March Update

CELL CHURCH PLANTING

In my past updates I’ve talked about the effectiveness of camp ministry; having said this however, it has become clear to me that camp ministry is not church but a tool that can be used to build the church. 

At both the Member Orientation Program (MOP) and the Reaching Japanese for Christ (RJC) conference there were sessions about cell church planting.  At RJC Richard Nakamura, a fellow SEND missionary to Japan, shared of his experience in a cell church plant in East Tokyo. He and his wife focus their ministry on discipleship and mentoring the people in their faith. One aspect of their ministry is to train others to share their story so they can go out into the community and share their faith. The purpose is not to bring people to "church" but to bring Jesus to the people. There are many dysfunctional families in Japan; the Nakamura’s hope is that a close, small group environment models what healthy relationships can look like.  When they meet together, they study the Word in participatory Bible studies, they pray, sing and encourage each other, etc. Their house church plant started in Shin-Koiwa and has grown into a network of four churches. Although each house church is independent, the network is important, they depend on and hold each other accountable, they encourage and support one another. 

SEND’s mission statement is “to mobilize God’s people to engage the unreached in order to establish reproducing churches”. Whether through camp or in a cell church, our mission is to establish reproducing churches.  Would you help me join the frontline team in establishing reproducing churches?

JUNE DEADLINE FOR OCTOBER

Determining a departure date –

• SEND Japan asks missionaries to arrive a few weeks before the beginning of language school
• The visa process takes 3 months and is needed before departure
• The visa process cannot begin before the missionary is at 85% of required support.

My departure date –

• I need to arrive in mid September for language school in October
• I need to begin the visa process in June
• I need another $1,800 pledged to bring me to 85%.  

Prayer Requests:

• The continued relief effort in northern Japan and that Christ will be spoken of boldly there.
• That I’ll continue to seek God’s guidance as I learn about cell church planting in Japan.
• That people will prayerfully consider becoming involved with me in ministry to the Japanese through prayer and finances.

Your Brother in Christ,

Karl Friesen

A must watch

Very good video on ministry after disaster and hope in Christ.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/June/After-Japan-Quake-Pastor-Finds-New-Purpose/

Twitter

I've created a Twitter account you can follow me at @karlinjapan.

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Karl Friesen with Send International

Jan. 2012 Update

Here is the PDF of my Jan. Update


Happy New Year
I hope that you had a really great Christmas with your family and friends, that you were able celebrate Jesus’ birth with your church and have created wonderful memories with your family.  I trust this coming year will be one that opens new doors, doors beyond your wildest dreams; I certainly am praying that 2012 will be just this for me!

Bringing in the New Year in Japan is a time when families gather to practice Shinto rites worshiping their ancestors. In Buddhist temples all over Japan when the clock strikes midnight, the priests ring their bell 108 times believing this is the way to be forgiven for the sins of the previous year. New Years is the time that most Japanese visit both the Shinto shrine and the Buddhist temple in anticipation of the New Year to obtain good luck for the coming year.

With New Years being a family event, there can be pressure to participate in Shinto rites.  Many Christians meet in their churches on December 31st and January 1st to give Christians a reason not to be home and participate in the Shinto worship. 

As Christians we know that it’s only through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross at Calvary that there is forgiveness for our sins. The prayer of my heart is that the Japanese people will look to Christ for forgiveness of their sin rather than the Shinto and Buddhist cultural traditions.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

My next step is going to Member Orientation Program (MOP) which I’ll be attending this month. It feels like I’ve been talking about MOP forever. It is the cross-cultural/ministry training aspect of my preparation for serving in Japan. It will also give me a better understanding of how SEND functions as an organization. It’s exciting to finally be able to attend and get one more step closer to serving in Japan.

My monthly support is about 46%; the standard policy for SEND is to be at 50% before allowing its members to attend MOP. SEND believes that I should be serving in Japan so they are sending me to MOP this January.

1 to 69

I have created a visual, by adding the numbers from 1 to 94,  each square represents potential partnerships. The sum equals my total monthly support. Since $2051 is promised, the red squares represent my present partners.

The sum of the black squares 1 to 69 is $2413, the remaining amount of my monthly support needed. A financial partnership with me could be a combination of more than one square. Once I have 100% of my support I will have completed the partnership development phase of my ministry and will be able to go to Japan!

Please pray...

- How God would want you to partner with me as I serve in Japan. 

- That my support base will reach 100% by June 2012 so that I can serve in Japan soon thereafter.

- For me as I travel to and from MOP.

Feel free to contact me if I can pray for you.

Your Brother in Christ,

Karl Friesen

Karl's Financial Blog

I just posted my numbers if you would like to see them.

Karl

http://kfriesen.blogspot.com/

Dec 2011 Update

Merry Christmas,

It’s been an interesting two years since I started this journey with Christ to serve long-term in Japan with SEND. Looking back over this past year I see the evidence of how God has provided for my needs...  While I was in Japan for 3 months this past summer God provided for my stay through the help of great friends which lowered the cost of extending my stay from 10 days to 3 months. I had decided to save extra money while I was working last year which was more than enough to pay for changing my flight home and other extra expenses. I have amazing parents who provide a place for me to live while I am in the partnership development phase of my ministry.  And, my home church and many individuals are now partnering with me in prayer and with their financial support.

My passion for Japan continues to grow; people are praying for the salvation of the Japanese people. As I read my Bible, it gives me a longing for everyone to understand the heart of God and that He loves us.

I am very appreciative for the many doors that have opened and the opportunities I have had to share one-on-one with individuals, small groups and large congregations.

A Year in Review

The tragedy of the tsunami in March of this year was overwhelming for anyone who has a connection to Japan.  For me, being stuck in Canada at the time and not being in the country to be a witness, knowing that many, many people were lost for all eternity, was heart wrenching. After watching the news reports the first day, I had to stay off the internet and didn’t watch TV for the first week so that I didn’t have to hear stories repeated over and over of the tragedy. Knowing that God loves all of the people that died and that most, if not all of them, didn’t know God personally was too difficult to watch and hear the reports again and again. I felt so helpless knowing there was so much work to be done; not having the means to be able to help still irks me today. Seeing the loss of life as a result of this disaster sometimes makes it difficult to see any good in it and question “was God in control?” 

Japan is a nation where less than one percent of the population has a relationship with Christ. Since March 2011, God has been opening up areas in Japan that haven’t had any witnesses for Him; many communities have had their needs met by allowing Christian relief organizations to come into their communities to help with the effort. It is encouraging to hear that today, because of this tragedy, churches are growing and slowly, people are seeking for God as they try to understand who they are and what it means to be in relationship with God. 

In November SEND missionaries followed up with the campers from the disaster area that came on scholarship to Okutama Bible Chalet (OBC) this summer.  These campers are now being connected to churches in their area. God is working in the hearts of the people through SEND International’s ministries. Please continue to pray that as the Japanese heal and life once again returns to normal, they will continue to seek after Christ and not choose the status-quo.

My summer in Japan was absolutely amazing. I was able to see my friends in northern Japan, see how their ministries have progressed since I was there and hear how God is working in their communities. I enjoyed visiting different SEND missionaries’ churches, serving alongside them in the disaster area and working at Okutama Bible Chalet with them. It was exciting to hear cabin leaders at OBC share stories of Christ working in the lives of their camper’s, some of whom have never heard the Gospel message before. I have always enjoyed working at camp; it was encouraging for me to hear that the staff of OBC want me to return to serve alongside them; it was very exciting to work with them and experience how God might use me as staff at OBC in the future. One of the camp highlights for me was participating in the father/son camp out where we hung out for three days together, enjoying the fellowship of others as we shared during the Bible studies, went river rafting, fishing and hiked together. It was great to see the dads investing time into their sons’ lives. Being back in Japan felt like being home once again, just as it was when I was living there in 2006-2007.

Looking to the Year Ahead

As the New Year approaches, there are still several requirements I need to fulfill with SEND prior to serving in Japan. First and foremost right now, I am required to attend Member Orientation Program (MOP) which is held in January or July. It really is my heart’s desire to reach the 50% mark of my monthly financial support by the beginning of December so that I can attend MOP in January.  Currently my support is short $275/month.  Later in 2012 I will be attending a language acquisition program to improve my understanding of my personal language learning needs and how I can most effectively learn the Japanese language.

Prayer Requests

Pray that I’ll continue to have a learning attitude as I travel on this journey to fulltime ministry.

Pray that I will continue to trust in God’s perfect timing, that He will open doors of opportunity for me to share with the right people and then that people would partner with me so that I can attend MOP training in January, 2012.

Pray for those who are hearing the gospel during this Christmas Season in churches, at Christmas events and celebrations and for the many people that will be sharing the real Reason for Christmas. Pray for attentive ears and soft hearts towards the message that will be shared.

Your brother in Christ, 

Karl