travels well

::: incarnational ministry in an unreached nation takes us to many places...we go where our new friends like to go, where they feel most comfortable, which, in japan, means anywhere but a church...good thing the gospel travels well...

...last night we spent time with a young couple living and working in kobe...

...for several weeks i have been meeting yoon (right) at starbucks, helping him prepare for a major english competency exam (toeic)...tonight, at his insistence, was the first time for us to meet with our wives...

...with professing christians comprising less than 1% of this remarkably homogeneous population, an entrenched (and customarily unspoken) stigma of abnormalcy follows the tag "christian"...in a society where drinking holds social currency and religious pluralism is controlling, this stigma swings the pendulum from social piety (most japanese think that christians never drink, smoke, laugh or have fun) to deviant spirituality (the exclusivity of christ is seen as an affront to japanese religious sensibilities)...this swinging stigma is one of the main hurdles that we face...

...take, for example, an honest question my language partner asked me a few weeks ago..."i finally found it after months of searching," she said with a smile, describing a new purse she bought the week prior...then, in an instant, she became sheepish...she leaned over, asking me, "do you, as a christian, buy things too?"...smiling, i straightened the collar of my jacket (which i bought the day before) and said, "why, of course, do you think i stole this jacket?...christians buy things so they don't have to steal things"...we both laughed and agreed that i made a good purchase...

...so, if you can believe this, one of the most important ways of sharing the gospel with the japanese is simply to be natural and normal...

...like having fun (yes, fun!) with our new friends and in the process showing off our mad bowling skills (watch out, pins! she may be cute but she's deadly in the pocket!)...



...taking the checkered flag...



...during dinner, yoon mentioned that he was a christian as a youngster..."i want to see him again so badly," he said, talking about his best friend -- a strong christian -- who died of cancer...his friend's death left yoon deeply wounded...eventually he turned away from God...isn't this the case for so many people?...

..."if your friend could speak to you," i asked, "do you think he would urge you to turn back to God or continue turning away from Him?"...i then shared briefly how the gospel leads to victory over suffering and death in this life and further leads to reunion with God and fellow believers in heaven...yoon seemed to listen positively...

...glad the gospel travels well...