Passion Week -Jesus’ Call to the Nations?

15″And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” -Mark 11:15-17

As a staff, we were encouraged by our Senior Pastor to follow along in the Bible through the Passion Week. I could not help but notice that early on in the Passion Week, Jesus’ indictment against the religious leaders of the day appeared to reveal God’s call to the nations.

Meet Evergreener Garrett Inouye -Asian Access/SIM Missionary to Japan

When I initially took on this position at Evergreen SGV, my prayer was that God would raise up full-time overseas missionaries within our church. Soon after, I met with Garrett Inouye (who I remembered as a high school student) and he shared how God had called him to Japan.

We began to meet regularly for over a year in preparation for Garrett going on the field and now he is officially approved as an Asian Access/SIM missionary and is currently raising support so he can go on the field for his initial two-year term.

Garrett is currently an Outreach intern at Evergreen SGV and is also overseeing the college ministry, “the Floor”, as part of his preparation for Japan. He has been a great encouragement to me as I have been blessed by his passion for the Lord, his faith to venture out and his heart of mercy for others (he is also one of the funniest guys I know).

Recently, I was able to catch up with Garrett regarding the journey God has taken him on:

Reflections from Haiti

Our team with Joanna Hodges

Though only five days long, my recent trip to Haiti revealed a lot to me about the country, its people, the work of the Good Samaritan Hospital hospital (HBS) and the importance of missionary care. Here is a snapshot of my reflections since returning:

Leaving on a Jet Plane to … Haiti

From February 24-29, I along with join Frank Murakami and Allen Yee will visit Hopital Bon Samaritain (HBS) in Limbe, Haiti, a hospital Evergreen members Bill and Joanna Hodges started serving at over 50 years ago. (It started as a Christian outpatient clinic in 1953 and grew under the direction of Bill Hodges.)

Please pray:

• that we would be able to bless Joanna for the amazing legacy of ministry she and her husband helped establish
• that we would encourage the workers in their ministry
• that we would be able to see what God is doing there
• that we would be able to discern what God may be calling Evergreen SGV to do there

 
I will attempt to post updates via twitter.

Meet Evergreener Jenn Louie -InterVarsity Campus Minister at SDSU

It is always a blessing seeing the young people who grew up in our church venture out in serving God.

One such person is Jenn Louie. Jenn grew up at Evergreen SGV, recently graduated from San Diego State University (SDSU) and is now an InterVarsity Campus Minister there. It has been a privilege for me to hear her story and witness her passion to minister to the students at SDSU.

Recently, I was able to ask her a few questions about where the Lord has taken her and where He is leading her:

Following in the Footsteps of Barnabas

This article appears in the upcoming Evergreen SGV Online Newsletter but has been edited here to protect the identities of our team members and partners in E. Asia

A wave of doubt came over me on our first day in E. Asia as I thought, “What are we doing here?” God had called us to be there for ML Orphanage as they were closing down (and GV in light of the impending destruction of their school) and we were to simply listen, encourage and pray. It was quite a contrast to the Thailand missions trip I just came off of where our schedules were packed with activity and laden with tangible fruit.

Ours was a ministry we would soon embrace as a “Barnabas” ministry to the saints in E. Asia. Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement”, was a man sent out by the early church to witness what God was doing in a particular area and to encourage the saints there (Acts 11:23).

In following the footsteps of Barnabas, I began to realize how important it was to be physically present. I understand the situation at ML more in listening to the director for an hour than the numerous Skype calls we had the past six months and catch onto the vision of GV more from listening to the director one night than from the many PowerPoint presentations that were sent our way. I get the heart of the ML director’s new HIV work after spending a morning with two girls with HIV and appreciate again how significant adoption is from introducing my little friends at ML to their new future families in America.

But the greatest strength of this ministry is not found in words or measured by time spent there, it lies in simply coming and being with your brothers and sisters. How special it was for the ML staff to see my wife and daughter after posting their pictures in their classroom along with the letters I had sent all these years. How powerful it was for our team member’s foster family and the rest of the ML family to see their little DJ all grown up and be able to thank her mother firsthand. Though technology has made it possible to span the world with a click of a button, one can never replace the impact of being with a person face to face.

If there was any doubt whether we were supposed to go to E. Asia, it was quickly erased with the simple words we seemed to hear time and time again: “Thank you for being here.”

Reflections on Thailand

Though it’s been several weeks since our trip to Thailand, it’s taken some time for me to process all that happened there for me personally. Here are some thoughts with possibly more to come:

• When I was told that I was supposed to preach in the village church two days out, it became clear I could not rely on my preparation. It was a wake-up call of how much I depend on my preparation more than the Holy Spirit whenever I preach. (In talking to some missionaries, I realize that two days notice is more than what most missionaries get when asked to preach)

• It was foolish of me to think we can go undercover, bust down doors and rescue children firsthand. We can’t and shouldn’t attempt to do anything firsthand because we could totally jeopardize the whole child rescue operation. What we can do however, is support those who are going out, investigating, and risking their lives to rescue these children.

• It was also naive of us to think we could drop in and adopt of village when it literally took an army of ministry school students to trek up the mountain to conduct a two day outreach with us. Natives are best equipped to reach their people but we can definitely equip, encourage and spur them on.

• The reality remains that the gospel alone can save souls. Even if we were to rescue children from trafficking, what good is that if they are still in bondage to sin? (This is why I appreciate ZOE’s commitment to the gospel first and foremost)

• The sense I got this year and last year with ZOE in Thailand was not looking at the missionaries and thinking, “Wow, that can never be me”, but rather, “Why not me?” And that doesn’t mean that the missionaries there are not remarkable people, because they are. What it means is that they are so personal and relatable, they really make you consider whether you could see yourself there serving alongside them.

• Finally, it became clear early on that my role was not to run ahead of the team and wait for them to catch up. It was to come behind them and help each of them catch what God was doing and realize why God had them on this team. To see God move in each of their hearts and witness His work continue to unfold back home is an unspeakable blessing and privilege. (Listen to the Kawashima’s share in “This is going to be an action-packed message!!!” to see what I mean)

Thailand Exploration Team Underway

Our Thailand Exploration Team will be leaving tonight. Check my twitter and our Thailand Team Blog for updates. Thank you to all who have come alongside us in prayer and support. Continue to pray for:

• Travel Mercies to and throughout Thailand
• Good health for all team members
• Connection with ZOE family and villagers
• Team bonding
• Effective witness for Christ
• Discerning God’s plan for Evergreen SGV in Thailand

“And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” -Acts 16:10 (NASB)

N. Korean Testimony from Lausanne

I know this is late, but here is the link to the N. Korean testimony from the Lausanne Congress in Capetown that I referred to earlier. It really is worth watching.

The best way to get involved in missions just got updated

The best way to get involved in missions is to of course pray. After much anticipation, the updated and completely revised Operation World was released (the release party was at Lausanne interestingly enough). It has been nearly 10 years since the last edition and I have personally been looking forward to the new material and updated research in this valuable handbook for praying for the nations.

I have only briefly thumbed through the new edition, as I am hoping to order the cd and/or dvd in addition to the book for our missions resource library. But the first thing I noticed was the absence of Patrick Johnston being listed on the cover of the book. For many years Johnston’s name has been synonymous with the Operation World project. Now, it appears that the baton has been passed on to Jason Mandryk, who by the looks of things has completely revamped and revised the book as well as the website in a presentation that better reflects our time (the old website was seriously outdated as anyone who clicked on my “Pray Today” link can attest).