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UPDATE FROM DALE AND ANN LITTLE, December 2004 Modeling and Encouraging both Church Planting and Theological Education in Japan
Holidays in Maine We enjoyed both Christmas and Thanksgiving in Maine with Ann’s family. Kristy flew from BC Canada to Maine for Christmas. This was the first time in seven years for us to celebrate Christmas with Ann’s family. God is with us (Immanuel) whether we are together or separated by half a world. But we sure do enjoy being with one another at the Christmas season! A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Home Assignment Throughout the fall months we have been on the road again, and again, and again. Though most of our travel was in the northeast states, we also visited supporters as far west as Minneapolis, Minnesota and as far south as Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. We usually traveled by road. (Thank you, Kathy Mueller for the minivan you loaned us for this home assignment!) If we could have accumulated “frequent tire miles” our total would be more than 15,000. We have nineteen supporting churches and ten personal supporters in the US. However, despite our extensive travel we have found it impossible to visit all our US supporters in four months. We will probably need to lengthen our future US home assignments in order to solve this problem.
Pray for Mrs. Saito Miss Chika Saito is an active member of Sunrise Chapel. Her mother and all of her mother’s side of the family are members of a Buddhist sect called Soka Gakkai. Mrs. Saito is not happy with Chika’s decision to be a Christian and has in the past opposed anything to do with Christianity. She is deeply blinded by the Buddhist ideology she has believed in so long. Due to muscular dystrophy, Chika’s mother has recently been hospitalized in a care home. Recently Mrs. Saito has shown signs of warming up to things of the gospel she had formerly opposed. She has allowed the pastor and some lay people from Sunrise Chapel to visit her. She was also pleased to receive a birthday card from church people. Chika has asked prayer for her mother’s precarious health and that her heart will soon be opened to Jesus before it is too late.
Ongoing Ministry Plans in Japan When we return to Tokyo on January 18 we plan to continue our ministry in church planting. However, instead of leading a church planting project as we have done in the past, our desire is to come alongside Japanese pastors and churches who themselves have a desire to plant churches. Our role would be to partner with them to begin new church planting projects. Our strategy is to simultaneously partner in two or three such church planting projects on a part time basis in each church. Dale also plans to continue his ministry in leadership development in Japan. He will continue his part time theology lectureship at Japan Bible Seminary. Beginning in April, he will also teach theology part time at Tokyo Christian University. In addition, the Evangelical Free Church of Japan has begun a Bible Institute for training laypeople in Tokyo. Dale will be teaching a few courses there as well.
Why Japan? Judging from our few months on home assignment, North American interest in missions seems to focus on the Islamic world, unreached people groups, creative access countries, and inexpensive support of national instead expatriate missionaries. Japan is committed to Buddhism or Shinto or both, but not Islam. It can been argued that Japanese people may not be an unreached people group. It is relatively easy to get a religious activities visa for Japan so it is not a creative access country. Japan is the most expensive country in the world, with Tokyo being the most expensive city on our globe, so support of national workers probably delivers far more bang for the buck than supporting career expatriate missionaries in a country like Japan. In view of this way of thinking, “Why Japan?” becomes an obvious question. Many answers could be given. But we want you to know that we are in our 21st year of ministry in Japan for reasons such as these: *Japan has an evangelical population of half of one percent (at most). This ranks with nations on the Pacific rim like North Korea, Mongolia, and Macao. *Japan is an influential part of the yet to be reached though often forgotten Buddhist world—one quarter of the world’s population. *Idolatry’s ethos of fear is intricately woven into the every day life of Japanese people. *The suicide rate in Japan is among the world’s highest, especially among young people. *There is only one evangelical church in Japan for every 16,000 people. This is why we plant churches in Japan. *National pastors in Japan are reaching the age of retirement without seeing an adequate number of younger pastors fill their ranks. The next generation of church leaders needs to be raised up! This is why we are committed to leadership development.
We could list more facts which help to explain why Christian missions is still sorely needed in Japan. Our intention is to remain in the ministry of church planting and leadership development as long as the Lord keeps the door open for us. If you are part of our financial and prayer support team, you are keeping us in Japan. Thank you! As you pray for us, please also be a spokesperson for ongoing ministry in Japan in your church.
The purpose of our lifetime ministry in Japan is to encourage BOTH the vision for church planting in and from Japan AND the development of evangelical theology which gives rise to that vision.
www.ritoru.net Need prayer or praise or Matthew’s age? Check it out on Little’s web page. Church planting news or where to write? The best place to find it is on our website! Testimony info or Bryan’s birthday? On the internet, it’s all on display. No need to phone; no need to write! All the info you need is on our website!
Our Little Kids No longer are there any little kids in our family. Kristy is taller than Mom and Bryan is taller than Kristy. Matthew just became a teenager and is next in line for a growth spurt. Soon Mom will be the only real Little. Kristy is in her third year at Trinity Western University. She combines her study with the responsibility of being the resident assistant for the girls’ international dorm. For the fall semester, Bryan and Matthew are enrolled at North Star Academy, an online junior high and high school. They will resume their study at Christian Academy in Japan for the second semester when we return to Tokyo in January.
Kids Korner: A Couple of Red Sox Fans Japanese evening news television broadcasting of American baseball is usually limited to what Hideki Matsui or Ichiro Suzuki did that day. Unfortunately, neither one is on the Boston Red Sox. Consequently, Bryan and Matthew were thrilled to stay up late many evenings to watch the Red Sox come from behind to win the world series this fall. The most exciting games were against the Yankees. (Hideki Matsui may be Japanese, but according to Bryan and Matthew he is on the wrong team!)
Prayer and Praise *Pray for clear direction in our choices for church planting when we return to Japan. *Pray that Dale will be able to make a helpful contribution to the strengthening of the Church in Japan by teaching theology. *Give thanks for safety during our fall travels. *Pray that Bryan and Matthew will complete their online school work by January 24 when they return to their missionary children’s school in Tokyo. *Pray that Kristy will have strength and wisdom as she juggles her university studies with her dorm leadership responsibilities. *Pray that God will raise up more missionaries for Japan. *Give thanks for our personal supporters and forty supporting churches in Canada and the USA.
Dale and Ann Little |
