Thomson Times | One Step Beyond

Sometimes ministry and life converges at such a chaotic pace that things get overlooked. Like our blog. Apologies for not updating lately. Here are some of the things we have been up to.

1. A couple more Mash-up Parties.
2. A parenting class and producing a DVD.
3. A weekend seminar on healing.
4. Prepping for more families to come to Osaka/Kobe with Asian Access.
5. Leadership meetings with national pastors and with the mission.
6. Four wonderful children that exponentially increase the joy in our lives.

Coming up in August…  a conference for house church planters. Gospel concerts. Help a mission family get settled.

Thank so much for your prayers. For even more frequent updates, look us up on Facebook. We love connecting!

Once a month, our fellowship is holding what we call a “Mashup Party”. The purpose is for us to spend time together, share a meal and talk life-on-life. As our lives intersect with one another and Jesus, we expect for something new to emerge. It also allows us to invite friends into our community without them having to worry about religiosity. Our group is hardly guilty of that, but many Japanese don’t want anything to do with what they view as a religious meeting.”Mashups” allow people to relax and open up in a very welcoming, honest setting.

In May, we had a BBQ Mashup Party. Here is Wendi and Kazumi enjoying the food.

In June we will have a Sandwich Mashup Party on June 20. People will bring their favorite sandwiches to share with others. Now, where am I going to get a Philly Cheese-steak on this side of the world?

On Easter Sunday, we held a joint celebration for the different communities (house churches & home gatherings), and friends we invited, in Sanda. Here are some of the fun shots of a great time celebrating Jesus at a local park. (No, it was not a sunrise service. I don’t like getting up before Jesus.)

Hiroshi and Keiko share the resurrection story. Our co-worker Sue also shared a testimony from her life.

Getting ready for the egg hunt.

Hanging out and talking over food. That’s another co-worker, Mary.

Having fun with eggs.

Hope you had a great Easter celebration, too!

This past Saturday we ran a half-day camp, which focused on child-rearing. Called “Discovery Camp” we used orienteering and games to help families bond together, and equipped parents with life skills in the area of supporting and coaching their children. For example, when a child is faced with a challenge, when, at what degree, and in what manner should a parent get involved? For children, we focused on helping them to work hard on their own and not overly depend on parents. We began the camp by providing simple coaching skills to the parents (while the kids played Human Bowling), and then used the fun activities to put the skills into practice.

For the orienteering course, we set up six different stations. Campers used compasses and simple directions to find the stations, and then at each station, had to solve a puzzle or perform a task, such as write a poem. Parents were to help their children, but not quickly provide answers or perform the task for the child. Here are some campers learning to use their compasses.

Here, Ken’s team is trying to unscramble Japanese letters to figure out where to go next.

After lunch, we moved in doors and focused on games that promoted teamwork and cooperation. This team is trying to figure out their strategy for playing Rock, Paper, Scissors as a team.

Overall, the camp was a success and we received great feedback from the parents. This was our first attempt at a camp like this, so after some reflection and processing of the day, we will see about holding camps like this on a regular basis.

One of the things that I like about Japan is that we do a good job of honoring people. My American side thinks that things are usually a bit longer than needed, but my Japanese side likes that we take the time. K graduated from elementary school today. Job well done, son. Here he is with his diploma.

After his named was called, before receiving his diploma, he gave a brief speech. He shared that he would like to be an inventor and thanked his family for our support.

One part of the ceremony that I liked was the “baton touch” of leadership from 6th graders to 5th graders. The entire 5th grade class attended the ceremony (demonstrating amazing patience!) as a send off. The 6th graders shared words of encouragement to lead well and the 5th graders wished success in Jr. High. Then the sang a song together, trading stanzas, and repeating a chorus of farewell, thanks and see you again. What an awesome way to honor both classes!

So now we are on spring break for the next two weeks, and looking forward to April when K enters Jr. High and N enters kindergarten.

We have a small backyard and I like it. I attempt to grow grass in it every year, but I grow more weeds than grass. Yesterday the boys decided to build a fort. Or maybe it is a castle. Whatever it is, they decided it needed a moat. There went my grass. Or weeds. I have a small backyard and I like it.

This past week, we were discussing the idea of Sabbath with some of our co-workers. That God created it is not an issue, nor that we were designed with a need for rest in Jesus. But what it means as a follower of Jesus, not as one under the law, to practice the Sabbath is something worthy of our time and energy to consider. I am not going to make any statements about what Sabbath rest should look like, but do invite all readers to join me in the exploration of what God might be saying to you.

One of the ways that I personally find rest is through laughter with loved ones. Since we, and our co-workers, are plugged into ministry situations where we expend a lot of emotional and spiritual energy, sometimes we just need to unplug from it. Do something completely different, learn to laugh, and just have some fun. Lately, we have been learning to be heroes.

Guitar Hero, that is! Just some crazy fun to relax and unwind. Take our mind off of things. Learn a new, rather useless, skill. Be a little crazy. Here are some of my favorite shots.

Here’s Keishi, working on a little Foghat.

And Kazumi, cheered on by Wendi, playing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”

Jeffery, from down in Okinawa, I think might have been jamming to Kiss.

Me, enjoying some good ‘ole GNR.

And then there is Nina, who eschews the guitar for drums (Oh, how I love her!), and finds most pleasure when playing in a tutu.

Sabbath is a gift from God! I love to rest in Jesus!

In January, we helped launch a new work here in our city of Sanda. One of our ministry partners, Keishi Fujii and his wife Kazumi, began Life Design Network, which provides coaching for businesses, marriages and families. LDN is a business, but has the flavor of a non-profit organization, and our desire is for it to penetrate into our local community where there are needs. Wendi and I are partnering as staff, and we will help to provide coaching, teaching and organizing events as we move forward.

The kick-off celebration was held on January 16, where we introduced the work and had a special speaker. Arthur Hollands, a tattooed Harley riding evangelist, author and poet, spoke on finding your unique self.

After the celebration, we held another meeting for Arthur to speak to the young volunteer leaders at the YMCA where we held the event. He had them busting out laughing as he shared from his heart right to theirs. It was awesome to be able to bless the YMCA for letting us holding the celebration there. Here is a picture of Arthur with the young leaders.

We believe that this new network will allow us the chance to interact and bless the city of Sanda on a new level, and are excited to watch what God does.

At a gathering of innovative leaders held earlier this month, one of the things that I was most excited about was for us to be able to “list up” the themes we thought we were hearing from God. (‘List up’ may be a Japanese phrase, but it now resides in my brain’s English lexicon.) None of the items are earth-shattering. That’s not the point. What excites is me is that God spoke, we listened, and now we can take the next steps. So here’s the list, without too much explanation. If you have a question, let me know.

1. 収穫：Harvest – The Lord is asking us to get prepared for a harvest.
2. 郵便配達人：Postman – The Lord wants us to be delivery people, faithfully telling/doing that which we have received from Father.
3. バトン：Baton – We need to be equipping and reproducing the next generation.
4. いやし：Healing – Japan is a nation in need of healing, especially from emotional wounds.
5. シンプル：Simple – Keep it simple. Easy to equip, easy to pass on.
6. 畑を耕す：Farming/cultivation – Every believer knows how to take care of the field the Lord has given them.
7. 一つのメロディー：One Song/Melody – We must be united in vision and singing together.

We placed all this on a foundation of love and loving relationships, coupled with the call to die to one’s self.

Where do we go from here? Well, that’s what we’ll be praying and talking about this coming Saturday. Please pray for us!

Earlier in January, we helped bring together some of the visionary people providing leadership and direction in some of the new and developing manifestations of church here in Japan. Going by a number of different names (house, simple, organic, emergent), basically these are people seeking to live out being a disciple of Christ in a uniquely Japanese way. Over four days, the goal was to spend time together praying, seek direction from the Lord, share what we have been learning with one another, and do some training. Philip Lye, a leader in a house church movement in Australia, was invited to teach on prayer and listening to the Lord. He brought his wealth of experience and gifting with him, and did a great job of equipping the leaders here. The next step is to further network so that we can all support and encourage one another in living out our faith.