Aum's reincarnation as Aleph

It always amazes me how vunerable people are. Through deceptive tatics and propaganda also being very warm and loving this cult of doom is still growing. They accuse that Japanese Government of being controled by a Jewish-Freemason conspiracy. The thing that really blows my mind is that the leaders all had Masters in Science or Phd's in Chemistry or Medicine. Some very top people joined the group. What can happen to a mind, when the soul is desperate, is seen by these men who acted on beliefs and killed people and wounded thousands of others.  Here is the history of this event... it really has given me a greater understanding of the Old Testament and the book of Judges.

On Monday March 20, 1995, five members of Aum Shinrikyo launched a chemical attack on the Tokyo Metro, one of the world's busiest commuter transport systems, at the peak of the morning rush hour. The chemical agent used, liquid sarin, was contained in plastic bags which each team then wrapped in newspaper. Each perpetrator carried two packets of sarin totaling approximately 900 millilitres of sarin, except Yasuo Hayashi, who carried three bags. Aum originally planned to spread the sarin as an aerosol but did not follow through with it. A single drop of sarin the size of a pinhead can kill an adult.
Carrying their packets of sarin and umbrellas with sharpened tips, the perpetrators boarded their appointed trains. At prearranged stations, the sarin packets were dropped and punctured several times with the sharpened tip of the umbrellas. The men then got off the train and exited the station to meet his accomplice with a car. By leaving the punctured packets on the floor, the sarin was allowed to leak out into the train car and stations. This sarin affected passengers, subway workers, and those who came into contact with them. Sarin is the most volatile of the nerve agents, which means that it can quickly and easily evaporate from a liquid into a vapor and spread into the environment. People can be exposed to the vapor even if they do not come in contact with the liquid form of sarin. Because it evaporates so quickly, sarin presents an immediate but short-lived threat.^{[3] From wikipedia.}

ambulances transported 688 patients and nearly five thousand people reached hospitals by other means. Hospitals saw 5,510 patients, seventeen of whom were deemed critical, thirty-seven severe and 984 moderately ill with vision problems. Most of those reporting to hospitals were the "worried well," who had to be distinguished from those who were ill.^[4] By mid-afternoon, the mildly affected victims had recovered from vision problems and were released from hospital. Most of the remaining patients were well enough to go home the following day, and within a week only a few critical patients remained in hospital. The death toll on the day of the attack was eight that eventually rose to at least a dozen.[5

After all the carnage and suffering I ask, "How can this group continue and grow and gain new member?" The answer was in a recent article by the Japan times; "The cult’s most effective weapon for attracting new members appears to be collective amnesia of Aum’s wrongdoings, compounded by simple ignorance." Aum dogma, warning adherents that “the world was being controlled by a Jewish-Freemason conspiracy, and since Japan’s public security officials and mass media are under the control of Jewish capital, they are not to be trusted.” Aum Reincarnation as Aleph

Judges 2:21 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that [were] round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.

The people were so quick to return to their favorite gods. Baal; a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. And also Ashtoreth or modernly Astarte. Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war.  Pictorial representations often show her naked.

Basically it was power and sex that the people worshiped. Nothing has changed. The Aum cult was reported to have both of those in the workings with members.

Powerful men were able to manipulate masses into fear and horror. Their end will be the end like the guys in the book of Judges. The enemy comes in and defeats them and there is peace for a time and then there is renewal before the cycle repeats itself. The Aum guys declared the government their enemy and it was their enemy that over threw them. Yet as in the case of the Israelites they failed to rid the land of all the gods and so the cycle is bound to repeat. My prayer is that it won't happen in Japan again.

May God cause an awakening to happen in the land of Japan. The people have no clue who the real God is. Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the only God and name given whereby men must be saved. The Aum guys many will die in prison or be executed yet in heaven there is judgement waiting for them there. Why? They did not acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Post note; The group will no longer be monitored as of 2012. Yes the government is running out of money but God is watching.

“The fact is, once you enter a cult, it becomes almost impossible to leave. Japan is now in its second consecutive decade of economic stagnation and the dreams of its young people, both socially and economically, have been dashed. Aleph’s ability to recruit believers under such conditions makes it a threat,” he asserts.
The article ends on a worrisome note: monitoring of former Aum cultists by the Public Security Agency is slated to be phased out from next month.

I am not worried as I serve Jesus Christ and he is establishing his kingdom and will return soon to right the wrongs.  Amen and Maranatha.

Where there's sin there's laughter

In the 'International Herald Newspaper there was this article on the occupy Moscow protests. This Lady is carrying the sign that has a caption according to the Newspapers translation that read, "Where there's sin, there's laughter. She has on the sign that has pictures of the Russian leaders laughing. Thus she is basically calling them sinners. But as I was reading other articles I couldn't get that phrase out of my mind. Where there is sin most often there is crying. Where there is sin most often people are hurt. Sin in the history of mankind has never produced a positive effect over the long term. Kind David has committed sin and it didn't seem like it would affect the family that much but it did. His sin tore the family up it cost him joy and there was no laughter. Oh he laughed when she came over for a late night meeting and they giggled and snickered but in the end sin cost them happiness. Bathsheba's family was ripped apart where we find later on her grandfather committing suicide. David's family too suffer the most I feel. Absolom ended up trying to overthrow his Father's kingdom and then loosing his life in a battle.

As we wind down Christmas this year, there are temptations to the left and to the right. Let's keep our eyes on Jesus straight ahead for the new year because it just isn't worth it. Where there is sin there is laughter for a while then the storms come not just one but many one after the other. We are so in the last days who ever you are I pray you will put Christ first in your life and turn from any playful banter or innocent flirting. It leads down a road filled with laughter but then there is a wall to crash into.

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Hebrews 11:25
Moses was a character that made a choice. He had the choice. He Chose God and the people of God.  Moses could have laughed it up in the Palace of the Pharaoh. He could of had any pleasure in his life. Yet he rejected it all. Because he did he saw God work amazing mighty works. He received rewards and blessings that huge. I would hope to obtain half of what he got but I always ask for double like Elisha referencing Elijah's spiritual blessing.

Solomon was a many that filled the halls of the greatest palaces ever built in that region. He laughed with all 600 wives and 300 concubines. He had the finest food and wine money could buy. But in the end it was all vanity. He was empty with so much. Yea, sin is pleasurable for a season but we'd do well to be like Moses or greater still like Jesus who was without sin. It simply pleased God. You want God to be proud of you...don't sin. "this is my son in whom I am well pleased." That is a quote from a proud daddy.

So if you have the random thought like I do. What can I get you Father in Heaven for Christmas? He'd just love me to be obedient and fellowship with him constantly. He so loves us all. He is so gracious. Maybe you sinned and the laughter is gone. The storms are here or there is deafening silence from God. Repent! and times of refreshing will occur. I pray that this season you will choose a relationship with God and not with sin. You see "where there's sin there's laughter" is correct. Satan is the one laughing all the way while causing us so much pain and suffering.  Let's wipe the smile off his face and obey.

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Nathan Saves the Day

My Boy is growing up (13). What a Man! Dad was feeling exhausted so Nathan stepped in and was able to teach the Kids classes for me. He has watched me do it in our home for many years. He is so good. The kids love him more than me. I wonder if he'll take on a part time job. Of course we paid him. I am very proud of him.

Sputtering Engine?

1969 California Bug (Volkswagon) was my first choice as a car. My parents did their best to talk me out of spending my $2000 dollars for that car. I had to have it. My dream. Ha, now that I look back and I see what a fool I was to buy that bucket of bolts. Those bolts kept falling off everywhere I went. I loved the 1641mm bored out engine. It was fast. I went through three clutches in the first couple of years. It was a fun car. But it had its bad days where the timing was off. I’d drive it to the light and as it idled it’d sputter and choke and die. Sometimes it wouldn’t die but it’d rev back up. Other times I had to get out embarrassed and push the slug off the road while I messed with the timing and carb adjustments.

That sputtering and choking is an accurate description of my heart. I went in and had a 24-hour EKG Halter test. The information gathered fanned the flame of my worst fear. Having a bad heart is not that bad as long as you don’t have Arrhythmias. Arrhythmias are beats in the wrong direction on the EKG chart. Every hour I am experiencing these irregular beats sometimes at night I feel as if my heart just wants to stop. It is like your driving a stick shift car and while on the road you throw it in Reverse. Cars usually can’t do that but hearts can. It is very scary the real scary part is I was having these beats for the last few years.

So now, I am on another of several medications that is very dangerous. When I looked up the drug on the Internet it was scary to think I am drinking this down. The side effects seem to out weigh the benefits. But the benefits are necessary to prevent what will most likely happen without the drug. It can be a day or week or months later but I will be walking and talking one second and then the next on the ground rolling around grabbing my chest before I breathe my last. I am worse than we thought. Arrhythmias are not good. They are not the caffeine skipped beat or the pause beat but they are the distortion of a Mr. Bean tripping over the drum section of an Orchestra during Igor Stravinsky’s - The rite of spring.  I will continue on the medications and go back to the doctor in 10 days. So far since July, I have lost 24 kilos. For those of you who need pounds it is about 52 pounds. I still have 100 pounds more to go. Yikes I was a little tubby. Today the Doctor said that when I reach 110 kilos 220lbs he’d do a heart Catheterization on me. That is a test to check out the heart and actually check pressures in the chambers and also a biopsy of the meat to see what is going on with the muscle tissue. Rachel will have her yearly biopsy in November as she does every year.

I hope you are not feeling bad about this? Let me share a little of today’s activity. I went to the heart clinic and while awaiting the results of the EKG and labs I was able to have a conversation with a couple of other transplant recipients.  My daughter Rachel ate these tiny sour plum (Ume Boshi) candies and I looked for fun on the box that said there was 1780mg of NaCl(Sodium Chloride) a liquid form of salt. Converting it to table salt that is 4.5 grams of salt. That is a whole days supply for some one on a normal diet. She is supposed to have less than 4 grams. UCLA wanted her on only 2 grams a day. So I blurted out in the waiting room this number and the transplants laughed. I said in Japanese it is so hard to have a low salt diet in Japan. They all laughed even more. So this started a discussion on what we eat for low salt things. I was surprised among them was Miho one of the first kids from Japan to receive a heart at Children’s of Denver hospital more than 20 years ago. She is doing great so we had a great time of fellowship. I was able to connect and I look forward to our conversation next time. They are all trying to learn English so they can go back to the US to visit their hospitals and thank people. Anyway, I for three years knew Mihoko was connecting to these families and she had already given Miho a Bible and the gospel. But I had been distant from them. I felt like an outsider. But now I am seeing great opportunities here.  Pray for more wisdom. God is at work and I am now the front row. If I take these meds and continue to loose the weight there is still a chance to turn this big ship around. God gets all the glory. Even if I have a massive heart attack I have full assurance that God will use that to even bring greater glory to himself.

Much of this battle is keeping my eyes focused on Jesus. To not let the circumstances dictate my emotional response. Pray that we will be positive another way to say that is that we’d look to Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit at all times. I realized since my diagnoses I have been spending more time researching my problem than worshipping God in my personal time with him. I read and study my Bible but I really feel the need to worship him like David did. This afternoon a Typhoon was beginning to blow and the trees were in harmony with the heavy winds. I was swaying with the trees and I thought of the chorus. “Birds in the air sing their songs to you, Trees in the fields lift their arms to you. I want to sing I want to lift my arms to you. I want to praise you Lord much more than I do I want to praise you Lord….” God is so good. This seems tragic to so many. From my perspective I see such tremendous love from my Father not giving me more than I can handle but directing me in the storm showing me beautiful horizons that we are sailing to. The waves are big the clouds are dark but on the horizon is the light and Jesus is pointing the way. We keep sailing forward. That reminds me of another great song. “Light our way Lord, bright so we won’t fall. Teach us to call on you Lord more faithfully.”

God bless you all. I pray you will hang with us during our time of storm and difficulty and hold on tight because as you pray with us you will share in this blessing for all eternity and you will see the glory of God shine. Amen.

The Perfect Heart

This is an excerpt from Dr David Wilkerson's blog

The perfect heart cries out with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there is any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:23–24).

God does indeed search our hearts; he said as much to Jeremiah: “I the Lord search the heart” (Jeremiah 17:10). The Hebrew meaning for this phrase is, “I penetrate, I examine deeply.”

The perfect heart wants the Holy Spirit to come and search out the innermost man, to shine into all hidden parts—to investigate, expose and dig out all that is unlike Christ. Those who hide a secret sin, however, do not want to be convicted, searched or probed.

The perfect heart yearns for more than security or a covering for sin. It seeks to be in God’s presence always, to dwell in communion. Communion means talking with the Lord, sharing sweet fellowship with him, seeking his face and knowing his presence.

The Lord’s heart-searching is not vindictive, but redemptive. His purpose is not to catch us in sin or condemn us, but rather to prepare us to come into his holy presence as clean pure vessels.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me. That is my prayer in Jesus Names. AMEN!

Heart Transplant? What?

Hi Everyone, Here is the latest from the Bolingers:

when you hear words that are devastating you go into a security bubble. The world continues around you but in slow motion. Your brain is going a hundred miles an hour. The questions pop into the brain almost immediately. "This is curable...right?" That is what it was like for me this week when we discussed options to my health problem.  I was hearing the 4th option of transplant as the last step. It was the same in 1999 when my son Caleb was torn out of our arms at the ICU and rushed into a feverish pitch of activity surrounding him. We were in utter shock as the Doctor led us down the hall way to a plush special waiting room his voice was calm and assuring, "We are doing everything we can." He informs us that we will have to make a critical decision. Heart Transplant? What? How much? When? The Doctor leaves with our questions being unanswerable at the time. We sat in silence and disbelief. Our three year old son needs a heart transplant. Our minds had frequent signs of life with sniffling, tear wiping,  and that question... "Father what are you doing?" "I trust you but I don't understand." Saying goodbye to Caleb a year later was surreal and unbelievable.

So determined to get on with life we consoled ourselves with having a third child. 10 months later Rachel Marie was born. She was beautiful. She had punk hair that no matter what we did it just stood up. 8 days after birth. Mom notices some irregularities with her breathing. I blew it off it is just normal. The second day it was very fast labored breathing that night sitting in prayer watching waiting and holding our daughter. Those questions..."Father what is happening?" I can remember walking down the corridor of the hospital and asking the xray tech who just took her chest xray. I asked, "I know you can't tell me anything per the code but was her heart large?" He replied, "It looks like it could be but let the doctors tell you." I knew then and there we had another decision to make. Rachel was okay until 4 years old. She had a very successful heart transplant and miracles happening all around. It was a blessed time.

So what next? We up and move to Japan as missionaries to plant a church in the city of Iruma in Saitama  north west of Tokyo. We have been here just three years and finally feel like we are getting our groove on and then another Doctor visit and another decision to make. This time it is me. The dad. I am sitting once again in the dark tunnel of security as they are speaking Japanese around me. I am catching all too familiar terms but only Japanifized. "Hatoh Bigu" (heart big). I am not wanting to listen. I am wanting to eat a cheeseburger. I for too many years have been consoling myself through cultural adjustment with food. Only now my security has been diminished to a diet of 1.5 ltrs of water and milligrams of salt a day. It is very hard. So we are going through changes.

Now I have been diagnosed with the heart disease just like my kids it is called "Dilated Cardiomyopathy" It is the reason for congestive heart failure. This is not idopathic like genetic from my genes. It is more idiot-pathic from my stupidity of being obese. It is manageable if I strictly diet and get my weight off. The next step, if I don't loose the weight... is an assist device like a pace maker and then finally the transplant. To say we are not stopped in our tracks would be an understatement. Like deer in the head lights or a sail with no wind we are just praying for wisdom and direction.We feel the need to just keep plowing away and moving forward but making adjustments and changes as we progress. I feel tired a lot. I don't have the same level of energy. Please pray with us to make many decisions that are before us:

Pray for the future testings 24 hour EKG halter monitor, Sleep testing, and biopsy sometime in September.
Pray for continued resolve to get the weight off and eat right and exercise when possible. Now I am restricted to no strenuous moves not even stairs.
Pray for the two women's conferences this week. Mihoko is speaking and translating. Pray for peace. For Mihoko to hold it together while making drastic changes she wasn't expecting especially now having to spend extra time at the store and on the internet educating ourselves about all the stuff with salt. Pray for wisdom in food choices and substitutes to be found that are inexpensive.
Pray for provision with all the extra expense of procedures and travel it is adding up quick.
Pray for wisdom with the church. Pray for energy to not only do worship but the message and other things.
Pray for the Sunday School we were going to continue after a short break but I don't have the energy.
Pray for the kids school that starts in a week.
Pray for the English students and their families salvation.
Pray for God's peace and assurance to keep going. For his joy in the midst of depression. Depression is real it is okay as long as we don't stay there. Pray like David I will console myself with scripture and fellowship in the house of the Lord. Psalm 43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God. God bless you for praying.

--
Dan Bolinger
danbolinger@gmail.com
www.bolingersinjapan.blogspot.com
埼玉県入間市1-1-17向陽台10-705
日本〒358-0001

Ekimae Plaza 10-705
1-1-17 Kyouyoudai
Iruma, Saitama, Japan 358-0001

080-3738-2101

Isaiah 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that [there is] none beside me. I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else.

Dan's Heart

Hello Everyone,   This is a message from Aug 8th below following is a second message from August 9th

Psalm 25:17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: [O] bring thou me out of my distresses.

Walking up a hill or trying to keep walking pace with my son who is always one step in front of me, would leave me tired. My heart would be pumping so hard that I felt like it was in my neck. I'd feel dizzy. Two weeks ago I went to put on my old worn out stretched out tennis shoes. They didn't fit. My feet had swollen. I had them tied for Japan so they were loose so I could slip in and out no problem. Now it was a problem. I also noticed when I'd push on my skin on my legs it wouldn't bounce back. I am like stretch armstrong the elastic toy. Stretch Armstrong Retro. Only I don't stretch but you can push my skin in and it stays for a long while. Bending over to tie my shoes would have me sitting for a few minutes to get my breath and not be dizzy. All this to say I have a bad heart.

Since May I had contracted pneumonia and was in the hospital for a week. I thought this was all the symptoms of the post pneumonia. With that and a series of other things, a combo if you will, has caused my heart to enlarge. I have had sleep apnea and I am obese all of which is self induced. The apnea and heart problems are as a result from the weight problem. The apnea may have exacerbated the problem. With those negative things my heart wants a break and is tired. (No heart attacks no bad rhythms just swollen like my pride) I had swollen feet and was very tired all the time. So I went in last Friday for a check up and found through a chest xray my heart was swollen in size. The Dr. today said it is not the same sickness as my daughter and son but it could be. The walls of my heart have not thickened so this is reversible. My heart function or Ejection Fraction is at 46%, the Dr. today said it should be about 60%.  I am restricted from exercising for now and am on diuretics. I am going to see Rachel's specialist tomorrow in Tabata. Hopefully he will give me a bigger picture of the scope of what is going on.

I feel fine and there is no pain at all. It is like God is giving me a serious wake up call of many but still being gracious in doing it. This is more harder on Mihoko than anyone. She is dealing with it but is still going through the emotional what if scenarios. Pray for her to be strengthened by God. Pray for our marriage to grow through this. We just celebrated 20 years July 27th and I'd like to go for another 50 years should the Lord tarry. She has been asked to speak at a conference and I told her not to cancel. God is doing something here through this and He will through our weaknesses strengthen the body here.

This is a fatal disease for many but doesn't have to be for me. But then so is life. I am on a salt restricted diet. The Dr. wanted to admit me for one month in the hospital for testings and stuff. I told Mihoko that will kill me more that anything else. We are going to try to do this as an out patient. I am going to be scheduled for a heart cathetorization in a while and we will get a more accurate picture of the functions of the heart in each chamber. They will also do an angiogram on the arteries. The echo cardiogram shows that I do have minor valve regurgitation. This means the valve flaps aren't touching and blood is not flowing properly. The heart pumps blood up into the upper left chamber only to have some leak back in. Congestive Heart Failure video

All this to say I am at fault here. I have received from too many folks loving rebukes and coaching and encouragement along the way. My pride is what blew all that off and said, "Eh, I'm ok!" But I am not. Please pray for me to take this very very serious. It is easy to rationalize things and the flesh will say one bite ain't going to kill you. Now that has a new meaning for me.

Many wonder will the Bolingers go home? The short answer is no. God hasn't said go. We have one of the best doctors in all of Japan. He is awesome. I will be keeping you all posted.

Pray God's will be done. Pray the church continues to grow. So many are supportive and helpful. This should be a real tragedy but I feel so blessed by everyone.

We will continue to teach the English classes and most of all have church services. I am not sickly or in pain I am just a fat guy with a ticker that has a looney tunes beat. The kind where Wiley Coyote walks away bouncing up and down. Wiley Coyote Cartoon

We all love you and know so many are praying for us. Please pray for wisdom and peace. Please pray we see many come to Christ through our inability yet His sovereign ability. Pray I will not cheat on the diet and will do all the doctors say. Pray for healing and restoring of tissue back to healthy limits.

God bless you all,
Dan

MESSAGE 2 August 9th


Hi everyone,

Spent the day at Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital in Tabata. The Transplant specialist I saw painted a different picture than Yesterday's Dr. It is always good to get a second opinion. Although the second opinion wasn't as favorable. It seems I do have the same problem as my kids. I must have the gene that gave it to my kids. My heart problem is called Dilated Cardiomyopathy. This is one of the number one reasons for persons to receive heart transplants. I could be in line for one. I have a plus on my side as we caught it early. The Doctor believes we can manage it for life without the transplant if I listen and obey him. If I cheat or continue to do nothing I'll be on a plane home getting in line for a heart transplant or worse.

I am going to have a few more meetings to discuss strategies and they are going to up the medication including warfarin (Coumadin) and I will be scheduled for a heart cathertorization in  beginning September. Warfarin on a side note began as a Rat poison. So I am now going to take rat poison to fix my weak heart. Actually it works on the liver to produce more blood cells. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warfarin. My diet consists of less than 4 grams of salt per day and only 1.5 liters of fluid including all foods and drink per day. Yikes. I spent a frustrating 30 minutes at the store today trying to find anything without salt. Japan eats some of the highest salt per day per capita. The Doctor today told me the average citizen eats 10-15 grams of salt per day. 

Talk about the wind being knocked out of you. Pray with us for wisdom. Family will scream come home. But the problem is I feel more at home here than in the US. There is so much work to do. There are still millions of lives yet to be saved. I am reading Pastor Chucks book called "Faith". It is at times like this you need to read things that will help where you are weak.

"Unfortunately, sometimes we lay the problem before God...and then we go to bed and wrestle with it all night. We wake up at three o'clock in the morning thinking, What's going to happen? What if I do this? What if I do that? Maybe I should do this. We can't rest because we aren't trusting in God's ability to take care of the situation. So we continue to carry the burden--and that wears us out.

After you call upon God for His  help, you need to take a second step and rest in God. "I've placed it in the hands of God and I'm trusting Him to take care of it." Then see what He wants to accomplish in your life through faith." Pastor Chuck Smith, Faith, page 50.

I don't have this great faith yet. I am struggling. So many questions. This is where with my kids I went into survival mode and just lived each day one at a time and did what needed to be done to get through the day. The confidence is gone fear is close by. I can tell you I trust God in what he is doing but I also second guess him. Thank you for standing with us and praying with us during this time. I am still in shock. I still have the thought but I thought I am invincible as a missionary on the field? I am shaken in everything we are doing and have been doing. The enemy sows seeds of what did you do to get this? As If like Job I have sinned a great sin and now I got the Battchi or bad luck or retribution for what I did. That is not our Savior. I am not in sin. This is a family medical problem that God is going to use for his glory. He already has in many ways. Oh pray for me. I confess I am scared. I think of my kids and I cry what have I done? I want to be there for them and Mihoko. Pray for healing and obedience on my part.

God Bless,

Snap shot of Japan Today

 I am risking being called negative. I risk being accused of not loving the Japanese. I am a jokester and a realist. I don't hide truth nor turn a blind eye to reality. The way to a deeper relationship with God is to know him more. Study him, love him, bless him, and worship him. The way to understand the Japanese culture more is to learn about it and what is happening. How is it changing. This includes focusing on positives and negatives.  Right now since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Disasters the dynamics are changing. The nuclear fallout has more emotional impact than that of physical reality. Below is a snapshot of headlines from Japan Today's newspaper. As negative things occur we can be rosy and focus on only the good things but I feel that is turning a blind eye to truth. I believe if we hit this head on with full knowledge we will be better suited for serving out King Jesus and to reach out to the people of Japan.

August 2, 2011 Radiation is higher than ever. Below the reports says they hit a record measurement outside the buildings. We all are questioning? Where else is the radiation? Who is at risk? Can I live within these conditions?
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/record-high-radiation-reported-at-crippled-fukushima-nuclear-plant

The nuke plant dumped millions of gallons of radioactive water into the ocean. This hurts industry.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/sushi-industry-hurting-from-radiation-scare

The Agriculture industry has been hit hardest. Three prefectures can't ship or sell  their produce to anyone anywhere in the world. Spinach, Green tea, Other vegetables all are adsorbing radiation. Now the Rice crop is being measured we can only figure out what it will be. The rice straw sold to dairies has infected thousands of cattle where 30 some prefectures have contaminated cows.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/govt-to-test-rice-crop-in-19-prefectures-for-possible-contamination

Contaminated cows in various farms were a problem but now the ban moves on to a third state Iwate where they can not sell or trade the cows or beef. It isn't just one or two farms whole prefectures are affected or should I say infected. When we do BBQ's is the local beef or pork we buy safe?
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/govt-extends-beef-ban-to-cattle-from-iwate-over-contamination-fears

Earthquakes continue to rock this land. This report shows that this is a different region. Not up North but it is south of Mt. Fuji. An article yesterday showed the science of dormant volcanoes becoming active after major earthquakes. What if Fuji became active? Yikes! Oh I shouldn't incite fear sorry. It is still inactive I think.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/m6-2-quake-shakes-shizuoka-region

Suicides are at an all time high. In Fukushima last year in May there were 49 suicides in this year over 500. They opened up for 10 days suicide prevention lines and had over 1515 calls. They had to shut down due to a lack of funding. The problem is growing. Businesses are loosing money, Companies are cutting the fat but it isn't helping. The economy has an appearance of getting stronger but is it really? Time will bear it out but we see vacancies of businesses everywhere. The unemployment rate is rising to its highest level in a long time. People are giving up hope. One lady threw herself in front of a fast train blowing through the train station and she was launched into the station through a kiosk glass windows injuring customers while her body destroyed much of the store. It was horrific.  Elderly, are the most at risk for suicide as they don't want to burden their families. Is it a blessing that longevity is touted here? I teach a few nurses English. They tell me of an industry in Japan under the guise of care and hospice is making money and lot's of it. There are thousands in private homes that are in vegetative states of consciousness. They are being kept alive by machines.  Or should I say their body functions are kept alive by machines. I could get real negative here, but the reality is these nurses are telling us they are repulsed by the lack of ethics in the medical industry and the hunger for money. Japan couldn't decide on a brain dead definition for the transplantation of organs for years mostly blocked by industry that could loose out if families started to unplug loved ones and donated their organs to give life to others. So am I advocating euthanasia? No. But there comes a time when you just know and need to move on. I know because I had to unplug my own son. So suicides are rising and there seems to be no easy solution. We have the hope of heaven but their eyes need to be opened. Pray that the light will shine in Japan.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110726jk.html

Fear God

Monday night midnight another aftershock. I was in the bathroom and I didn't feel it. My wife did. So I go check on the kids. They are sound asleep. They have felt so many aftershocks in the 6.0 to 7.0 ranges that a 4 or 5 won't concern them. They have become desensitized. I had just finished a DVD by Francis Chan on his Basic series. This one was called Fear God. After the initial earthquake we had rocked enough that with each jolt we had a healthy fear of them and were ready at a moments notice to take action.

With God the Bible says, "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." Now according to Chan this term fear has been dumbed down to a term meaning great respect. Yet as we look at the patriarchs who encountered God they usually were greatly afraid or fell on their faces as dead men. I agree with Chan in that the term means to fear God. He is all powerful he knows all the future stuff. He knew when I'd be born and he knows my last day. The Angels fear him greatly and the arch angels cover their faces and feet in his presence.

The world has a way to enter the church and desensitizes us to the Word of God. Satan's greatest and first deception was to question the word of God. "Has God really said...?" Does the Bible really mean we should fear God maybe it is a term of respect you know like meeting the president. No this fear is like understanding this being has my life all written out and knows every detail about me before it happens. I should fear him greatly. In Proverbs, we are told to fear God but then the passage goes on to say... Do not fear. What? Did the Bible contradict itself? No. God wants us to fear him properly that is first and then as we come boldly into the presence of the Father through the blood of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit we need not fear him in that he will crush us. But that he loves us and will protect us.

Oh that we would do some meditating on God to the point we once again learn to Fear Him greatly.

Different Times for sure

Isaiah 21:4  My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.

So I am at a restaurant in Haneda Airport having dinner. I am with friends. As we check out menus I quip on his decision for a dish that has spinach in it to make sure they know where it comes from. So he asks and the worker is quite amazed he asked if the spinach was from Tohoku? So they had to call a manager. No it's not it comes from Kansai. Thank you. So we begin to order he decides on beef. I told him about the Miyazaki Mad Cow disease. So again her comes the manager...NO ITS NOT. Then I jokingly said make sure its yoku yaki...(This means cooked well done). There were several people who died last month or so ago by eating raw meat. In Japan they don't cook the meat medium it is almost always rare unless you say, "Yoku Yaki kudasai." The manager was not happy with us. I got chicken then I am reminded that the chicken from Kansai where the spinach is from was infected with bird flu and they had been killing millions of birds. Was this that road kill? I didn't have the nerve to ask the waiter so I powered it down giving it to the Lord. Then I am thinking if we get green tea what will my friend do? As I sipped my ice water then I freaked is the Tokyo water safe? The government here has been lying to us so much we are loosing trust and faith in their judgement.

We are  definitely living in different times for sure.  It is so easy to get all freaked out and actually go crazy worrying about all the dangers. We live in a time for fears to run rampant. The news is always sensational. It always wants to grip the reader or listener or viewer and have them hang on for dear life as they have to wait until the end of a broadcast just to find out it wasn't that great of information. They drag you along and keep you in suspense and then..."That's it." What? Do churches do the same thing? Do they play off the fears of people to keep them in line. Hmm. The Bible says perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Deut 10:12: And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,  2 Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. What God requires we must take heed. Spend more time fearing and loving him and these other things won't be a problem. Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Where has Dan Been?

Hey guys,

Sorry for not writing. I have not been busy as much as just been sick. I caught pneumonia a month ago and it has been a slow healing process. I still am not 100%. My body is telling me I am not young. I went to the states for about 10 days and I did nothing. I apologize for not hooking up with many of you like we normally do but I needed to rest. Still it was a busy time. I was able to attend the Pastors Conference in Murrietta and kick back with some really great guys. The word of God is so awesome and refreshing. It was good to just sit back and soak it up. The worship was absolutely amazing. I am praying for a worship leader or team to come and bless the Lord here in CC Iruma. I am back in Iruma now and getting back to teaching my ESL classes. Everyone is excited that I am back. It is humbling to have loyal students. Pray for them to receive Christ. I have witnessed to all even sharing with a few end times stuff. It kind of scared one student but she still comes. She actually said why do I need this prophecy in my life. I don't believe it. I laughed and said, "Do you believe in gravity?" she said, "Yes of course." I said, "If someone doesn't believe in gravity that wouldn't change the effect it has on their life. They would still fall and get hurt like everyone else even though they don't believe.

I said, "Prophecy is like a law of gravity. The Bible is 100% accurate and whether you believe it or not does not change the fact that these things will come and happen. God is in control and you will see that the Word of God doesn't need our approval to actually happen." She was shaken by this. I apologized if I freaked her out but Matthew 24 is true and we are seeing it unfold before our eyes. Earthquakes, famines, diseases, Wars, troubling times are going to increase. You think things will calm down. Rude awakening about to happen to this world. The monetary system is crumbling before our eyes and though we all tell you that it will fail as the Bible predicts no one believes it. Israel is going to face some very tough challenges on the horizon. The Bible says a world dictator will come and set up his capital in Jerusalem. The Jewish nation as a democracy will cease to exist but as a Jewish nation it will always remain. The Bible Says Jesus will come again and set up his kingdom on Earth at which time the Jewish nation will revert back to a theocracy with King Jesus as their power and leader and king.  All the nations will come and worship him. But before all that happens there are some sick things that will happen on this earth. Some things that are just unimaginable but as accurate as the Bible is you can be sure they will happen.

The great thing is the Bible tells us in three places before all these things transpire Jesus will take his church out of the trouble. The rapture is a doctrine that has not changed. The Bible still teaches us it is real and will happen. Man's views have changed and they twist the scripture but it puts them in a hard position as the rest of their theology falls apart since they have to change everything just because they have a hard time and choke on God's word. Simply believe the Bible at face value and it isn't hard. Faith like a child means you just believe it though your intelligence can't reconcile it. God meant our faith in him to be powered by faith. Faith is the monetary system of Heaven. Faith gains you rewards. Great faith gets great rewards. Diminished and weak faith yields limited and small rewards.

Anyway, I am feeling better. We have teams coming now for relief work every week. Pray for the dynamics of the teams and the gospel going out. Pray for safety. Pray for my health to fully recover. Pray for more ESL students. Pray for the church to grow. Pray for a location for our school and church to happen.

God bless you all,

Home is in the heart

I live in Japan my home is where my family is.  Yet when I return to the US and enter my childhood home I have a tendency to say, "Ah, its good to be home again." Yet when I went to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa a place of Spiritual residence where I did a lot of growing I caught myself saying, "Ah its good to be home." Where is home? We use the cliche "Home is where the heart is." I have to agree. The fondness of good blessings and memories make things worthy of being called home. I have a heavenly home. I haven't seen it and I don't know really what to expect. Yet I know that when I get to that final destination it will be that same thought..."Ah it is good to be home."

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  
1 Pet 1:3-5

 I can't wait to go home now question is which one am I referring to?

From David Hockings Blog

A SPEECH EVERY AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL SHOULD GIVE!

May 7th, 2011

A SPEECH EVERY AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL SHOULD GIVE!
By Dennis Prager
To the students and faculty of our high school:
I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater
calling than to teach young people.
I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our
school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of
the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked
against you, against your teachers and against our country.
First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not
care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white.. I
could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian
or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on
slave ships. The only identity I care about, the only one this school
will recognize, is your individual identity — your character, your
scholarship, your humanity, and the only national identity this school
will care about is American.
This is an American public school, and American public schools were
created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic,
racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go
elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American
nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America,
one of its three central values — e pluribus Unum, “from many, one.”
And this school will be guided by America’s values. This includes all
after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students
based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual
orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a
society divided by political correctness.
Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic,
racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate
narcissism — an unhealthy preoccupation with the self — while the
purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will
have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music,
astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If
the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in
are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that
little outside of yourself really interests you.
Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My
only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school
speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English
language has united America ‘s citizens for over 200 years, and it will
unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this
country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you
leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be
remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully
compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here
– it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English –but if you
want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this
is not your school.
Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in
this school will reflect learning’s elevated status. This means, among
other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many
people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for
church or school. These people have their priorities backward.
Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.
Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school’s
property — whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If
you can’t speak without using the f-word, you can’t speak. By obscene
language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications
Commission, plus epithets such as “Nigger,” even when used by one black student to address another black, or “bitch,” even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this
school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish
between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.
Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem
will be attained in only one way — the way people attained it until
decided otherwise a generation ago — by earning it. One immediate
consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.
Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away
from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring
you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual
harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to
condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or
primarily a health issue. There will be no more attempts to convince you
that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not
heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you
graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately
lucky — to be alive and to be an American.
Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of
our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will
hand them out to you.

Harry Robert Fox

Ibaraki Christian University

5 to 6 years ago... I was sitting in Mrs Takada's coffee shop one day in Newport Beach California. She was so excited that an elderly gentleman named Harry Sensei was coming to teach a Japanese Bible Study. I had to stay. He was late 80's and a very sharp man. Perfect keigo Japanese better than most Japanese themselves. Keigo is a polite form not used much now days. Not a hint of age showed as he powerfully spoke from the book of Romans. He was teaching on grace. He had the only one I have ever seen all Romanized Full Japanese Bible. All the words were phonetically spelled out. I learned of Harry Robert Fox as helping to build the Ibaraki Christian University. He and his brother Logan were very instrumental in establishing a wonderful Christ centered educational facility.

Today as I was in a meeting with several of our CRASH team members a gentleman named Jim Brannan (SP) I believe who has been in Japan a long time. I asked if he knew the Fox brothers. Yes his eyes lit up. He told me of their wonderful godly heritage to serve the Lord there in Japan. They just had a rededication of a building that they named after Logan. Harry was the honored guest to come and witness the event.

 Here is a snap shot from a blog on the History of the Christ Church in Japan:

Churches of Christ had already bought a tract of land from the Hitachi Company in Ibaraki Prefecture. Harry Robert Fox, Jr. and his brother, Logan Fox, together with a group of students mainly from Harding College, settled there. Shion Gakuen was started in 1948, Tandai Junior College and the four-year Ibaraki College in 1951. 

Here is a quote of his to the Westside Church of Christ:
http://westsidechurchofchrist.pepperdine.edu/hfox.htm

What an honor and blessing to be now at this time working alongside men of great faith. As far as I know Harry now in his 90's is still teaching the word in Japanese between San Diego CA and in Newport Beach all the way up to Los Angeles. He is such a gracious man if you see him tell him I said hi. 

Safety Dude

This sounded kind of fun to be a Safety officer but now that I am finally getting my head into this there is a lot more to it. FEMA has hundreds if not thousands of pages on safety stuff. I was thinking just a pamphlet of 10 pages. Ha.  Today as I was reviewing driving conditions one of my co-workers was pointing out that may towns and villages have sunk to right at or below sea level and are now experiencing flooding during high tides. So if you park your car in the wrong area it might float away while your out. More fun tomorrow. One of the other problems is so many road have dropped 1 to 2 feet that manhole pipes are sticking up like barrier poles you have to be very careful.  Am I safe or what. Pray that God will help me. I am the least safe guy in the whole world. I still open things with my teeth and eat, read a map and talk on a cell phone all while driving with my knee. Dude should I be sharing those things?

Japan quake videos taken by Gary Kusunoki Part 2

Words cannot express what these videos show.

Japan quake videos taken by Gary Kusunoki

Two Weeks after the Earthquake

Hi Everyone, It is two weeks since the Earthquake.

I know it's been a while but when your in the frying pan all you do is run around and try not to get cooked. It has been one of the most difficult weeks for me. In 1984, my boot camp in Fort Dix New Jersey was a pleasure cruise compared to this time. It isn't the physical demand but the mental and spiritual things that have come my way. I am on the Emotional Care Team. In the US we call it Pastoral Care or Pastoral Crisis Intervention PCI. Here we renamed it Emocare. We have two groups to approach this, one is the team care which I am leading and the survivor care. The UN report said the PTSD symptoms are already beginning to manifest in people earlier than usual. The Children are especially affected.

I am working with a team of people that is changing daily and we are ramping up a training process for different types of teams in the field right now. We first have Assessment teams usually our first responders they love to get out there to be our eyes and ears and survey the land and find possible sights for us to set up camps. After two weeks we now have three full functioning Bases and a fourth on the way.

We now have a second Group in the field known as supply and base staff. There are long term teams who will stay up to two weeks on base and network with churches in the area. Our first one is up to about 35-40 some churches that they are getting aid to and helping with emotional and spiritual care.

We then have our third group of people to train and those are our recovery teams. There are churches and groups from all over the world and in the Tokyo area and we network the local churches with the churches in the affected areas and they then begin the clean up and ministering to the people.

God is at work and there are many coming to faith. The devastation is so great and vast. One pastor from Chicago said he was in Haiti but this was far worse. Another pastor said the amount of devastation was like 5 katrinas. In one area of Kasenuma you can be on the beach and look inland for a mile and then drive for 15 miles north and it is all devastation. The strange feeling team members have is that the place has a deafening silence.

We are having to work on Cultural Sensitivity Training for our American guests. The Japanese are very private persons and since the disaster have very little dignity left. They are in the shelters and have set up chairs for walls and they have a blanket on the floor but members take off their shoes to enter and ask for permission to enter. They feel strange because this is all the home they have left and they are encroaching upon it. In one church a big named organization was said to have a circus driving around with a van full of film crews and as they come to a church they jump out and almost bust the doors of the churches down. You have to understand most churches in this area are small and usually the pastors home. The guys of this group jump out and make a chain carrying relief into the home of the pastor and they start to slide boxes across their very old and precious wood floor. In Japan you don't do those things. It is disrespectful. You take off your shoes no matter if you have the combat boots on you take them off. You honor the home. Anyway, I am on a soap box crying against the so-called relief. The disaster is hard enough to process but the relief crew should not be a disaster and embarrassment to Jesus Christ. I never knew how many hundreds of groups there are. They all claim some kind of fame naming their disasters as badges of honor. It is kind of sickening. They don't remember the people or church name but that disaster..."Yea we were there." So what! These groups come in for a month or two and then leave. Our goal at Crash is we are here for the long term. We are here to help. We live here and aren't going home or off to the next disaster. Just to give you a sense of this. One team called a Pastor to offer relief to them and they said, "Not today. We are not ready to receive you. Come on Monday." That was two days later. They would rather do without and suffer for honor of the family members to all get ready to receive a guest.

I was promoted just today. Yea, but it can change tomorrow so stay tuned. I am now also in charge of Radiation monitoring. We are getting trained on the latest equipment for testing radiation. A group donated 12 units for us to use. Each base camp and each work team will be given a monitor that will have readings for the whole day of how much IF ANY exposure they may have to radiation. So far to my knowledge there is none in the areas we are in but that can change and we need to keep a daily log on the readings and if they spike I have to call teams out of the field. So I am over the Pastoral Care, Survivor care, Radiation Scary (JOKE) and a few others things I think. I have no Idea what I am doing but that Jesus keeps providing the right people to plug into place and have them go to work. The amount of translators that are available are awesome. God is good. We have had Erin Kawaye of OMF international come in and train our HQ team on our roles together and how we are to work together. It was a great time. I am learning how to love people in a new way. I am working with many different denominations and types of Christians. Love is the key.

We had an Emocare information night expecting 30 some people we called to show up. About 200 showed up and we had it U-streamed with 10 churches logging on. It was so awesome. I was terrible and God is using it. HA. I love our God so much. The verse I am enjoying and chewing on right now is Hebrews 12:12 in the New Living Translation. "So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong." There is another meeting next week and they decided to rent out Aoyama Gakuin Hall. That is a big college in Tokyo. They are expecting 700 but have a feeling it may be more.

This next week will be hard and We need prayer. There are two teams from the US arriving and coming to check out our operations and then we will drive up to the bases and check on our teams and perform in field debriefings and radiation checking. Basically talk about the mission and read our Bibles and pray together. But I am supposed to sound real official. We if possible will also do some assessing if time allows for us to go into the Iwate prefecture north of sendai. Pray God to prepare our hearts for the time we have together and also for what we will see and smell.

I am on shaky legs right now. But God is encouraging me to stand firm and not stumble or run away. I think of the Love Song tune "With one hand reach out for Jesus and with the other bring a friend."

Pray for the Calvary Japan Conference coming up it should be awesome for all of us to be refreshed in the Lord. I pray we can all get together and just seek Jesus. I am loving my brothers and sisters in the others groups but there is something special and heart warming about your own family.

The Calvary Churches are responding to the disaster each in their Spirit led way. God is raising them up to respond in so many ways it is awesome. Chizuo and Rick went to the North area and just took a truck and loved on the people. It was very impacting but also a blessing for them to just pray and bless people as they'd come to an area and open the truck and give supplies to people. They touched so many lives. Pastor Jack was at Costco buying supplies to donate and is wanting to do all he can. Jeremiah is helping get teams with trucks off from his church to deliver relief to some churches. So many are helping. Many of the guys are busy but have plans to come and work. Travis and Rich and Kiyomasa are going up to Sendai to deliver relief and supplies soon. It is such a blessing to have brothers like minded and open to the leading to the Holy Spirit. They are such an encouragement to me. This week Travis came in to do some stuff and just took time and prayed for me. I needed it. Jonathan is some how holding together. He is that kind of person that loves to blaze a trail in a jungle where not many have gone before. We follow behind wondering where is he going some times but there are vistas were we see the hand of God working and moving and blessing.

This week was huge for the whole team as Jonathan took time to admit some things that were on the hearts of others and it was a breath of fresh air for everyone to stand back and regroup together. We have been strengthened in Jesus and linked arm in arm as we march forward. The awesome thing is we are not just the foreign missionaries we have hundreds of Japanese Christians all partnering with us and working though Crash. Our goal is to turn the whole thing over to Japanese churches.

There are miracles happening and many stories of hope coming out of this. The greatest thing I see is no one person is getting the glory. God is doing a work and he is getting the glory he deserves. One group commented on our team dynamic and that was that we all have a true heart for Jesus they saw no egos in the leadership. He needs to look harder. Mine is there an I am doing all I can to kill that bad boy daily now it is moment by moment. One team found a man and a woman sitting on the concrete steps of the foundation of their home that had been washed away. They asked if they needed anything. The woman who was a popular radio personality said we have our physical needs but what we need is "Heart Care." The team shared the gospel. She was so glad to hear this she took them down to the studio and put them on the air to share the gospel. In one area, I heard a team was passing out food and Bibles. The people took some food but all wanted Bibles. They are hungry for God and are searching.

In Tokyo it seems as if nothing happened. Many are back to their old ways. In my town the pachinko parlors are packed out. Life is resuming even though there is eminent danger just to the North they are oblivious many of them with consciences seared. The schools all will start back up again Monday. Life will return to normalcy. But many areas of our town now have refugees in the sense of people without homes and jobs are now down here in our area in Government shelters. There is opportunity to minister to them as well. Pray we will have opportunity to visit them and love on them.

There is an awakening beginning in the mountains where churches and pastors are coming together to pray and worship God. We rejoice with all that God is doing. We are expecting God to do things far greater than we could ever imagine or think. Pray for the salvation of Japan. Pray for our teams safety. Pray for the unity among the brethren. Pray that we will be known for our Love for one another. Pray for all the thousands that are now mobilizing in the US coming over to be sensitive to this beautiful culture. Pray that the body of Christ will bring glory to his name.

Mihoko and the kids went back to the states for 30 days and I have asked my Students to allow me a couple of weeks off to work. They are so gracious and some even call me just to see how I am doing. It is such a blessing to have good friends.

Erin from OMF leaves all our teams with Romans 15-1-7 I think I'll do the same as this is the sum of all we are trying to do here. We are creating an organization where by the Japanese churches can link with the affected Churches and bless them and help them.

 ¹ We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. ² Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. ³ For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”^{[a] 4} For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.  ⁵ May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, ⁶ so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:1-7 NIV

God bless you all. Do all to Glorify Him

Dan

Crash Meeting

 We had our first brief/training of CRASH tonight. We expected 30. Got about 200. We had the room over flowed to an outside lobby and then there were 10 churches logged on live through U-stream. It was awesome. I was horrified. I blanked out and don't remember what I said but they said I did fine. Wow... were they being giri? Lol It was fun now if we could do that every week. I spoke for the first 15 minutes and Andy Meeko shared his notes on stress reduction. We need to do more thorough training I believe. Hopefully we will have some good training sessions in the months to come.

Yukiko did an awesome job translating Andy. She was great. So was my translator. God bless you all and thank you for coming.

Normalcy or not?

The Earthquake in Japan is very hard to process. We are grieving so hard. We are all tired and overwhelmed. After my sons (@3-1/2) death in 2000 and my daughters @ 5 heart transplant I have learned it is important to try as hard as it is to get back to some kind of normalcy. I thought about ending all my ESL classes and just bury myself into the relief work. Problem is the danger of losing touch with reality. Processing grief is real and very hard but not processing real life is escapism and leads to darkness within the soul. Depression will settle in and isolation will dominate. It is very important we extend ourselves out to serving and loving others. Focusing on self will only spiral into deeper depression and will lead to dangerous behaviors like medicating self or seeking ways to end self. The road to normalcy is very rough and hard. But is is absolutely necessary.

Today for our kids ESL I tried to keep it simple. I also allowed the kids to process their grief and fears through play. We first taught the phrases "I need help?" We substituted the word help with water, medicine, my mom and the last one was Chocolate. I also taught the phrases, "Are you okay?" and also "I'm hurt." "I'm hungry." "I'm thirsty.""I'm crazy." 


We then modeled our lesson with building a city for 15 minutes reviewing past vocabulary: truck, people, animals, building, store, park, zoo...etc. I had each student pick a lego character and place themselves in the city. After we built the city we then simulated an earthquake and destroyed it. Then we played search and rescue. Using our flash lights we then looked for ourselves and went through our ESL phrases. "Are you okay?" No I'm hurt. I need chocolate.

At the end we modeled our phrases once more after clean up we ended with the phrase I need chocolate. Then I rewarded our good students with good chocolate. I hope they will remember the sentences. It was a fun class.

These pictures were my Tigers level 2 class and I also did it with my next class Zebras level 1 both responded to the play very well. My daughter Jane enjoyed being in the class too. It was at least therapeutic to see these kids process and play and learn. Thanks guys you helped me more than you realize.

Reflections of a Disaster

Staring at Kaneko, a twenty something college student, whom I am teaching English to, we were discussing Moscow deporting hundreds of stray dogs to Siberia. Our coffee spills onto the table and we are looking like deer in the headlights as the most violent shaking begins. Things start to fall in the bathrooms and off shelves. The doors and windows start to rattle. We both say at the same time Jishin! which means earthquake. We think it is going to stop 30 seconds go by then a minute, the shaking is still violent we go outside and people are running away from the building. We are on the 7th floor thinking we should go down stairs. So we walk to the Elevator but it is flashing emergency signs and is not running. That's right don't take elevators in Earthquakes. So we go down the stairs. It is about 3 minutes now and the shaking is still going on. When is this going to stop? Buildings and trees are swaying, birds are in the air squawking alarms to something really big happening. Kaneko and I decided to end class early and part ways. At the bridge from our train station to our apartment Mrs Sasaki San who is dealing with life threatening bone cancer approaches me and is rattling off her story. We talk and I encourage her. Her husband is in Tokyo and she is worried if he'll get home. The shaking had stopped but there is an eerie feeling that something terrible had just occurred and we were not the center of it. I call Mihoko and the phones are dead...Uh oh? The shaking had stopped so I went back to go to our apartment elevator to go back and check on our home. Drat it still is out of commission... That's right never take an elevator during an earthquake. I climb up 7 flights of stairs. The disaster was my legs at this point wow I am so out of shape. As soon as I get into my apartment there is a tremendous aftershock almost equal to the original. I stay inside and then go out on the balcony should I stay or should I go. The shaking stops I do what any good post baby boomer pre-gen xer guy would do. I facebook the event. The shaking returns a little less. I can't reach my family. I go outside and downstairs and talk to neighbors. I walk around town to access damage. An ambulance is at the pachinko parlor someone must have had a heart attack when their balls fell on the floor? People are out dazed. I go in to a familiar convenience store. The clerk at the counter is frazzled. I ask, "Daijoubu?" (You okay?) She says very loud as if she had been holding it in for a while, "KOWAIIII!" (Scary!) We laugh I tell her I will pray for her and her family. She is thankful and relieved. I go outside trying to call missionary friends, family, neighbors. Phones don't work. My kids are still at school which is 30 minutes away. I walk back to the apartment and climb the 7 flights of stairs. It is amazing how much Oxygen we demand the higher we go. I look on the computer which is still up and running. The devastation reports are beginning to filter in the Tsunami pictures are already within minutes of the events happening being broadcast on national television.

What has happened is the worst national disaster known in the history of Japan. The devastation is not just one local area or prefecture but it is the whole East Coast about 5 prefectures (States) have declared states of emergency. There are many more prefectures with lots of structure damage but their infrastructure is still in tact. The 5 main prefectures hit have severe infrastructure problems with electricity, water, gas all shut off or broken. Roads are impassible, and fires are spreading in some areas. Landslides have wiped out some small villages and Tsunami's have washed away whole communities. The military and many organizations are already on the ground working but are completely overwhelmed. Children are displaced because while at school their families were washed away or killed in accidents. The trauma and questions being asked are great and we are praying how to best be involved in the recovery and ministry to those hardest affected.

We are partnering with CRASH Japan a disaster relief organization from Grace Christian Fellowship with Pastor Jonathan Wilson. I am heading up Pastoral Care and running admin on coordinating teams from CC churches in Japan to group up and aid in various recovery efforts. Samaritans Purse, World Vision, Campus Crusade for Christ, OMF, JEMA, JEA and many other organizations are all behind us now and we will be having a meeting tomorrow for assessment teams to be assigned and to move out. Over the next few days we will be getting teams of missionaries from all over Japan to pair up and go into the areas and locate churches and missionaries and find our their needs. We are looking to establishing command centers in multiple communities for the express purpose of serving those communities. The recovery process will not be easy or short. One report says over 10 thousand people are missing. We know of about a couple of thousand dead from reports.

We are here in Japan for such a time as this. We are making ourselves available to the Lord for his glory and to use in this effort. Tomorrow we will have an assessment meeting at 2pm in Tokyo. Mihoko with be simultaneous translating it. Pray for her to be anointed to impart the information necessary to direct the teams and train the staff. We are feeling multiple aftershocks some very strong and we are over 250KM away from it all but those in the epicenter are feeling scared and need help.

We need you all to be praying for us. We need the leading of the Holy Spirit for the things he will have us do. Right now we are uncertain what all the details will hold. I will try to post after the meeting to let you all know what's going on. We need your prayers. God is at work and we look forward to what he will bring out of the ashes. Teams in the US are forming up and mobilizing to come over. Pray how to be apart if the Lord allows. God bless