Blossoms

Men's Fellowship Bowling Night

 Hello friends,

It is good to be writing you all at the end of a very long winter. This month in Tokyo, the cherry blossoms bloomed and all of Tokyo turned pink. What is interesting is for most of the year, you really don’t realize how many cherry trees there are in Tokyo. I pass by them everyday going to and from church, not giving them any thought whatsoever. But suddenly, for about a week every year, they bloom in their full glory and I realize that I am surrounded by them. They are absolutely everywhere. And I walk around dumbfounded and awestruck all week, even after living here for 15 years. And for weeks after, even after the cherry trees have stopped blooming, there is nowhere my feet can take me where I am not stepping on pink petals… I think the mercies of God are a lot like that. It is easy for me to go about the day to day without even realizing that they are there. But from time to time, God pulls back the curtain for me and I realize His mercies are everywhere. That they have been surrounding me the whole time though I did not realize it. And every step I have been taking has been by those same mercies. Much like Jacob said… [Gen 28:16b-17a ESV] …”Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! …” It has been a time like that for me recently. And God in his mercy has been revealing little blossoms in all that he has called my family to do. 

Easter in the Park

The Setagaya International Fellowship that I am pastoring has been growing. I have seen it grow in worship. For quite some time we did not have enough leaders and our brothers from Calvary Chapel Ginowan in Okinawa were making videos for us so we could have worship every Sunday. But God has provided us with worship leaders and we have not had to use videos for the last two months. I have seen our fellowship grow in community and those who have started attending recently say that it is like visiting family every Sunday. Last month we were able to have potluck for the first time in a while and all together we had 22 people who joined us, and it was a time of much rejoicing and high spirits. But even more than this I have seen our fellowship grow in their hunger for the word, sharing the word with one another throughout the week in our church chat rooms. Some of the people from the International service have started attending my class at the Horizon Bible college weekly. Also the joint Machida/Setagaya Online Bible Study that we have on Wednesdays (that used to be sometimes only 2 people) has in the last few months grown to 8 of us that are meeting faithfully every week to dig into the word. In addition we were able to start up our joint men’s and women’s fellowship events again for the first time in two years.

Our children’s ministry as well is starting to blossom again. During the course of the last two

years of corona, we lost contact with many children and their families from our children’s kindergarten and from shine kids as we were not able to meet with them regularly. But suddenly, many of these families reached out to us again. Some who we haven’t seen or heard from in 4 years. And they have been reconnecting with us. My wife Tomoko was able to invite many of the mothers and children to our home as we used to do often in the past and guests who come through our door just keep increasing.The numbers of Shine Kids in Setagaya had dwindled during the beginning of this semester, but now they are all back in full number and we are ministering to 25 kids there each week. A mother recently shared with me that she has never been to an English school where the kids were treated with more kindness and understanding. The English Time program which we recently started in Machida is growing. We have partnered with other church members in this ministry and I have been moved to see my kids and the other church children lovingly ministering to the children from outside the church as my wife and another mother from church minister to the mothers, listening to their stories as their children learn English. Pastor Jonathan and Rie his wife, who I have been serving under in Machida, have developed a program that helps children who have been through traumatic experiences called OPsafe. (He is going to be going this month to Poland to train people ministering to Ukrainian refugees.) And they have agreed to train the Sunday school teachers and I in this program and Lord willing we are going to use the training to minister to Tokyo kids this summer and incorporate the program into our VBS. 

My family and I thank you all for your prayers and support. We thank those who have reached out to us with letters and encouragement. We keep you all in our prayers and look forward to the time when we can fellowship again, face to face. 

Because He lives,

Alex, Tomoko, Daisy, Caleb, Hazel, and Olive Robinson

PS. Our kids are doing great. They continue to home school and serve a lot in the church. Our oldest Daisy has been going crazy about Kenya recently, pouring over books and making clothes and even trying to learn some Kiswahili. (We have some members of the International Service that come from Kenya.) Says she wants to be a missionary there someday. Exciting to see what the Lord has in store for these little ones. 

Do Not Withhold Your Hand

Merry Christmas, family.

This Christmas finds my family and I at the end of a long spiritual journey. 

For the last 14 years, I have been outreaching through English classes to the children in the community of Machida and Setagaya here in Tokyo. I have been blessed that for all of those years aside from the time that I was in bible college, there has never been a time that I did not have students. Even during the time of Corona, God made a way to keep the school open and still have students come. 

And many of the students that God has blessed me with have been with me for a very long time. This last April, a large number of my students graduated and moved on from the English school and entered Junior High. I had been teaching these kids since they were in Kindergarten. They had attended church events, VBS after VBS, I had been able to speak and share with their parents. And I have been blessed to be able to plant many seeds of the gospel over the years in their lives and their family’s. And this is not the first time I had experienced someone I have

taught and shared with for years move on, but this time it hit me quite differently. Years of ministry were about to walk out the door… and I had so little to show for it. None of them believed in Jesus during my time with them, nor did their families. And this caused me to wonder what I am doing it for. Following this I went through a time of crisis. I wanted to leave the children’s outreach behind and move on to something else. I closed the English school in Machida and was about to close the school in Setagaya as well.

However, one night as I was in prayer about moving on to a new season with my wife Tomoko, the Lord brought to mind all the faces of the children from the English School. I could see one face after another flashing in my mind. That night God convicted me that these were all faces of the children that He gave to me to care for. The faces that I was abandoning because of my own pride. Because I had not seen what I wanted to see from them. But I had given no thought to what God wanted for them. That He wanted person that would care about them and listen to them and have fun with them and love on them every week. That He wanted them to know that his church was a place like that. And He convicted me that the time the children spent in my care would be remembered and would bring fruit, for He makes all things beautiful in His time.  And I knew this to be true, for I have heard the testimony of countless Japanese Christian’s of starting in a Sunday school or a kids program when they were young, only to return to the church years later and believe… He made me realize I was throwing something beautiful away.

Ecclessiastes 11:4-6 says that we don’t know how God is going to move or how he is going to bring life to people. And if we spend our life trying to figure it out ourselves, looking for the right situation, we will not plant much seed at all and will not reap much either. So instead, we plant as much as we can. Whether the situation looks favorable or not doesn’t matter. God is able to work through it if we do not withhold our hand, taking every opportunity given to us.

So for the time being, that is what I am convicted to do. For I realize I am blessed with many opportunities.  Whether in pastoring the
International fellowship, teaching at the Horizon Bible College, leading the International Wednesday night bible study, and especially outreaching to Tokyo kids, I am not going to withhold my hand. My wife and I, along with my children started a new English club in Machida since then called “English Time”. It is a real family affair now, with my kids attending the classes and helping other children learn English. They are enjoying it a lot and are natural teachers. We are a small club now, but more children are starting to come. I continue to teach
Shine Kids in Setagaya and have seen the numbers of kids continue to grow. In July we had our VBS in Machida. We had to cut numbers in half due to Corona and social distancing, but we had a 37 kids come, almost entirely from outside the church. Just a couple weeks ago, we had a children’s Christmas program in Machida as well and this time children from the English Programs in both Machida and Setagaya as well as their families attended and heard the true Christmas story. We also have more Christmas outreaches planned in other churches this month, so please be praying for that. 

Thank you all for your prayers and support. We thank you for the letters that you have sent to us and all the encouragement. My family sends their Christmas greetings to you. My children think of their time in America often and excitedly look forward to the time when they can visit you all again. We love you and are praying for you in whatever opportunities God would give you in this season and in whatever conditions He would give them to you. How blessed we are to have a God that goes beyond our understandings. 

With Great Love,

Alex, Tomoko, Daisy, Caleb, Hazel, and little Olive Robinson

New video!

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:

https://www.horizoninternationalfellowship.com

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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFvt5imxFjQ

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. 

Much Love,

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

have a team of 10 from Second Level Ministry that came and lead the VBS program this year. As I have mentioned before. Second Level Ministry is a group that ministers to Japanese Foreign exchange students in Atlanta and has been making plans since last year to work with us here at Horizon. With their team, our own staff of 30 people, and all the mothers and children included, we had well over a hundred people packed into this building. It was almost bursting at the seams! Please pray for all the seeds that were planted and for those who attended VBS to also attend our church camp that we invited them all 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 prayers for the Horizon Bible College. I just finished teaching my 3rd semester at the college and it was my first time teaching a full 10 week course. This semester we studied through the book of Judges and it was an eye opening time for me even as I was teaching through the class. I really came up against some of the limitations I had put upon God as to the kind of people He can work through and the situations that that He can use. If God can use a man like Samson, there is no way I can say He can't use me. If God can use a civil war amongst his own people to bring repentance, He can truly use anything for his purpose. The students also had a blessed time and there was a lot of honest communication. Please pray for me as I prepare classes for the fall semester and please continue to pray for students as we had many graduate in June.

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. 

Love,

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

Dear Friends,
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.

Not long after that, the wind gave me another turn. One of the teachers here at the bible college decided that she wanted to retire. And with a spot open, the pastors came to me and asked to teach a class once a week here at the Horizon Bible college. And again, I was just in shock. I didn’t think I would ever be teaching at the bible college here. The class I was asked to teach is an English immersion class on the book of 1 John. We actually just had our first class today and it was a very blessed time. Often times seeing the Word in another language can often give us new perspectives on passages that we have become accustomed to, and I think it will will be a blessing for the student. For me also, the preparation for the class has been very powerful and simplifying 1 John to language an English beginner can understand gave me a new perspective.

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

P.S. Daisy and Caleb are doing great and now are both going to Japanese Kindergarten starting from last week. Hazel is doing very well and smiles, laughs, and squeals constantly.