroo. This new service will be the start of a new church campus for us. It will be the fifth service we have on Sunday between our two main campuses. It is also been decided that it will be a bilingual service and I have been given the opportunity to act in a supporting role in the service and give the teaching when Pastor Hirano is not able to. There are many foreigners in the area as well as Japanese interested in international culture. So please pray that God would use this new church plant to minister to the people of central Tokyo and many would come to know Jesus.
Thank you for your prayers for Shine Kids and the Shine English program. The Shine Kids in Setagaya is continuing to grow. So much so that we had to start a new class on that day, which brings Thursdays to 3 classes of 12. Our Classes in Machida remain steady and more and more, the children have been coming to the church events that we have been putting on. Another blessing happened recently with the graduating children. For many years, we have had the problem of Children who aged out of Shine Kids. We would then loose contact with them soon after making the window for ministering to them very short. Some in the past entered the Shine English language school, but most didn't. This year as kids are graduating in April, for the first time our whole advanced class that would have been finishing Shine Kids is going to be joining the Shine English Language school. Not one of them will be leaving. We praise God for the continued opportunity to serve them and their families. Please pray that God would continue to use us to speak into their lives and hearts.Last but not least, as you all know, we are gearing up for our trip to Sonora at the end of this month. We will be bringing our team of 12 from our church to homestay with CC Sonora Families. All of the team, especially the kids we will be bringing, are all very excited. Being as the church body in Japan is so small, you don't know what an encouragement it is for the Japanese Christians to spend time with their extended family overseas and see that God is at work all over the world. I want to thank you all personally for the opportunity. There has never been a time back in Sonora that I have not come away encouraged and rekindled for the work here in Japan. I pray the same for this team on this trip.
I can't wait to see you all soon.
Much Love,
Alex, Tomoko, Daisy, and Caleb Robinson
P.S. Daisy and Caleb are doing great. Daisy is going to be entering kindergarten next month and Caleb is running around like crazy and toting around his toy guitar wherever he goes. And as is obvious by the picture, they both love to sing.
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