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The purpose of our lifetime ministry in Japan is to encourage BOTH the vision for church planting and strenghtening AND the development of evangelical theology which gives rise to that vision. Pastoral Ministry in Tokyo
Tokyo Musashino EFC English website gives further information about the church (www.englishchurchtokyo.org). The option of downloading recent English sermons is available on the site. Please note that income from this one year part time interim pastorate will not increase our salary. Rather, it will be applied to our support package income in the same manner as any supporting church. For the past few years we have been in a support lacking posture which has required us to dip into personal funds (salary) in order to cover some ministry expenses. Any interim pastorate income will bring us to a fully supported posture.
Outreach Ministry in Tomioka For the past two years we have been developing an evangelistic outreach two hours north of Tokyo in Tomioka City, Gunma Prefecture. Due to the distance and travel time involved, from the beginning of the project we committed ourselves to only part time leadership. The Tomioka project has gone through some challenges this past spring and summer, including the loss of our rental facility and the withdrawal of the mother church from the project. Nevertheless, we have felt constrained to continue the project because of the positive response from the ladies who attend Ann's evangelistic English classes. They have encouraged us to continue and have even supplied us with a monthly meeting place (the ballet school of one of the ladies). So we plan to continue our Tomioka evangelistic project for a few more years, placing emphasis upon outreach English classes. During that time we will wait upon the Lord's leading for the project.
Japan Evangelical Missionary Association (JEMA) The purpose of JEMA is to network, encourage, equip, and represent all evangelical missionaries in Japan. The voluntary association has a membership of about 1300 missionaries and their mission agencies. Its office is in Tokyo, but it serves missionaries across the nation. Go to www.jema.org for more information. Ann has chaired the Women In Ministry Commission of JEMA for several years. The WIM Commission is composed of ladies from seven different missions. The WIM sponsors an annual retreat and a day of prayer for ministry women in Japan. Check out the WIM link at www.jema.org. Dale has led the Theological Commission of JEMA for the past year. The current task of this commission is to produce a response to a recent controversial publication of the Japan Evangelical Association or JEA (the major network of evangelical churches in Japan). This required that his commission first translate the publication into English. Dale will be presenting the initial response of JEMA to the JEA leadership at the end of October. Further information can be found on Dale’s website, www.jtheo.net. Dale has been nominated for the position of JEMA President. It is virtually certain he will be voted into the position during JEMA’s annual meeting in February 2008. This part time ministry will likely require about one day a week. One of his major roles as President will be to interface with the Japanese leadership of the Japan Evangelical Association. He looks forward to interacting with the leaders of the evangelical movement here in Japan.
Outreach English Teachers Needed! We are in our third year of partnering with the Central District of the EFC of Japan (Nagoya area) in an evangelistic program which uses conversational English classes taught by short term tentmakers from Canada or the USA. We need personnel to fill this need every year from September through the following June. However, this fall we had no applicants. So at the moment we have no teacher on site in Nagoya. But we are hoping for one or two new teachers in the new year. We would love to hear from you if you can commit to a six month short term ministry from Jan-Jun 2008. This ministry is available for single ladies or for a couple (no children with them). For more details see www.efccmj.net. The ministry would be done under the umbrella of the EFC of Canada Mission. For any single guys out there, we may have a Tokyo option for you in 2008! So keep tuned!
Ministry Profile In Japan the Littles lead church planting projects, strengthen churches, train church leaders, and encourage missionaries. Their current ministry includes:
Family Update In early July Kristy completed her short term ministry of evangelistic English teaching in three Nagoya area churches and moved back in with us in Tokyo. She is working part time in Tokyo as an English teacher while looking into various graduate school options. We enjoy having her around and now need a second car! In August we all enjoyed three weeks of vacation by the Pacific Ocean in northern Japan. When we returned to the summer heat of Tokyo, the boys started their new school year at Christian Academy in Japan, Bryan in 12th grade and Matthew in 10th. At the same time Ann began her one year stint on the PTA executive of the boys’ school Dale plans to make his annual November trek to the Evangelical Theological Society conference. This year the meetings are in San Diego. He will be reading a paper entitled, “Doing Cross-Cultural Evangelical Theology in Japan: Theological and Phenomenological Observations.” After ETS he will speak in a supporting church on the east coast, do some research at the Day Missions Library at Yale Divinity School, then visit Ann’s family in Maine. On the return trip to Tokyo his plans include visiting family in BC, Canada, for his mother’s 90th birthday party!
Kids Korner -- New use for duct tape! Both Dale and Matthew got poison ivy on the week long trip in July to earthquake stricken Kashiwazaki. When they returned to Tokyo, they went to the local skin doctor. Mom suggested that Matthew have the doctor look at the bottom of his feet to check for warts. The doctor quickly prescribed something for the poison ivy but was more concerned about the 8-10 plantar warts on Matthew’s feet. According to the doctor, Matthew needed about two months of “painful burning” to get rid of the warts. Instead of taking the doctor’s advice, Matthew returned home to consult www.mayoclinic.com on the internet: “In a well publicized 2002 study, duct tape wiped out more warts than freezing did.” And it seems to be working!
Prayer Requests * Pray that over the next year we will know God’s mind and have his strength for pastoring the English department of Tokyo Musashino EFC and for encouraging its church planting vision. * Give thanks for the ladies in Ann’s evangelistic English classes in Tomioka. Pray that their interest in learning about the Bible during Ann’s English classes will translate into an interest in having a Bible study. * Pray that God will raise up short term tentmaking evangelistic English teachers for the four Nagoya area churches. * Pray that Dale and Ann will be of encouragement to missionaries in Japan through their leadership responsibilities with JEMA. * Ask God to guide Kristy in her search for a graduate school where she can focus on cross-cultural counseling psychology.
Dale and Ann Little | |
